Steve Nelson posted an obituary for the great, idealistic and progressive nation we strived to be, with periods of struggle and backsliding. Remember, America the Beautiful, “with liberty and justice for all?”
He rules the death a homicide.
He includes a list of seven organizations to which contributions may be sent in lieu of flowers.
I add: the Network for Public Education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thanks, Diane, especially for properly adding the Network for Public Education!
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Here is a sobering supplement to Steve Nelson’s obituary, less inspired than his.
Is Democracy at Risk?
In June 2016, Gallop polls showed public approval of Congress stood at a mere 9 percent. Average confidence in fourteen major institutions is below 33% with newspapers and organized religiondropping to record lows in 2016.
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The overall average of Americans expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in 14 institutions is below 33% for the third straight year.
Americans have the most confidence in the military, and the least in Congress. The police and small business are the only other ” institutions” garnering majority confidence. Average confidence in public schools was 30%, down 7% in the last decade.
The Gallop surveys are not the only indications that confidence in major institutions, indeed, our system of democratic governance, is at risk of being replaced by a more authoritarian system. And that possibility is not just in the United States.
Survey analyses from Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk political scientists at Johns Hopkins, indicate antidemocratic sentiment has risen since 1995. They say: “ What was once unthinkable that democracy is an enduring feature of our system of governance is less stable that we might have imagined. Drawing on data from Waves 3 through 6 of the World Values Surveys (1995–2014), we look at four important types of measures that are clear indicators of regime legitimacy as opposed to government legitimacy: citizens’ express support for the system as a whole; the degree to which they support key institutions of liberal democracy, such as civil rights; their willingness to advance their political causes within the existing political system; and their openness to authoritarian alternatives such as military rule.”
Here are some highlights from their study with a focus on results from the United States. pp-11-12
In 2011, 32 percent of US citizens said it would be better to have governance by a “strong leader” who does not have to “bother with (Congress) and elections.”
In 2011, 49 percent said they approve of “having experts, not government, make decisions according to what they think is best for the country.”
“…Openness to nondemocratic alternatives is especially strong among citizens who are both young and rich.
Here is the chiller finding:
In 1995 only 6 percent of rich young Americans (those born since 1970) believed that it would be a “good” thing for the army to take over
Today(2014) this view is held by 35 percent of rich young Americans.” ( See definition of rich in the study).
The authors point to Trump’s election as “a warning sign that democracy may begin to founder even in countries where historically it has been extraordinarily stable.”
They say: “Donald Trump’s election to the presidency of the United States has given renewed urgency to questions about the stability of supposedly consolidated liberal democracies.”
They ask: Should the growing disenchantment of citizens in the United States be seen as a warning sign that democracy may begin to founder even in countries where historically it has been extraordinarily stable? And does the electoral success of parties and candidates that attack key democratic norms during their campaigns suggest that their supporters will remain loyal to them even if they start to undermine the rule of law?
‘It would be premature to exclude the possibility that, in countries where it is deeply entrenched, democracy can weather a much larger degree of civic withdrawal and discontent. … We have watched the deteriorations in the quality of elections and the rule of law”
Here I paraphrase their general points and suggestions for what to do..
Citizens who retain a deep commitment to the core values of liberal democracy must recognize that their countries’ past stability is no reason for complacency.
The power now wielded by the Republican party and sympathizers with Trump’s strong man governance and “uncivil” strategies is without precedent. Trump and his supporters are exploiting voter complacency. They are shrewd and agile in turning disenchantments and serious problems into “catastrophies” that only Trump, the strong omniscient leader can address.
Defenders of democratic governance must monitor and organize to resist attacks on the integrity of democratic institutions, including public education, civil rights, an independent press and judiciary,
Whether democratic governance can survive this assault depends on whether democracy’s defenders recognize the threat, and can muster the savvy and support for a sustained and coherent rescue operation.
Most important of all is the will of citizens to do this rescue work.
We must.
Data Source: World Values Surveys, Waves 5 and 6 (2005–14). Valid responses: United States, 3,398 . Definitions and more detail is here. http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/02_28.1_Foa%20%26%20Mounk%20pp%205-15.pdf
See also http://www.gallup.com/poll/192581/americans-confidence-institutions-stays-low.aspx?g_source=position4&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles
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Confidence in public schools down 7% in the last decade”
It’s actually surprising that it is not down much more, given the nearly constant bashing of public schools under the final product2 years of Bush and then 8 years of Obama.
And one could be excused for thinking that Betsy DeVos is the perfect person to take up the reins (or is it rains?)
When it comes to continuing the Obama education legacy, she probably is.
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Let’s not allow this obituary (eloquent as it is) to become reality. If anything, what we are now facing should be the greatest uniting force since the Civil War, a most honorable challenge. The world wars and 9/11 were not greater than this crisis, only different.
Sadly, we have done this to ourselves.
There is enough blame to share. Those who voted, those who stood by idly and didn’t, the mainstream media, the alt-right media, social media outlets, the US Congress, the SCOTUS,both major political parties, 3rd parties, Citizens United,foreign entities, terrorists, banksters, Koch Bros. etc…WE HAVE ALL created this fecal maelstrom. Now it has to be fixed and never be allowed to be repeated.
Steve’s list of places to contribute to is great way to start. Organization @ the local level is just another step in the process. What ever one can do if one is opposed to the current regime is a positive. What ever you don’t stop reading, viewing, listening and speaking out.
It will not be easy, but the effort is worth the outcome.
RESIST TO COEXIST!
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Sorry that there are several punctuation errors and spelling errors…Bad exemplar for an educator… too much angst and perhaps a bit too much alcohol…anyone shocked?
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Ah, yes, James. Uncharacteristically sloppy. That’s what passion can do. (no alcohol involved). But true, more or less, no?
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Hyperbole much? Where was the outrage when President Obama signed the NDAA—including Section 1021—y’know, the law that did away with habeas corpus? The U.S. has survived a hell of a lot worse than the election of Donald Trump. Keep your hair on.
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“The Road to Trump Tower”
Democrats paved the road
That leads to Donald’s tower
And ferried heavy load
For those who wield the power
The road was paved on backs
Of middle class and poor
For Fuld and Goldman Sachs
And Rubin and his corps
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Oops,
Should have been replying to Joe prichard
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It is up to the democrats to stop speaking on behalf of wealthy foundations who want the ultimate power to set policy….to place some faith in the teachers in actual classrooms, and let the public know they are the ones who actually know and care about the kids. They are not perfect, and the facade of the reform industry might look like it is, but people can sense what is real. It is the single most important thing which needs to happen in this nation…faith and confidence in their children’s teachers.
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“As unprecedented as it is, the United States of America was declared dead prematurely: first its Pacific limb called Washington jerked itself out of the grave, and from there, signs of life started showing all over her buried and battered body.
Doctors are now confident that America will be on its way to recovery: they first recommend a quick surgical removal of the trump-lump, which was the immediate cause of the coma. Once that’s done, the good and wise doctors recommend a complete diet change with much less oil consumption, more even wealth circulation and just a completely general care for the health of the whole body from sea to shining sea and from fruited plains to purple mountain majesties.
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