This is an important speech by Sasha Baron Cohen to a conference of the Anti-Defamation League.

I posted early this morning about this speech but only linked to the written version.

Watch Sasha Baron Cohen give the speech.

It is powerful.

Categories Bias, Bigotry, Racism

57 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

bpollock42 says:

November 23, 2019 at 5:10 pm

Have your classes watch this.

Reply
GregB says:

November 23, 2019 at 5:27 pm

I sent this to my former college advisor yesterday, who has become a good friend and still teaches, and he responded: “Nothing short of brilliant. Just became a required assignment for next semester.”

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James says:

November 23, 2019 at 5:48 pm

This speech is brilliant and I’ll attempt to post it, ironically, on my FB page so that more people might watch it It is well worth the time and the thought it provides.

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ponderosa says:

November 23, 2019 at 6:04 pm

I saw this brilliant Cohen video yesterday on DailyKos. The unstated premise, with which I agree, is that the masses are not smart enough to filter out the lies themselves. Witness these citizens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t75kZmrwxg
How were these people allowed to graduate from high school? Teachers, we have the power to end this ignorance –by not passing students who learn nothing. Unfortunately we’ve redefined learning as demonstrating “skills” not knowing things; this allows ignoramuses like these to be unleashed on society!

Reply
- dianeravitch says:
  
  November 23, 2019 at 6:11 pm
  
  Ponderosa, I just watched the YouTube video you posted. It’s pretty scary!
  
  Reply
  - ponderosa says:
    
    November 23, 2019 at 6:29 pm
    
    Also scary: support for impeachment is starting to wane. I think I know why. The ignoramuses truly cannot grasp two words that come out of Fiona Hill’s mouth, or Adam Schiff’s, or Marie Yovanovitch’s. There’s too much background knowledge required; comprehension breaks down. To comprehend Fiona Hill’s testimony, one needs mental schema about the US bureaucracy, about good and corrupt governments, about geography and geopolitics, about the basic Guiliani-Sondland-Volker situation, about Ukraine’s recent history; not to mention a good vocabulary… Most Americans are light years away from having this knowledge bank. There are no “skills” that can substitute for this background knowledge. And rather than fixing this situation, schools are retreating in the war on ignorance. They think they have something better than knowledge: “21st Century Skills” and the like. But cognitive science debunks this approach. Skillful thinking –like comprehending complex Congressional testimony – is driven by rapid deliveries of knowledge from long-term memory to working memory, not by having the brain do random mental chores. Counterintuitive though it may seem, adding knowledge to long-term memory is the way to create the skills we desire. Sadly we’re failing to do this because of the bankrupt ideas at the heart of American education.
  - carolmalaysia says:
    
    November 23, 2019 at 10:51 pm
    
    These supporters have NO idea of what is happening to this country. They are blinded by the ‘cult of Trump who can do no wrong’. They blindly support him. Unbelievable. No wonder nobody’s attitudes are changed by the impeachment inquiry. They aren’t listening because their minds are already made up. Facts don’t matter. [Of course, if they get their news from Fox, they don’t get any facts. BUT to support Trump for the things that Nixon did? Gad]
  - Linda says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 9:18 am
    
    Before he was elected, Trump said he could kill someone on
    Fifth Ave and get away with it. Why would Trump’s bribery of Ukrainians to get dirt on a political opponent be relevant to his voters?
    Four out of 5 voters in the 2nd largest American religious denomination and 3 out of 5 whites in the largest denomination voted for Trump.
    Instead of tarring and, tackling for change the whole of Americans voting for Republicans, wouldn’t drilling down on specific segments be more effective and efficient?
  - ponderosa says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 11:19 am
    
    Carol:
    
    I agree that Trumpism is becoming a cult. It seems to me that a partial antidote to cults is learning about cults in school. Teach the definition, the MO, the psychological (and educational?) profile of those that join, and case studies (e.g. Jim Jones; the Moonies). What do you think? Antivirus software works by first recognizing the virus. If one cannot recognize something as a danger (e.g. cult, demagogue, dictatorship), why would one resist –much less attack –it?
  - carolmalaysia says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 12:56 pm
    
    ponderosa: “It seems to me that a partial antidote to cults is learning about cults in school.
    
    I wonder what actually is being taught in schools these days? It seems like the major thing is ‘getting ready for the state test that covers state goals’. Which is written by people who don’t know anything about education or what is needed to produce a society that thinks. Walter Cronkite reported the facts knew what would happen.
    
