J.H.F**king Christ. Let’s see them try to convince the rest of the country that all of this is a good idea. Fascism on the hoof. With über racism along with it.
And Carole, this is the part that perplexes me. How do we get “the rest of the country,”as Linda states, to recognize the nonsense/propaganda that the right wing media is pedaling? Along with DJT we have Rupert Murdoch and his crew led by Sean Hannity. And those media types appear to have a lock on a portion of the voting population.
So, it seems like the biggest challenge we face is getting the message Heather Cox-Richardson writes out to people who will vote for the FDR way of democracy. I hope there is a lot more Heathers out their getting this message to voters.
The long term plan of conservative to take over local and state elected offices has been, obviously, very successful while the liberals were sound asleep. We are paying dearly for that slumber. VOTE like you life depends on it because it DOES!!!
THIS is now, our only hope. The thugs have rigged the "system" for so long, and brainwashed their crazed base, the rest of the silent majority HAS to stand up and take notice. One vote/voice/conversation at a time.
This is key. The party of death as it is currently constituted full of wing nuts and greeds, should not be governing anything including school boards and other local entities. Meanwhile they stir up the culture wars, so that an older man shouts at a little girl at a track meet in Montana because she has short hair or a honored teacher quits in Texas after being hounded by certain locals. I will also note that our nephew and his lady recently observed that they don't expect social security to be there for them. I also note that these pols are first in line when things go south and they need the Federal government, which as climate happenings intensify will surely happen. Already insurance companies are declining insurance to certain areas of the country.
"Culture war" is a misnomer. There is no war, but there is a campaign of racism and misogyny in the name of white power. A "war" implies that both sides of are equal in legitimacy, which of course they are not.
This is true and this is the problem. Many school boards have terrific well educated and diverse school boards - volunteers who work really hard. But many other local school boards have demented yahoos fighting culture wars.
I suggest (and expect much push back) that education should be controlled and FUNDED at the state level. And they should be required to follow certain standards established by the Federal Dept of Ed.
One of the reasons we have madness and ignorance in our nation is because we let local yahoos influence dedicated professionals. It's in the headlines every day.
The other reason we have this problem is because we fund schools by real estate taxes. Zip code funding of education is a guarantee of inequity and the maintenance of a "class society". The rich stay rich. The poor get poorer.
In many red states, the autocracy and ignorance peddling is rooted at the state level. Republican controlled state governments are attacking their own school systems. They are also going after local governments, especially those of any Democratic cities.
For years we funded education in Oregon primarily through the property tax. So every year there were local elections and we all waited and hoped it would pass. One year it didn't pass in time for the regular start of school, so we had kids running around crying and wondering what would happen to them while we started two weeks late. Now the the primary funding comes from the state. And I read where the Supreme Court may allow religious charter schools. I do not want my tax money to go to any religious school, period.
Are you aware that school board members in several states are actually paid? In Florida people serve on school boards for the money. The average annual pay in Florida is $58,511.00
The average Teacher Elementary School salary in the United States is $63,220 as of May 25, 2023, but the range typically falls between $51,872 and $76,347.
Susan Lorraine Knox: Exactly. Sadly the previous lack of interest in school board elections is now compounded by crazed parents coming to meetings to attack board members who have different perspectives.
They had to take it up several more notches by going after School Boards:
“According to previous reporting by CMD, ALEC held a workshop in December 2020 promoting the Right’s false narrative about critical race theory being taught in public schools that featured speakers from other groups tied to anti-public school zealot Koch, including the Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute, and American Enterprise Institute, which have spent decades attacking public education.
Just weeks after this ALEC workshop, the dark money attack dog, Moms for Liberty, was launched to target public schools. Shortly thereafter another dark money group, Parents Defending Education, was created. As of February 2022, right-wing state officials in 36 states had introduced bills or other restrictions limiting the truthful telling in public schools of history and teachings about race, racism, or the contribution of specific racial or ethnic groups.“
President Bidens wife is a teacher, they say. Could her advice have any effect on how school curriculum, funding, and choosing of school boards are arranged? Would Bidens conversion to Catholicism undermine our separation of Church and State?
I think we need to teach basic economic concepts starting in 4th grade as a concept on a developmentally appropriate level. I always did when I taught. We also need to teach critical thinking. Of course, we need to address the millions of fundamentalist Christian homeschoolers who are not teaching their children anything that might get them independence. This would also be true of the Yeshiva's in NYC. There should be national school standards like other countries have, which both homeschoolers and private schools are required to meet. How is that for government interference. I think that regulating education, and talking about children's rights to an education might get around children as property Parent's rights movements, which exist basically to get around government and our societal norms.
The politicized education system in America is why I never learned about the massacres and erasures of Tulsa, Okla.; Wilmington, NC; Ocoee, Fla. (Not to mention Native American atrocities.) Only during the last few years of Orange Angst and Pandemic-induced Awakening have I come to understand the UNITED States has not finished fighting the Civil War.
I was well into my twenties when I learned about the Japanese internment camps during WWII and the disenfranchisement of the Japanese-American Citizens. Shame on us!
I also suggest it is important to ad in Civics education much earlier, in elementary school, when age-appropriate principles of the rights and responsibilities of a good citizen can be introduced as essential to being American. Then, in middle and high school - to prepare young people to be good American adults - add teaching the mechanics of government and the importance of learning how to be informed and active participants in our system. I believe space created in school curricula to include teaching civics would not interfere with but would actually enhance learning in other subjects. A child who feels part of something bigger than himself/herself- part of a society that, despite its faults (yes, of course include the terrible historical truths as part of the teaching of American history), intends to advance opportunity, growth, and goodness in all of its people - will more likely succeed in whatever studies he/she are inspired to pursue.
You’re so right, Laura, about teaching children to be good, informed, successful citizens. I suspect that was the point: It’s much harder to manipulate good, informed, FAIRLY TREATED citizens. Sigh. Big sigh.
Children should be taught early on the privilege and responsibility to vote in every election. I don't remember civics classes but I am sure I had some in the 40' and '50's when I attended schools in Montclair, a top notch town. One thing that stuck in my head is: America is a melting pot. Montclair began as estates for wealthy New Yorkers and has many blacks who probably got there to begin with as household servants. And, lucky for Montclair, they stayed in Montclair. I am continuously shocked that people in many parts of the country just don't get it. They're Americans!!! "White Supremacy" is SO American.
During the 70s, I was the director of Junior Achievement of Southeast Michigan's "Project Business," which brought upper-level executives into 7th-8th grade classrooms once a week for a semester. The program successfully engaged students in the concepts and processes of economics. Unfortunately, it took up an hour of regular teaching time every week, and it became impossible for teachers to cover their own material in less time.
It is unfortunate that whatever else was on the docket was prioritized over real life lessons. I am a Deweyan teacher and believe in learning through relevant experiences whenever possible. https://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/john.html
An hour a week does not seem like much if it is planned into the curriculum and other activities support it. It might not be an all year thing, but still, at that age economics education is very important.
