Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has been obsessed with two issues of fact. He asserted repeatedly that the crowd at his swearing-in was larger than the crowd for Obama in 2009, despite the fact that aerial photographs showed this was not true. At one point, he ordered the National Park Service to stop issuing estimates of the crowd. Photographs take along the parade route, as his car passed, showed empty spaces, barely a single row of spectators.
The second fact that obseeses him is him is that Hillary Clinton received nearly 3 million votes more than he did. He keeps repeating his claim that 3-5 million “illegals” voted, presumably for her. This is his attempt to claim the popular vote.
The Washington Post says that his failure to tell the truth threatens the credibility of his presidency.
Republicans are puzzled. Why is he questioning the legitimacy of his own election?
The New York Times did something it has never done before: it had a headline on the front page saying that Trump lied about the vote totals.
what does all this mean? Trump’s a spoiled child who needs to be told that whatever he does is the biggest and the best. Trump can’t tell the difference between fact and his own opinions. Trump is a narcissist. Trump is delusional. Trump can’t be believed.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
When have Republicans in DC ever been interested in governing? Now we’re all reaping what they’ve sowed. Seth Meyers (whose “A Closer Look” segment is quickly filling my Jon Stewart void) last night offered some therapy for us all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg9Tu79F4qE
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Should not have written ever. Meant since 1994.
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Since 1980!
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Agree that the assault began then, but at least Reagan and Bush tried to govern. I think you and I agree that they tried to govern badly, but they had respect for the process. Remember the House minority leader, Robert Michel, could work with Democrats. It was with the ascension of Newt Gingrich to Speaker and the Republican class of 1994 that they lost all pretense of governing and focused on ideological power. We quibble on dates, but we agree on the storyline.
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I think this is the take away from seeing that Trump’s first moves as POTUS involved signing off on the GOP agenda in the Oval Office. How quickly he kowtowed to Republican leaders. Who knew he could be manipulated so easily? The Tea Party outsmarted him!
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Reteach,
I don’t think it is about his political agenda. I think it is about lying and delusional statements. Why would a newly elected president harp on how big his crowd was?
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Diane,
I agree. I believe Trump is most definitely delusional. I don’t think he ever really had a political agenda, just a personal agenda to win the election and seize power, in order to feed his fragile ego.
I don’t recall Trump ever discussing policies at length. Most often, he just expressed hatred and vengeance towards whomever he was scapegoating at the time, engaged in some pie in the sky wishful thinking and spouted slogans. His followers thrived on his rage and ate up his empty platitudes. But the bottom line is that Trump doesn’t know how to govern a free country because he has only ever been a self-employed autocrat. Now he is supposed to be a servant of the people, but that is so out of character for him that already he is doing whatever Republicans/Tea Partiers tell him to do. I don’t know how else to explain his behaviors, including his selection of billionaire oligarchs for his cabinet who, like him, live on a very different plant from the rest of us, while he is simultaneously claiming that he is giving the country back to the people. I think he is a very sick puppy who is lucid only on rare occasions.
Trump’s followers elected a very immature, angry, vindictive, dimwitted narcissist with poor impulse control. I don’t know how long this lunatic can handle being a puppet of the GOP, but I think the learning curve is too steep for someone in his state of mind to land on his feet, and I doubt he’ll be able to take being a manipulated tool of the Tea Party for very long.
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Go to the links and get the info you seek.
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Trump-s-mentally-ill-says-in-General_News-Integrity_Krugman_Mentally-Ill_Perception-170125-531.html#comment641683
CHARACTER IS DESTINY
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/513773/are-trumps-tweets-presidential/?utm_source=nl-video-series-if-our-bodies-could-talk-012017
Season Premiere: January 20, 2017 | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) – YouTube
keith oberman fabuloushttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3yU7x99-8&feature=em-lss
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He does not have the ability to hold a thought more than a moment. This is a symptom of not only ADHD, but also of dementia. Here is the Vanity Fair article about Jared Kushner who is now serving as Trump’s alternative brain…to rationalize all his alternative truths.
First Family
Can Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Survive the White House?
And can they thrive even if Donald Trump can’t?
by Emily Jane Fox,
January 24, 2017 4:46 pm
From left to right: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner attending the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral; In the President’s room of the Senate with their children Arabella Rose and Theodore; Sharing a dance at the inaugural ball.
Left, by Mark Wilson, from Andalou Agency, by Jim Watson/AFP, all from Getty Images.
“We have in the audience a special person who’s worked very hard, who married very well. It’s my daughter Ivanka,” Donald Trump told an adoring crowd on the night before his inauguration. Trump, who was standing beneath the domed ceiling of Union Station in formal eveningwear, was doing his best Bob Hope impersonation—equal parts crowd warm-up act, fund-raising emcee, and bar mitzvah boy at his candle-lighting ceremony. Flushed, he surveyed the room, acknowledging various powerful friends, such as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and aides, like Kellyanne Conway, whom he would beckon to the stage and present, rather uncomfortably, like a pageant runner-up, before dismissing her by saying, “Thank you, baby.”
Trump, as is his proclivity, spent a healthy chunk of his time at the event doting on his family, particularly his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, his surrogate son Jared Kushner. Family and business have long been intertwined notions for Trump, who employed all three of his adult children, and whose two eldest sons recently took over his sprawling real-estate and branding enterprise, the Trump Organization. But Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser in the White House, represents perhaps the greatest overlap yet. Trump appeared to recognize this fact proudly. “I sort of stole her husband,” he continued, his tan contrasting notably with his starched white shirt and crisp bow tie. “He is so great. If you can’t produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can,” Trump said, referring to Kushner, who has no previous political or diplomatic experience. “All my life, I’ve been hearing that’s the toughest deal to make, and I’ve seen it. I have a feeling that Jared’s going to do a great job. He’s going to do a great job. You’ll work with him.”
Throughout the campaign, Kushner has appeared as both a foil and calming presence to his mercurial and pugilistic father-in-law—a sort of mini me capable of disentangling his id from his super-ego. Kushner’s ascent has, in many ways, been more abrupt than the man he now serves, and his first few days on the job represented the velocity of the transition from private citizen to White House eminence. Earlier that day, the Kushners had left their Upper East Side apartment, shuttled to a military plane, and landed in Washington, their new home town. That afternoon, the Kushners and their three children—Arabella_, five; Joseph, three; and Theodore, 10 months—funneled into Blair House, just a short walk from the White House, where the whole family would be staying that night. A few hours later, on the world’s stage, Arabella walked down the steps at Arlington National Cemetery, where her grandfather laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and sat patiently in front of the Lincoln Memorial for hours as a parade of country-music singers and YouTube piano pluckers serenaded the lot.
The following day, after Trump was sworn in at the Capitol, the Kushner brood piled into a limousine flanked by Secret Service agents and headed down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Twice, they got out of the car to walk a few blocks and wave at the thousands of people stationed between throngs of empty bleachers, hooting and hollering for their new president.
Normally, the family would decamp to New Jersey for the weekend, where they would bake pies and relax by the fire and observe the rules of Shabbat—no driving, no phone calls, typically. This weekend, instead, they had free rein in all 132 rooms and 28 fireplaces in the White House. Trump, who announced that his first workday would be Monday, turned the weekend into a family celebration. The entire extended Trump clan stayed in the residence at the White House, one source close to the family told me. Donald Trump Jr. posted photographs on Instagram of his wife in the basement bowling alley and his son wearing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajamas, eating watermelon off White House china. On Sunday, in the East Room, Kushner was officially sworn in to his position alongside Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon. Ivanka doled out jelly beans to keep the kids in their seats as Kushner repeated his own oath of office after Vice President Mike Pence. At one point, a handful of jelly beans spilled onto the floor, but their uncle, venture capitalist Josh Kushner, who, along with his father, Charles Kushner, came to support Jared, swiftly scooped them up.