    We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders.
    –Walter Cronkite
    
    We are on the precipice of being so ignorant that our democracy is threatened.
    –Walter Cronkite
    
    We’ve got a great percentage of our population that, to our great shame, either cannot or, equally unfortunate, will not read. And that portion of our public is growing. Those people are suckers for the demagogue.
    –Walter Cronkite
    
    Not only do we have a right to know, we have a duty to know what our Government is doing in our name. If there’s a criticism to be made today, it’s that the press isn’t doing enough to put the pressure on the government to provide information.
    –Walter Cronkite
    
    I am dumbfounded that there hasn’t been a crackdown with the libel and slander laws on some of these would-be writers and reporters on the Internet.
    –Walter Cronkite
    
    It is not the reporter’s job to be a patriot or to presume to determine where patriotism lies. His job is to relate the facts.
    –Walter Cronkite
    
    We’ve always known you can gain circulation or viewers by cheapening the product, and now you’re finding the bad driving out the good.
    –Walter Cronkite
  - ponderosa says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 4:04 pm
    
    Cronkhite has more common sense than most of our education leaders. What are kids gaining with all this test prep and testing? Some math, a little grammar, but other than that just “skills”, “college and career readiness” and other vague platitudes. Pointedly, not knowledge. Once upon a time teachers understood that imparting knowledge was our job. Gradually we’ve come to believe in a figmentary new goal of education: “skills”. But we’re only pretending to teach these things because they don’t exist, as cognitive science demonstrates. It’s sad. We need more true scholars in education to right this situation.
- Joe Jersey says:
  
  November 23, 2019 at 7:17 pm
  
  Seriously, you’re judging the average American by a Jimmy Kimmel video? These comedy shows always pick out the biggest dolts, they leave out all the intelligent comments, if there were any. We don’t know if there were any intelligent comments because they were edited out. So blame the schools for these clueless people but the schools get no credit for all the intelligent and perceptive people who do exist in this country. A Jimmy Kimmel man/woman in the street video is just for laughs, it’s not a scientific study. Why do you always blame the schools for all the failings of this country? Trump is president, blame the schools; Trump is a liar, blame the schools.
  
  Reply
  - Bob Shepherd says:
    
    November 23, 2019 at 8:13 pm
    
    Joe, they are talking to Trump voters. This is not one of those “average person in the street” pieces.
    
    Am I saying that Trump voters are idiots?
    
    Yes. That is exactly what I am saying.
  - ponderosa says:
    
    November 23, 2019 at 8:27 pm
    
    Joe,
    
    I agree that it’s not JUST the schools’ fault, but I’m puzzled that I never hear my fellow teachers take any responsibility for mass ignorance. If it’s not the schools’ responsibility to dispel ignorance, whose is it? Why do we grant diplomas to individuals who are clearly uneducated? Isn’t that fraud?
  - GregB says:
    
    November 23, 2019 at 9:08 pm
    
    “A Jimmy Kimmel man/woman in the street video is just for laughs, it’s not a scientific study.”
    
    First of all, there is literally nothing funny about this. I watched it a few days ago and it hasn’t let go of me yet. And while it’s not a scientific study, I see these people every day of my life. They are the franchise owner of the place where I often rent cars; they are the people who stand if front of and behind me at the grocery store; they are the people sitting at the table next to mine at the restaurant; they are the people selling cars, doing the regular extermination service at my house, sitting in front of me at the school play, and, worst of all, the teachers teaching my children. They are everywhere. They vote for the Jim Jordans, Lindsay Grahams, and Donald Trumps of the world.
    
    I agree with you that we shouldn’t lump together schools and teachers as the root cause. There are parents, there are neighbors, there is rampant ignorance. But, on the other hand, teachers deserve some of the blame as all parts of our society do. Today I had a conversation with my 9th grade son about his history class–an “honors” history class. I saw some of the quizzes he takes. When I asked him if the teacher assigned any book reports, allowed them to pick their own reading, or if current events were ever discussed, he answered no. He said his teacher teaches out of the book and her lectures consist of “PowerPoint presentations prepared by the book company [presumably Pearson]” and that she just “followed the class they designed.” He is a bright kid, but has absolutely no motivation to do any more than he has to. His teachers are drones. They are supposedly one of the best public schools systems in the area. I was drawn to this blog because I believed that teachers were motivated to be educators and that we needed to support and fight for them to help them realize their passions to educate. Sadly, my experience with “one of the best public school systems in the state” has been anything but.
    
