Standing in front of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives, Trump denounced the teaching of history in U.S. schools as leftist “indoctrination” and pledged to create a “1776 Commission” to restore “patriotic” American history. He is especially vitriolic about the “1619 Project,” which revised the role of African-Americans in U.S. history. He thinks that any effort to think critically about history or to include nonwhites is “leftist” propaganda.
This is not as difficult as it might seem. He could just resurrect the U.S. history textbooks used in the 1950s, which presented a homogenized and triumphalist version of history, centered on white heroes. Then add a last chapter about the Reign of Trump. Whitewashed is the right word.
Do you think he has ever read either of the nation’s founding documents? Remember that he repeatedly claimed that Article II of the Constitution allows the president to do whatever he wants. Clearly he has never read Article II.
Do you think he knows that federal law prohibits any federal official from interfering with curriculum or instruction in the schools? Obviously not, but if he knew, he wouldn’t care since he is convinced that he is above the law.
Federal law 20 USC 1232a prohibits “any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system…”
Michael Crowley writes in the New York Times:
WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his attacks on “left-wing demonstrators” and “far-left mobs” on Thursday, portraying himself as a defender of American heritage against revolutionary fanatics and arguing for a new “pro-American” curriculum in the nation’s schools.
Speaking at the National Archives Museum, Mr. Trump vowed to counter what he called an emerging classroom narrative that “America is a wicked and racist nation,” and he said he would create a new “1776 Commission” to help “restore patriotic education to our schools.” The president reiterated his condemnations of demonstrators who tear down monuments to historical American figures, and he even sought to link the Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to the removal of a founding father’s statue in Mr. Biden’s home state, Delaware.
“Our heroes will never be forgotten,” Mr. Trump said. “Our youth will be taught to love America.”
Since the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, in police custody in May in Minneapolis, and the protests that followed nationwide, the president has seized on cultural issues and has sounded many of the same themes — notably including at a showy Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore.
Since then, his vision of a Democratic Party hijacked by anti-American Marxists has become a core theme of his campaign. But he elevated the concepts on Thursday by delivering them in the august setting of the National Archives Museum, standing before the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in what was billed as the first “White House Conference on American History.”
The event was held on Constitution Day, the anniversary of the document’s signing in 1787. Mr. Trump said it reflected “centuries of tradition, wisdom and experience.”
“Yet as we gather this afternoon, a radical movement is attempting to demolish this treasured and precious inheritance,” he added.
The president focused much of his speech on his claim that American schools have become infected with revisionist ideas about the nation’s founding and history, producing a new generation of “Marxist” activists and adherents of “critical race theory” who believe American society to be fundamentally racist and wicked — and who have taken to the streets in recent months.
Mr. Trump said that “left-wing rioting and mayhem are the direct result of decades of left-wing indoctrination in our schools,” adding that “it’s gone on far too long.” He boasted that the National Endowment for the Humanities “has awarded a grant to support the development of a pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth about our nation’s great history.”
Douglas Brinkley, a historian at Rice University, said that conservatives have long been angry at what they see as a growing emphasis in American public schools on themes of civil rights at the expense of more traditional historical narratives, mainly those revolving around white men.
“I think Donald Trump sees the cultural wars as a pathway to victory,” Mr. Brinkley added. But, he said, “what he sees as a cultural war is just trying to open up the narrative to other peoples’ experiences — not just white males.”
Mr. Trump gave his remarks a campaign twist when he promised to include a statue of Caesar Rodney, who rode 70 miles to Philadelphia in 1776 to cast a tiebreaking vote to declare independence, in a national statuary garden to honor “American heroes” whose creation he ordered in July. Mr. Biden, he charged, “said nothing as to his home state’s history and the fact that it was dismantled and dismembered.
“And a founding father’s statue was removed,” the president added.
Denouncing “propaganda tracts” that “try to make students ashamed of their own history,” Mr. Trump singled out The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, named for the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in the Virginia colony, and which reframes American history around the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans. The project, whose lead author, Nikole Hannah-Jones, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, has been incorporated into a curriculum and is taught in many schools across the United States.
Mr. Trump said the project in fact “rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Mr. Trump continued, saying that the United States’ founding “set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism, and built the most fair, equal and prosperous nation in human history.”
A Times spokeswoman, Danielle Rhoades Ha, described the 1619 Project as “landmark, groundbreaking journalism.”
“It deepened many readers’ understanding of the nation’s past and forced an important conversation about the lingering effects of slavery, and its centrality to America’s story,” she said in a statement. “We are proud of it and will continue this vital journalism.”
Seemingly as a counterpoint, Mr. Trump said that he would soon sign an executive order to create the 1776 Commission, named after the year the American colonies declared their independence. He said the commission would promote a “patriotic eduction” and “encourage our educators to teach our children about the miracle of American history and make plans to honor the 250th anniversary of our founding.”
