This week, news broke that as a guest on the right-wing Real America’s Voice media network in 2020, Republican candidate for Michigan governor Tudor Dixon said that the Democrats have planned for decades to topple the United States because they have not gotten over losing the Civil War.
Also a native Michigander. I was there a week ago visiting my brother in western MI. The ads were much worse than those here in MN. To laugh, I kept asking who, in right mind, would name their daughter, Tudor - is she the reincarnation of Henry VIII?
It was a Ford model. Perhaps the R candidate is a Ford heirss. “ The Ford Tudor (pronounced two-door) was a coupe marketed by Ford in the fifties. Despite its name, the Tudor was not named after the British Tudor family, but rather just a play on the fact that it had two doors. Accompanying it was the Ford Fordor.”
- from a website whose link I can’t get my phone to let me paste here
Elizabeth Ford’s naming a car Tudor was not as bad as Chevy’s Nova, which had special trouble in Latin America. Of course in Spanish No Va means ‘no go.’
I'm going to have to read this a few more times to understand all the twists.and turns of how it evolved. However it sure doesn’t fit neatly into a TV or newspaper ad!
That's what I just said!!! And it doesn't. But maybe Heather's ending could be turned into a question: How did it happen that members of a party that once defended civil rights, now make white power rants on public media? I'm going to try this on twitter!
I lived it all from 1934 to the present, in the South until 1997. It’s really exactly as told. From WWII onward the twists and turns were even more complex than at any point after the 1861 war. What do we call that war these days? The Civil War? There was nothing civil about it. The Brady photographs tell all. Our history is a bloody mess; the dream of democracy is what has made us special as long as we held onto it. If we have lost it through greed and stupidity, we will know by mid-November. Vote and vote blue!
Thank you, Sandra. Watching Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, remembering photos of her with her sister and their parents walking in bombed out parts of London, reminded of her being “out” in the British equivalent of the WAACs, I recognized that both of us had been formed by WWII. And in my public school in a poor district during and after WWII, I had Virginia history, world history, American history, and civics. My civics teacher, a truly rare lady, told her classes that if they did not vote in every election they were entitled to vote in, she would come back to haunt them. Forty years later, at a high school reunion, she was the only teacher mentioned. Between her and my father, I grew up and grew old working on many elections and voting.
Any political party that aspired to be a national party had a northern anti-slavery and a southern pro-slavery wing. this was true of the whigs, the democrats and the republicans. the northern and southern wings of these parties were constantly compromising. in recent times northern and southern democrats could barely keep the party together, but there was no break up, even under fdr. the south voted for everything he wanted as long as he wasn't too pro-naacp. they still curse him in dixie, but if it weren't for fdr the south would probably not have electricity yet. and all the small forts in the south are huge military installations now, thanks to fdr. they'd better pray down there that the federal gov't doesn't get out of their lives anytime soon. the dem party broke up during the civil rights era. in other words, over race. the northern wing supported civil rights, and that's all it took. the republicans gladly allied with the south because it made their party stronger. northern dems and repubs always think they can control their southern wings, but the south is so solid that the tail always ends up wagging the dog. "southern slavery is an institution that is in earnest. northern freedom is an institution that is not in earnest." and just read that stupid 13th amendment that everybody moons over in that ridiculous s. spielberg cartoon, lincoln. did the north not realize that white southern juries would simply convict black men on trumped-up charges and send them to jail, where they would work for no pay? in other words, as slaves? you'd think abe lincoln had never been a lawyer.
I am so incredibly anxious about the upcoming midterms that I am finding it hard to focus on anything else. I have been following campaigns of several candidates outside of my state for awhile now. That, and the fact that one of my adult children has been brainwashed by a legalistic Baptist church, makes these elections feel very personal to me.
I'm so sorry, Miselle. I completely understand your concerns. I believe, however, that the majority of Americans are rational, intelligent, and morally strong. The democracy depends on it. VOTE.
I love that system of required voting. It is pathetic how few people vote here. Pay taxes and vote that’s what you should have to do here if you’re lucky enough to be a US citizen.
I wish I could count on rational, intelligent, and morally strong fellow Americans. Unfortunately, the pandemic showed another side to the America I thought I lived in. Petty grievances, self-centered, and easily mislead…
Wish I had your belief. I have thought many times “we aren’t that stupid.” Only to be proven wrong. However, I still believe that, but the propaganda works and it is louder than the majority’s sanity. Will anything burst Rupert’s balloon??
I would love to believe that. None the less worried as hell. The cost of living (which as very little to do with Biden) is more important too many Americans than civil rights (women's rights ++) and democracy its self.
Very true. I have a right wing friend in Texas that tries to bring me over to his side. When I give him my list of why I see the Republican party turning towards fasicism all he can come back with is the economy and gas prices. Quite frankly he has absolutely no idea what fasicism (or socialism is for that matter) even is and doesn't want to know. He would be perfectly content if the last election was "nulified" and Trump installed. I think he thinks that's "democracy".
So much of this goes back to longterm structural limitations built into public education regarding history and civics, by right wingers especially in the South who wanted those subjects to convey their political and cultural indoctrination, not the truth. Consider the outsize dominance on the content of public school textbooks by the Texas state Board of Education, simply because they’re such a huge market that publishers found it expedient to concede to their demands, and economical to publish only one edition of each history textbook for the whole country. https://education.msu.edu/green-and-write/2014/texas-textbooks-and-the-politics-of-history-standards/
(I will copy this comment to a more central spot on today’s comment thread.)
And spread the word far and wide to #VoteDownBallot ! #VoteDemDownBallot !
People often ignore the smaller offices, judges etc and we can no longer afford to do so. If you don’t know who to vote for, then just guess and go Dem down the line!
I believe we are as well, though the crazy cult 45 base drowns us out. Michael Moore mentioned (as did "Beau of the Fifth Column") that it will be the Independent, or infrequent voters who will decide the election. So I channeled that worry into 220 letters and 60 postcards to voters.
I never even knew I could do this from home until frequent contributor here, Ellie Kona, mentioned it. Kudos to her! I wish I could know how many of the voters I "adopted" will actually vote.