By the time the weekend had ended, Don Jr. and Eric Trump were back in New York running their father’s business. First Lady Melania Trump returned with Barron so he could start back at school on Monday morning. And Jared Kushner had already been handed the administration’s first crisis—a multi-headed hydra of Sean Spicer’s press conference; Conway’s reference to “alternative facts”; Trump’s ill-advised C.I.A speech; his untruths about the size of his rally (and, later, why he lost the popular vote).The tide of bad press seemed to swell on Saturday, another person with ties to the First Family told me, when Kushner was absent observing Shabbat. “He wasn’t rolling calls on Saturday when this happened,” this person told me. “To me, that’s not a coincidence.”
Trump’s team spent Sunday on defense, but Monday evening, ushered in a new headache. Shorly before 10 p.m., The Washington Post published a devastating story suggesting full-fledged infighting in the incipient administration. Two people told the Post that insiders were alarmed, in particular, by “Kushner’s efforts to elbow aside anyone he perceives as a possible threat to his role as Trump’s chief consigliere.” Perhaps more contentiously, the paper reported that Kushner had tried to edge out Conway, his father-in-law’s beloved aide, from a White House post. Washington, as Maureen Orth recently noted, is a town that runs on power, not money. And in his first official week, Kushner was learning that lesson up close.
Kushner, who took over his family’s real-estate fortune after his father went to jail for tax evasion, among other offenses, and famously purchased the New York Observer in his mid-20s, has a long history of being underestimated. A number of people who worked and grew up with Kushner have described him to me as kind, polite, hard-working, family-oriented, but not the sharpest person. Nevertheless, Kushner has constantly proved able to nimbly navigate Trump’s inner sanctum with great effect. He has ably demonstrated perhaps the most important trait in Trump world: loyalty. On the morning after the infamous Billy Bush tape leaked, after all, it was Kushner who broke from his traditional Shabbat duties to assuage his father-in-law. “Those are the people who are going to elect you president,” he told Trump, according to The New York Times, pointing to the people standing beneath Trump Tower in Midtown.
Kushner has also been credited with creating the digital operation that helped secure a new Trump base, reportedly crafting the language behind some of his father-in-law’s most critical speeches and advising on key hires (Bannon) and terminations (Chris Christie). “I think Jared is the steadying force and the leveling wind around Donald and the campaign team,” Joe Scarborough, the Morning Joe anchor and longtime friend of Trump, told me in an interview last month. “Jared obviously did a very effective job running that campaign while he had a lot of people saying that he didn’t know what he was doing up until the very end. He obviously did.”
Kushner, who is soft-spoken and phlegmatic, has been positioned as both liaison and gate-keeper, a sort of Valerie Jarrett presence, if any connection can be made between the Obama and Trump White Houses. As Trump suggested at his pre-inauguration gala, Kushner also represents some stability in the face of what can occasionally appear to be a dervish-like way of doing business. In many circles, Kushner is seen as a steady manager who knows how to get things done, even when he doesn’t know the answer himself. “Jared is only 36. He knows enough to know when he needs to ask for help with how to handle things, and none of these other guys do,” the source close to the family told me.
But the Post’s report wasn’t the first time that a more Machiavellian side of Kushner has emerged. This fall, Ryan Lizza reported in The New Yorker how Kushner was able to facilitate the jettisoning of Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager. The piece, remarkable in many ways, involved perhaps two of the most memorable quotes of the campaign cycle. “When [onetime campaign manager Paul] Manafort was brought on, Corey and Manafort basically went head to head,” a Trump campaign official told Lizza. “Jared, the son-in-law, who is a snaky little motherfucker, a horrible human being, hated Corey, so Jared sided with Paul to get rid of Corey.” This person would continue: “When the Ukraine stuff comes to pass, Jared now is holding the axe over Paul’s head. . . . The real campaign manager, in fact, the entire time, has been Jared Kushner, who is still the real campaign manager, even today.”
The Washington Post’s report, however, didn’t sit well with some. Kushner doesn’t have to worry about jockeying for position like other members of the senior staff, a person who knows him told me. “He has been a secure line all along. That is not changing,” this person said.
Kushner is also in the enviable position of not really being able to be fired by Trump, another person familiar with Trumpland told me. The characterization of Kushner’s sharp elbows, this person continued, may be a more apt description of how Trump likes to do business, including in the West Wing. “The organization seems to be set up in a way that people have to fight for power. It’s not really a reflection with any one person’s move,” this person said.
Ever since Kushner walked the White House lawn, shortly after Trump’s surprising win, many have wondered whether he and Ivanka Trump could re-create the charmed lives that they left behind. Both Kushner and Ivanka had bright careers in New York real estate before; Ivanka had a successful fashion brand. Their family was growing, and growing up close to both sets of grandparents. All of that could have remained in tact if Trump hadn’t decided to run for president. It probably could have remained unscathed, too, if he had lost the election, as most people had forecasted he would.
In the days leading up to the election, I had been working on a story about how Ivanka Trump could rehabilitate the image of her brand, which is marketed to working women and mothers, after she had been part of one of the most misogynistic political campaigns in history. The consensus among everyone I spoke to was that because Ivanka had not commented on her father’s more outrageous policies and offensive comments, and really had only stuck to advocating for women in ads, on the stump, and in her major speech at the Republican National Convention, with a little time, her brand would go on unharmed. The visibility might have only given her a boost.
But Trump’s victory gave the couple more proximity to power—real power—than either of the deeply ambitious twosome could have likely imagined. And they made a running leap toward it. The upside here, if the Trump administration succeeds, is unthinkably grand. The downside, however, is spectacular. If the Trump White House continues on as it did in its first weekend, they will be hitched to a full-speed train wreck, one any outside brand would not be able to survive or shake off.
It is unclear how Trump’s first term, or even his first 100 days, will play out, as the administration learns that the antics that played so well with his base on the stump will bring treacherous results in the Oval Office. But divisiveness could simply reinforce Kushner’s power, at least in the short term. As Trump’s senior team appears to quarrel over direction and messaging, Kushner could become the most important counselor to a president wary of other’s ulterior motives—and loyalty. To his benefit or detriment, he is tethered to the mothership. “He has his own balance beam to walk but he’ll be standing,” the source close to the family told me. “He’ll be the last one standing.”
At least, for now, that fate seems a ways off. The weekend magic is still lingering in the Kushner household. Ivanka recently shared a video of her younger half-brother Barron playing peekaboo with her son while her father signed his first executive order. Kushner, meanwhile, is reportedly off to Calgary on Tuesday to talk trade in his first official trip in his new role, according to Reuters. Camelot, in this brief moment, is still shining.
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Oh Ellen… you are so knowledgeable and so smart. Learn so much from you.
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I’ve read several complaints here today from a few commenters who want to focus only on education issues on this site; who are tired of hearing about Trump outside of what’s happening to public education.
That is a mistake.
Saturday clearly revealed that we are not alone. Trump is torching all kinds of issues, not just public education.
What is that old saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Tunnel vision on one topic, the threat to public education, isn’t a good idea. Posts that touch on the other issues that Trump is stirring up will attract readers who have never been here before and that could be a good thing as they discover what’s happening to our public schools.
It wouldn’t hurt to form alliances until everyone who can’t stand Trump roars with one voice for every progressive issue that Littlefingers is out to destroy.
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Lloyd, I think those few commentators are a newly identified species: (americanus politicus struthio), American political ostriches.
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Then I’m an APS. Wait, no, can’t be. I’ll accept the moniker of americanus (emphasis on the last four letters) polytickus probrosus-an APP for wishing a return to the goodle days* when this site was more concerned with “a site to discuss a better education for all” than with the nimrod in the White House.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU-zJjACDJc
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I’ll have to pass on the joint and wine from the Good Old Days. I’m allergic to Cannabis, and I stopped drinking back in 1982. Mary Jane (weed) causes my throat and eyes to swell shut and I can’t breathe or see to get help, and booze encouraged the PTSD flashbacks and that’s dangerous to everyone around me for about a mile.
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Glad to hear that you know yourself and what works (or doesn’t, eh) for you! Wise man!
One can/ought/should do what one considers best for oneself. We all have our limitations (even if we don’t like to admit it).
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Everything economic relates to education and everything in education relates to the economy.
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LeftCoastTeacher
BINGO!!!!!!!
To your point from a very current article
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/corporate-media-isnt-coming-close-holding-trump-accountable
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We do not and cannot live in isolation. We are teachers!