    So I agree, we shouldn’t blame teacher ad hominem. But neither should we glorify them nor absolve them of all blame. In my short teaching career, I was spoiled and was too young to realize it. I have been influenced by colleagues who were incredible, dedicated teachers who were allowed to teach. The idea of being presented a text book and pre-planned lessons was something of which they never conceived. They and I were hired to teach, to create our own classes and respected and held accountable as teachers to actually educate with passion. Sadly, now that I have children in public schools, schools that I wanted them to attend, I realize that I have failed them as much as the teachers, administration, and school board members who have been entrusted with their education. No, not all teachers are to blame, but many more of them are than we are willing to admit.
  - Linda says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 9:26 am
    
    Heaven forbid – there would be an examination of the fact that the religious vote elected Trump- people who Trump acknowledged would elect him even if he killed someone on Fifth Ave.
    Let’s keep with the school and teacher mea culpa and, by all means let’s ignore that some of Trump’s biggest detractors are millennials.
  - carolmalaysia says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 9:59 am
    
    I agree that the worst possible people were chosen to ‘perform’ their lack of knowledge for the TV audience.
    Americans are not smart and I DON’T blame teachers. Trump got elected. WHY? He appeals to racism and ignorance. There are, however, some very smart people who voted for him….Fox watchers or the wealthy who have joined the greedy club.
    ……………………..
    Only 71% Americans can locate Pacific Ocean on a map
    Forbes | May 12, 2003 Issue | Paul Recer
    Posted on 4/30/2003, 8:37:27 AM by yankeedame
    
    Survey Says
    
    A National Geographic study released [in November] found that only about one in seven Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 could find Iraq [on a map]. Although 58% knew that the Taliban and al Qaeda were based in Afghanistan, only 17% could find that country.
    
    The survey asked 56 geographic and current events questions of young people in nine countries.
    
    Americans got an average of 23 correct answers. Mexico ranked last with an average score of 21. Topping the scoring was Sweden, with an average of 40, followed by Germany and Italy, each with 38.
    
    Other findings: When asked to find 10 specific states on a map of the U.S., only California and Texas could be located by a large majority. Only 51% could find New York.
    
    On a world map, Americans could find on average only 7 of 16 countries in the quiz. Only 89% of the Americans surveyed could find their own country.
    
    Only 71% of the surveyed Americans could locate the Pacific Ocean.
    
    –Paul Recer, Associated Press
  - Linda says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 10:44 am
    
    Is it researchers or media who select geography as measure of knowledge?
    I’d prefer a questionnaire with “What is a major threat that scientists identify today?”
    “What is the Federalist Society and how much influence does it have?”
    ” What percentage of wealth do the richest 0.1% have?” ” Do all other developed nations have nationalized healthcare?”
- RT says:
  
  November 24, 2019 at 9:24 am
  
  “by not passing students who learn nothing. ” Not passing a student is not the same as keeping a student from voting or even having something to do with that student having respect for legitimate ideas. If all we do is flunk children who are ignorant of the things we want them to know, we are complicit in their ignorance.
  
  So what should we do when students, as they always do this time of year, fail to get it all? Students pass in and out of compliance with expectations all the time. When they
  leave, teachers have no control over what they read. During the year they have a student, a teacher sees a child for about four percent of their year. This is significant, but it is minuscule over a lifetime. Students are far more able to recal the time you did something zany instead of the times you said that democracy requires commitment.
  
  This does not even account for all the highly educated people who never got away from their own reclusive world view. Our society is full of people who rationalize their own thoughts at the expense of truth, and who think of truth as their unique province. Many of these folks are able to tell you more than you want to know about the constitution, politics modern and old, and philosophy. They just pick and choose what makes them feel good. Perhaps we all do that.
  
  So what do we do? That would fill more space than we have here. But we try. We must try.
  
  Reply
  - ponderosa says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 11:53 am
    
    RT:
    
    I’m just saying there is one thing we teachers (ostensibly) control: grades, promotions and diplomas. The least we can do is make them honest. If Bryson only learned 10% of the material in a class, give him a grade of 10%. If he got mostly F’s in middle school, hold him back or at least do not give him a certificate of achievement. Let’s stop certifying as educated those who are not, for whatever reason, educated.
    