William R. Ferris, a professor of history at the University of North Carolina and a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, criticized Mr. Trump for “treating historians just as he treats scientists — by disregarding our very best voices who have written on American history and race.”
Mr. Ferris said that creating a new commission to promote American history makes little sense. “We already have institutions like the National Archives and others that preserve and promote our nation’s history,” he said. “I would encourage him to request congressional support for the existing programs at the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the National Endowment for the Humanities.”
“They do a good job with very little funding, and I know they would welcome his strong support to expand those budgets,” Mr. Ferris said.
Mr. Trump’s speech also singled out the doctrine of critical race theory, the view that the law and other societal institutions are based on socially constructed theories of race that benefit white people. He called the theory “a Marxist doctrine holding that America is a wicked and racist nation, that even young children are complicit in oppression, and that our entire society must be radically transformed.”
“Critical race theory is being forced into our children’s schools, it’s being imposed into workplace trainings, and it’s being deployed to rip apart friends, neighbors and families,” Mr. Trump said.
In what he called an example of critical race theory in action, the president condemned the Smithsonian Institution for publishing online a description of “whiteness” that included the concepts of rational thinking, hard work and the nuclear family.
“This is offensive and outrageous to Americans of every ethnicity, and it is especially harmful to children of minority backgrounds who should be uplifted, not disparaged,” Mr. Trump said. “Teaching this horrible doctrine to our children is a form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words.”
The president did not offer more detail, but he appeared to be referring to a graphic removed from the website of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture last month after criticism from conservatives, including Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son.
“Our ‘Talking About Race’ website was designed to help people talk about racial identity, racism and the way these forces shape every aspect of society,” said Linda St. Thomas, the chief spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution. “We removed a graphic that did not contribute to productive discussions.”
This month, Mr. Trump directed administration officials to halt or revise racial sensitivity training programs that he deemed “divisive” and “un-American propaganda,” and he threatened on Twitter to cut off federal education funding to California over the state’s incorporation of the 1619 Project in its public school curriculum.
Hours after extolling the United States’ iconic heroes, Mr. Trump missed a ceremony honoring a major one. He was absent from the dedication of a new memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington. That was unusual: President Bill Clinton dedicated a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt, President George W. Bush dedicated one to World War II, and President Barack Obama dedicated one to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Trump instead left town for a campaign rally in Wisconsin.
trump is the ABUSER. He’s modeling his behavior after Hitler, a fascist he loves re: Hitler’s Youth groups.
I actually know someone from Germany who was forced to join a Hitler’s Youth group. She was horrified and scared.
Hahahaha … trump doesn’t ‘love’ America. trump USES America for his HORRIFIC agenda against the citizens of America. trump works for Putin, his rubles bag.
trump SPITS on Our Constitution DAILY.
What’s next, a mandated picture of glorious narcissist in every classroom in America. He’s just throwing out red meat to the xenophobes, jingoists and chauvinists who are frothing at the mouth to use their AR-15s on “libtards.”
In related education news from The Daily Princetonian: In an open letter outlining the University’s efforts to combat racism early this month, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 wrote, “Racism and the damage it does to people of color nevertheless persist at Princeton” and racist assumptions “remain embedded in structures of the University itself.”
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE), which considers those statements to have “admitted racism,” has launched an investigation into whether the University has discriminated on the basis of race since Eisgruber took office in 2013.
In a message to Eisgruber on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary in the Office of Postsecondary Education Robert King wrote that the University president “admitted Princeton’s educational program is and for decades has been racist” in his early-September message — prompting concerns that the University has been violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act for decades.
The University has received over $75 million in federal funds since 2013. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos may take “action to recover funds” or “consider measures against Princeton,” but will bear in mind the challenges of COVID-19. end quote
https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/09/princeton-department-of-education-investigation-racism
This is a ridiculous and blatant attempt at trying to bully and intimidate PU.
Good grief! DeVos is indeed bullying Princeton. She could use the same tactics to bully any university. She should launch investigations of universities in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, etc., except this is clearly politically motivated. Maybe she should investigate her own Office of Civil Rights, which has cut back on enforcement of the laws.
It is worth noting that the 1619 project has come under critical fire from as esteemed an historian as James McPhereson. Trump’s speech writers have seized on a debate that exists in history to split the country yet again.
Some historians object to the weight the 1619 project puts on the Lord Dunmore proclamation. This is a purely historical argument between professionals who admire each other but disagree. Disagreement in history is an important aspect of that field of study. I recall when old-timers grunted their discontent at the writings of now venerable names like Kenneth Stamp and C. Van Woodward, pioneers at the door of re-visiting the history of reconstruction.