If "upper-level executives" are to present their version of "the concepts and processes of economics" to the innocent, FFS bring in a labor leader (or scholar) and a socialist organizer to counteract the exec's brainwashing re those "concepts and processes."
To add to your educational economics comments, children should learn critical thinking skills and how manipulation and gaslighting happen all around them--including amongst family members and friends, sometimes. They need to explore the 10 basic components of authoritarian leaning regimes that intentionally undermine critical thinking skills. They can use those skills to discern any person or group or media who might be trying to pull the wool over them.
I would call these classes LifeSkills. Our children would avoid a lot of charlatans if they could think for themselves, and would provide a higher inoculation rate from being susceptible to cults. I can tell you that my reading of Anne Frank, at nine, changed my life and how I look at anyone who gaslights me. It also impacted me when my recently born again Godmother suddenly tried to get me to become a Christian. She told me the guy bleeding and nailed on the cross she placed above my bed died for my sins. I asked what Sin is. I was appalled. I was only 9 years old, never did anything anyone should die for and he did not even know me since he died 2,000+ years ago. When my Godmother found out that I wanted my mom to take down the crucifix so I could sleep, I never saw her again. That was my first experience in truly stand-ing up for my own mind, using logic and refusing to be manipulated by a loved one. Well, I thought she was a loved one but her kind of Christianity seemed to teach her that if those you love do not convert, dump them. I studied what Jesus might have said and I could discern that there are universal truths about love, kindness, forgiveness and not casting stones. The rest sounded like someone warped the teachings and completely lost the points that resonate for so many of us. My mother, standing by me and supporting my developing critical thinking skills, against my Godmother, was THE BEST, most life-changing gift she ever gave to me. I have written about that many times in this forum over the years. This skill was critical to my calling trump a fascist in 2016 because I learned how fascists think and operate and mind-control. And here we are.
Critical thinking skills are essential in a representative democracy. As is the knowledge of how that democracy functions. Trump said it to their faces during the campaign in 2016—, "I love the poorly educated..." And they cheered! Bingo. He might be ignorant about many things, but clearly, he is a master manipulator/gaslighter of an alternative reality. Just like Hitler. Superiority, divisiveness and fear are the foundations of their power. This must be taught to children around 9 years old, at least in my experience--along with reading all the books the trump reich are banning. These skills also nip sexual predators in the bud because children will not easily fall for lies and manipulation when their personal and physical spaces are invaded. They need to tell someone if someone EVER threatens them. And keep telling until someone believes and helps them. Many cults and churches have predators whose actions should always be questioned. No one should be on a pedestal. We are all equal and should be treated with respect.
I was also pre-teen & teen in the '60's and keenly observed all the messaging, war protests, love-ins, and rioting in ghettos. The two signs that impacted my young mind most were "Question Authority" and "War is not healthy for children and other living things." Interesting, at the same time, didn't I learn that also from Anne Frank's Diary and WWII?
Might have to go over to fox and teach it. Cut and paste significant pieces of Heather's critical message here. (the easiest to understand-- why we are in significant debt due to trump & co., and how those who worked hard for their medicare savings plan will be dumped till 69 yrs old and have no protection from the government when it is privatized...this is corporatocracy at its' very worst.
It also makes me wonder how they would mismanage the SS accts of those Americans already receiving SS , of course I’ve always thought, perhaps naively, that recipients should or should have been allowed to take their money in lump sum when eligible.
Diana King: 1. Whose version of "economic history" should be taught? 2. How would you prevent curricula from being influenced by politicians? 3. Is "economic history" the same as or different from Economics? 4. For what reasons is "economic history" not being taught in high schools?
These are big questions. (Religious dogma should be kept out of it too. Comparative religion perhaps ok. ) Unanswerable in this medium. Perhaps a complete review or investigation of the education system with educators from all disciplines represented.
Economic history is not being taught because it would cause trouble for the teachers and the school board. Not only because parents would be misunderstanding and all up in arms about communism, but because the teachers are not qualified to teach what they have never been taught.
Economics, as a subject in school has not, in my experience, been taught in any comprehensible way. I don't think it's political influence, I think it's how Economics has evolved as a pseudo-science; there's not enough understanding of math and too much wishful thinking sociology.
Whether Civics is taught in high schools is up to the states. The classroom instruction time previously allotted to Civics, Government, and Social Studies has diminished greatly because of the bureaucratic requirements of "No Child Left Behind," the focus on math and science, and meaningless, anti-education, standardized tests.
Here in MT the congressional rep on their fb page almost every post uses weaponized words to describe & blame the D & Pres Biden. 500 people showed up to hear how the 2020 election was corrupt in our county. The state party met vowing to take down our only D representative in 2024. I feel like I am living in the Lord OF the Rings & a great battle for the good.
175 GOP reps are MAGA extremists.?That’s 80% of the GOP members of Congress. And they have a sufficient following in the population to actually re-elect Trump ? How can we prevent this nightmare scenario?
I do think we need to work on a very local level and actually have important conversations in our neighborhoods and local communities that include these people. Why are we not asking them what are their basic needs ? How are these needs being mer? What do they really need going forward for themselves and their families. I don’t think we will get anywhere by continuing to vilify and label.
And we need to go out now and register voters. I mean door-to-door and talk to people, get them registered for the next general election and help them get out and vote or send in a valuable bulletin. This takes a huge grass roots organization. We need to start today.
Respectfully you are the third person today that wrote about this grassroots idea. You say 'we'. We did start initiatives in my community and worked our hearts out leading up to 2016. I am not sure I want to do this again. Do you? It is not my intention to single you out. From my perspective I have been actively engaged for years and am only seeing the same people trying to move the same needle.
Never give up. I think authentic tough conversations where we actually listen to each other and not just wait to speak are a way to connect and then go forward. Have you read Amanda Ripley’s book HIGH Conflict: how it happens and how we can get out of it. I highly recommend it.
Alas, John, our nation has such deeply embedded "otherism" that is being manipulated to the max right now. That same population will never admit their superstitious and hate filled fears of blacks, gays, uppity women, immigrants, and intellectuals. Instead they reframe it as their right to be in control.
But yes, I agree that HCR's letters and other substacks are a little breath of sanity right now, but accessed by a minority. Facebook, Fox, Twitter reach many millions more and keep the toxins going. To say nothing about the fascists who seek self-aggrandizement at the peril of us all.
Fight we must, and bless the likes of HCR, but it's a huge climb.
That is what we need to do, John. We are too far down the "rabbit Hole" to talk about change at the school board level. Long range, yes, but time is a fleeting.
You mean like a microphone that Rupert has but telling the truth. We’re about 40 years behind. Rachel Maddow said it. MSNBC does not deliberately lie on the air. Fox has not a qualm. And the MAGAts and their ilk have not a clue. And MSM took their strategy from chump -good people on both sides. Who will call them what they are. Anything but a legitimate political party.
The young voting block may save us but the problem is they are getting their news from social media like Instagram. Very few young folks ages 20-30 have cable TV and most do not subscribe to an online newspaper of record.