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I agree LLoyd…and have been writing this plea here for over a year. This whole situation is so fraught with so much potential for cataclysmic disaster that even we educators must pull back and focus on the big picture. If DeVos gets annointed, it will be bad for students and taxpayers, if Tillerson and Pruitt get appointed, as they seem to be heading, it will mean death to the planet through more and possibly nuclear warfare, and through environmental oblivion.
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I got this petition FROM DAILY KOS. what a great idea!!!
SUSAN, sign the petition to the TV media: Stop covering Trump administration events live, as it only lets them get away with lying. When the media fact-checks afterward, no one pays attention. https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/petitions/sign-the-petition-to-the-media-stop-covering-trumps-events-live?detail=action&link_id=0&can_id=47594dc7343bb19ac4f7621b50e457f8&source=email-statefull-default-your-state-signatures-needed-how-the-media-should-respond-to-trump-lies&email_referrer=statefull-default-your-state-signatures-needed-how-the-media-should-respond-to-trump-lies___157691&email_subject=sign-if-you-agree-if-trump-and-minions-are-going-to-lie-they-should-not-be-on-live-tv
Over the weekend, White House press secretary Sean Spicer held a “press conference” where he lied about provable facts (e.g., Trump’s inauguration had “the largest audience” in history). Afterward, he did not take questions from reporters.
When pressed about Spicer’s falsehoods, Trump administration official Kellyanne Conway claimed that “alternate facts” (i.e., lies) should be considered by the media. And of course, Donald Trump gets away with lying every single day as he repeats discredited conspiracy theories.
But CNN did something remarkable. They opted not to run Spicer’s “press conference” live, because a live broadcast would only give the Trump Administration license to spew lies without rebuttal.
The rest of the media must follow suit. If Trump and his aides are going to use press events to spread blatantly false information, those events should not be broadcast live. Instead, reporters should be given time to verify if what the Trump administration said is true.
During these dangerous times we need real facts—not easily debunkable falsehoods. Sign the petition to the media: Do not broadcast Trump events live.
Keep fighting,
Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos
Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612.
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Susan…I disagree. We need to know everything that is going on in DC. Every nuance is vital to our survival. Trump wants us to be blacked out and not have any info and he has gagged EPA and will be continuing to shut down the media.
Daily Kos is wrong. I hope the American people will come to terms with what a liar and a fraud Donald Trump is, and that he is now being manipulated by Paul Ryan and the smarter Repubs to do their bidding…Ryan stands next to Trump as he signs Exec Orders…and he is virtually sneering with both contempt for Trump, and with pleasure that Trump is the key villain bringing down our democracy.
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Thinking more about this, Susan…it is shutting the barn door after every animal has fled. The media should NOT have given endless free visibility when he was running. Now that he is the Prez, they should report on every time he goes to the bathroom. I want to know every phone call he makes, possibly to Putin, and every stupid tweet he sends. I don’t want one thing done in secret. So I urge everyone to watch him and all the Repubs like hawks and for each of us to shout out to media to report what insidious dangerous demagogues they are. I don’t want to lose Medicare and Social Security with their conniving behind closed doors. I don’t want to have him declare any wars without knowing about it.
Government in a democracy should be an OPEN book and can only remain free with a free press and an open revealing media presence.
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I’ve seen the pictures of Ryan standing beside Trump with an evil grin. I think Ryan is pulling a lot of the strings related to these executive orders.
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Ellie dear, you missed the point. They said that he should not be covered LIVE, NOTthat he should not be covered. O course this lunatic needs to be followed and recorded…every little thing.
BUT, first, what he says has to be EXAMINED, because putting out his propaganda is JUST WHAT HE WANTS!!!
In this way if he rants a lie, it can be introduced as such, :Today, in his meeting with.. Trump lied that the …etc etc etc.
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“They said that he should not be covered LIVE, NOTthat he should not be covered.”
That’s an idea, Susan. He lives for coverage, bad or not, doesn’t matter. I think, kids should hack into his tweet account, and erase every post he makes immediately for, say, a week. I think he’d give up halfway through.
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It is now time to do more that talk about how abnormal he is. See my reply to you in the larger commentary… Hate to see it crawl along the side.
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I hope his doctors are more competent than his cabinet and staff — he is not well and headed for some kind of breakdown.
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The Chicago mayor has begged the Republican Governor to bring in the National Guard to help with the problems of gang-style warfare and the Republican Governor has REFUSED. This all the while holding the state’s budget hostage to his anti-union demands. While no one doubts the culpability of Speaker Madigan in all of these budget stalemates as well, everyone it seems BUT Gov. Rauner would love for Federal help with the gangs and guns, and a budget that would refund the universities in the state. JVK
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FYI….Only the Prez can order the military into the streets to police the area. The Guv can only call up the Natl. Guard in an emergency like the New Orleans flooding. You know I am a public policy nerd.
Another issue….tonight Rachel Maddow interviewed Tom Perez who was Obama’s Labor Sect. He is running for head of the DNC. He is my first choice far and away ahead of Keith Ellison who is not as smart, not as well spoken, and is still tainted with his ostensible former connection with Radical Islamists. He was scheduled to speak at a Muslim Brotherhood organization only days ago, but he was encouraged by his handlers to cancel, but only after Daniel Pipes made this public. What kind of judgment does it take to understand this is not the time, nor the place, to accept such an invitation to be a speaker?
Tom Perez was just endorsed by the largest Latino group in the US…and since 15% of our population is Latino, there should be a representative in the Dems leadership on the DNC.
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“FYI….Only the Prez can order the military into the streets to police the area.”
Not true. The National Guard can be under federal control, but most of the time National Guard units are under state control, in which case the governor is the commander-in-chief and he (she) can call up the National Guard for any natural or man-made disaster, including policing the streets. In 1919 there was a days-long race riot in Chicago and the mayor begged the governor to call in the National Guard. The governor and the mayor, being of different parties, didn’t get along very well, so the governor intentionally delayed bringing in the Guard to make the mayor look incompetent. There was nothing the president could do as it was not a federal issue.
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I guess there’s always the U.S. Army.
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The Army is the military. The National Guard is a different organization and as I have said before, can be called in by the Guv. Read the Military Commissions Act.
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There are very strict limits on how the federal armed forces can be utilized to enforce domestic policy. It is called the Posse Comitatus act. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act )
One example is when Pres. Eisenhower sent in the troops to enforce school desegregation in Little Rock Ark, in 1959.
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Thank you Charles..exactly correct.
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I watched the inauguration from the time the president was at the Church til the parade ended. Very early aerial shots of the seating were made and one that I clearly saw was used to compare with president Obama’s end crowd. Hence, an unfair comparison. A friend was there and in line 3 1/2 hr before the start of the event and still could not get in because there were only 6 metal detectors scanning all those folks. I will wager that many millions of people did view it on TV or streaming.
I too believe that there was a lot of voter fraud. They did recounts in Wisconsin and many counties won by Hillary could not be counted as there were more votes than registered voters. The count could not be completed In Michigan where Trump won…he actually gained votes. I don’t know what the situation was with his 306 electors but she had several who voted against her…4 were from WA state and face fines for doin so. I personally know of people who had ballots for recently deceased spouses (don’t know if they voted illegally or not). In WA, voter registration asks for driver license numbers which do not require proof of residency/citizenship and social security numbers are not required. Yes, I think that there is fraud and probably in CA as well .
Lets celebrate what he has been able to do in just a few days and give him his 100 days. 20,000 regulations were created on Obama’s watch, we must cut government and the ridiculous regulations that have held Americans back. Instead of protesting the President in ways that make no difference but were embarrassing and crude, write your senators to say NO to Betsy DeVos .
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Did your husband tell you to write that for him?
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Yikes..celebrate??? Are you whacko? I just a few days he has destroyed women’s health care world wide, antagonized China with threats so they are now counter threatening, determined to shut down the EPA, appointed heads of agencies who hate the fight those agencies, and those are just a few of his deforming America. Meanwhile he is petty and childish and has the whole world both laughing at him, and scared to death of his wild abandon.
Exactly what regulations did Obama put in place that “hold America back?”