The right wing of American politics searches for divisive ways to interpret the words of historical analysis. Taking the 1619 project out of its professional context is a way to remove rational discussion of history from the American body politic. They do this because they, like the free soil movement of the 1850s or any other effective political movement, are striking at what everyone fears: the education of their children. This is a fear appeal, neither more nor less. Trump knows nothing about history. His handlers know full well how they can control destiny with an interpretation of history.
and when you take rational discussion of history from the American body politic, you see clearly where we are today
Bring back the “I chopped the cherry tree” and “the dollar across the Potomac” to the national standards! And the benevolent slave owners! And the accuracy of Birth of a Nation! And change the National Memorial for Peace and Justice subject from a history of lynching to a history of rope! It’s time to quit poisoning the minds of children.
The federal government should stay out of school curricula.
It also should not be in the business of subsidizing garbage “anti-racist” workplace training or “whiteness studies,” and it should not require government employees to be subjected to it. Unfortunately, and as always, Trump is the wrong messenger on this point.
Totally agree that feds should refrain from inflicting ‘critical racism’ retraining sessions on fed workers, FLERP. MSM (WaPo & NYT) are both conflating that w/ this phony incursion on pubsch curriculum, but it doesn’t wash. As a victim of both corp training sessions & ed PD, I am not sanguine about these mini-courses which can’t hope to change entrenched mindsets & do nothing but enrichen the dubious “training” industry. It’s one thing for a mgr to solicit a course targeted at improving deptl relations. Quite another to fire-hose fed workers w/blather that will supposedly e.g. reverse the decline in the # of govtl contracts awarded to minority businesses. Just as w/pubsch PD, it’s usually a case of satisfying some fleeting PC whim to make admin look good to some voters.
Trump would like to see an antiseptic, white-washed version of history that is as empty as he is. He is more interested in appearance than substance, and it is easy for him to ignore our harsh realities He can hug flags when the cameras are rolling, stand in front of a church with a Bible after clearing out protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets and lock children in cages in for-profit hell holes without conscience.
Michael Cohen wrote in his book that Trump sneers at the evangelicals who embraced him. He has no religion. Unless you consider Mammom to be a deity.
If Cohen was writing today he might confirm or refute, “Trump praises Italian archbishop who urges him to fight ‘deep state’ protests.” (WaPo). According to Archbishop Vigano, those who oppose Trump are “children of darkness whose plot will be revealed”.
Rhetorically, who feels lonelier at the top of the American church, Bishop Anthony or Bishop Vigano?
Trump worships only himself. What a sad, pathetic, very small, but dangerous man.
“Armor of God”, was planned to launch as an app from QAnon next week. But, presumably it’s hit a snag. Bloomberg (and, other sources) revealed the person who originated the app and who is behind the most prominent site for QAnon- QMap (10,000,000 views in July). The person identified is a senior V.P. at one of the 4 major banks.
Reuters, in a post last month wrote, “Russian-backed organizations amplify QAnon Conspiracy”.
“Weaponizing the religious base”, a goal identified by anonymous sympathetic sources in the WH, likely has many operatives from different places. It’s a shame it’s not countered by a greater number of religious leaders taking a visible stand in opposition to the fascist Trump. The leaders wouldn’t be taking the risks a few took in 1940’s Germany. They would merely be supporting a religious Democrat’s chances for the presidency. But, then, churches might (1) lose money for their religious schools and exemptions from U.S. law
(2) their politicking for the GOP might be reined in (3) they might lose control of women’s rights and (4) the ability to deny gay people the same rights as heterosexuals.
“A new social media platform designed for patriots worldwide…”, that’s the description for the Armor of God app. The play.google.com>store>apps’ entry, appears second on the list, of the first page of internet search results- evidence of successful promotion. The app is in the news because of its association with QAnon.
So far none of the nutty conspiracies have stuck including QAnon except for the tinfoil hat brigade. Politico claims that DeVos’ former chief of staff may be abandoning Trump and joining the Lincoln Project. Seeds of dissension in conservative circles are good for Biden.
Yes, DeVos’s former chief of staff has publicly announced that he is endorsing Biden.
Several other high-level former Trump staffers spoke out, including the woman who was Pence’s point person on the coronavirus task force. She said Trump seldom attended meetings, and on one of the few occasions that he did, he ranted for 45 minutes about how unfairly FOX News was treating him. He made public statements and sent tweets that contradicted what the task force agreed on.
“Walmart and Amazon Donated to QAnon-promoting Tennessee Politician”. Huffpo, Sept 19, 2020.
2020
Does Trump, the Non-Reader, include in his list of patriots for his history books like General Philip Sheridan said, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.”? Or Col James W. Forsyth who commanded the 7th Calvary massacre at Wooded Knee? It seems these are the types of heroes that Trump are interested for inclusion.