With fewer and fewer news”papers” of record every day, it’s difficult to know which among the remaining are worth the read. Loss of the news industry and the resulting less-well-informed electorate is what keeps me awake at night.
The Meidas Touch is an excellent source of information by attorneys who are grounded and relentless in informing Americans. Really worth watching them. They are not corporate owned.
YOU ARE the chorus of THE many leaders. Our President . His many Staff. The writers we so love and need Heather, Ruth, Joyce, Charlie, blessed the ad infinitum ...
I truly believe John , as growing evidence shows, there are many many more who do hear, understand, and have joined US. Always there’s a reason for doubt for sure the least of which I think we forget...that we are a grieving nation, even world, for what the pandemic did to far many more than we count, and in far many more ways we yet truly comprehend.
Inflation as well as inFilltration of the disillusioned grasping , in fact many gasping for a breath of fresh air. We ARE in The Revolution . In the very thick of it.
And here comes the YOU to ask questions, pen mighty encouragement and and and educate those seeking clarification. Don’t PLEASE feel for a moment we don’t hear you, feel your anguish, and best of all applaud what some of you feel inconsequential effort ..to help.
Thank you. We (My wife and I) just completed postcards for an Ohio election. I believe you are right on point. It is encouraging to see and hear from so many voices during these incredible times.
Thanks again John ( and wife) post cards YES! 🙌 waaay back here in the deep woods of OMG blood red WV this old hippie has fought this battle, this system, this war for oh so very long….and will continue. Best to you two ❤️❤️ May your weekend be thoroughly enjoyed knowing the WE includes US and hoping many of THEM like our music 🎶💙❤️🎶. and join the band 😉
John, the only way to solve the issue you raise is to get money out of politics. The media is a problem, but it's being funded by billionaires, whose only interest is to promote low taxes and accumulate more profits for their shareholders. Big banking, Big pharma, big tech, are using Citizens United to fund their interests. Elections are now won by dark money in politics. These billionaires come in from other states and open the floodgates before an election, promoting their favorite issue In order to defeat the losers, the socialists, the immigrants.... We need to overturn Citizens United and make an all out effort to pass the' For the People act". It was defeated by billionaires stuffing the coffers of Sinema and Manchin, in order to defeat the act. Read Thom Hartmann's report and solution. Congress has the power to accomplish this but they need the help of the electorate.https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-no-labels-agenda-is-more-disturbing-d5a
I agree that big money, dark money is a major problem. Are you aware that Citizens United was stopped at the Appeals Court level and that Mitch McConnell played a big role as a co-plaintive to appeal it to the Supreme Court. Thus, I have always wanted to get Mitch out of office BUT a result of Citizens United has been that Mitch has a pot of money to strategically help key politicians. Susan Collins is a case in point. Mitch and his money made the difference after her vote for SCOTUS nominee Kavanaugh, who she later claimed to be disappointed in because he misled or lied to her re: how he would rule on abortion.
Yet, even with the billionaire money we have done pretty welll. Regretfully, Dems did not pay enough attention to state and local elections. Now, for example, we have seen a big push to get parents fired up about school board elections and it is working.
And you are right to point out Sinema and Manchin. They are a problem, for sure. Right now, with Sinema being independent there is a three way race that will make it challenging to unseat her. It seems better to have her and find other candidates in other states to expand the Dems majority.
Ah! So much to consider. I am not a political strategist but these things and big money are a plague.
I've been listening to Thom Hartmann for over 20 years and he is on the radio five days a week and had Bernie Sanders on every Friday for over 10 years "Brunch With Bernie" and there are a few others but our so called group of millionaire/billionaires don't buy up media outlets to get the word out all over especially in rural areas where it is all faux news.
Please listen carefully to the desperate call from trump to his base that the criminal charges are illegal, the prosecutors are “communists,” “thugs,” and only he “can save the country.” Extremism writ large! There is no doubt that he, Rudy, Lindsey, and others will be indicted in Georgia. Moreover, Trump, Jeffrey Clarke, Bannon and a large group of fake electors in multiple states will also be indicted by Smith in the Jan6 case. The walls are closing in and the only way he thinks he will survive is to publicly call for another insurrection to install him as President “to save the country!” He has already predicted publicly that this “is the last battle.”
We live in the most perilous time in our beloved nation since the Civil War! We will win but our military will have to be activated and a small but significant portion of our population will support him openly while a larger portion will support him covertly. We must remain resolute as our Democracy writ large is worth it!
I am heartened by 2 important differences between January 6, 2021 and now:
1. The DOJ has indicted over 1000 participants in the insurrection, and convicted many, including leaders like the head of the oathkeepers who is spending 18 years in prison. No obvious oathkeeper presence at trump's indictment hearing in Miami.
2. I joked in one of these Letters that maybe the reason so few showed up to support tRump on Tuesday was because the rest now have jobs, thanks to President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg - now I think it's true!
The times they are a'changin, for the better. And there's a #3: We LFAA readers are going to spread the word and get out the vote.
I don't think these indictments will inspire a 2nd jan 6. There are too many to attend or choose between. But, if he has to go to jail or even house arrest: watch out!
Hard to tell but in a couple of months from now a number of different indictments will be overwhelming and that may inspire the beginning of an insurrection in a variety of locations at different times.
Objectively he is getting far worse mentally in his incessant complaints of our alleged wrongful treatment of him. He has crossed the border between snide politics and the loss of all emotional control. Those who are up close recognize his uncontrollable behavior so that some of his lawyers are fleeing. And because the word is out, he is having great difficulty in finding competent replacements even if he is offering multi-million dollar paychecks in cash and in advance. That is a sign of a recognizably deranged individual.
We are 60 days away from Fani Willis’ bombshell which will be a massive recital of his overt threats and multiple schemes to overturn the official Georgia result by a cast of nefarious characters including Lindsey and several other MOC. Preceding that sorry tale, Jack Smith will complete the federal narrative with new indictments of what went on behind the scene before and during Jan6. Plays, movies, history books and novels will be composed about these sordid events for decades!
But by late August, the whole story will have been unfolded for all but the hardcore MAGA loyalists. The 35% of moderate Rs will have had enough so he will resort to open insurrection. That chapter will keep the FBI far busier than Jan6 for a very long time. It also will be time for McConnell and the old leadership of the GOP to sue for divorce from the crazies and ultimately suffer a massive defeat in both Houses of Congress and the presidency in November 2024.
But the “stink” of Trumpism will linger and that is another story!
As I responded to an earlier post, I do hope your description of what lies ahead proves to be the best nonfiction of our times. To be any less than you describe will mean a horror show the likes of which the US has not seen since the Civil War.
Time will tell as we share and support one another.
Nope. You all have missed the punt. Don’t be naive that we are being exploited by social media and we are getting our butts best. We’ve gone too far and in other instances, not far enough. It’s pathetic that we weren’t able to compromise on immigration. We can’t have it all our way or the highway. Prime example numero uno: The former governor of Virginia lost in my opinion when he responded about regulating books that parents had no right to make decisions. So he stood his ground and lost.