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Statistics show that there is no voter fraud. In a billion votes there were 31 voter frauds.
Trump just signed to have the Dakota Access Pipeline continue. It is destructive to Native American land and will run under a tributary of the Missouri River. When that pipeline leaks millions of people will loose clean drinking water.
Is this something to ‘celebrate’?
This President is an embarrassment for us that is felt around the world. Did you notice how many countries had Women March protestors? Trump declared that protestors at his inauguration were paid. Is he even aware of the numbers of protestors, women and men in many countries, who dislike him enough to make signs?
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It’s funny to see Trumpsters all spouting the same lies, even when there is obvious evidence of the truth, such as this time-lapse video of the inauguration showing the number of attendees from beginning to end:
Some Trumpsters are too busy trying to justify to themselves and the world their poor judgement in voting for a lunatic billionaire who conned them into believing he cares more about the little guy than his greedy billionaire cronies, like the ones he selected for his Cabinet, to be able to quickly recognize the truth. That also prevents them from acknowledging the fact that regulations were put in place to protect THEM (and OUR PLANET) from unscrupulous robber barons, because the super-rich are rarely ever satiated and typically want more and more money and power, so they exploit workers and rape the earth. This includes Trump, who outsourced jobs to other countries himself, exploiting workers that are paid slave wages, such as those in China who make the Trump clothing line, and those in the US who wanted to unionize.
It’s okay. Based on Trump’s low approval rating now, it’s clear that many Trumpsters are already starting to realize they were duped by Trump. And, at the rate Trump has been following the wishes of the Tea Party (which was established by the billionaire Koch brothers, a couple of the worst rapists of our planet) and the way Trump has felt free to censure federal workers –who are NOT patronage employees that have to follow the party line but, rather, are civil service employees who are unionized because the spoils system is illegal– other Trumpsters won’t have to wait very long before reality hits them big time as well– just like the rest of the world that has been protesting Trump, since they have no problem sorting the truth from all the lies…
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April
What is killing Trump is that no one showed up . That was the lunch time break from all the DC Lobbying firms trying to get some fresh air . There are medications available for Donald he refuses to take them . Those that argue against incontrovertible evidence should probably seek some help as well.
“`I personally know of people who had ballots for recently deceased spouses (don’t know if they voted illegally or not)”
I know people who went into a bank . Did they rob it ?
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Good one Joel. That quote from April is a howler. Talk about zombie Trump rationalizations and mindless talking points. She hit them all. Give Trump a chance? He had a chance 50 years ago which he reneged on.
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The high number of followers to a narcistic personality tells us something about the state of our civilzation and our school system. What is treated as a mental illiness in normal life, can be an advantage in certain ecological niches of humans’ strive for exceptional success. Some artists and politicians suffer from mild forms of mania which helps them to perform in the presence of a large crowd where “normal” people whould shy away. In some traditional cultures, extreme forms of mental and physical illness are even seen as a special gift or a message from a god, and helpt to generate huge masses of submissive followers, who have no ability to think on their own.
We urgently have to review our public as well as private school systems, and the way they force our children into mental subordination through standards-based testing.
However, it is not sufficient to return to the old-fashioned way and TEACH good subjects, but we have to change the way of teaching by pouring knowledge onto our children. Instead we have to teach by designing the schools as an environment which gives students various kinds of rich learning opportunities, especially opportunities for THINKING and DISCUSSION. The latter opportunities have been largely absent from our schools in the past. In the last fifty years they have become even scarcer through the omni-present testing craze. Through this we are preparing children for living in an autocracy, but not in a democracy, where everone needs to solve problems and conflicts through thinking and discussion instead of through force and lies.
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There are varying degrees of narcissism, but my non-expert guess is that those president’s who were not narcissists are probably in the minority.
The office seems to attract the egotistical type and, who knows, it might even be an advantage when it comes to getting things dumb …I mean done.
I would say you have to go all the way back to Carter to find one who was NOT a narcissist.
So, among other things, that means large numbers of Americans in both parties have followed narcissists.
With regard to making schools places for discussion, I wholeheartedly agree, but i don’t have much confidence that that will happen any time soon.
I had a conversation yesterday with my high school age niece about her English class and asked if she ever had discussions in class. She said no, that the teacher always lectured.
I think that is a travesty. Some of my fondest classroom memories are of high school English classes discussing the classics of literature.
It may not be the entire reason, but I suspect Common Core and the focus on testing have played a role in the current situation at her school. I know for a fact that CC has damaged math education in the district because I have seen the crap that my nieces and nephews work on. Jason Zimba (who hacked together the math standard in his garage) sould have his a** dragged into court for first degree homicide to math education, in my opinion..
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Guess that would probably be first degree educide or mathicide in Zimbas case.
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By the way, ever since I heard Zimba himself say that he quite literally put together CC in his garage, I have this image of him with a monkey wrench whacking the engine of a beat up old jalloppy and screaming at it to “run you price of junk! Run”
Run indeed.
Advice the rest of us should have taken.
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SDP,
Anyone who runs for president has a big ego.
There is a big difference between a person who is a narcissist and one with narcissistic personality disorder. Trump is the latter. I had dinner with a psychoanalyst the other night who believes that Trump is a textbook case of NPD.
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“She said no, that the teacher always lectured.”
It indeed is a travesty.
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Oh for pity’s sake. Blaming the rise of Trump on our public school systems? That’s a stretch and demeaning to all the teachers in the public schools. We get enough of the teacher bashing from the reformers and people like DeVos and Trump.
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????
Still waiting on that link to the site that describes your “logic” 🙂
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I was not addressing you, Poet. My comment was for Dr. Lind. Relax.
I don’t get comment notifications.
I think we can all agree that Trump is an unmitigated disaster for this country. I have no idea what this country will be like in 4 years, even if Trump is impeached. He has put gag rules on several government agencies, he’s just committed to building the wall and on it goes without stop.
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Joe,
I went to a lecture at the New York Public Library after the election. Over 1,000 people in the audience. Paul Krugman was the speaker. He bemoaned Trump’s election. The first question from the audience: should we blame it on the public schools? Fortunately Krugman did not take the bait.
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Diane
I don’t think that pointing out that the climate in schools can lead to submissiveness on the part of the populace is the same as blaming the schools for the rise of Trump.
Particularly in recent decades, the policies in schools have largely been a reflection of decisions that were made by those outside the schools and even outside the local communities (by state and Federal government officials)
In the current climate of fear that exists within schools, would it really be surprising that a teacher might not wish to take the risk of opening up things for discussion? On the contrary, that is precisely the sort of behavior one would expect. And in many cases, that was actually the desired goal of those who set the policies.
Just look at the comments of teachers who post here (eg, from Utah) who are deathly afraid to speak out about Common Core, testing and other things for fear of being fired. How do you suppose a classroom discussion of what it means to be gay or lesbian would go over with higher ups in Utah? Having taught in Utah, I can say with some confidence: not well.
Is that the fault of the teachers? Or even of the principals? Of course not.
But that is still the reality and it should be open for discussion, which I believe is what dr Lind was suggesting.
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I don’t disagree with Dr. Lind. I think that 12 years of obedience to standardized testing is harmful to human development.
When I referred to someone blaming public schools for Trump, they meant that the public schools were so bad that students emerged dumb and voted for Trump.
Different points.
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Just becasue someone attends a public school, that doesn’t mean the public school is responsible for the child not learning and stashing dumb. That is usually caused by other elements outside of the public schools.
There is truth to the old adage that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
The same holds true for school children. You can force a child to go to school but you can’t make that child learn and/or remember what they were taught.
And poverty has an impact on a child’s education in every country where the international PISA test is administered.
From a report out of Stanford:
Poor ranking on international test misleading about U.S. student performance, Stanford researcher finds
“There is an achievement gap between more and less disadvantaged students in every country; surprisingly, that gap is smaller in the United States than in similar post-industrial countries, and not much larger than in the very highest scoring countries.”
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/january/test-scores-ranking-011513.html
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“There is truth to the old adage that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
But you certainly can teach a young horse to obey, can’t you?
Blaming Trump on schooling would be a stretch, and I really don’t see who did such a thing.