What does he want to leave out of the history books? Leave out slavery? Leave out the suffrage movement by the women? Leave out the heroes like Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Bessie Coleman (First African American Women to hold a pilot license) W.E.B DuBois (Civil Rights Activist), Daniel Hale Williams (Early Physician who Performed Heart Surgery). What about all the heroes who laid the thousands of miles of railroad tracks that connected this nation from coast to coast, north to south. Will leave them out? Probably. Will he leave out those heroes of color? Probably. Will he leave out people who belong to a religious way of life different than his. Probably. Will he leave out the Italians, Irish, Polish, Spanish, etc? The list is endless of those heroes who served this great nation that he will leave out. I imagine he will only include those who think, act, and look like him.
There are thousands of citizens of this great country who have given their honor, their wealth, their fame and their lives to build this nation into what it is today, Despite the destruction Trump and his minion have accomplished over the last four years this nation is still great because of so many unrecognized heroes for the last 300 hundred years.
Do not let Trump be responsible for any history book or history taught in our schools. It will be based on lies.
Trump is promoting views and saying words that someone else has supplied. He could no more explain critical race theory than he could grasp the meaning of the words in the Constitution. He is aware of the power of symbols, hence his executive order calling for a Garden of Heroes filled with life-like statues of American heroes with 31 of these already picked by Trump and his advisors.
I do not know who is providing the script for his rant at the September 17, 2020 “White House Conference on American History” but I gather the words and ideas can be credited to the three scholars in the audience, all ultra conservative, likely well-known to Diane.
One is Professor Wilfred McClay who has written books on which much of the Trump rant depends (see Wikipedia).
Dr. Peter Wood of the National Association of Scholars is known to me indirectly for his intolerance of unconventional “modern” art and as grand protector of Western Civilization (as if uncontested).
Ted Rebarber, CEO and founder of AccountabilityWorks, a non-profit, but also a marketer of an online assessment system for arithmetic, reading, and English language for English Learners (EL). Rebarber was a co-founder and CEO of Advantage Schools, Inc., a charter school management company operating in 10 states. He helped write legislation for federal charter schools and school choice in the District of Columbia and for several federal projects in education for the George H.W. Bush administration. Rebarber may be best known as author of “The Common Core Debacle” and other writing for the Pioneer Institute, a major proponent of school choice.
At the White House Conference on American History, Trump says that under his leadership the “National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a grant to support the development of a pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth about our nation’s great history.”
I could not find any such grant. The closest 2020 grant provided $3 million for 16 grants (up to $190,000 each) for proposals that include two identical “one-week summer workshops for thirty-six educators to enhance humanities teaching at the K-12 level.” Details are at https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/Landmarks-of-American-History-And-Culture-NOFO-2020.pdf
At the urging of ultraconservative scholars and a few members of Congress Trump is ranting against what he claims to be leftist indoctrination of children. He is hell-bent on replacing that stereotype with his version of “patriotic” brainwashing. Critical thinking is off the table, along with a host of inconvenient truths about our past and present.
Trump’s reference to a “1776 Commission” signals he will be doubling down as patriot in chief. The executive order for that commission has not yet been issued.
Here is the text of his rant.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-white-house-conference-american-history/
Let’s vote him out of office and stop the nonsense.
We don’t need a “Garden of Heroes.”
We don’t need a 1776 Commission.
We don’t need ignoramuses writing the nation’s history books. At least the textbook companies produce pablum, not alternative facts.
Agree, of course.
Trump says that under his leadership the “National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a grant to support the development of a pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth about our nation’s great history.”
I could not find any such grant”
I believe he misread the teleprompter, which undoubtedly said “National Endowment for the *In**humanities”
Wow.
Your wrote, “Dr. Peter Wood of the National Association of Scholars is known to me indirectly for his intolerance of unconventional “modern” art and as grand protector of Western Civilization (as if uncontested).”
That reminds me of Hitler and the Nazis’ hate of so-called “decadent” modern art.
So much of what’s happening now reminds me of a return to the era of post-World War I -the 1920s and 1930s..
Of course, the pandemic then and now but also the clash of cultures between rural and urban America -plus the impact of fast moving, technological change on society.
The difference today is that a demagogue has successfully taken control of much of our federal government with the opportunity to tilt the balance on our court system for a generation to come.
H.L. Mencken wrote in 1920, “As democracy is perfected, the office (of the President) represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Just …so… sad…
Don’t let Trump’s politicians control the schools. The ONLY way to quash Trumps vision along with charters who have no vision is to develop your vision. The vision that pushes out the current system of racism. WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
Step inside Trump’s mind and then tell me what he meant by only teaching patriotic Ameican history. When translated, what Trump said means “loyalty” to Trump above all else. If he wants your children to return to school and die from the virus or bring the virus home and kill his parents, then do it because that is what loyalty means to Trump.