    I think one reason this plan is not feasible now is that we have a squishy conception of what “educated” means. We all talk vaguely about “critical thinking skills” and “the ability to delineate and evaluate an argument” (CCSS ELA), etc. –as if there really are general skills such as these that work equally well on motorcycle repair manuals and poetry criticism. There aren’t. What we call “skills” is really relevant domain knowledge rapidly entering working memory from long-term memory (LTM), freeing up bandwidth to think at a higher level about a particular situation. Knowledge in long-term memory is hard, concrete, teachable and testable –and it, not “skills”, is the real foundation for high level mental performance. The “skills” we babble about are squishy, vaporous, unteachable and untestable. The tests we use to test them don’t really test them. Yet because we think these vapors are the real fruit of education, we find it hard to declare that students have failed to be educated since even the most ignorant person can manifest critical thinking on simple subjects, and “delineate and evaluate” arguments about whether Bud Lite is better than Miller Lite. You can’t say anyone really lacks “skills”, but you can say someone lacks knowledge.
- gitapik says:
  
  November 24, 2019 at 10:21 am
  
  I’ve worked with some people who are like those who are in the Kimmel video. They don’t pay much attention to the news, saying it’s mostly “fake”, anyway. They just place their complete faith in Trump and go about their lives.
  
  There’s no room for debate. Trying to question any of his actions is pointless. They literally turn you off and move on. At best you’ll hear about how terrible Hillary is. Or how damaging Obama was.
  
  Reply
  - carolmalaysia says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 10:36 am
    
    gitapik: “There’s no room for debate. Trying to question any of his actions is pointless.”
    
    Any “facts” that don’t come from Fox are labeled ‘fake news’. There is no room for discussion. Fox FACTS: 121,000 showed up for an ego Trump rally. 2 million more jobs available than people that are on unemployment?
    …………………………………..
    June 19, 2019
    HANNITY: You know, I watched you last night. You seem to really love what you did last night. Explain — you know, why is this important to you?
    
    And why — there is a phenomenon that people show up at your rallies. We don’t see the same thing at the Democratic rallies. Why is that in your view?
    
    TRUMP: There was tremendous energy in that room last night. And there was — and we’ve had a lot of energy in virtually every rally. But there was just a special energy. I announced we are going forward with the second term as you know.
    
    But the level — it was like being at a world championship college football game where the score was tied going into the last minute. It was the entire rally. It was an incredible scene. And outside, there was thousands of people.
    
    And, I mean, we were asking people not to show up, we were saying, please don’t come, letting the word — because we had 121,000 people who I guess it holds 20,000 or 25,000 people inside if you include the basketball court which was loaded up with great, loving patriots. And it was just an electric evening, Sean…
    
    HANNITY: And those are all real people. You talked at length about record low unemployment, the best employment situation from 1969. I know that the media talks about Russia still after four investigations, they want a fifth.
    
    But what does it mean to you that we now have 2 million more jobs available than people that are on unemployment? What does it mean to you?
    
    TRUMP: Well, the media isn’t talking about Russia so much. You know, the Mueller report concluded on Russia, there was absolutely no collusion. And, frankly, they led to the conclusion by the great attorney general that there was no obstruction.
    
    It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. It’s a hoax. It was a hoax, a witch hunt, but a hoax, the whole thing…
- Sunshine says:
  
  November 24, 2019 at 5:20 pm
  
  Ponderosa, I tried for two years to use the skills based Science curricula our district adopted. The students were learning so little, they were weirdly disengaged and unfocused. Now close to retirement, I teach from the science text I was told to throw in the dumpster when CC came to town. My students are connecting the information to things they already knew. It makes them feel smart, it gives them the fundamentals.
  
  Reply
Susan Lee Schwartz says:

November 23, 2019 at 7:06 pm

I am re copying the response that I posted when Diane posted the link to this wonderful must read essay on thread and division.

I write about The Unintended Consequences of transformational eras. This Is one. Information technology changed every society The world is currently in chaos.

The chaos of the internet is what is different, today, and it is is this ripping apart societies across the world. It is not just that families, neighborhoods, communities have disappeared, so all the benefits that their wisdom and companionship are gone. It is that IN THE PLACE OF the Beneficial values passed on in real communities , comes the internet… cyberspace, where division and violence are fed to our most impressional people–
And now, in this transformational era of information technology (tv and the internet) comes the anarchy of cyberspace, where images and memes sell disinformation to a stressed, fearful and ignorant citizenry. Read ‘In the Absence of the Sacred’ by Jerry Mander.
http://scott.london/reviews/mander.html

The information technology revolution began with television. Pushing the values of the power elites who own the media… and suddenly, 60 years after Howdy Doody, we can flip channels and see in that huge window on the world… endless aggression, violence and blood. The animated shows fed to our young people are all about violence — as an evil character must be bested by powerful super-heroes.No more stories where people work together to find solutions.And instead of quiet time, where one reads timeless stories where people find ways to survive over adversity, video games give angry people a way to finally ‘win,” and as they watch…they lose touch with humanity.