There is no doubt that when we describe today’s schools, “centers of lively discussions” is not the first thing that comes to mind. After 7 hours of obedient listening, note taking and silent, rapid lunching in school, kids go home, and do 3-4 hours of home work. Yes, the kids who do break under this load are not the exception. I see these kids every day, and they demand me to lead them, lecture to them, and are frustrated by discussions, they view them as not learning “conversations are not sweaty enough”, they tell me. They are preparing for a life in “hard work”.
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Betsy DeVos is a preview of “Blaming Trump on schooling”.
How much damage will Trump’s choice do to America’s public school in four or even eight years? Do we wait to blame Trump or act now to show and/or stop the damage before it is too late to revive the public schools in a few years or a few decades?
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“How much damage will Trump’s choice do to America’s public school in four or even eight years?”
Ah, I didn’t think about that. Good idea, let’s preblame Trump.
It was really a horrible idea that you built that 10 thousand mile long wall. It’s ugly.
Its gonna be only 2K miles, but I haven’t event planned it yet, so how would you know it would be ugly?
It just looks ugly, that 20 thousand miles long wall surrounding us. And look how sad and stupid the few remaining kids have become as a result of your education secretary’s God-approved brain improvements and liberal machine gun policies in their schools.
But Betsy hasn’t even been approved by the senate, so she couldn’t have mandated schools yet to purchase Neurocore Bibles and nuclear AKA 47s from AMWAY.
Well, look around how depressed the kids are because of tests and math and starvation and the daily flying bullets at school lunch time. All your fault, as is the return of the plague due to the 400 million Americans not being able to see a doc for their infection.
But there are only 310 million Americans, and I only signed the papers to kill off Obamacare yesterday.
Ah, speaking of killing and death, half a billion Americans burnt to death just this morning alone, since you told Exxon and Shell that they don’t even have to use pipes, and they can just directly free-flow their frecked oil through our great land to help out the American people in their need for low gas prices.
Ah, yeah, I did help our country to greatness as I promised, didn’t I?! Hey, do you speak Russian? I just got this letter from my best friend, but I cannot read it. I think he is telling me, I need to do more. Much more.
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LOL
I wonder if Trump has seen “Under the Dome”. That might save a lot of money and he’d be right at home, but how much of Canada and Mexico would be trapped inside that dome once it was activated to cover every state in the U.S?
The series was cancelled but Littlefingers can bring it back and play the roll of the used car salesman.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1553656/
No need to build that 20k wall with a Dome.
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Do you really think that ALL or MOST of the children go home from school and “do 3-4 hours of home work” every night? If you do, let me sell you some beach-front property on Pluto for your vacation home. How about 1 acre for $1 million?
When I started teaching back in the 1970s, if half of my students turned in homework that was a good day. By 2005 when I retired, if 5 percent turned in homework, that was a good day.
Do you know the average number of hours a school age child spends outside of school hanging out with friends, watching TV, texting, playing video games, listening to music each day, each week?
“TV viewing among kids is at an eight-year high. On average, children ages 2-5 spend 32 hours a week in front of a TV—watching television, DVDs, DVR and videos, and using a game console. Kids ages 6-11 spend about 28 hours a week in front of the TV. The vast majority of this viewing (97%) is of live TV [1].
71% of 8- to 18-year-olds have a TV in their bedroom [1a]; 54% have a DVD/VCR player, 37% have cable/satellite TV, and 20% have premium channels [2]. father and daughter watching tvMedia technology now offers more ways to access TV content, such as on the Internet, cell phones and iPods. This has led to an increase in time spent viewing TV, even as TV-set viewing has declined. 41% of TV-viewing is now online, time-shifted, DVD or mobile [2a].
In about two-thirds of households, the TV is “usually” on during meals [3].
In 53% of households of 7th- to 12th-graders, there are no rules about TV watching [4].
In 51% of households, the TV is on “most” of the time [5].
Kids with a TV in their bedroom spend an average of almost 1.5 hours more per day watching TV than kids without a TV in the bedroom.
Many parents encourage their toddlers to watch television.
http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm
And that was just TV
The child poverty rate where I taught started at 70 percent and climbed to 100 percent depending on the school in that district. The street gangs were multi-generational. The only reason hard core gang kids came to school was to sell drugs and recruit for their gang. They weren’t there to learn.
Teachers might assign homework but that doesn’t mean their students do the homework.
“A 2007 Metlife study found that 45 percent of students in grades three to 12 spend more than an hour a night doing homework, including the six percent of students who report spending more than three hours a night on their homework. In the 2002-2003 school year, a study out of the University of Michigan found that American students ages six through 17 spent three hours and 38 minutes per week doing homework.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/how-much-homework-do-american-kids-do/279805/
And here are 13 reasons why children don’t do their homework.
http://teaching.monster.com/training/articles/1333-why-students-may-not-complete-homework
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A horse or dog is easier to train to obey than a child, believe me
Corrected: “But you certainly can teach a young child to obey, can’t you?”
It’s possible but not easy and not guaranteed. If teachers could run their classrooms and school like the U.S. Marine Corps runs its boot camps, maybe, but that is not legally possible in the civilian world.
And even in Marine book camp, some recruits break under the pressure and end up with medical discharges. Sort of similar to kids that leave KIPP schools or Success Academy because of the abusive treatment. The parents see the child stressing out when they are at home: losing sleep, worrying, crying, etc.
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And for what it’s worth
I think it is very counterproductive to assume someone is blaming schools or even teacher bashing simply because they made an observation that actually seems to have merit.
This (along with calling people Trump trolls) is a very good way of driving people away from this blog.
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“Blaming the rise of Trump on our public school systems?”
I am not sure, if Lind blamed anything particularly on public schools. He pointed out, correctly, imo, that lecturing has taken over the classrooms, and he said that in the midst of focusing on what to teach, active involvement of the students gets ignored, since “there is a material to be covered”. This certainly yield graduates who wait for others to tell them what to do. This is our constant fear, isn’t it?
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Diane,
Please read Joe’s comment, to which you replied.
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Perhaps you replied to his second, but read his first one.
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SDP,
I went back through the comments and could not find one where Joe called FLERP a troll. If he did, he should not have. But please understand that I think Trump is a singular historical disaster who will destroy our freedoms and possibly the planet. I have trouble understanding why anyone would say that there is no difference between Hillary and Trump. She did not deny climate change. She would not appoint a Supreme Court Justice who wants to make abortion illegal and eliminate gay rights. Trump will if he can get away with it. I can’t think of any important issues where they agreed. And I am also very fed up with people so consumed with hate for Hillary that they are still defaming her, while the nation faces a catastrophic era of Trump.
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“while the nation faces a catastrophic era of Trump.”
I think we have more to fear from his VP when he replaces Trump. Because that will happen (^TM 🙂 ).
On the other hand, there is enough democracy left here to trust that the majority will win out. Perhaps we should fantasize about how that can happen—especially if we don’t want to wait 4 years.
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Actually, joe’s first comment is the Only one that refers to blaming the schools or Trump.
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When any reader warns me that I will “lose readers” by writing what I believe, I have to say plainly that I don’t care. I don’t write this blog to get readers but to say what I believe. I try to back up my beliefs with facts to the greatest extent possible. Some of my opinions are opinions, not facts. I know the difference. But please don’t ever think that I will stop speaking out because of a fear of losing readers. There is no subscription, no payment. I will not pander to readers nor court their approval. This is my living room and my classroom. Enter if you wish to participate. You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to read. You don’t have to stay. There are many other blogs out there. I won’t be hurt if you leave. Stay if you want to be part of the discussion. Entry is free. But don’t tell me not to criticize Trump. Don’t tell me that I should not write what I want.
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Blaming the schools for Trump.
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Lloyd
You make a good point, but I don’t believe what Dr Lind has said precludes what you have said.
What Dr Lind has said above makes a great deal of sense.
Schools might be our best chance to save ourselves, but ONlY if they are places where people are free to discuss things without worrying about being booted out.
Albert Einstein had some very similar things to say about schools. He decried the regimental climate in schools that e himself attended in his youth and spoke of the need for an open creative atmosphere.