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach kids,” McAuliffe, a parent of five children, said during the debate, defending his 2016 veto of a bill that would have required schools to warn parents of books with sexually explicit content.“ Politico
This was exactly what social media ran with. McAuliffe was right. DeSantis is wrong. As a parent, I was aware of my child’s curriculum. The ones screaming about McAuliffe are the same ones who couldn’t be bothered to attend parent/teacher conferences or workshops. Social media and right wing media ran with it, as has “Moms for Liberty”.
At the beginning of each semester, most teacher are required to send home a course syllabus that comports with national and state standards, for parental signatures. Way too much teacher-time is sidetracked into dealing with parents who want individual curricula that comport with their own religious and political beliefs designed for their children. EX: Parents that insisted their 10th grader be sent to the library with an alternative unit, for the duration of our 3-week unit on "Animal Farm," because talking animals were satanic.
My son, a few years ago, took AP government and politics and had an assignment to write a book report. He was offered a list of books from which to pick. Low and behold, a book by Glenn Beck appeared. We hit the roof and he showed us the list that offered choices from both right and left authors. I was ashamed that the teacher perhaps indirectly provides the students with tacit support of the lies of Glenn Beck. Made him return that book, I bet Glenn did not refund us, and marched him to library to pick from real sources of information. Schools are caught in the middle; parents are the ones who need to inform their children. If the parents cannot see that they are being deceived, then the children will be deceived too.
In Maryland we have thr Destiny Program which allows parents to choose which books their children can check out at school. Seems like a good compromise,
Best of luck with your compromising efforts with Libertarian/GOP/QOP Obstructionsist /elected radicals from a gerrymandered districts, whose strategy is to NEVER compromise, mantain obstruction of popular policies, and to continue obfuscication to keep the people uncertain, stressed, and threaten, and continue to incite polical violence. The New Deal is a good deal. It might be the best deal that the shrinking middle class has left in country. MAGA's real goal is to make America Russia. These tactics are stink of Putin and the GOP should be ashamed.
The “recently released” Blueprint For America has actually been covertly available for months. BFA was what Biden referred to ( “ I’ll give you a copy of the proposal” )at the State of The Union as GOP heads exploded. 🤯🤯🤯
"Blueprint for America".., like New Gingrich's 'contract ON america' as I recall it. These f'errs have their origins from well within the communist party whose assets are quite dedicated to our demise. And, not unlike the bible-passage-quoters who would have us believe "the word" (of 'their' choosings). Sure makes it hard to maintain some focus that actually benefits humanity.
Perhaps something else should be pointed out to everyone - that most of our politicians are members of the 1% - not only do they receive substantial "salaries", but their benefits outweigh anything we have, PLUS the little subsidies here & there that they receive as members of Congress! Some were millionaires or wealthy when they were elected - some have never ever held any actual job! Public service is nothing like it was intended to be. Sadly, far too many have absolutely NO comprehension of what it is like for normal ordinary people - anymore than djt has.
I'm so sick & tired of watching this bunch of "elites" (thats what they are) stand in front of every microphone they can find & blathering on.
I think we have to tackle the huge Evangelical Christian Cults of non thinking, non questioning followers, which is enslaving women and children to follow a set of behaviors and beliefs with no tools for questioning and through homeschooling no exposure to the outside world. These White Evangelical churches are telling their people to vote in a block for Trump and people like him. He could sell our secrets to North Korea, and all enemy nations and they would not care because Trump lets these male run societies, where women and children have no say and provide slave labor to enrich these so called churches, run by males, do whatever they want, and is a role model to them for oppression of women. He caters to this crowd, and the type of people taking over the Republican party. If you have seen Shiny Happy People about the IBLP religious sect, and the Duggar family who gained television fame for practicing the principles of this group. Women are beguiling temptresses if they do not cover their bodies, and are responsible for any sexual assault upon them, which is a part of the creed of the group to assault women and girls because they have to obey the men. These women and children are not in a position to 1) read Prof Richardson or anyone else who is writing enlightening things, 2) or to choose whom to vote for or what to do on their own. They are kept in a permanent childlike, subservient state in their communities, and this represents millions of people in our country. No exposure is the rule of thumb for these groups because, while they claim they don't want their women and children poisoned by sinful ideas, what they really don't want is loss of control. Somehow our religious freedom laws have allowed groups like this to grow and get extremely wealthy, and still get tax exempt status. Mega churches whose leaders fly around in private planes should not get tax exempt status. Given that the White Evangelical movement is replicating the world found in The Handmaid's Tale, which is the White Supremacist nation state dream to spread over the entire country, and people like Matt Gaetz, MTG and Lauren Bobert are their representatives, we need to look at how to address that constituency in this country. They do not want our government because they believe that what they are doing is religious work. The religion of capitalism.
Last night PBS news reported that the largest single Christian denomination in the US, the Southern Baptist Convention, had back-tracked from its 30-year tolerance of women pastors declaring that henceforth only men can be priests or pastors or ministers in their denomination thereby joining the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church in the dominance by and subservience to a male priesthood.
Yes. I have been reading about it, and it is very upsetting to the women pastors who are being voted out. Out of leadership. There is criticism of their style. I imagine there is less sexual assault of parishioners in these women led communities. It is outrageous. They want men making the money, and controlling the people. We need a title IX in religions too, so that there will be no tax exemption for churches that practice gender discrimination. This should go for racism too.
J.H.F**king Christ. Let’s see them try to convince the rest of the country that all of this is a good idea. Fascism on the hoof. With über racism along with it.
THE long awaited out of the closet destruction of the NEWDEAL . Their constituents are primed with propaganda & ready for the sell out.
And Carole, this is the part that perplexes me. How do we get “the rest of the country,”as Linda states, to recognize the nonsense/propaganda that the right wing media is pedaling? Along with DJT we have Rupert Murdoch and his crew led by Sean Hannity. And those media types appear to have a lock on a portion of the voting population.
So, it seems like the biggest challenge we face is getting the message Heather Cox-Richardson writes out to people who will vote for the FDR way of democracy. I hope there is a lot more Heathers out their getting this message to voters.
Thank you for sharing.
Perhaps by teaching economic history in high schools and not letting curricula be influenced by politicians.
True, but that is the long view. Get Out the Vote in 2023 & 2024 for every elected office, in every state. Vote them out up and down the ballot.
The long term plan of conservative to take over local and state elected offices has been, obviously, very successful while the liberals were sound asleep. We are paying dearly for that slumber. VOTE like you life depends on it because it DOES!!!
THIS is now, our only hope. The thugs have rigged the "system" for so long, and brainwashed their crazed base, the rest of the silent majority HAS to stand up and take notice. One vote/voice/conversation at a time.
Good luck in Tx and Fl
This is key. The party of death as it is currently constituted full of wing nuts and greeds, should not be governing anything including school boards and other local entities. Meanwhile they stir up the culture wars, so that an older man shouts at a little girl at a track meet in Montana because she has short hair or a honored teacher quits in Texas after being hounded by certain locals. I will also note that our nephew and his lady recently observed that they don't expect social security to be there for them. I also note that these pols are first in line when things go south and they need the Federal government, which as climate happenings intensify will surely happen. Already insurance companies are declining insurance to certain areas of the country.