I think we are truly kindred souls. What was your source for the letters and cards? I have a daughter getting married, so I don't think I'll have time to send any - but even talking like we've done, and having people comment or express appreciation, is an important step toward stopping this nightmare. WE CAN DO THIS. Good WILL prevail.
I would agree with you about Americans being rational, intelligent and morally strong but, if so, how the hell did Trump get elected? There are good people out there but they are naive and ignorant. This is so sad. Please VOTE!
Trump won because he won the popular vote in three big states by about 70,000 votes spread across those states. That gave him just enough electoral votes to put him over the top. He won because those 70,000 voters were persuaded to vote for white Christian supremacy, or they voted for a third party candidate, amounting to the same thing.
Yes, people were persuaded to vote for white Christian supremacy. That's what I'm saying. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but people need to be less naive and less ignorant. Jesus himself is probably rolling His eyes that people think a vote for Trump was a vote for Christianity. I mean seriously, HUH?
Linda Biondi: - Agreed that "a majority of Americans are rational, intelligent, and morally strong." But unfortunately a minority of American voters put He Who Shall Not Be Named into the White House. A very sad and outdated condition of our political system.
Politics from the pulpit is huge in Texas. Family members have told me I teach CRT. When I assure them I don’t they say that’s not what I’ve heard. The mega church in the city where I teach last Sunday put a list of Republican candidates on their mega screen and told the congregation to just take a screenshot and find out for themselves what those candidates are about. Not endorsing them but they are a part of their church family. Several administrators and teachers in the district go to that church. But the Democrats out number the Republicans and if we can get more people to the polls, that’s all we need! I’m anxious too. But so hopeful!
It’s illegal for churches to engage in political support of candidates According to IRS tax law. I looked into this because of a concerted effort by the Catholic church to support anti Roe anti choice candidates here in Vt. I believe that these 502C3 churches which are tax exempt should start paying taxes .. losing tax exempt status. !!
I believe the former archbishop of Minn-St Paul got a visit from the IRS several yrs ago when he was not subtlety campaigning against SSM. He was eventually removed from his position for his (mis)handling of sex abuse cases.
It seems to me that church organizations are breaking the law when they push a political agenda. I would rather see each of them charged with a crime and given fines based on the extent of their abuses. That would bankrupt most of them. Maybe then they could get back to the job of helping others.
This puts the IRS/federal gov't in a lose-lose situation. MAGAs already talk about how Demonrats are attacking Christianity, and here would be their proof. (You know, following the rule of law isn't exactly MAGAs thing).
I didn’t know that… I think it’s a concerted effort by the Catholic Church on a countrywide basis. It makes my blood boil to know that they’re tax exempt
Nope. It is the Catholics too. If I could I would show you a photo of the ad placed in my little local Vt newspaper … the same ad thst is being placed nationally by the Catholic Church. Sorry but it is true and I have photos to show it
CRT has never been taught in K-12 schools. Let me say that again. CRT has never been taught in K-12 schools.
When I first heard talk on the news a few years ago about Critical Race Theory being taught in our schools, I was baffled. What the heck is that, I thought. I taught elementary school for 42 years. I have a BEd in elementary ed and an MEd in reading Instruction. I had NEVER heard of CRT.
I did a search which yielded no information about what CRT is. Over the next year or so I continued to find very little information about what it actually is, then finally I stumbled on something in the news explaining it. Apparently it is a legal theory discussed in legal academic settings. I couldn’t explain it to you; I’m not a lawyer. But, it is not taught in public schools.
If a politician tells you that they are against teaching CRT in the schools, they are showing you their ignorance. They do not know what CRT is, as is true of most of the rest of us. It’s time for our leaders to get educated about CRT and start speaking out, telling the truth about this.
Well said! CRT is not taught at that level. Methinks they are confusing CRT with, perhaps, a field of study which is critical of racism... kind of like what should be being taught.
Aww! Thanks! I’ve had some struggles with it but ultimately I love my students and know they need a voice of calm right now. Young elementary kids are having struggles once held by high school and college kids. I just want them to feel loved and accepted!
Sorry to hear about one of your children falling under the spell Miselle.
Hopefully, the specific actions and teachings of Jesus will get through.
And?
That stark contrast between Jesus message of love, acceptance, value of diversity, and forgiveness, will begin to chafe with Baptist theology of judgement, superiority, hypocrisy, “going to hell” and male/white supremacy.
Here’s the deal; “I read what Jesus said, but that’s not really what he meant with respect to ‘Murica. Jesus didn’t know ‘bout ‘Murica cuz it hadn’t been discovered yet. If he had known, he’d agree with ‘our’ message that segregation and control keeps things peaceful. That’s why they call him The Prince of Peace”
I disagree, Dave. The message of Jesus as I recall it, is love and acceptance and forgiveness. The only reason that slavery is accepted in the bible, is that it was common at the time, and it apparently hadn't occurred to anyone that slavery conflicts with the primary new testament message (love and acceptance and forgiveness.) Segregation is opposed to acceptance and forgiveness, as Jesus demonstrated with his treatment of the woman at the well, the parable of the good Samaritan and the acceptance of the thief on the cross.
I'm not anxious at all. What will happen, will happen regardless of the stress I could put myself under. Please, recognize that putting your own state of mind (and health) at risk will not change anything. Life will continue.
Miselle, I understand what you are going through. I've never felt this anxious about a midterm election before. Try to take a break from it and meditate, pray, anything that can help to calm you. You are not alone.
THIS is why civics literacy and active life-long engagement in civil society are of central importance for beating back fascist, authoritarian messaging of the MAGA GOP tribes. I focus on these areas in my teaching. I’d like to know how others are resisting the polarization?
Ruthie, Absolutely, “And anyone running for office should be able to pass a basic civics test.” I have believed this forever. It’s absurd that junior high school students often know more than some/many citizens running for office. Likely TFG wouldn’t have passed.
They should also be able to demonstrate a knowledge of mathematics and science to at least the high school level. Roe v Wade might still be standing if the Supreme Court had even an elementary knowledge of basic biology.
You got it, Ruthie! Let’s start with Tommy Tuberville (R Senator from Alabama) and test his knowledge of the three branches of the American government.
I agree about the ignorance of civic knowledge. Also, it is mind boggling how ignorant of economics most politicians are, considering how vital economics are to most legislation.