Here is a ‘must see’ Jerry Mander video, made about television’s impact in 2010.
I read his book on this subject, “Four Arguments for the Elimination Of Television” in the eighties. This is the subject that I studied and which I write about for decades! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3NBEurnIqY

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Max McConkey says:

November 23, 2019 at 7:14 pm

I hope Mark Zuckerberg watches it.

We saw Randy Rainbow’s live show last night: hysterical!

Max McConkey mcconkey.max@gmail.com max@maxmcconkeyart.com Tucson, Arizona

>

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retiredbutmissthekids says:

November 23, 2019 at 7:19 pm

I LOVE Sasha Baron Cohen. His work is absolutely brilliant, how he disguises himself & elicits response from fools, exposing corruption & ignorance in a forum people can understand. You can see his last show (I believe this is the title) America to Me on YouTube or on Showtime On-Demand, if you subscribe. His interview (as an ignorant redneck type) w/Bernie is brilliant: this one is not to make Bernie look bad, but S.B.C.’s very misguided interviewer.
I’m sure he let Bernie in on it after, & that B had a very good chuckle (because, yes, B does, indeed, have a sense of humor–a very good one–& he isn’t the grouch he’s made out to be. Is he angry? You betcha’–angry in the way we all are, angry at the gross injustice that is going on in the U.S. & the world.

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Bob Shepherd says:

November 23, 2019 at 7:59 pm

A great speech. I recently watched Cohen in the Netflix film The Spy. What a surprise to find that this superb comedian is also a talented, subtle, nuanced dramatic actor. His performance definitely elevates the movie.

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Bob Shepherd says:

November 23, 2019 at 8:46 pm

And speaking of hate speech, this: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2019/11/20/indiana-university-iu-professor-tweets-women-gay-men-academia/4255142002/

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- ponderosa says:
  
  November 23, 2019 at 8:56 pm
  
  He does sound like a douche, but I admire IU for standing up for academic freedom. Argue against him, don’t cancel him. I know a UC professor, a good Democrat, who lives in fear of the PC mob. The Right is right to criticize universities’ retreat from academic freedom and dispassionate inquiry (not that they’d protect it if they were the dominant force on campuses, but still).
  
  Reply
  - Linda says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 9:38 am
    
    The Right doesn’t protect. Their weapon of choice is money.
    UnKochMyCampus illustrated the point when they exposed the takeover of the public George Mason School of Law.
    Ponderosa- I’m curious why “dominance” based on oligarch spending didn’t reach the level of inclusion in your comment
  - ponderosa says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 11:57 am
    
    Good point: the Right is corrupting universities with money. But that doesn’t exonerate the PC mobs and their enablers (e.g. the craven administrators at Oberlin after the shoplifting incident).
  - dianeravitch says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 12:13 pm
    
    Unfortunately, Ponderosa, there are anti-PC mobs who will complain bitterly if a professor says that he or she condemns racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and homophobia.
    There are Koch-Funded institutes on 300 campuses that want to make the campus free for hatred, racism, and all expressions of bigotry against groups.
  - gitapik says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 1:36 pm
    
    “Good point: the Right is corrupting universities with money. But that doesn’t exonerate the PC mobs and their enablers (e.g. the craven administrators at Oberlin after the shoplifting incident).”
    While I support some of your views, ponderosa, I have to take issue about the Oberlin situation. The media didn’t fairly portray the situation on either side. I’ll not get into the specifics (even if asked or told to), but I do know this for fact.
    
    It’s so hard to get a fair read on anything, nowadays, which is such a big part of our division as a society, nowadays.
ponderosa says:

November 23, 2019 at 8:50 pm

A thoughtful critique of the Cohen speech: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/opinion/sunday/social-media-and-the-populist-moment.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

I agree that we liberals probably overemphasize the importance of social media in creating Trump voters. In my experience canvassing Central Valley Walmart shoppers about politics, I found many people who do not consume news or politics whatsoever.

Why are there so few news consumers and followers of politics? I’d say, again, that it’s probably lack of adequate preparation for consuming the news and comprehending politics –meaning, lack of background knowledge. To them the news is all blah-blah-blah –not just boring, but actually unintelligible.