"Culture war" is a misnomer. There is no war, but there is a campaign of racism and misogyny in the name of white power. A "war" implies that both sides of are equal in legitimacy, which of course they are not.
Currently many are eating from food pantries!
But many states are controlled by repugs and they
oops and they control who gets to vote or with techniques that make it almost impossible for many to vote.
Cutriculam is decided by school boards, not teachers. Elect intelligent people to school boards.
This is true and this is the problem. Many school boards have terrific well educated and diverse school boards - volunteers who work really hard. But many other local school boards have demented yahoos fighting culture wars.
I suggest (and expect much push back) that education should be controlled and FUNDED at the state level. And they should be required to follow certain standards established by the Federal Dept of Ed.
One of the reasons we have madness and ignorance in our nation is because we let local yahoos influence dedicated professionals. It's in the headlines every day.
The other reason we have this problem is because we fund schools by real estate taxes. Zip code funding of education is a guarantee of inequity and the maintenance of a "class society". The rich stay rich. The poor get poorer.
In many red states, the autocracy and ignorance peddling is rooted at the state level. Republican controlled state governments are attacking their own school systems. They are also going after local governments, especially those of any Democratic cities.
For years we funded education in Oregon primarily through the property tax. So every year there were local elections and we all waited and hoped it would pass. One year it didn't pass in time for the regular start of school, so we had kids running around crying and wondering what would happen to them while we started two weeks late. Now the the primary funding comes from the state. And I read where the Supreme Court may allow religious charter schools. I do not want my tax money to go to any religious school, period.
And the yahoos actually scare reasonable people off the boards, I have heard.
Are you aware that school board members in several states are actually paid? In Florida people serve on school boards for the money. The average annual pay in Florida is $58,511.00
The average Teacher Elementary School salary in the United States is $63,220 as of May 25, 2023, but the range typically falls between $51,872 and $76,347.
Susan Lorraine Knox: Exactly. Sadly the previous lack of interest in school board elections is now compounded by crazed parents coming to meetings to attack board members who have different perspectives.
Koch’s started a war against democracy by attacking our educational institutions.
Simply writing curriculum wasn’t working fast enough:
https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/the-koch-brothers-sneak-into-school/
They had to take it up several more notches by going after School Boards:
“According to previous reporting by CMD, ALEC held a workshop in December 2020 promoting the Right’s false narrative about critical race theory being taught in public schools that featured speakers from other groups tied to anti-public school zealot Koch, including the Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute, and American Enterprise Institute, which have spent decades attacking public education.
Just weeks after this ALEC workshop, the dark money attack dog, Moms for Liberty, was launched to target public schools. Shortly thereafter another dark money group, Parents Defending Education, was created. As of February 2022, right-wing state officials in 36 states had introduced bills or other restrictions limiting the truthful telling in public schools of history and teachings about race, racism, or the contribution of specific racial or ethnic groups.“
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/04/new-documents-show-alec-targeting-school-board-and-other-local-races/
And democracy activists are standing up for democracy. Will we win??
https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/21/school-board-elections-illinois-wisconsin-republicans-lose
It depends. School boards in many states set administrative policies but do not decide curriculum, which is set by state education departments.
It starts at the state level.
I think it starts at the local level.
A lu lu was elected last year in Clay County, IN.
President Bidens wife is a teacher, they say. Could her advice have any effect on how school curriculum, funding, and choosing of school boards are arranged? Would Bidens conversion to Catholicism undermine our separation of Church and State?
Thank you everyone for your informative comments on my post.
I think we need to teach basic economic concepts starting in 4th grade as a concept on a developmentally appropriate level. I always did when I taught. We also need to teach critical thinking. Of course, we need to address the millions of fundamentalist Christian homeschoolers who are not teaching their children anything that might get them independence. This would also be true of the Yeshiva's in NYC. There should be national school standards like other countries have, which both homeschoolers and private schools are required to meet. How is that for government interference. I think that regulating education, and talking about children's rights to an education might get around children as property Parent's rights movements, which exist basically to get around government and our societal norms.
The politicized education system in America is why I never learned about the massacres and erasures of Tulsa, Okla.; Wilmington, NC; Ocoee, Fla. (Not to mention Native American atrocities.) Only during the last few years of Orange Angst and Pandemic-induced Awakening have I come to understand the UNITED States has not finished fighting the Civil War.
WTF?
I was well into my twenties when I learned about the Japanese internment camps during WWII and the disenfranchisement of the Japanese-American Citizens. Shame on us!
SLWeston: "politicized" or racist?
I agree 100%, Linda!
I also suggest it is important to ad in Civics education much earlier, in elementary school, when age-appropriate principles of the rights and responsibilities of a good citizen can be introduced as essential to being American. Then, in middle and high school - to prepare young people to be good American adults - add teaching the mechanics of government and the importance of learning how to be informed and active participants in our system. I believe space created in school curricula to include teaching civics would not interfere with but would actually enhance learning in other subjects. A child who feels part of something bigger than himself/herself- part of a society that, despite its faults (yes, of course include the terrible historical truths as part of the teaching of American history), intends to advance opportunity, growth, and goodness in all of its people - will more likely succeed in whatever studies he/she are inspired to pursue.
You’re so right, Laura, about teaching children to be good, informed, successful citizens. I suspect that was the point: It’s much harder to manipulate good, informed, FAIRLY TREATED citizens. Sigh. Big sigh.
Children should be taught early on the privilege and responsibility to vote in every election. I don't remember civics classes but I am sure I had some in the 40' and '50's when I attended schools in Montclair, a top notch town. One thing that stuck in my head is: America is a melting pot. Montclair began as estates for wealthy New Yorkers and has many blacks who probably got there to begin with as household servants. And, lucky for Montclair, they stayed in Montclair. I am continuously shocked that people in many parts of the country just don't get it. They're Americans!!! "White Supremacy" is SO American.
During the 70s, I was the director of Junior Achievement of Southeast Michigan's "Project Business," which brought upper-level executives into 7th-8th grade classrooms once a week for a semester. The program successfully engaged students in the concepts and processes of economics. Unfortunately, it took up an hour of regular teaching time every week, and it became impossible for teachers to cover their own material in less time.
It is unfortunate that whatever else was on the docket was prioritized over real life lessons. I am a Deweyan teacher and believe in learning through relevant experiences whenever possible. https://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/john.html
An hour a week does not seem like much if it is planned into the curriculum and other activities support it. It might not be an all year thing, but still, at that age economics education is very important.
If "upper-level executives" are to present their version of "the concepts and processes of economics" to the innocent, FFS bring in a labor leader (or scholar) and a socialist organizer to counteract the exec's brainwashing re those "concepts and processes."
To add to your educational economics comments, children should learn critical thinking skills and how manipulation and gaslighting happen all around them--including amongst family members and friends, sometimes. They need to explore the 10 basic components of authoritarian leaning regimes that intentionally undermine critical thinking skills. They can use those skills to discern any person or group or media who might be trying to pull the wool over them.