I’d like to tell a story. Teaching French at Xavier University, the oldest black Catholic college in America, I was startled when a student stood up in the middle of class and announced that she had never expected to be taught by a white teacher. To this day I don’t know why I stood up and replied that I didn’t expect racism in reverse. The rest of the class applauded. This was mid ‘70’s. It’s the small acts that will finally erase racism and mistrust on both sides. Laws help, but the “lifelong engagement” is what counts.
For Starters: Stay away from clicking on malevolent algorithms, chirons that scream "look at me" and malignant narcissists. Try clicking on "block", "unsubscribe", "spam" & statutory law restricting the misuse or abuse of personal data. Boycott products hawked on the wings of the chirping Bird by the Chief Twit.
It's so addictive! I am relatively self-aware, and yet still doom scroll. Self-awareness isn't exactly a MAGA trait, so imagine how valuable this tool is for fascists. That's why Musk bought Twitter. It clearly wasn't for the company to make money directly.
Thank you becky, you are spot-on with word "addictive"; we need more "situational awareness": self, family, community, city, county, region, nation, hemisphere & Planet- our only really big home.
That eliminates ABC nightly news where "NEWS" is always "BREAKING as we come on the air" & urgently delivered in a firm, concerned voice including weather as so & so "times it all out for us" ... body counts preferred.
I have no issue with Biden. He has been a good statesman, a good president. I was crazy about Obama but in certain areas he was weak, not wanting to "rock the boat". He didn't call out a lot of the disgusting stuff from the GOP. He should have pushed Garland thru to the Supreme Court, should have insisted. Biden has passed so much legislation just in the past few months. Yes, he is old. So what. He has a lot of experience and I applaud his support for Ukraine. I don't have the sense that he will run again, even if he says he is at this point. If he were to say he isn't running, he would be a lame duck, so I think it's important at this point that he says he is running. I don't know that Obama would have gotten so much done. Indeed, he was focused on health care and that's great but that wasn't the only issue at hand.
Obama was likely focused on staying alive. The vitriol was earth shattering. The tea party was the KKK in tee shirts. Looking back, his election “woke” up the racist pigs who then used “socialist” as the epithet of the day. It became du rigueur for the haters and the opportunists. Chump took notice and licked his chops.
I remember well the vitriol towards Obama. Racists in and out of the government just couldn't come to terms with a person of color in the White House. It didn't matter how intelligent and capable he was. Not only was he attacked, but his wife and daughters.
I’m not sure Obama would have been elected if Biden hadn’t been on the ticket. If it had been Hilary, I don’t think Obama would have won. Biden was a huge asset for that time. And I like him now! He’s getting way more done than any president I’ve seen before! Getting away from trickle economics disaster is huge!
I recall the capable & disciplined 2008 Campaign work by David Plouffe & others including an active, digital Community that was essentially abandoned In 2009. A couple of years into Obama's 1st Term, David was lost to Uber.
I'm quite happy with Biden, thank you. He's built on Obama's legacy, and achieved in areas where Obama struggled, such as adding women and minorities to the administration, and getting us out of Afghanistan. He's soon turn our relationship with the Saudis on it's head. Would Obama have been so bold in Ukraine? I doubt it. On abortion? I wonder. If sensible voters show up at the polls, which I believe they will, Democrats will expand the Supreme Court, opening the possibility of a purge of decades of regressive ruling. We may look back on these years as a Golden Era. So, miss the romance of Obama? Yes and no.
I think Biden made a horrible call in not running for President in 2016. I think that H. Clinton was the most unilaterally and uniquely qualified candidate for President that we have had in my lifetime who had sadly been the recipient of at least 15 years of crafted RepubliQan objection so that she was unable to be elected in spite of winning the popular vote. I also believe that the election of Obama ripped the scab off the festering wound of racism which also kicked up a backlash like nothing else could have.
I know that (at least in my limited experience with public education as a consumer of that for my first 12 years of education) that teaching to the mean was the philosophy, at least for many. This was then dropped to the mandated "no child left behind" which quit teaching anything other than rote information for regurgitation at test time (as I watched teacher friends struggle to impart anything other than what would get their kids to pass these mandated tests). I have come to believe that "no child left behind" has actually meant "all children, then an informed population left behind".
So much of our voter ignorance and political dysfunction goes back to longterm structural limitations built into public education regarding history and civics. Right wingers especially in the South wanted those subjects to convey their political and cultural indoctrination, not the truth. Consider the outsize dominance on the content of public school textbooks country-wide by the Texas state Board of Education, simply because they’re such a huge market that publishers found it expedient to concede to their demands, and economical to publish only one edition of each history textbook for the whole country. https://education.msu.edu/green-and-write/2014/texas-textbooks-and-the-politics-of-history-standards/
And let us not forget that Southern evangelicals seized on abortion, years after Roe v. wade as an issue for their followers to distract from the fact that the IRS was going after their tax exemptions for their segregated private schools in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. In one way or another, it's always about race.
Not necessarily. I remember growing up around a Southern Baptist majority who hated Catholics first, and liturgical churches second. Took me a while to figure out why they had teamed up with anti-abortion folks who were mostly Catholic at that time.
This is why we need civics and history classes in high school and college. And not a curriculum that just memorizes events and dates. I am old enough to have witnessed the history HCR discusses in real time: Nixon's southern strategy, James Meredith public stand . . . I don't know if Tudor Dixon is truly ignorant or deliberately devious in her portrayal. But the fact that she is running for governor is frightening.
I don't remember a thing from my US history class in high school except that it was taught by a football coach who I think actually took his teaching seriously. I had a wonderful prof for 19th century US history in grad school. He could cram a hour and half worth of lecture into a hour. We also had to read 4 or 5 books each term....three, so it was 12 to 15. As a grad student I had to read 5 more each term and write reports on them. I concentrated on slavery which showed me, among other things, how the writing about it changed.
I don't remember my American government class either except that it was taught by a track coach, who once again, was sincere about his teaching. My best teacher was a Brit for world history. I also taught government in a small high school. I wanted them to understand why we needed government and they did figure that out and then we concentrated on the amendments to the Constitution.