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Yvonne says:

November 24, 2019 at 7:27 am

Thank you, Diane. I’ve forwarded the talk to others.

A teacher colleague is being trolled on Twitter.
She showed me. She is Not biting.

Again, thank you. 👍

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- dianeravitch says:
  
  November 24, 2019 at 8:58 am
  
  Sasha was right about social media. Hate, lies, and propaganda are placed on an equal footing with verifiable and verified facts. Truth loses meaning. Attacks and smears are commonplace.
  
  Reply
  - melpeexxx says:
    
    December 29, 2019 at 10:35 am
    
    MSM news favors the MIC in foreign and domestic policy and is packed with lies. Each nation is entitled to its sovereignty.
carolmalaysia says:

November 24, 2019 at 7:37 am

Extremist material online is a problem. It isn’t helped by the rotten messages that continuously flow from Trump who is a horrible role model.
………………………………………………
Nazi Symbols and Racist Memes: Combating School Intolerance
Nov. 23, 2019

Many educators feel ill-equipped for the urgent and difficult task of identifying students exposed to extremist material online.

The Battle Ground student, who asked to remain anonymous, never committed violence. But his activity drew the attention of authorities, including the F.B.I., according to a law enforcement official. His experience on Discord is just one example of how vulnerable adolescents can easily access and become targets of extremist material on the internet.

As more such material spills from the web to young people and into classrooms nationwide, educators increasingly find themselves under pressure to combat this new front of hate. Given the rise in school shootings tied to far-right extremism, teachers — like law enforcement officials and parents — now face the difficult task of trying to identify which students risk being radicalized.

Many educators say they feel ill-equipped to recognize what students absorb from the web, much less to address it. In response, several organizations have started to try to provide some guidance, and new tools are emerging that help teachers spot signs of white nationalist ideology and at-risk students.

“What we heard from teachers, administrators and educators is that they were just not quite sure what to do,” said Eric Ward, the executive director of Western States Center, a nonprofit organization in Portland, Ore., that published a 47-page manual this year to advise teachers on how to confront extremism…

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Mamie Krupczak Allegretti says:

November 24, 2019 at 9:35 am

Excellent speech. This article appeared in last Sunday’s Albany Times Union. My husband, an English teacher, asked colleagues about the issues discussed herein and it seems that other teachers have the same experience as this one.

https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Teaching-what-values-14840444.php

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- Linda says:
  
  November 24, 2019 at 10:09 am
  
  The students and their families are subject to a high level of economic insecurity. And, they know they are at the mercy of a sociopathic power structure that they can’t influence. The natural outgrowth of resource scarcity and powerlessness is prejudice and bigotry and lashing out like the cornered animal we all are.
  For awhile, the 99% soothed themselves and felt a sense of independence because they had seeming wealth achieved through the purchase of cheap Chinese products. And, the students had schools where normalcy prevailed. But, disruption and the threat of world annihilation from climate change, with no way to stop it, opened up the flood gates of negative emotions for young people.
  
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- Bob Shepherd says:
  
  November 25, 2019 at 6:26 am
  
  Thank you for sharing this, Ms. Allegretti. Disturbing.
  
  Reply
gitapik says:

November 24, 2019 at 10:07 am

I saw this on FB, of all places, and have shared it. And it’s being shared from my page as well.

Yes. Excellent speech.

We shouldn’t discount the importance of our comedians. Humor is a sign of advanced intelligence. They’re speaking truth to power.

Reply
- dianeravitch says:
  
  November 24, 2019 at 10:20 am
  
  Humor and art will save us. Plus lots of political activism!
  
  Reply
  - retiredbutmissthekids says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 3:07 pm
    
    Absolutely, Diane! Have at it Cohen, Oliver, Meyers, Colbert, Kimmel,
    SNL, Camp* et.al. Amber Ruffin, who’s a writer for Meyers & is frequently on, herself (Amber Says “WHAT?!” is brilliant) needs to have her own show.
    
    Lee Camp: watch *Redacted Tonight on YouTube: his show preceded Oliver’s Last Week Tonight. Camp was named as the comedian George Carlin would most like by Carlin’s daughter. He also has a new book out, & is touring–trust me, if he’s in your area, seeing him live is a must. You will choke w/laughter. Also, all his “merch” is made in America!!
Linda says:

November 24, 2019 at 2:32 pm

I don’t call the following, coincidental.