And, when Trump said George Washington captured airports after he crossed the Dewalare River, that alternate fact will be in those Trump anointed patriotic Ameican history books because Trump said it. Whatever Trump thinks says will end up in those alternative history texts.
VOTE like your life and the survival of our species is at risk if Trump wins because that is a fact, not an alternative fact (another one of Trump’s endless lies).
If Trump wins or loses, and a Civil War breaks out, there will be no other choice but a Civil War to get rid of this monster and crush his followers even if millions die from COVID-19 or become casualties of the Civil War.
The bloodied rebellion in world history was the 19th century Taiping Rebellion in China that estimates say killed between 20 to 70 million people. I hope this Civil War doesn’t turn out that bad.
When I heard him utter the name “Howard Zinn” it was obvious that someone had given him the conservative anti-public education playbook. He probably now has the secret handshake.
Their Glossary of Watch Words: Howard Zinn; white privilege, social justice a.k.a. redistribution of wealth; English-only; anti-Parents As Teachers (which was federally funded initially by a conservative Republican Senator), strip current events and editorial cartoons from classes, and more. And that is followed by “I’d like to visit your library” (to pick books to censor) and “Do you allow those trans kids to use any bathroom they want?” Then there’s the tax credits for private school vouchers.
While Phyllis Schlafly was the poster girl for this crowd, these are mean white men (mostly) who somehow have turned themselves into victims, just like the president.
These are anti-tax, union hating people.
These folks turn their kids into spies reporting and taping what those liberal teachers say and what posters are on their walls. And, oh how they hate PRESIDENT Obama.
These are NOT private school folks; rather they want the public schools to persist only white washed to fulfill their agenda.
They are small in number in many communities – so their tactics are to go after board seats and administrators and teachers.
One more reason this inept dangerous man needs to be ousted.
It would be generous to simply say that Trump is the poster child for “white fragility,” but in fact he, or the people around him, are more deliberately and aggressively vicious in their white supremacy. They do gain traction because they play on white fragility and the infantile denial of real history. We are so far from truth and reconciliation, and therefore reparations, that I deeply fear for our future.
How ironic that Trump touts his new education plan on Constitution Day.
Allegiance Revisited
by Jack Burgess
“I pledge of allegiance to the flag, and to the Republic,
one nation, one people, striving for liberty and justice.
Yes, I do pledge allegiance to that.
To all men and women being created equal,
to don’t tread on me, and give me liberty or give me death.
I won’t give up the ship, and I won’t back down.
“I pledge allegiance to Jefferson’s lofty language, but not his slavery,
to Lincoln’s mystic better angels,
his new birth of freedom of and for the people,
to Teddy’s Square Deal, though not his wars,
to Franklin’s refusal to fear, fear itself,
and to Martin’s dream.
“Even more, I pledge allegiance to a living wage for all who work,
free public schools that free all our children,
to life, and death with dignity for those who age.
Clean air, clean water, free speech,
and freedom of and from religion,
for those who believe and those who don’t.
“And not only that, I pledge allegiance
to the whole wavy world, its lakes, valleys, plants, and creatures,
the far-spinning Solar System, the great arcing Milky Way,
and the starry, string-filled universe itself.
One creation, indivisible,
with mystery and magic for all.”
Jack Burgess served in the U.S. Army, taught in Ohio public schools, and served his state and nation is several other offices. He remembers The Pledge from his childhood, before “under God” was inserted in the 1950’s.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
Aren’t 1950s history books gone by now? Maybe some library has some. 🕵️
Yes Eddie, but I keep reading here that current history textbooks are becoming virtually content-free as a consequence of deleting all the political hot potatoes.
an interesting comparison to look at a 1950s popular high school history book and put it side by side with a history book used today
Opinion | Welcome to your first day of Patriotic Education!
Opinion by Alexandra Petri Columnist
September 18, 2020 at 3:11 p.m. CDT
Good morning, class! Welcome to Patriotic Education! We are going to learn only the things about America that are worth knowing, then stop. If we have any spare time before the AP exam, we will spend it in the singing of patriotic songs.
American history did not start in 1789; it did not even start in 1492; and it CERTAINLY did not start in 1619. The year 1619 is meaningless! Please efface it from your memory. America started 6,000 years ago (when the Earth was created) as an idea in the mind of God. God was very proud of himself for having such a good idea. He celebrated by hitting some dinosaurs with a rock and then making their bones appear much older than they were.