“Truly ignorant or deliberately devious”. Those are the bookends of of the parameters. We had some ditches that were blocked with debris which my old friend(79) and I were obliged to clean. After which we thanked each other for always being there for each other. He asked me if I had heard about Pelosi getting attacked. His information had it wrong as he was tickled that Nancy was hurt. This is completely out of character. He is a kind and giving man and yet he was eager to divulge this catastrophe in a manner meant to be good news. When he didn’t get my approval rather eliciting a severe reprimand his demeanor went back and he apologized for being so heartless. Going to work in the woods ending his education at 14 and logging all of his life makes me sure this man’s ignorance far outweighed any kind of deviance. I find this to be the dilemma.
Very illuminating anecdote Pat. Thank you. I think this illustrates how close we are to another hot Civil War. The ideological battle lines have been drawn and the bigots and autocrats among us have armed themselves to the teeth. As in the prelude to the Civil War, the arteries have hardened. The forces of evil have marshalled the ignorant. At age 68, I’ll do what I can but as in all wars it will be the youth who must gather their courage and confront this evil. In the face of all this confusion, there is still something called right and wrong. Good and evil. We are staring evil in the face and have to prepare ourselves for the fight. When duty calls out low “thou must” the youth replies “I can.” We’ve done it before. We can do it again. And we must.
Jeeze William. I’m never sure if someone has seen our armed forces in serious action or just in the movies. Being armed to the teeth is not a qualifier to face the army, marine corp, navy, or air force. The 266 combat assaults in my very short military career gave me a good impression of our forces capabilities. There is no fucking chance you will find me trying to face us. I can’t even describe horrors that await idiots who think they are capable of taking on the tsunami of war. That is why I used the F-word.
I know those, very amenable to propaganda. The dilemma indeed. But they are still first in line to vote. I said this to bro, who had just said that he couldn’t be bothered with all the details. A dangerous man, indeed…
Yes Mike. It was an iteration of near perfect propaganda. A Serious Rush fan, he simply did not have the where-with-all to refute the massive daily indoctrination. He is an old fashioned Idaho Republican, not computer literate, who simply and happily accepted the kool-aid. He won’t/can’t change his politics. He was ashenly contrite for offending my democratic sensibilities but surprised as well that I was an actual Democrat. Not many of us around hereabouts. He always considered me to be a “normal rancher type, straight up Republican sort of person.” Be that as it may, I am quite sure that by supper time all 7000 dwellers of Lemhi County were on to me and that other Democrat.
I will guess that this 10/28 op-ed from Thiesson was a / the hit piece on Whitmer.
“ Opinion: Gretchen Whitmer must think she’s the governor of Florida,”
By Marc A. Thiessen. In it, he crabs about something to do with statements made at a debate, school remote / hybrid learning and lockdowns during Covid, touting supposed drops or differences in student achievement during lockdown in FL vs MI. I didn’t finish reading it. Do read the comments for critique of Thiesson’s screed. I think of how different Covid lockdown would be for a cold MI winter vs. FL.
Thiessen is a real poor fit for WaPo, quite a tool IMO. “Marc Thiessen writes a twice-weekly column for The Post on foreign and domestic policy. He is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush.”
Yes!!! Extremely important and often neglected I taught a variety of grades for many years in California, starting with kindergarten and In college. And in between. Our California curriculum included “Blooms Taxonomy,”teaching, learning and practicing problem solving. Methods we all need to know. “The framework elaborated by Bloom and his collaborators consisted of six major categories: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.” https://www.google.com/search?q=bloom%27s+taxonomy+and+critical+thinking&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
And yet that is E DUC ATION. From Latin roots, it means bringing out what is there; helping us to know and become what we really are: complete human beings.
As opposed to inculcating dead facts, mostly forgotten within hours of successful testing.
It's horrifying, all those kids working to pass tests in subjects they couldn't give a damn for... Nothing to do with their lives, no interest.
Schooling like teaching dogs tricks. Only, less useful.
That first question leads you to find a real answer -- in time, perhaps, many answers that complete one another -- and that first answer seeds many more questions, gradually leading through confusion to genuine understanding.
So, as far as I am concerned, Mike, you have put it very well.
This is growing away from all that we are not into what we ARE.
Once again voting is crucial. Politicians running the education system don’t have any knowledge about education, yet make all the rules for it. Abbutt appointed a realtor for our head of education who immediately tried to move education departments to his properties. Leave no child behind from W increased testing without funding it and placing huge demands on passing a test. It turned our schools into training programs to just get the scores.
Beto holds a lot of promise for turning our educational system around. He sees the flaws firsthand with his own children. And supports teachers! Beto’s first rally I went to I shook his hand, told him I’m a teacher, and said please save us! Ha! While Abbutt panders to the highest bidder. Texas educational system is a mess! Abbutt has to go!
Very frightening. I too lived this history. My very conservative dad sent me off to be a ‘Gal for Goldwater’ at our state convention in 1964 when I was 14. We had to wear white boater hats, beauty queen-like sashes and mini skirts. Yuck. I knew there was something very wrong with the Goldwater people right away. It was like they were hiding their evil with smiley faces. The older men were gropers and the women looked away with dead eyes and had strange hair and makeup. Everything they said felt wrong and had no real kindness or truth in it. So, I went home and said, no more of that! And my dad said, well Ok, the most important thing is to be able to think for yourself. When I cared for him in his last days he was a Rush Limbaugh fan and when he had the radio blaring I would put in my earbuds and listen to NPR. Or we would both agree to put on some Mozart. So we were able to co-exist, each thinking for themselves. On his deathbed I asked if there was anything he regretted and he smiled took my hand and and said, well, having children was a mistake …. And we both laughed. Evil seems more contagious than Good but with mutal respect I believe that sooner or later Love does and will conquer all.
It would also be nice if such things as the Wilmington Massacre, Tulsa Race Massacre, the history of lynching in the south during the 20th century, the genocide of the Indigenous populations, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, and the exploitation of coal miners were included in that history. I only list these because I have learned of them in this century, 24 years after graduation from high school.
My brother and family have LIVED in Tulsa for over 45 years and had never heard of the massacres which wiped out almost the whole Black middle class. His kids took Oklahoma history school and never learned about the Tulsa massacres. In 1970, the Tulsa Sun was going to do a story and it was nixed.