Tulsi Gabbard took a rare step in Hawaii politics and labeled her fellow Democrat, Sen. Mazie Hirono, as a religious bigot (without specifically naming her). Gabbard’s charge related to Hirono’s questioning of a judge appointee, who is a “mucky muck in the Knights of Columbus”. (Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 1-9-2019). The appointee was a very partisan Republican.
Pierce describes as background for his article, “Yeah, Sure, This is What 2020 Needs”, that the K of C, under the leadership of Jesse Helm’s legislative aide, who subsequently became a Republican operative, has become highly politicized. A headline for a Fox story in Hawaii, was “Knights of Columbus – Dems Challenge Trump Judicial Nominee over Catholic Organization.”
Gabbard’s opinion/charges were published in the The Hill which is currently in the news for allegations that it furthered the Giuliani smear campaign against the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. The title of Gabbard’s opinion piece in The Hill, “Elected Leaders who Weaponize Religion Are Playing a Dangerous Game”. Evidently, the admonition works and the obvious partisan politicization of Catholic organizations remains a taboo topic, allowing them to be be free from rebuke, and their political opponents to be chastised.

Gabbard has been identified as a supporter of authoritarian strongmen. (Hillary Clinton brought a Russian feature to the description.) What we are looking at is a recognizable strategy – a Gabbard-like person ready to label as anti-Catholic, the opposition to a Republican, religion-connected political campaign. The fact deserves exposure- the hierarchy of the two major religions have allied to back the richest 0.1% and Republican politicians against the freedoms and rights, both economic and political, of the 99%.

Dem. U.S. Representative KATHY Dahlkemper was defeated in Penn. by Republican MIKE Kelly. Reporters have claimed that the K of C played a part in her loss. Kelly’s primary campaign donations came from pharmaceutical and insurance companies. “Kelly hasn’t been as critical of Trump as some of his fellow representatives “. That point was made in reference to responses to the Helsinki Conference when Trump supported Putin’s denial of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

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- GregB says:
  
  November 24, 2019 at 3:13 pm
  
  Clinton did not bring a Russian feature to the description. She said “Republicans”. The NYT misquoted her and the lie lives on: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/turns-out-hillary-clinton-said-republicans-not-russians-were-grooming-tulsi-gabbard-2019-10-24
  
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  - Linda says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 3:53 pm
    
    11-16- 2019, Salon posted the transcript, Clinton said the following to David Plouffe, “…She’s the favorite of the Russians….”. Salon added, Clinton has not retracted the statement..
  - ponderosa says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 4:20 pm
    
    In the last debate Gabbard repeatedly criticized those who would attempt regime change of foreign dictators. She repeatedly used the word dictators. It really sounded as if she was trying to erode opposition to dictatorships. Intuition tells me there’s something rotten going on.
  - GregB says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 5:07 pm
    
    Just listened to the podcast. It’s very clear that Clinton was talking about it being a Republican strategy to recruit a third party candidate from the field of current Democrats running. The phrase “she’s a favorite of the Russians” was not linked the Republican strategy, it was a descriptive phrase only. But it’s much easier to conflate the two if it fits what one wants to believe.
  - Linda says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 8:43 pm
    
    Greg-
    Is your point that people want to convince themselves that Republicans and Russia are linked but, they’re wrong?
    (This evening, 60 Minutes did a good job of conflating the two.)
    
    Or, did you mean that Hillary did not intend to conflate Russia, Republicans and Gabbard?
  - GregB says:
    
    November 24, 2019 at 10:09 pm
    
    The latter. She was talking about how Republicans have a strategy of discouraging people from voting and/or taking votes away from the Democratic nominee by way of a Trojan Horse third party candidate. The comment on Russians was an off-the-cuff statement that was not central to the overall point she was making. Which was right on the mark. In no way was she implying that Gabbard was part of a Russian plot.
  - Linda says:
    
    November 25, 2019 at 2:07 pm
    
    Since the discussion is occurring about Republicans facilitating /giving cover to /cooperating with Putin, it would be foolish for the electorate to ignore indicators, independent of Hillary’s word salad.
    And, if a third party run was in the works for Tulsi and it would have harmed Democrats, and Hillary stopped it with her interview, America owes Hillary a debt.
  - GregB says:
    
    November 26, 2019 at 1:22 am
    
    On this, as usual, we agree.
retiredbutmissthekids says:

November 24, 2019 at 3:11 pm

I wanted to add–& down here, to be sure it’s read–if you missed S.B.C.’s movie The Dictator from a number of years ago, you must see it. Not only very funny, but there’s a scene where he says something very prescient (or, perhaps, just timely–we in education know what’s been up for the last several decades) about America.