I would call these classes LifeSkills. Our children would avoid a lot of charlatans if they could think for themselves, and would provide a higher inoculation rate from being susceptible to cults. I can tell you that my reading of Anne Frank, at nine, changed my life and how I look at anyone who gaslights me. It also impacted me when my recently born again Godmother suddenly tried to get me to become a Christian. She told me the guy bleeding and nailed on the cross she placed above my bed died for my sins. I asked what Sin is. I was appalled. I was only 9 years old, never did anything anyone should die for and he did not even know me since he died 2,000+ years ago. When my Godmother found out that I wanted my mom to take down the crucifix so I could sleep, I never saw her again. That was my first experience in truly stand-ing up for my own mind, using logic and refusing to be manipulated by a loved one. Well, I thought she was a loved one but her kind of Christianity seemed to teach her that if those you love do not convert, dump them. I studied what Jesus might have said and I could discern that there are universal truths about love, kindness, forgiveness and not casting stones. The rest sounded like someone warped the teachings and completely lost the points that resonate for so many of us. My mother, standing by me and supporting my developing critical thinking skills, against my Godmother, was THE BEST, most life-changing gift she ever gave to me. I have written about that many times in this forum over the years. This skill was critical to my calling trump a fascist in 2016 because I learned how fascists think and operate and mind-control. And here we are.
Critical thinking skills are essential in a representative democracy. As is the knowledge of how that democracy functions. Trump said it to their faces during the campaign in 2016—, "I love the poorly educated..." And they cheered! Bingo. He might be ignorant about many things, but clearly, he is a master manipulator/gaslighter of an alternative reality. Just like Hitler. Superiority, divisiveness and fear are the foundations of their power. This must be taught to children around 9 years old, at least in my experience--along with reading all the books the trump reich are banning. These skills also nip sexual predators in the bud because children will not easily fall for lies and manipulation when their personal and physical spaces are invaded. They need to tell someone if someone EVER threatens them. And keep telling until someone believes and helps them. Many cults and churches have predators whose actions should always be questioned. No one should be on a pedestal. We are all equal and should be treated with respect.
I was also pre-teen & teen in the '60's and keenly observed all the messaging, war protests, love-ins, and rioting in ghettos. The two signs that impacted my young mind most were "Question Authority" and "War is not healthy for children and other living things." Interesting, at the same time, didn't I learn that also from Anne Frank's Diary and WWII?
Might have to go over to fox and teach it. Cut and paste significant pieces of Heather's critical message here. (the easiest to understand-- why we are in significant debt due to trump & co., and how those who worked hard for their medicare savings plan will be dumped till 69 yrs old and have no protection from the government when it is privatized...this is corporatocracy at its' very worst.
It also makes me wonder how they would mismanage the SS accts of those Americans already receiving SS , of course I’ve always thought, perhaps naively, that recipients should or should have been allowed to take their money in lump sum when eligible.
Diana King: 1. Whose version of "economic history" should be taught? 2. How would you prevent curricula from being influenced by politicians? 3. Is "economic history" the same as or different from Economics? 4. For what reasons is "economic history" not being taught in high schools?
Or just have Letters From An American be required daily reading from 7th grade on up.
These are big questions. (Religious dogma should be kept out of it too. Comparative religion perhaps ok. ) Unanswerable in this medium. Perhaps a complete review or investigation of the education system with educators from all disciplines represented.
Excellent questions !
Economic history is not being taught because it would cause trouble for the teachers and the school board. Not only because parents would be misunderstanding and all up in arms about communism, but because the teachers are not qualified to teach what they have never been taught.
Mary Ellen Harris: So true.
Economics, as a subject in school has not, in my experience, been taught in any comprehensible way. I don't think it's political influence, I think it's how Economics has evolved as a pseudo-science; there's not enough understanding of math and too much wishful thinking sociology.
Whether Civics is taught in high schools is up to the states. The classroom instruction time previously allotted to Civics, Government, and Social Studies has diminished greatly because of the bureaucratic requirements of "No Child Left Behind," the focus on math and science, and meaningless, anti-education, standardized tests.
No Child Left Untested.
Here in MT the congressional rep on their fb page almost every post uses weaponized words to describe & blame the D & Pres Biden. 500 people showed up to hear how the 2020 election was corrupt in our county. The state party met vowing to take down our only D representative in 2024. I feel like I am living in the Lord OF the Rings & a great battle for the good.
...or maybe in "The Lord of the Flies"????
I’m in MT too. It does feel like Lord of the Rings. MT is where the old system is on hospice. Be strong and know that there are more of us out here.
Can't help but paraphrase, "The Ring of the Lords!"
You do live in Lord of the Rings.
Carole Berkoff: "Lord of the Rings" meets "Lord of the Flies."
175 GOP reps are MAGA extremists.?That’s 80% of the GOP members of Congress. And they have a sufficient following in the population to actually re-elect Trump ? How can we prevent this nightmare scenario?
I do think we need to work on a very local level and actually have important conversations in our neighborhoods and local communities that include these people. Why are we not asking them what are their basic needs ? How are these needs being mer? What do they really need going forward for themselves and their families. I don’t think we will get anywhere by continuing to vilify and label.
And we need to go out now and register voters. I mean door-to-door and talk to people, get them registered for the next general election and help them get out and vote or send in a valuable bulletin. This takes a huge grass roots organization. We need to start today.
Respectfully you are the third person today that wrote about this grassroots idea. You say 'we'. We did start initiatives in my community and worked our hearts out leading up to 2016. I am not sure I want to do this again. Do you? It is not my intention to single you out. From my perspective I have been actively engaged for years and am only seeing the same people trying to move the same needle.
Never give up. I think authentic tough conversations where we actually listen to each other and not just wait to speak are a way to connect and then go forward. Have you read Amanda Ripley’s book HIGH Conflict: how it happens and how we can get out of it. I highly recommend it.
Alas, John, our nation has such deeply embedded "otherism" that is being manipulated to the max right now. That same population will never admit their superstitious and hate filled fears of blacks, gays, uppity women, immigrants, and intellectuals. Instead they reframe it as their right to be in control.
But yes, I agree that HCR's letters and other substacks are a little breath of sanity right now, but accessed by a minority. Facebook, Fox, Twitter reach many millions more and keep the toxins going. To say nothing about the fascists who seek self-aggrandizement at the peril of us all.
Fight we must, and bless the likes of HCR, but it's a huge climb.
Perfectly stated, Hope Lindsay--and HCR is our oasis and reservoir.
John D. Cooper: Exactly. We need to outvote them--
That is what we need to do, John. We are too far down the "rabbit Hole" to talk about change at the school board level. Long range, yes, but time is a fleeting.
Those school board members have a way of movin' on up very quickly--the bad ones need to be stopped asap, and the good ones need to be supported.
You mean like a microphone that Rupert has but telling the truth. We’re about 40 years behind. Rachel Maddow said it. MSNBC does not deliberately lie on the air. Fox has not a qualm. And the MAGAts and their ilk have not a clue. And MSM took their strategy from chump -good people on both sides. Who will call them what they are. Anything but a legitimate political party.