One of my ex-students asked me what I had learned about some local Native Americans growing up. I explained to her that I had learned next to nothing. Oh yeah, there was the Battle of Tippecanoe and I had heard about Tecumseh. The West was about cowboys and Indians. I remember seeing Mt. Rushmore when I was about seven and of course, was impressed. Now I can't look at it without seeing a travesty and sacrilege. I learned about Africa when I was a student at Fourah Bay College and then in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone. Since my husband has Sioux ancestry, I have learned a lot about the Lakotas. We both read voraciously, so we are, dear me, woke. Now I am reading Legacy of Violence about the British Empire which is full of events similar to those you mention in your post. And people wonder why people of color, in particular, have had it.
It is a tome. I am reading it slowly because I can only take so much of the awfulness at a time. Right now I am in WWII where British hubris led to the Japanese overrunning Singapore, supposedly impregnable. Oops. Lovely road system in the peninsula leading there built by the Brits and the Japanese rode bicycles down it. So much for jungles.
Trump is back on Twitter. The Saudi's own the second largest share of Twitter. China is holding Musk over the coals wrt to Tesla, demanding favorable treatment on Twitter.
It would seem you are at risk of confusing parts (of Musk) for the whole, not unlike assuming somehow celebrities (actors, musicians, talk show hosts, etc) have something important to say about politics.
Musk seems to be VERY good at some basic engineering concepts and visualizing how we could use them in the future (e.g.-Tesla, battery technology). BMW, Honda & Toyota also were building hybrid electric vehicles at the time, however, they apparently failed to see & capitalize on the vast opportunities for this emerging technology at the time. That's how BMW's CEO lost his job a couple years ago.
What Musk does NOT do is provide a stable sense of character, more effectively projecting and promoting self than reliability and common sense. The thought bipolar or hypomania come to mind. These do not necessarily discount his creativity nor his business acumen, just his political judgment more in line with authoritarians.
Let's not conflate the two concepts. 1-Twitter after Musk will triple suck. He probably is sucking up to Saudis, Trumps, Chinese and has already done Putin's bidding. Really can not say enough bad things about him on this score and his douchiness seems to be accelerating! 2-Musk advanced renewable energy and EVs by a decade or more, a wonderful service to humanity. The car is GREAT (had one since 2014), the Powerwalls are great (I fear no hurricane outage), Space X greatly cut the costs of launches and eaten Boeing's lunch in aerospace for the good of NASA, Starlink is great, saved Ukrainian military at beginning of the war, faster than CrapFINITY-works in hurricanes-no hidden fees (so far or me). Let's not lose our perspective, let's always stick to facts.
I closed my account as soon as I heard Musk had walked in with his silly “sink” stunt. The next day it turned into a cesspool, e.g. with use of the “n” word having increased by 500%, and that being just the tip of the iceberg. Can’t wait to see the stats on how many accounts have closed.
Don’t leave just yet—stay on to boost Dem messaging ahead of the midterms. But afterwards, yes, we should all leave and let the roof collapse on Musky Boy’s head. If Twitter turns into a Nazi cesspool their advertisers will bail and sink Twitter’s revenue, bringing Tesla down with it.
Don't close any social media account. As soon as you close it, the only ones who have access to the data you have supplied (posts, likes, retweets, whatever) are the company that owns the service and law enforcement.
Keep your accounts alive but don't use them, or just post pictures of animals and flowers and jokes.
No personal information. No vacation photos. No politics.
My local municipality uses Facebook for announcements, and there is local news on FB too (coyote sightings, public events). Why lose the good things?
"Closing your account" tells the corporations that you're mad at the social media mess. One more data point in the profile they keep on you.
I’m still on Facebook, which I find a pleasant way to communicate. But I prefer telling “the corporations that I’m mad at the social media mess” created by Musk. That’s a data point that can stay in my profile.😎
I wonder if that was added, as soon as Musk took over? I also removed the icon from my iPad so If there’s a waiting period, I’ll be blissfully unaware😉
I've gotten in arguments online with people claiming this is all made up by the "mainstream media" or something and I'm always like "Dude! I watched it happening!" 🤣 I remember my representatives switching sides! My family think they're independents because they followed the same politicians from one party to the other 🤦🏻♀️
I went to junior high school and high school in Virginia during the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement and witnessed Jim Crow myself. The public schools in Norfolk were shut down for nine months and kids went to school in their parents' basements. I witnessed the block busting and the black people living in slave shacks on the outskirts of the city. As a Navy brat, I am tremendously proud that the U.S. Navy promoted desegregation in Norfolk, circa 1959-60.
That's interesting, because my experience of the Navy as a non-southerner inside the organzation in the 1960s was that it was The South, it just didn't say so. Then, amazingly, a CNO who wasn't the typical apple polisher came along, Admiral Zumwalt (probably because he was the only one who had been successful at anything in Vietnam, where the service accomplished nothing). And when the Constellation Riots happened and spread across the Navy, he called Captain Thomas Hudner to Washington. Hudner was the only only white naval officer with the moral authority to do what Zumwalt needed, since he had been awarded the Medal of Honor for trying to save his friend, Jesse Brown, the Navy's first black Naval Aviator in the Korean War. Hudner was charged by Zumwalt with going to the bases, taking testimony about conditions, and making changes in the way things were done "to promote justice." He did, and the Navy really changed. The Hudner Reforms were so good that, when the services went all volunteer, they adopted them, and today the result is the military is the part of society where equality of opportunity and treatment comes closest to completion.
For those interested, "Devotion," the story of Tom Hudner and Jesse Brown, will be in theaters on November 23. Look for it and go see it. This military and aviation historian is here to tell you it's historically accurate and for the "military nerds" and "airplane nerds" it's technically accurate also. The trailer is below:
When I managed to escape my Southern upbringing by joining the Navy, I was appalled at how many other white Southerners had the same idea, but then brought their white Southern politics to Southern California with them! As the largest US Navy base, it sure explains a lot of Southern California's imported racist Republican politics. Now thankfully living in NorCal, I sadly often find the South romanticized instead of roundly criticized. Trotting out my credentials, I have educated all who are interested.