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retiredbutmissthekids says:

November 24, 2019 at 4:32 pm

A response to Ponderosa up there on 11/23, “Why are there so few news consumers & followers of politics?” Lots of reasons–so many people get their news only from the net
(& I just love Microsoft News which, when you click it on, immediately directs you to “My News”–stories that have been preselected from, probably, mined info. {just like targeted ads}, & if people read just that & don’t look at the other {albeit limited} news categories, they’re not, in fact, getting THE news.) Therefore, people shouldn’t, in fact, be reading this rather than newspapers, books, magazines, watching different news channels/listening to varied news radio outlets, etc. That having been said…I would wager that this may be the chosen news source for a large swath of the U.S. population.
When I taught middle school & had an advisory, study hall or, yes, even afterschool detention or in-school suspended students, I would always purchase the newspapers (had to get the ones w/the lowest reading level which was, at the time, 4.0; the other daily was at Grade 5 or 6 R.L. (sorry, this was before the Lexile System!). Makes me wonder how low (or purposely high!) they written at now. Anyhow, all the advisory (Grades 6, 7 or 8–whatever grade I was assigned that year {I was an L.D. Resource Teacher})students & others I mentioned were give a copy of the paper to read & discuss. Time permitting (esp. in-school suspension or a.s. detention), each student had to pick a favorite story–which we all had to read–& discuss/analyze).
Would you believe they actually enjoyed this? Some said they wished their families bought the papers.
I let everybody/anyone who wanted to take one home. When many didn’t, one or two students would ask me for more copies, so they could give them to their friends.

G-d, I miss those kids!!!

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carolmalaysia says:

November 26, 2019 at 7:55 am

This doesn’t fall under hatred, bigotry or racism but it is a major concern about which the US is going backwards. Here’s to the Orange IDIOT who knows everything due to his marvelous gut that is smarter than most people’s brains. [Yep.]

On climate changeOn November 6, 2012, Donald Trump tweeted:
“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
On October 19, 2015, he then tweeted:
“It’s really cold outside, they are calling it a major freeze, weeks ahead of normal. Man, we could use a big fat dose of global warming!”
CREDIT: Jim Young/Reuters
………………………………………………………….
Even if all current promises are kept, temperatures are set to rise as much as 3.9 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.

Climate change: ‘Bleak’ outlook as carbon emissions gap grows

Countries will have to increase their carbon-cutting ambitions five fold if the world is to avoid warming by more than 1.5C, the UN says.

The annual emissions gap report shows that even if all current promises are met, the world will warm by more than double that amount by 2100.

Richer countries have failed to cut emissions quickly enough, the authors say.
Fifteen of the 20 wealthiest nations have no timeline for a net zero target.
Greenhouse gas concentrations break records
China coal surge threatens Paris climate targets
Musicians ‘have to be proactive’ on climate change

Hot on the heels of the World Meteorological Organization’s report on greenhouse gas concentrations, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) has published its regular snapshot of how the world is doing in cutting levels of these pollutants.

The emissions gap report looks at the difference between how much carbon needs to be cut to avoid dangerous warming – and where we are likely to end up with the promises that countries have currently committed to, in the Paris climate agreement.

The UN assessment is fairly blunt. “The summary findings are bleak,” it says. “Countries collectively failed to stop the growth in global greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that deeper and faster cuts are now required.”

The report says that emissions have gone up by 1.5% per year in the last decade. In 2018, the total reached 55 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent. This is putting the Earth on course to experience a temperature rise of 3.2C by the end of this century…

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50547073

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carolmalaysia says:

November 26, 2019 at 8:14 am

Judge Jackson: “Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.”

Litman: “[The administration’s] ‘absolute immunity’ claim is a kooky and newfangled concept essentially plucked out of thin air to keep McGahn, as well as former White House communications director Hope Hicks, from even showing up in Congress in the first place. But the administration’s submission is designed less to win in court,” than to “stall in the more important political arena.”

Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School: “Judge Jackson rightly and predictably rejected Trump’s extreme claim that McGahn is absolutely immune from having to testify in response to a House subpoena because nobody is above the law. The tough issues of executive privilege remain.”

Joyce White Vance, a former top federal prosecutor in Alabama: “The ruling on McGahn isn’t a final one. It can be appealed to at least the Court of Appeals in D.C. If McGahn loses & doesn’t want to testify, he can keep fighting.”

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