The country officially kicked off in 1775 (remember, subtract one, since the year 1619 no longer exists!), when a group of heroic men sent a letter to the manager of the establishment where they were, complaining about being charged too much for tea.
These men were perfect in every way. Even James Madison was two feet taller than he actually was. George Washington was the best of them, and he never lied, and all of his teeth were his own. He did not purchase nine teeth from enslaved people because there was no such thing as enslaved people or the number nine (it refused to leave the date 1619, so we got rid of it to show it we were not playing around). These giants easily defeated the British in the Revolutionary War without having to perform any raps whatsoever, no matter what your other history teachers try to tell you.
From then on, it was smooth sailing. Washington served two terms, which we used to think was the perfect number of terms to serve, but actually it might be okay to serve for life. In 1812, the British came back over to perform some much-needed remodeling on the White House, then left again…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/18/welcome-your-first-day-patriotic-education/
After actually teaching government, economics and history all day in a real life American classroom…
Three words:
Scary, bizarre….predictable.
Yeah, 2020 in America. The bizarre and scary are now commonplace and even celebrated by a large portion of our society.
NPR had a story yesterday about polling in the presidential race. I was driving home at the end of my first full week in a COVID-era school.
Yeah, great Biden has a lead. Really great.
But if 40% of our citizens would still vote for Trump even now….we are in deep trouble as a nation.
After decades of teaching civics, it’s hard to not feel that I’ve failed on some level, because of this fact.
Facing economic deprivation, some students cling to the privilege that Trump falsely promises. Charles and David Koch, Bill Gates and other libertarians set up the U.S. for fascism.
Even if Biden wins, oligarchy has a firm hold. The GOP are Putin’s stooges, either directly or indirectly. Theocracy empowers them.
Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The pioneering Supreme Court Justice and political icon passed away Friday at the age of 87.
My opinion- wealth concentration, theocracy and money in politics have pushed the U.S. past Ginsberg’s advice.
Maybe “Patriotic history” will conveniently ‘forget’ the lies that Trump tells.
………………………………………….
Did Trump Say the Military Had No Ammunition When He Took Office?
Correct Attribution Snopes
In October 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly claimed that when he took office, the U.S. military didn’t have any ammunition. Snopes readers inquired about the accuracy of the claim. He did make it, during a news conference:
“When I took over our military, we did not have ammunition. I was told by a top general, maybe the top of them all, ‘Sir, I’m sorry sir, we don’t have ammunition.’ I said, I will never let that happen to another president.”
According to Rupar, the comment came during a news conference in which Trump was discussing his decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria. The statement, that the U.S. military had no ammunition, wasn’t true.
But it wasn’t the only time Trump had made such a claim. In September 2019, for example, Trump said former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told him the military was low on ammunition.
“You know, when I came here three years ago almost, General Mattis told me, “Sir, we’re very low on ammunition.” I said, “That’s a horrible thing to say,’” Trump stated…
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-military-ammunition/
Trump lives in a cloudy dream world where reality does not exist. Trump’s world is meaningless to everyone else but himself. Trump lives in a fog of the mind from which he cannot see the daylight of the truth. Trump is going blind to what is fact and what is fiction. Trump can no longer function as a normal human being who can relate to the rest of the world for which he care so little for.
Renowned Harvard trauma expert: There’s a ‘very real threat of a racist, misogynist and deadly dystopia’ if Trump wins in November
Written by Bandy X. Lee September 19, 2020
This continues the series, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump Revisited: Mental Health Experts on the Devastating Mishandling of a Pandemic.” Whereas we could not have predicted a pandemic three-and-a-half years ago, the authors of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President anticipated how the president would respond, should there be a crisis. We tried to warn the public of the very consequences that are unfolding today: abuse of power, incompetence, and loss of lives and livelihoods of many Americans…
How do you expect he will respond in the coming critical months of the presidential election and beyond, as he becomes ever more isolated and senses that his power may be slipping away?
What is most frightening to me, as we approach this endgame, is the potential for apocalyptic self-destruction as Dear Leader becomes ever more isolated and senses that his power may be slipping away. Two months ago, the president attempted to revive the mass meetings that have sustained his fragile egomania, The Virus Be Damned! He was enraged and humiliated when, instead of the “hundreds of thousands” he expected, only some 6,000 supporters actually turned out, and the stadium was seen to be over half empty. Apparently, quite a few supporters who might be happy to yell “Trump, Trump, Trump!” “Build the Wall!” and “Lock Her Up!” in a crowd under ordinary circumstances had retained sufficient reality testing so that they were unwilling to risk their lives in a packed indoor space, where devoted cult followers refused to wear masks as a sign of loyalty to the leader.