I will give kudos to the USMC for race relations. Every recruit who showed up with a white power tattoo always, randomly, ended up with a black Drill Instructor. And so their education began....
Thank you for the heads up TC. In the coming fight we’ll need the Joint Chiefs support. May there be a Zumwalt or two among them. I am ex military too and know of what you speak.
The interesting thing is that ALL of the aviation scenes are CGI and they don't "look like CGI." They only actually had two F4U Corsairs and one F8F Bearcat.
Historically, the scene with the MiG-15 never happened to the guys in VF-31; the MiGs had only just started to appear over the Yalu in November 1950. That scene appears to be a "lift" of the fight Lt. Jesse Folmar got into with a MiG-15 in 1952. As the historian who knows the real story, I have no trouble with this, because as the screenwriter I also am I would have made the same choice.
In Virginia, governors can only serve one term at a time, they cannot succeed themselves. In the late '60s Mills Godwin served a term as the Democratic governor of Virginia. Then in the '70s he served another trm as the Republican governor of Virginia. It perfectly supports the timeline that Dr. RIchardson presented.
In Virginia my grandfather, a Democrat, won a state legislature seat by write in vote in 1966 without campaigning. His opponent was black. In the late 60’s, early 70’s my dad won office as an independent. This was circa Republican Linwood Holten’s governorship. By the mid 70’s my cousin won as a Republican. Yep. I lived it too.
Holton was the first Republical elected to the governorship since reconstruction. Looking back as his actions while in office (including sending his children to a school in Richmond that served students who were predominately black - John F. Kennedy H.S.), someone not knowing the history would likely conclude that he was a Demodrat. His daughter married Tim Kaine, who became a Democratic governor and in now a senator.
Yup. It was an interesting time. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall for the conversations held in my parent’s kitchen. Holton’s election to Governor signaled the end of the Byrd Machine.
Thank you so much HCR!! I keep writing about this and telling people how the great exchange happened. Your demonstration of the true history is simple and clear.
Thank you, TC, for the way you cut it to the bone in your analysis of misrepresented history. A lie is still a lie....and to damn it in your inimitable way is powerful and wholly warranted. Godspeed, my man!
Just observe which party embraces members who parade around with Confederate flags, or go ballistic when a monument praising the confederacy is removed. It sure ain't the Democrats these days, just as it would not have been any faithful follower of Lincoln back then.
What is in a name? Are Confederate flags in MAGA hands any less racist?
Tudor Dixon is a stain on Michigan politics. She proudly states that she is against abortion for ANY reason, including when the mother’s life is in danger. Recently, when asked about her stance that girls/women who become pregnant as a result of rape should be forced to give birth, even girls as young as 14, she proudly stated, with a smile on her face, that those girls/women should be given the chance to experience the joy of becoming a mama. I can’t begin to enumerate all of the reasons why that statement is so disgusting.
"against abortion for ANY reason, including when the mother’s life is in danger"...I am sure she would die with a smile if it were her life at risk or her daughter's....'or would it be time to go visit with Uncle Herschel in Georgia?'
I'm gonna try a trial balloon and share this on Facebook. I have been hearing that from most of my Riech Wing Nut Job (henceforth RWNJ) friends since 2010. If I remember to, I'll check and advise, and report back their ever so thoughtful and well thought out replies that are usually "nuh-uh".
One thing: Kevin Phillips was the architect of Nixon’s southern strategy. He has publicly repented for the role he played.
Another thing: Republicans were pro choice in the 1960s and most supported Roe v Wade. Until Nixon seized on the idea of being anti-abortion to split the Catholics, a group that had historically voted for Democrats, away from that party.
So Nixon owns the racist, misogynist Republican Party of the 21st century. Reagan, the 2 Bushes, and Trump all flourished in that fertile soil. While Bush 2 does not seem to be a racist himself, he was in part behind the Willie Horton ad, and he defeated McCain in the NC primary with a robocall campaign about McCain’s “black” (actually Indian) adopted child.
Didn’t know about Kevin Phillips, knew the other. Most these days have no clue. BTW, thought Bush one was behind Willie Horton (via Lee Atwater). Skanky bastards all. Nixon was the architect of evil, before and after he undercut LBJ’s effort to end V. War. So much blood on his Quaker hands.
Tudor Dixon's convenient, and more than likely intentional, amnesia of American history has come up before with modern-day Republicans and it has always baffled me that they can still make what have to be seen as bizarre assertions about Democrats' history of racism and segregation and their history of emancipation and anti-slavery. Well...that was THEN and this is NOW.-! What HCR once again for the umpteenth time has recounted was how the two parties totally flip-flopped in the 1960s. I wish THEY would get it through their heads what happened. Is the Republican base really so totally ignorant of American political history that they somehow believe the Democratic party of the 1950s is in any way similar to the party of today?? Talk about cognizant ignorance! They know that's BS, yet wing-nuts like Dixon seem to think they can still find some clueless numb-nuts in their base to believe such tripe.
I still assert this country's education system has somehow failed to inform a generation of not only American history, but also of basic civics. What TF is being taught in schools' history classes these days?? Don't they learn this stuff (what HCR details above)?? And as I've said, civics has disappeared from curricula across the boards, with a result that we have a population that really seems to lack knowledge of exactly how our government functions. They don't seem to know our Constitution, how it works, what the amendments are, and how it was they came to be. This is dangerous. It's hardly any wonder the current Republican party seems to almost have contempt for the Constitution, and they can more easily fan flames of insurrection with their base who, along with their Big Orange Jesus, seem largely ignorant of our founding document.
Sometimes HCR has despaired that she "sounds like a broken record" and that her message somehow isn't breaking through. I think every teacher wonders how effective their teaching is at some point. Historians like HCR (and by extension her adherents on here) HAVE to keep spreading the word. Mountains are moved little by little, not all at once. We have to keep informing people about history, over and over and over if need be. There's always the chance that somebody somewhere will be seeing the truth for the first time and it can change minds and hearts, one person at a time. Keep telling the story, y'all!!