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Diane, I never told you what to write. I simply made an observation, which I believe is accurate.
But you replied to a comment wherein Joe implied that Dr. Lind was blaming schools for trump
That at least gave the appearance that you were bolstering Joe’s case, which quite frankly is very weak.
I now know that you were actually not replying to the gist of hiscommente, but I did not until you clarified and it is at least possible that neither would Dr Lind have kown had I not spoken up.
So perhaps i shouldjust have kept my mouth shut and let the miscommunication stand. 🙂
PS reference to Trump trolls comes from previous comments I have seen (not Joe’s)
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I have had Trump trolls on the blog but most disappeared after the election.
I certainly don’t blame the schools for Trump.
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I know you don’t blame the schools for Trump.
That was not what I was getting at.
The comment of Joe’s to which you initially replied basically accused Dr Lind of blaming the schools for Trump, an accusation that I pointed out is very counterproductive and may very well drive someone like Dr Lind away if it goes unanswered.
Unfortunately, it first appeared that you were supporting Joe’s claim about Dr. Lind, who, by the way undoubtedly knows more than most about the role of schools in democracy, since that is his area of expertise.
He is precisely the type of expert that people should be talking to if they want to figure out how to save our democracy.
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Diane
This is really what I meant with my “warning”
If comments like Joe’s drive away actual experts lke Dr. Lind, it will be a great loss to your blog.
If that sounds like me telling you what to write, so be it, but that was not my intention.
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And critically, Dr Lind’s German background gives him a unique perspective on the role that school environments can play in producing a submissive populace that can be manipulated by authoritarian rulers.
IMHO, what Dr Lind has to say could not be more timely and deserves to be elevated to a post.
But I won’t tell you what to write (any more)
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SDP,
My snippy response was not directed at you, but at several people who have chided me for paying too much attention to national politics. Their advice is that I should stick to education. It is impossible to separate the two when the president is Trump and he wants to turn the US Department of Education over to an unqualified person whose main virtue is being a billionaire.
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Dear Diane,
You are brilliant, and not just about education. Your insight as to the CONTEXT of what is ongoing in this nation is valuable.
Moreover, it makes this blog so very interesting, as the things you choose educates us about larger issues,and offers us a respite from the debacle unfolding with satire and humor.
You open up necessary conversations.
I did not read the comment that suggested you stick to education.
Any person who said that believes that is impervious to truth, and impressed with the opinions running around in his head!
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Personally, I am not qualified describe anyone as delusional, obsessive or narcissistic. Perhaps the New York Times, Dan Rather or the Attorney General of Massachusetts are qualified to make that kind of assessment. But, I do think that it would be almost impossible for such a person to run a large successful business,
much less run a successful campaign for POTUS.
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JB2, if we ever saw Trump’s financial records, we might learn that he owes billions of dollars to Russian oligarchs.
What “successful” businessman do you know who was fined $25 million for defrauding war widows and veterans who enrolled in his branded “university”?
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“much less run a successful campaign for POTUS.”
That’s the definition of sanity? Were Hitler or Mussolini sane?
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We cannot afford to normalize this man. I hear it all the time…”Let’s give him a chance. after all let’s see… ”
GET real. we cannot normalize this man. THIS is unprecedented.
http://portside.org/2016-12-31/never-normalize-why-trump’s-presidency-illegitimate-and-how-respond
CHARACTER IS DESTINY. YOU have seen his character for a long time now. YOU saw him sand over Hillary. You heard I’m brag about how he can assault women and get away with it… that was no LOCKER ROOM but a BUS trip with a member of the press who was talking to him. Now you see him , as his first act, end money/aid to poor women in other nations, who need some control over their body, and you see who he has appointed to his cabinet, and who he wants on the Supreme Court.
How much more do you need to know. He is obsessed with how many people came to hisinauguraation, to the POINT THAT WHEN HE SITS DOWN WITH CONGRESS in his first meeting, THAT IS ALL HE CAN TALK ABOUT.
And at night, when he should be studying the parameters of this complicated job, he is tweeting.
ARE YOU SERIOUS????
Keith Oberman looked at his Trump and deduced: “there is something wrong with that man.
Jon Stewart discusses how behavior gives us a view into who person is.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1tTsmNJMvE
paul Krugman says: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/01/24/1624400/-Trump-s-mentally-ill-says-Paul-Krugman-this-morning?detail=email&link_id=1&can_id=47594dc7343bb19ac4f7621b50e457f8&source=email-trumps-mentally-ill-says-paul-krugman-2&email_referrer=trumps-mentally-ill-says-paul-krugman-2&email_subject=trumps-mentally-ill-says-paul-krugman
A teacher works with hundreds of human and has to figure out who they are… and does not need a degree in psychoanalysis to KNOW HOW BEHAVIOR OFFERS A VIEW.
He is UNFIT for the position and the CONSTITUTION has a very clear path to removing him.
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Susan…m’dear…your video post is not Jon Stewart. It is Bill Maher and is one the best shows he has EVER done. Laughed myself silly. He also had Jane Fonda who was a delight, and my fave for DNC Chair, Tom Lopez, who is so much better informed than Keith Ellison and who has a great SOH plus real top governmental executive experience. And historian/author John Meacham. All told…everyone who wants to both laugh and learn should watch…thanks so much for posting it.
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Meacham: “I spent an hour with Trump in May talking about books he had read. It didn’t take an hour, it was very brief, but it was like interviewing the admiral in Mary Poppins. He was shootin’ off cannons, he was wearing hats, you know, and he was totally in his own universe.”
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Read my comment above with links to people who say he is insane and unfit to be president… you will love the links…trust me.
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He is not delusional but intentional in lying about the past. See https://umairhaque.com/how-to-listen-to-authoritarians-without-losing-your-mind-653accfcc4ba#.30is8mfm3
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It’s not just a disregard for truth, it’s becoming censorship and silencing of government agencies and employees. Who else will be silenced for disagreeing with this administration? Well, maybe YOU! If you don’t think that’s FRIGHTENING, something’s wrong. It’s 1984, people, wake up!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/badlands-climate-tweets_us_5887bb40e4b0441a8f717323
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“I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts.” – Sean Spicer, White House press secretary, at a briefing Monday, 1/23/17
Um, that’s called an opinion. We teach kids the difference between fact (provable) and opinion (using words like “think” and “feel”). And, as we know, David Coleman (architect of Common Core) has said, “No one gives a $h!t about your feelings.”
Pencil drop. 😁
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Russian intelligence aided and abetted Trump’s election, with the help of top Republican elected officials and top Republican National Committee members. Trump ran a xenophobic, racist and misogynistic campaign. Many of his supporters held racist and authoritarian views. Trump is a serial liar who has contempt for the Constitution and democratic values. Apparently, so do many of his Cabinet appointments.
Diane asks, “what does all this mean?”
It means the future of the Republic is at stake.
For educators, too, it ought to mean that Trump and all that he and the Republican party stand for is a clarion call for a civic education emphasis in public schools.
But, where is the ‘leadership?’
Anyone?
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This column by Tyler Cowan was reprinted in our local newspaper this morning. It offers an intriguing reason for Mr. Trump’s lies:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-23/why-trump-s-staff-is-lying
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Diana Chapman Walsh was president of Wellesley College 8 years ago. She recently emailed her former colleagues the following idea:
(Received this today. Creative idea … easy and worth a try.)
Listen Up! The Republicans need to get the message from the majority of Americans that we value and need the benefits of Obamacare. Here’s how we do that.
On January 23rd, everyone who feels that way (our numbers are legion) sends a note to Donald Trump with a simple message:
“Don’t make America sick again. Improve Obamacare. Don’t repeal it.”
One envelope for every ACA supporter in your household…even if they are under 18 years old. Just that simple message. Put it in an envelope, and put a stamp on it.
On January 23rd, mail it to:
Pres. Donald Trump
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20500
Can you imagine the picture of 53 MILLION letters arriving at the White House by January 26th? It will be a mountain. That image might help deter the Republicans from killing the most substantial improvement to American healthcare since the discovery of Penicillin.
Do it today! Drop it into a mailbox near you on Monday, January 23rd.