The president has also been publicly rebuked, by present and former military leaders, for his decision to deploy military forces against peaceful citizens. Polls consistently show that a majority of the U.S. public has had enough of him. He is at risk of losing the election, and losing is something his narcissism cannot bear. Moreover, he has probably retained enough of his own reality testing to know that without the shield of the presidency, he may be called to account for any number of his crimes. Like many dictators under such circumstances, he may want to take the country, or the world, down with him. Prepare for a very dangerous time.
You have been a pioneer for our efforts as professionals with a societal role. Is there anything we might have done differently, and what lessons for the future can we draw from this experience?
I very much regret the fact that my professional organization, the American Psychiatric Association has refused to take a stand of resistance to this president’s multiple abuses of power and his appalling failure to protect the public health during this pandemic. In fact, without any consultation with the membership, soon after the election of this president, the organization’s leaders expanded ethical guidelines to silence any professional commentary on a public figure, no matter how disturbed and destructive he might be. I consider this to be a pathetic act of cowardice on the part of the APA, and I have chosen to disregard their new rule in the service of what I consider a higher ethical principle of bearing witness. I am grateful to my many colleagues who have done the same….
https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/renowned-harvard-trauma-expert-theres-a-very-real-threat-of-a-racist-misogynist-and-dystopia-if-trump-wins-in-november/#.X2Xyfym9qR4.gmail
“…the organization’s leaders expanded ethical guidelines to silence any professional commentary on a public figure, no matter how disturbed and destructive he might be…”
This is one of the many first steps taken in the 1930’s by Hitler to silence his opposition. Silence the professionals, silence the educated, and give a load voice to the aggravated and the cult leader has won. Trump is that cult leader who is and will silence all opposition at all cost to out democratic way of life.
NYT
BREAKING NEWS
President Trump tweeted that Republicans had an obligation to move “without delay” to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Saturday, September 19, 2020 11:07 AM EST
President Trump’s team sees a potential battle over courts as an opportunity to jump start a stumbling campaign, but it is urging him to do it in a way that does not alienate voters, especially women, Republican aides said.
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said any attempt to fill the vacancy on the court would amount to “the height of hypocrisy,” given that Republicans blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination from advancing more than 200 days before the election in 2016.
Trump only wants Republican do right for HIM. He has no other desire in life except what is important for HIM and HIS FAMILY.
Republican must do what is right for the American people. They are their to serve all Americans, not just Dictator for Life Trump.
Fantastic blog, good job, subscribed!
I feel sorry for any child who is gay or a trans. Society doesn’t treat them fairly. Trans people have a very high rate of suicide. DeVos is totally unqualified for her job. She is a wealthy person who donated to Republicans. That is not being qualified to make judgements that benefit students.
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Betsy Devos’ Dept. of Education threatens to withhold $18 million from schools that let transgender athletes compete
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE), led by Betsy DeVos, is threatening to withhold $18 million in federal funds from three Connecticut school districts unless they stop following the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s guidelines allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports.
The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to the Groton, Hartford and New Haven school districts telling them that allowing trans students to compete in sports teams matching their gender identities violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a subsection of the law that requires federally funded institutions not to discriminate on the basis of sex.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has pledged to “vigorously oppose” defunding efforts, but the state’s Democratic Governor Ned Lamont has said he doesn’t want to lose federal dollars over the policy, potentially placing it at risk.
The anti-LGBTQ legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is currently suing five Connecticut school districts over the same policy for the same reasons. The suit, brought by the parents of three cisgender female track athletes makes the same Title IX claims as the DOE and claims that trans girls have an unfair physical advantage which could prevent their daughters from advancing in competitions and winning college scholarships…
https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/betsy-devos-dept-of-education-threatens-to-withhold-18-million-from-schools-that-let-transgender-athletes-compete/#.X2dKXaGGuzc.gmail
She earns her name “Cruella DeVille”
Of course, this is ‘fake news’. NOTHING can make Trump look bad, because he can ‘fix’ everything. 200,000 dead means nothing.
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Team Trump’s pandemic response is now a worldwide embarrassment
A new Pew Research Center poll shows an unfortunate truth of the Trump pandemic era: Across the world, other nations are all in agreement that the United States’ COVID-19 response—to use the technical term here—suuuuuuucks.
A poll of the citizenry of 13 wealthy democracies, from Sweden and France to Australia and South Korea, shows that just 15% of onlookers think the United States has done a “good job” responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. And 85% think the United States has not done a good job…
https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/team-trumps-response-is-now-a-worldwide-embarrassment/#.X2iTKXL2Lro.gmail
Here is more ‘unpatriotic history’ put out by the Catholic Franciscan Action Network.
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Publication Date: September 21, 2020
Horrific Anti-Life Allegations Coming From Georgia ICE Detention Center
Last week, news of forced sterilizations and “jarring medical neglect” at Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Georgia caused outrage among the faith community.