Bruce, as we count "generations" these days, I am not certain that as a late "Boomer" I was not among the first (started first grade in 1964) that was subjected to the "less is more" concept of teaching a watered down history of the US. I do not recall "Civics" as a part of that, but rather as an elective that could be taken separately. I do recall that History as it was taught in the four years of high school (only required for three years) included a class called "World Cultures" and that it was my junior year that I actually took US History (school year 74-75) which included the amazing opportunity to dissect the first resignation of a US President.
I fast forward to what my sister-in-law (10 years younger than me, and a Gen-Xer) was taught (she graduated HS in '85) and what I saw from the outside looking in in the 90's and the 00's, and it is NOTHING AT ALL like what I was taught.
Tudor Dixon and the Republican candidates for attorney general and secretary of state in Michigan are really bad news for our state. I am very hopeful that they will not win.
Tremendous summary of a complicated issue
Thank you
And if you are from Michigan, this brings even greater clarity to why we are fighting so hard to re-elect Governor Gretchen Whitmer!
I’m from Michigan. Even my non political wife yells at Dixon when her ads appear on TV
Grew up there. On east coast for 30 years. I can’t even fathom how Dixon is considered a viable candidate.
Betsy DeVos money, thats how
I live in MI. Even though President Biden won here, it is awash with MAGAs. Dixon believes and promotes the Big Lie.
Yes, Laurie, I agree.
Also a native Michigander. I was there a week ago visiting my brother in western MI. The ads were much worse than those here in MN. To laugh, I kept asking who, in right mind, would name their daughter, Tudor - is she the reincarnation of Henry VIII?
It was a Ford model. Perhaps the R candidate is a Ford heirss. “ The Ford Tudor (pronounced two-door) was a coupe marketed by Ford in the fifties. Despite its name, the Tudor was not named after the British Tudor family, but rather just a play on the fact that it had two doors. Accompanying it was the Ford Fordor.”
- from a website whose link I can’t get my phone to let me paste here
Elizabeth Ford’s naming a car Tudor was not as bad as Chevy’s Nova, which had special trouble in Latin America. Of course in Spanish No Va means ‘no go.’
Even if you made it all up, love the story. Thank you.
“Tooter”?
I'm going to have to read this a few more times to understand all the twists.and turns of how it evolved. However it sure doesn’t fit neatly into a TV or newspaper ad!
Heather has written a wonderful history of the Republican Party that I highly recommend for it's clarity and fairness. https://www.amazon.com/Make-Men-Free-History-Republican-ebook/dp/B00L4FSSZY/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=1BNOMEWQ439CJ&keywords=heather+cox+richardson&qid=1667137429&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjA2IiwicXNhIjoiMy43MSIsInFzcCI6IjMuNjgifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=heather+cox+richardson%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-4
That's what I just said!!! And it doesn't. But maybe Heather's ending could be turned into a question: How did it happen that members of a party that once defended civil rights, now make white power rants on public media? I'm going to try this on twitter!
I lived it all from 1934 to the present, in the South until 1997. It’s really exactly as told. From WWII onward the twists and turns were even more complex than at any point after the 1861 war. What do we call that war these days? The Civil War? There was nothing civil about it. The Brady photographs tell all. Our history is a bloody mess; the dream of democracy is what has made us special as long as we held onto it. If we have lost it through greed and stupidity, we will know by mid-November. Vote and vote blue!
Thank you Virginia, such a perilous time.
Thank you, Sandra. Watching Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, remembering photos of her with her sister and their parents walking in bombed out parts of London, reminded of her being “out” in the British equivalent of the WAACs, I recognized that both of us had been formed by WWII. And in my public school in a poor district during and after WWII, I had Virginia history, world history, American history, and civics. My civics teacher, a truly rare lady, told her classes that if they did not vote in every election they were entitled to vote in, she would come back to haunt them. Forty years later, at a high school reunion, she was the only teacher mentioned. Between her and my father, I grew up and grew old working on many elections and voting.
I’m with you. I still have a hard time grasping it…I also do not understand the filibuster, and the electoral college………………….
I'm with you Sandra. I feel like I have to chart it while I'm reading it. I'm very confused right now.
Agreed!
Any political party that aspired to be a national party had a northern anti-slavery and a southern pro-slavery wing. this was true of the whigs, the democrats and the republicans. the northern and southern wings of these parties were constantly compromising. in recent times northern and southern democrats could barely keep the party together, but there was no break up, even under fdr. the south voted for everything he wanted as long as he wasn't too pro-naacp. they still curse him in dixie, but if it weren't for fdr the south would probably not have electricity yet. and all the small forts in the south are huge military installations now, thanks to fdr. they'd better pray down there that the federal gov't doesn't get out of their lives anytime soon. the dem party broke up during the civil rights era. in other words, over race. the northern wing supported civil rights, and that's all it took. the republicans gladly allied with the south because it made their party stronger. northern dems and repubs always think they can control their southern wings, but the south is so solid that the tail always ends up wagging the dog. "southern slavery is an institution that is in earnest. northern freedom is an institution that is not in earnest." and just read that stupid 13th amendment that everybody moons over in that ridiculous s. spielberg cartoon, lincoln. did the north not realize that white southern juries would simply convict black men on trumped-up charges and send them to jail, where they would work for no pay? in other words, as slaves? you'd think abe lincoln had never been a lawyer.
I am so incredibly anxious about the upcoming midterms that I am finding it hard to focus on anything else. I have been following campaigns of several candidates outside of my state for awhile now. That, and the fact that one of my adult children has been brainwashed by a legalistic Baptist church, makes these elections feel very personal to me.
Breathe, please. ALL of us need to.
I'm so sorry, Miselle. I completely understand your concerns. I believe, however, that the majority of Americans are rational, intelligent, and morally strong. The democracy depends on it. VOTE.
You and Michael Moore have faith in ‘the people’ - see his substack; I wish I could feel less anxiety!
Voting from Australia- where voting is obligatory!
In Australia there is a fine for not voting.
Yes! One does not have to actually vote but a ballot has to be presented…eg could be blank
Wow. I didn’t know. What a good idea. So what % of the population votes?
I love that system of required voting. It is pathetic how few people vote here. Pay taxes and vote that’s what you should have to do here if you’re lucky enough to be a US citizen.