Hi Jeri. I suspect "Rachel Maddog" is a typo? Or not? It made me grin.
Thanks, she is tough, but not mad. Well, maybe. I sure am
Jeri Chilcutt: Nothing wrong with being mad!
Hope Lindsay--Me, too! I like "Maddog"! 😊
Yes, Jeri, exactly.
The young voting block may save us but the problem is they are getting their news from social media like Instagram. Very few young folks ages 20-30 have cable TV and most do not subscribe to an online newspaper of record.
With fewer and fewer news”papers” of record every day, it’s difficult to know which among the remaining are worth the read. Loss of the news industry and the resulting less-well-informed electorate is what keeps me awake at night.
Thank God for Substack.
The Meidas Touch is an excellent source of information by attorneys who are grounded and relentless in informing Americans. Really worth watching them. They are not corporate owned.
Thanks to so many of you❤️
YOU ARE the chorus of THE many leaders. Our President . His many Staff. The writers we so love and need Heather, Ruth, Joyce, Charlie, blessed the ad infinitum ...
I truly believe John , as growing evidence shows, there are many many more who do hear, understand, and have joined US. Always there’s a reason for doubt for sure the least of which I think we forget...that we are a grieving nation, even world, for what the pandemic did to far many more than we count, and in far many more ways we yet truly comprehend.
Inflation as well as inFilltration of the disillusioned grasping , in fact many gasping for a breath of fresh air. We ARE in The Revolution . In the very thick of it.
And here comes the YOU to ask questions, pen mighty encouragement and and and educate those seeking clarification. Don’t PLEASE feel for a moment we don’t hear you, feel your anguish, and best of all applaud what some of you feel inconsequential effort ..to help.
You are.
Carry on, thanks so very much.
❤️👏🤞🙏❤️
Thank you. We (My wife and I) just completed postcards for an Ohio election. I believe you are right on point. It is encouraging to see and hear from so many voices during these incredible times.
Thanks again John ( and wife) post cards YES! 🙌 waaay back here in the deep woods of OMG blood red WV this old hippie has fought this battle, this system, this war for oh so very long….and will continue. Best to you two ❤️❤️ May your weekend be thoroughly enjoyed knowing the WE includes US and hoping many of THEM like our music 🎶💙❤️🎶. and join the band 😉
John, the only way to solve the issue you raise is to get money out of politics. The media is a problem, but it's being funded by billionaires, whose only interest is to promote low taxes and accumulate more profits for their shareholders. Big banking, Big pharma, big tech, are using Citizens United to fund their interests. Elections are now won by dark money in politics. These billionaires come in from other states and open the floodgates before an election, promoting their favorite issue In order to defeat the losers, the socialists, the immigrants.... We need to overturn Citizens United and make an all out effort to pass the' For the People act". It was defeated by billionaires stuffing the coffers of Sinema and Manchin, in order to defeat the act. Read Thom Hartmann's report and solution. Congress has the power to accomplish this but they need the help of the electorate.https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-no-labels-agenda-is-more-disturbing-d5a
I agree that big money, dark money is a major problem. Are you aware that Citizens United was stopped at the Appeals Court level and that Mitch McConnell played a big role as a co-plaintive to appeal it to the Supreme Court. Thus, I have always wanted to get Mitch out of office BUT a result of Citizens United has been that Mitch has a pot of money to strategically help key politicians. Susan Collins is a case in point. Mitch and his money made the difference after her vote for SCOTUS nominee Kavanaugh, who she later claimed to be disappointed in because he misled or lied to her re: how he would rule on abortion.
Yet, even with the billionaire money we have done pretty welll. Regretfully, Dems did not pay enough attention to state and local elections. Now, for example, we have seen a big push to get parents fired up about school board elections and it is working.
And you are right to point out Sinema and Manchin. They are a problem, for sure. Right now, with Sinema being independent there is a three way race that will make it challenging to unseat her. It seems better to have her and find other candidates in other states to expand the Dems majority.
Ah! So much to consider. I am not a political strategist but these things and big money are a plague.
We need to dump Citizens United during the Biden term. Immediately!!
I've been listening to Thom Hartmann for over 20 years and he is on the radio five days a week and had Bernie Sanders on every Friday for over 10 years "Brunch With Bernie" and there are a few others but our so called group of millionaire/billionaires don't buy up media outlets to get the word out all over especially in rural areas where it is all faux news.
Please listen carefully to the desperate call from trump to his base that the criminal charges are illegal, the prosecutors are “communists,” “thugs,” and only he “can save the country.” Extremism writ large! There is no doubt that he, Rudy, Lindsey, and others will be indicted in Georgia. Moreover, Trump, Jeffrey Clarke, Bannon and a large group of fake electors in multiple states will also be indicted by Smith in the Jan6 case. The walls are closing in and the only way he thinks he will survive is to publicly call for another insurrection to install him as President “to save the country!” He has already predicted publicly that this “is the last battle.”
We live in the most perilous time in our beloved nation since the Civil War! We will win but our military will have to be activated and a small but significant portion of our population will support him openly while a larger portion will support him covertly. We must remain resolute as our Democracy writ large is worth it!
I am heartened by 2 important differences between January 6, 2021 and now:
1. The DOJ has indicted over 1000 participants in the insurrection, and convicted many, including leaders like the head of the oathkeepers who is spending 18 years in prison. No obvious oathkeeper presence at trump's indictment hearing in Miami.
2. I joked in one of these Letters that maybe the reason so few showed up to support tRump on Tuesday was because the rest now have jobs, thanks to President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg - now I think it's true!
The times they are a'changin, for the better. And there's a #3: We LFAA readers are going to spread the word and get out the vote.
https://www.lawfirmantiracismalliance.org/lfaacharter/Home
Absolutely! But he may get worse as the indictments roll in?
Ira Lechner: He will get worse.
Yes, much worse when he is indicted in GA and the again by Jack Smith for the Jan6 Insurrection!
I don't think these indictments will inspire a 2nd jan 6. There are too many to attend or choose between. But, if he has to go to jail or even house arrest: watch out!
Hard to tell but in a couple of months from now a number of different indictments will be overwhelming and that may inspire the beginning of an insurrection in a variety of locations at different times.
No last battle as demonstrated by the quiet indictment day in Florida.
Well Ira, you have just written my dream come true. Let’s hope what you wrote is not fiction but rather the greatest nonfiction of our lifetime.
Objectively he is getting far worse mentally in his incessant complaints of our alleged wrongful treatment of him. He has crossed the border between snide politics and the loss of all emotional control. Those who are up close recognize his uncontrollable behavior so that some of his lawyers are fleeing. And because the word is out, he is having great difficulty in finding competent replacements even if he is offering multi-million dollar paychecks in cash and in advance. That is a sign of a recognizably deranged individual.