The testimony by Dawn Wooten, a nurse at the facility turned whistleblower, confirmed what detained immigrants have been reporting for years. A harsh spotlight has been thrown on the abhorrent past neglect of detainees as these facilities now deal with Covid-19 by refusing to administer protective equipment and falsifying records in order to underreport cases.
This statement was released in response by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, of which FAN is an active member. The demands are to cut funding for unjust immigrant detention and a meaningful investigation into the claims of medical abuse and neglect.
Trump has NO RIGHT to represent the US after passing the USMCA, effective July 1, 2020.
“All over the world, pseudo-“free trade” agreements and other sovereignty-shredding schemes are being used to transfer more and more power to transnational bureaucracies and courts. And eventually, these regional orders will be interwoven into an overlapping patchwork of multilateral regimes on the road to creating a truly global authority, perhaps under the United Nations or some less-discredited future global body. At least, that is the globalist plan. But it is starting to show major cracks amid historic public backlash.”
http://inlandnwreport.com/2020/01/09/creating-a-new-world-order-out-of-regional-orders/?fbclid=IwAR30R8cNmRR0IM63YlHKQhh8Td9yw_Mp9bMFC3Uv2Qdo0rGYZpU0GrV4U0o
Trump is a phucking lunatic. He wants to put in a Supreme Court Justice who will vote to keep him in power even if he loses the election. He might just be blabbering to keep his name in the papers.
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Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election
PUBLISHED WED, SEP 23 20206:32 PM EDTUPDATED AN HOUR AGO
President Donald Trump refused Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the 2020 election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
“Well, we’ll have to see what happens. You know that. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots. And the ballots are a disaster,” Trump said at a news conference at the White House. It appeared Trump was referring to mail-in ballots, which he has repeatedly condemned, without evidence, as susceptible to massive fraud.
The president had been asked by a reporter if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power, “win, lose or draw.”
When the reporter noted that “people are rioting,” Trump replied: “Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very – you’ll have a very peaceful – there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.”
“The ballots are out of control,” Trump said, adding, “The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”
The Biden campaign issued the following statement in response to Trump declining to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he were to lose the election: “The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”
Minutes later, the president abruptly left the briefing room, telling the press, “I have to leave to take an emergency phone call.”…
The president has already predicted that the high court will decide the winner.
“I think this well end up in the Supreme Court and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices, and I think the system’s going to go very quickly,” Trump said at the White House earlier Wednesday…
https://cnb.cx/3iYtnjA
Didn’t Trump, the all-knowing-stable-genius, say that young people don’t get COVID-19? Obviously CDC will have to update their findings in two days to agree with Trump.
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Young adults are now the largest group of Americans getting COVID-19, CDC says
The median age of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. has declined, with adults in their 20s now accounting for more cases than people in any other age group.
By KAREN KAPLANSCIENCE AND MEDICINE EDITOR
SEP. 23, 20204:22 PM
The longer the COVID-19 pandemic goes on, the younger its victims get.
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the median age of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. has declined over the spring and summer, with Americans in their 20s now accounting for more cases than people in any other age group.
The findings suggest that if the U.S. wants to get its coronavirus outbreak under control, it will need more cooperation from young adults.
In May, the median age of U.S. residents with COVID-19 was 46. By July, it had dropped to 37, then rose slightly to 38 in August.
Likewise, in May, people in their 20s made up 15.5% of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide. At the time, they trailed people in their 30s (who accounted for 16.9% of total cases) as well as people in their 40s and 50s (both of those age groups accounted for another 16.4% of cases).
But by June, 20-somethings had taken over the top spot, making up 20.2% of all cases. That figure rose to 23.2% in July, then dropped back to 21% in August…
The CDC researchers who produced the report drew on three kinds of data: They tallied confirmed cases of COVID-19 in reports from state health departments, examined data from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program to identify patients who went to hospital emergency rooms with COVID-19 symptoms and analyzed coronavirus test results from 37 states.
The trend toward younger patients was evident in all three data sources, the researchers said.
The increase in COVID-19 cases among people in their 20s was striking. In May, 93,741 Americans between the ages of 20 and 29 were newly diagnosed with the disease. That figure swelled to 149,761 in June, 240,105 in July and 189,366 in August.
Americans in their 30s made up the second-largest group of new COVID-19 cases. Among people ages 30 to 39, 101,917 cases were confirmed in May, 130,415 were identified in June, 183,487 were diagnosed in July and 148,500 were added in August.
Over time, these infections in younger adults appeared to spread to older, more vulnerable adults in certain parts of the country, the researchers wrote…
The study was published Wednesday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-09-23/young-adults-are-now-the-largest-group-of-americans-with-covid-19-cdc
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