Please send this email to 20 (or more) of your friends, neighbors ann fellow Americans. Ask them to do the same. This also helps out the US Postal Service, with about $20 Million of stamp sales.
Don’t send emails to Trump…they don’t photograph well. This is about images, since words and ideas are falling on deaf ears.
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I am up for this suggestion. Will do it, Carol…but will do it on other issues as well. Though with this uncaring WH, doubt that anything We the People say, demand, will be heeded.
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What scares me even more is the unwillingness of the Trump supporters to acknowledge reality. Whenever they read or hear something that they don’t want to acknowledge, they respond with a chorus of “fake news”. Is this what we have come to? Alternative facts will be offered whenever reality inconvenient doesn’t align with one’s beliefs? Hearsay, propaganda, and manufactured nonsense created on forums and alt-right publications is now the equal of or superior to the news that is presented by educated, experienced and vetted reporters. Pizza-gate, birther myth, and Vince Foster’s murder is news, but factual reporting in the Times, Washington Post, and the network news is “fake”.
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It is Trump supporters who caused this by voting for him. They are legion and are our bigoted neighbors.
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Diane, Angus King of Maine speaks for a lot of us here, and he was the only Senator who dared to say it:
“To say she’s a proponent of school choice is an understatement,” King said. “Her whole career has been school choice to the exclusion of the basic public education system, and I am just such a firm believer in public education that I can’t go that far.”
“Nobody argues that the public education system is perfect or can’t be improved, and I think that’s where the emphasis should be,” he added. “I’m a product of public schools. My parents went to public schools. My kids went to public schools. My dad used to say that public schools are the idea at the heart of democracy. I would hate to depart from that in a wholesale fashion, which is what she seems to intend to do.”
‘To the exclusion of the public education system’ is exactly right.
I’m thrilled there is one Senator who isn’t afraid to advocate FOR public schools. 45 million kids have ONE Senator in their corner, but one is better than none 🙂
The rest of these Senators who didn’t stick up for the public schools should be ashamed of themselves. The vast majority of their voters in their respective states attended public schools. The vast majority of those voters’ children attend public schools. They had a duty to support us.
http://www.pressherald.com/2017/01/24/angus-king-to-oppose-betsy-devos-as-education-secretary/
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California’s Senator Kamala Harris, who went all through public schools, was avid in sticking up for them, as was Elizabeth Warren who was fierce in her questioning of DeVos.
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You won’t see this on any ed reform sites or on the federal government site because she’s a public school teacher:
“A third-grade math and science teacher at Columbus City Schools’ Weinland Park Elementary School left work Tuesday $25,000 richer after winning a national education award.
Tiffany Tynes Curry, 38, said she was stunned to learn during a surprise announcement in front of hundreds of elementary students that she had won a Milken Educator Award, after having been selected from among candidates provided to the Milken Family Foundation by the Ohio Department of Education. More than 2,600 early or mid-career teachers, principals and specialists have received the award since 1987 “for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish,” the foundation says.
“I was truly surprised,” said Tynes Curry, who is the first Columbus City Schools teacher to win the award since 2002.”
We don’t hear anything good about public schools because ed reform is an echo chamber where they spend all their time promoting charters and vouchers. We get carefully selected news. It excludes public schools.
Look at any ed reform site or any ed reform twitter feed. It is a droning litany of bad news about public schools and cheerleading for charters and vouchers.
This isn’t ‘science”. It’s marketing. It’s designed to persuade people to leave public schools and enroll in charters and private schools. It’s complete BS as far as the Ohio “charter sector” but they don’t care- they promote charter schools anyway.
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Mike Milken is the infamous “Junk Bonds King” who, following a guilty plea on charges for violating U.S. securities laws, received a felony conviction and served time in prison.
Milken is a right-wing billionaire and no friend of public education. Milken was in on the ground floor of the establishment of K12 Inc., the online charter giant that has made millions annually off tax dollars while failing to educate most students. Due to his felony conviction, he doesn’t qualify to receive government funds though, so with the help of his brother, he hides his holdings and companies, like Russian dolls, one inside the other, in order to conceal his ownership and involvement. Milken owns the largest child care center chain in the country and he also used to own a university, where he sent his child care center teachers to be trained. The college could not get federal financial aid or accreditation due to his felony conviction, but he eventually gained accreditation through an underhanded merger with another college, which ultimately figured out the ploy and disassociated with his school. In the end, his college lost the accreditation due to his slight of hand management.
Milken is a massive control freak who cannot get enough money or power, and he wants to get his hands on federal dollars for Head Start. As a junk bonds salesman, Milken admitted his guilt but he has sought pardons from virtually every president since his release from prison. Trump is likely to be the president who finally grants him clemency. Like other billionaires today, such as Gates, his foundation does do some good things, such as investing in cancer research (that’s a personal interest because he had prostate cancer), but he is suspect due to his history and his agendas, so he should not be trusted.
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You are correct on all your facts, reteach. But in LA where Milken lives, and throughout the US, he is venerated as a philanthropist….but then so is Sheldon Adelson. The ultra rich build their lives and social interaction on how much and how trumpeted their donations reflect their wealth…not on how reasonable and good their hearts are. Their motives are rarely pure.
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Chiara,
Speak of marketing … The Milken Foundation is run by Lowel and Michael Milken. They also founded K12 Inc., an online learning firm. The 2016 Annual Report says $800 million revenue. SEC banned Michael from broker or investor advisory for his 1080s activities, but he is free to influence minors’ education.
Maybe the $25K is a tax write-off.
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How will Trump react when some foreign leader or ordinary citizens disagree with him? He is a 70 year old man who hasn’t grown up yet. His narcissism is frightening.
…………….
Headline: White House Sources Say Trump Was ‘Visibly Enraged’ at the Size of the Women’s March: Report @alternet
“Trump turned on the television to see a jarring juxtaposition — massive demonstrations around the globe protesting his day-old presidency and footage of the sparser crowd at his inauguration, with large patches of white empty space on the Mall,” the paper reported. “As his press secretary, Sean Spicer, was still unpacking boxes in his spacious new West Wing office, Trump grew increasingly and visibly enraged.”
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/white-house-sources-say-trump-was-visibly-enraged-size-womens-march-report#.WIim1BJr2fg.email
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Mental health experts appear to be genuinely concerned.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-greene/is-donald-trump-mentally_b_13693174.html
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Diane, you are off the mark on one piece you posted here (and I do find Trump abhorrent) but think you want the accurate facts because the facts alone impune him.
The National Park Service has been refusing to issue crowd estimates since threats during the Million Man March – I have not seen a report where he issued a directive to stop any counts and given this report the National Park Service does not count because of controversies.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-inauguration-turnout-233876
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“He asserted repeatedly that the crowd at his swearing-in was larger than the crowd for Obama in 2009, despite the fact that aerial photographs showed this was not true. ”
Let’s all enjoy the view.
http://www.nbcnews.com/card/side-side-images-show-2009-inauguration-compared-2017-n709801
But I think we all acknowledge that we overemphasize the significance of the lies surrounding the inauguration crowd for political purposes, and not because something truly outrageous happened. No doubt, the inauguration overestimates are as useful politically as the cigar events of Clinton, but at the same time equally as insignificant compared to DeVos, Duncan, Gates, Pipelines, Constitution hickups, etc.
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Mate,
Trump’s obsession with crowd size is weird. Compared to the issues he is facing and his determination to give the religious right a world free of science, the crowd size is a stupid distraction. But it shows how petty and self-absorbed he is.
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I think Trump’s point is that too often an official narrative is a substitute for the truth.
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So now Trump has stepped in as Herr Goebbles to silence civil servants who work in federal departments so that HE can create “an official narrative” which will “substitute for the truth” –and what, it’s okay?
If that is Trump’s point, then he should not have been telling so many lies himself, especially since some voters look to candidates as if they are already officials.
And it’s not like now should be the honest man’s turn to get back. Here are 26 pages gauging how truthful Trump has been by Politifact and the picture is not pretty: 70% of the time what Trump said was untrue [mostly false (19%), false (33%) and pants on fire (18%)]:
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/
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Do you really think that politifact is fair and independent?