We are 60 days away from Fani Willis’ bombshell which will be a massive recital of his overt threats and multiple schemes to overturn the official Georgia result by a cast of nefarious characters including Lindsey and several other MOC. Preceding that sorry tale, Jack Smith will complete the federal narrative with new indictments of what went on behind the scene before and during Jan6. Plays, movies, history books and novels will be composed about these sordid events for decades!
But by late August, the whole story will have been unfolded for all but the hardcore MAGA loyalists. The 35% of moderate Rs will have had enough so he will resort to open insurrection. That chapter will keep the FBI far busier than Jan6 for a very long time. It also will be time for McConnell and the old leadership of the GOP to sue for divorce from the crazies and ultimately suffer a massive defeat in both Houses of Congress and the presidency in November 2024.
But the “stink” of Trumpism will linger and that is another story!
As I responded to an earlier post, I do hope your description of what lies ahead proves to be the best nonfiction of our times. To be any less than you describe will mean a horror show the likes of which the US has not seen since the Civil War.
Time will tell as we share and support one another.
Not just destruction of the new deal. Once that’s done it’s a quick step to Fascism.
Nope. You all have missed the punt. Don’t be naive that we are being exploited by social media and we are getting our butts best. We’ve gone too far and in other instances, not far enough. It’s pathetic that we weren’t able to compromise on immigration. We can’t have it all our way or the highway. Prime example numero uno: The former governor of Virginia lost in my opinion when he responded about regulating books that parents had no right to make decisions. So he stood his ground and lost.
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach kids,” McAuliffe, a parent of five children, said during the debate, defending his 2016 veto of a bill that would have required schools to warn parents of books with sexually explicit content.“ Politico
This was exactly what social media ran with. McAuliffe was right. DeSantis is wrong. As a parent, I was aware of my child’s curriculum. The ones screaming about McAuliffe are the same ones who couldn’t be bothered to attend parent/teacher conferences or workshops. Social media and right wing media ran with it, as has “Moms for Liberty”.
At the beginning of each semester, most teacher are required to send home a course syllabus that comports with national and state standards, for parental signatures. Way too much teacher-time is sidetracked into dealing with parents who want individual curricula that comport with their own religious and political beliefs designed for their children. EX: Parents that insisted their 10th grader be sent to the library with an alternative unit, for the duration of our 3-week unit on "Animal Farm," because talking animals were satanic.
My son, a few years ago, took AP government and politics and had an assignment to write a book report. He was offered a list of books from which to pick. Low and behold, a book by Glenn Beck appeared. We hit the roof and he showed us the list that offered choices from both right and left authors. I was ashamed that the teacher perhaps indirectly provides the students with tacit support of the lies of Glenn Beck. Made him return that book, I bet Glenn did not refund us, and marched him to library to pick from real sources of information. Schools are caught in the middle; parents are the ones who need to inform their children. If the parents cannot see that they are being deceived, then the children will be deceived too.
In Maryland we have thr Destiny Program which allows parents to choose which books their children can check out at school. Seems like a good compromise,
Students would just have their friends check out the books prohibited by parents.
Best of luck with your compromising efforts with Libertarian/GOP/QOP Obstructionsist /elected radicals from a gerrymandered districts, whose strategy is to NEVER compromise, mantain obstruction of popular policies, and to continue obfuscication to keep the people uncertain, stressed, and threaten, and continue to incite polical violence. The New Deal is a good deal. It might be the best deal that the shrinking middle class has left in country. MAGA's real goal is to make America Russia. These tactics are stink of Putin and the GOP should be ashamed.
Ted! Yes! To whom are your comments directed?
Not to U! Somebody up above about compromising with Fascist ( new QOP troll)
The “recently released” Blueprint For America has actually been covertly available for months. BFA was what Biden referred to ( “ I’ll give you a copy of the proposal” )at the State of The Union as GOP heads exploded. 🤯🤯🤯
Go Dark Brandon !!💙
"Blueprint for America".., like New Gingrich's 'contract ON america' as I recall it. These f'errs have their origins from well within the communist party whose assets are quite dedicated to our demise. And, not unlike the bible-passage-quoters who would have us believe "the word" (of 'their' choosings). Sure makes it hard to maintain some focus that actually benefits humanity.
Perhaps something else should be pointed out to everyone - that most of our politicians are members of the 1% - not only do they receive substantial "salaries", but their benefits outweigh anything we have, PLUS the little subsidies here & there that they receive as members of Congress! Some were millionaires or wealthy when they were elected - some have never ever held any actual job! Public service is nothing like it was intended to be. Sadly, far too many have absolutely NO comprehension of what it is like for normal ordinary people - anymore than djt has.
I'm so sick & tired of watching this bunch of "elites" (thats what they are) stand in front of every microphone they can find & blathering on.
And in the vanguard …the extreme court, with their 6 ultra-right wing,
christo-fascist GQP politicians in robes.
I think we have to tackle the huge Evangelical Christian Cults of non thinking, non questioning followers, which is enslaving women and children to follow a set of behaviors and beliefs with no tools for questioning and through homeschooling no exposure to the outside world. These White Evangelical churches are telling their people to vote in a block for Trump and people like him. He could sell our secrets to North Korea, and all enemy nations and they would not care because Trump lets these male run societies, where women and children have no say and provide slave labor to enrich these so called churches, run by males, do whatever they want, and is a role model to them for oppression of women. He caters to this crowd, and the type of people taking over the Republican party. If you have seen Shiny Happy People about the IBLP religious sect, and the Duggar family who gained television fame for practicing the principles of this group. Women are beguiling temptresses if they do not cover their bodies, and are responsible for any sexual assault upon them, which is a part of the creed of the group to assault women and girls because they have to obey the men. These women and children are not in a position to 1) read Prof Richardson or anyone else who is writing enlightening things, 2) or to choose whom to vote for or what to do on their own. They are kept in a permanent childlike, subservient state in their communities, and this represents millions of people in our country. No exposure is the rule of thumb for these groups because, while they claim they don't want their women and children poisoned by sinful ideas, what they really don't want is loss of control. Somehow our religious freedom laws have allowed groups like this to grow and get extremely wealthy, and still get tax exempt status. Mega churches whose leaders fly around in private planes should not get tax exempt status. Given that the White Evangelical movement is replicating the world found in The Handmaid's Tale, which is the White Supremacist nation state dream to spread over the entire country, and people like Matt Gaetz, MTG and Lauren Bobert are their representatives, we need to look at how to address that constituency in this country. They do not want our government because they believe that what they are doing is religious work. The religion of capitalism.
Last night PBS news reported that the largest single Christian denomination in the US, the Southern Baptist Convention, had back-tracked from its 30-year tolerance of women pastors declaring that henceforth only men can be priests or pastors or ministers in their denomination thereby joining the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church in the dominance by and subservience to a male priesthood.
Yes. I have been reading about it, and it is very upsetting to the women pastors who are being voted out. Out of leadership. There is criticism of their style. I imagine there is less sexual assault of parishioners in these women led communities. It is outrageous. They want men making the money, and controlling the people. We need a title IX in religions too, so that there will be no tax exemption for churches that practice gender discrimination. This should go for racism too.