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Politifact is fair and independent.
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Read my comment about TRUMP’S MENTAL CONDITION. I report facts… this is not opinion.
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NPR.org – EPA Scientists’ Work May Face ‘Case By Case’ Review By Trump Team, Official Says
…Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency who want to publish or present their scientific findings likely will need to have their work reviewed on a “case by case basis” before it can be disseminated, according to a spokesman for the agency’s transition team.
In an interview Tuesday evening with NPR, Doug Ericksen, the head of communications for the Trump administration’s EPA transition team, said that during the transition period, he expects scientists will undergo an unspecified internal vetting process before sharing their work outside the agency.
“We’ll take a look at what’s happening so that the voice coming from the EPA is one that’s going to reflect the new administration,” Ericksen told NPR….
…………..
So now scientists are supposed to only report what Trump wants to hear? Good grief. How bad will this get? I’m really getting tired of Trump’s ignorance and power.
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“will need to have their work reviewed on a “case by case basis” before it can be disseminated”
Can use the c-word here? OK, I obscure it: Censorboat. No way, there is law permitting this.
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And sadly he is the President of the USA. Horrifying.
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He is pathological. How do so many NUT cases become president? OH…forgot, this nation has a broken two party political system and $$$$$$ talks.
The DNC had better get their act together. The Super Delegates are NOT SUPER.
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Get this !!!!!!!!!!!
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Funny. How do they do it?
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What is to be expected from a Narcissistic President who has no compassion?
Unfortunately the media has helped in spreading fear.
……………
Read Draft Text Of Trump’s Executive Order Limiting Muslim Entry To The U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)
WASHINGTON ― The White House intends to temporarily shut down travel from a wide swath of countries to the United States and implement dramatic restrictions…
…Although it reflects anti-refugee sentiment spreading worldwide, the draft of Trump’s order represents a dramatic upending of current U.S. policy toward some of the globe’s most unstable regions. It will inevitably face opposition from human rights groups, civil liberties organizations, Democrats and even members of the Christian right, who have encouraged a sympathetic approach to the refugee crisis.
The civil war in Syria, now in its sixth year, has left 4.8 million Syrians as refugees, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Since the war began in 2011, the U.S. has admitted only about 18,000 refugees from Syria, due in part to a lengthy vetting process that typically takes from 18 to 24 months. But as the humanitarian crisis in Syria worsened, former President Barack Obama pushed for an increase in admissions. During the last fiscal year, the U.S. accepted over 10,000 Syrian refugees….
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Read Draft Text Of Trump’s Executive Order Limiting Muslim Entry To The U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)
WASHINGTON ― The White House intends to temporarily shut down travel from a wide swath of countries to the United States and implement dramatic restri…
Read the entire article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/read-draft-text-trump-executive-order-muslim-entry_us_5888fe00e4b0024605fd591d
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This is hilarious. Got to read it. (It was sent to me by a Canadian friend.)
The true, correct story of what happened at Donald Trump’s inauguration
By Alexandra Petri January 24 at 3:43 PM
http://wapo.st/2koWvGb?tid=ss_mail
I apologize to Donald Trump. As Sean Spicer so wisely said at his first news conference on Monday (It was the first. The one that happened on Saturday did not happen at all, and I recognize that!), it is unfair to be so mean and negative all the time.
Here is the fair and unbiased story about the inauguration written in compliance with the Trump style guidelines that we should have been obeying all along.
Nothing that has ever happened or will ever happen was as great as Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The crowd was magnificent and huge, bigger than any crowd had ever been before! It stretched all the way to the moon. The Pope, who was there, confirmed it.
“Thanks for being here, Pope,” Donald Trump told him.
“Are you kidding? You’re my best friend,” the Pope said. “I wouldn’t miss your big day for anything!” He gave Donald Trump a big high-five.
Everyone in the world had come there at great expense. They sold all their possessions — their homes, their “Hamilton” tickets, which were worthless to them — to raise money to come and see this great sight. They could not believe that a perfect being such as Donald Trump even existed. They thought that he was a myth or a legend or a decades-long series of fabrications…
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What’s interesting (read: funny) is that the minority elected guy in the white house assumes that the 3-5 million of illegal voters voted for Hillary and not him. Maybe his electoral lead is a result of illegal voters. hmmmmm….
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He said yesterday that ALL of the illegal votes were cast for HRC.
He is delusional and lives in his head. Which is empty except for mirrors.
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We have to begin to say this everywhere that he is UNFIT FOR THE POSITION.
Our Constitution provides for removing an unfit president;it is a 4 step process that does not involve the courts.
We all have to join Keith Oberman who says it here TODAY! : “Donald Trump Is Not Of Sound Mind And Must Resign!” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/keith-olbermann-donald-trump-is-not-of-sound-mind-and-must-resign_us_58884d96e4b0441a8f71db51
From the moment Keith Oberman met Trump he said that “there was something very wrong with him.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/keith-olbermann-donald-trump-is-not-of-sound-mind-and-must-resign_us_58884d96e4b0441a8f71db51
Yes. We need to remind ourselves… THERE IS SOMETHING VERY WRONG WITH THAT MAN!
Krugman today, was right out there that TRUMP is insane.
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Trump-s-mentally-ill-says-in-General_News-Integrity_Krugman_Mentally-Ill_Perception-170125-531.html#comment641683
WE ALL NEED TO SAY THAT…EVERYONE OF US until it becomes a viral chant.
I was reading The NewYorker, today, and Nicholas Schmidle said in his “About Face” page, that Glen Beck was at Mar-a-Largo, and “left convinced that Trump was nuts! He added,”I should be able to spot DANGEROUSLY UNHINGED! We have as a culture embraced the bad guys, but when a Soprano turns up in your real life, you don’t love him so much. We have made everything in to a game show, and now we are reaping the consequences of it.”
Have you ever argued with a toddler? Our president is a man -baby. Even his own family cannot stop his self destructive behavior… tweeting in the night when he is about to manage a nation!
.
Trevor Noah nails it again , yesterday, in looking at the Spicer debacle, http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ifsa0m/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-profiles-in-tremendousness—white-house-press-secretary-sean-spicer
He reminds us that this is “not a normal thing.” He says it three times..
He then says ”Keep reminding our selves it is NOT a normal thing.”
EXACTLY, FOLKS… this ain’t normal… and it is time to SAY IT OUT LOUD… ALL OF US!
Portside ran a piece that warns us not to normalize this illegitimate president. http://portside.org/2016-12-31/never-normalize-why-trump’s-presidency-illegitimate-and-how-respond
WE ALL NEED TO BEGIN THE CHANT… TRUMP IS UNFIT FOR THE JOB. RESIGN!
we did not elect Bannon or Jared Kushner to the presidency… but who do you think is picking those cabinet and supreme court people… Donald is IGNORANCE PERSONIFIED. THEY are running the oval office.
I SAY @ ENOUGH; Trump is insane!
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Are you aware that this video that made fun of Trump has now been blocked? It was a riot!!
Video:The Netherlands welcomes Trump in his own words
Published on Jan 23, 2017
Make sure to @realDonaldTrump on twitter. He has to see this.
And make sure you leave a like,comment and Subscribe.
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Here is an unblocked version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlAoaI-bJUs
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Thank you. Now I can resend it to friends.
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That version is now also blocked. Is there another site? A friend of mine in Malaysia wanted to see it. (Gad. Someone doesn’t want anything funny about Trump to be seen. Wonder about this. Glad SNL hasn’t been blocked yet.)
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For now.
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Of course these new links will go away too. What you can do is download the vid and put the mp4 file up on a private webpage, and send the link.
If you tell your friends not to publicize the private link, the TV company won’t care.
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Censorship. This is disgusting. The people and professional orgs had better address this and hit hard. This is nothing to take sitting down. Censorship and duh…alternative facts? Huh?
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That video is not gone. I just found it on You Tube, and now it has more than 13-million views.
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Robert Reich: Trump’s infrastructure scam
Published on Jan 20, 2017
Donald Trump says he has an infrastructure plan, but really it’s an infrastructure scam.
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I didn’t know he draws the pics. I really like his vids. Thanks.
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