I wish I could count on rational, intelligent, and morally strong fellow Americans. Unfortunately, the pandemic showed another side to the America I thought I lived in. Petty grievances, self-centered, and easily mislead…
Propaganda works especially well with the “easily mislead.” Includes some that I thought were “solid.”
Wish I had your belief. I have thought many times “we aren’t that stupid.” Only to be proven wrong. However, I still believe that, but the propaganda works and it is louder than the majority’s sanity. Will anything burst Rupert’s balloon??
So true, Jeri, and well put: “We aren’t that stupid” or are we? Sad….
I would love to believe that. None the less worried as hell. The cost of living (which as very little to do with Biden) is more important too many Americans than civil rights (women's rights ++) and democracy its self.
Very true. I have a right wing friend in Texas that tries to bring me over to his side. When I give him my list of why I see the Republican party turning towards fasicism all he can come back with is the economy and gas prices. Quite frankly he has absolutely no idea what fasicism (or socialism is for that matter) even is and doesn't want to know. He would be perfectly content if the last election was "nulified" and Trump installed. I think he thinks that's "democracy".
So much of this goes back to longterm structural limitations built into public education regarding history and civics, by right wingers especially in the South who wanted those subjects to convey their political and cultural indoctrination, not the truth. Consider the outsize dominance on the content of public school textbooks by the Texas state Board of Education, simply because they’re such a huge market that publishers found it expedient to concede to their demands, and economical to publish only one edition of each history textbook for the whole country. https://education.msu.edu/green-and-write/2014/texas-textbooks-and-the-politics-of-history-standards/
(I will copy this comment to a more central spot on today’s comment thread.)
That's how we got Open Court reading program.
Aha! The “Nutshell” answer for what we are all complaining about!
-isms take thought for understanding. Gas prices temporarily take more cash in the grand scheme.
I’m so sorry.
That is so sad.
That fact makes our population one of the dumbest ever to claim rational thinking.
And spread the word far and wide to #VoteDownBallot ! #VoteDemDownBallot !
People often ignore the smaller offices, judges etc and we can no longer afford to do so. If you don’t know who to vote for, then just guess and go Dem down the line!
I believe we are as well, though the crazy cult 45 base drowns us out. Michael Moore mentioned (as did "Beau of the Fifth Column") that it will be the Independent, or infrequent voters who will decide the election. So I channeled that worry into 220 letters and 60 postcards to voters.
I never even knew I could do this from home until frequent contributor here, Ellie Kona, mentioned it. Kudos to her! I wish I could know how many of the voters I "adopted" will actually vote.
I mailed 100 post cards yesterday. I, too, hope they help get people out to VOTE.
I think we are truly kindred souls. What was your source for the letters and cards? I have a daughter getting married, so I don't think I'll have time to send any - but even talking like we've done, and having people comment or express appreciation, is an important step toward stopping this nightmare. WE CAN DO THIS. Good WILL prevail.
Www.votefwd.org
💙
I would agree with you about Americans being rational, intelligent and morally strong but, if so, how the hell did Trump get elected? There are good people out there but they are naive and ignorant. This is so sad. Please VOTE!
Trump won because he won the popular vote in three big states by about 70,000 votes spread across those states. That gave him just enough electoral votes to put him over the top. He won because those 70,000 voters were persuaded to vote for white Christian supremacy, or they voted for a third party candidate, amounting to the same thing.
Yes, people were persuaded to vote for white Christian supremacy. That's what I'm saying. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but people need to be less naive and less ignorant. Jesus himself is probably rolling His eyes that people think a vote for Trump was a vote for Christianity. I mean seriously, HUH?
Linda Biondi: - Agreed that "a majority of Americans are rational, intelligent, and morally strong." But unfortunately a minority of American voters put He Who Shall Not Be Named into the White House. A very sad and outdated condition of our political system.
Politics from the pulpit is huge in Texas. Family members have told me I teach CRT. When I assure them I don’t they say that’s not what I’ve heard. The mega church in the city where I teach last Sunday put a list of Republican candidates on their mega screen and told the congregation to just take a screenshot and find out for themselves what those candidates are about. Not endorsing them but they are a part of their church family. Several administrators and teachers in the district go to that church. But the Democrats out number the Republicans and if we can get more people to the polls, that’s all we need! I’m anxious too. But so hopeful!
It’s illegal for churches to engage in political support of candidates According to IRS tax law. I looked into this because of a concerted effort by the Catholic church to support anti Roe anti choice candidates here in Vt. I believe that these 502C3 churches which are tax exempt should start paying taxes .. losing tax exempt status. !!
I believe the former archbishop of Minn-St Paul got a visit from the IRS several yrs ago when he was not subtlety campaigning against SSM. He was eventually removed from his position for his (mis)handling of sex abuse cases.
It seems to me that church organizations are breaking the law when they push a political agenda. I would rather see each of them charged with a crime and given fines based on the extent of their abuses. That would bankrupt most of them. Maybe then they could get back to the job of helping others.
This puts the IRS/federal gov't in a lose-lose situation. MAGAs already talk about how Demonrats are attacking Christianity, and here would be their proof. (You know, following the rule of law isn't exactly MAGAs thing).
So when do we put our feet down and stand up for the rule of law?
Agreed! And it’s being circulated on social media.
I didn’t know that… I think it’s a concerted effort by the Catholic Church on a countrywide basis. It makes my blood boil to know that they’re tax exempt
It's the southern evangelicals, not the Catholics.
Here’s what aI mean -https://www.foxnews.com/politics/catholicvote-dumps-2-million-blocking-catholic-dems-office-clearing-trash.amp
Nope. It is the Catholics too. If I could I would show you a photo of the ad placed in my little local Vt newspaper … the same ad thst is being placed nationally by the Catholic Church. Sorry but it is true and I have photos to show it
Thankfully, I'm not seeing that in my (Catholic) church.
Such a good point but who is enforcing this?
I don’t know. There are some people talking if turning them in to the IRS. Plenty of lawyers around that might take up the fight. It’s wait and see!
Amen!
It’s time for the truth about CRT to come out.
CRT has never been taught in K-12 schools. Let me say that again. CRT has never been taught in K-12 schools.
When I first heard talk on the news a few years ago about Critical Race Theory being taught in our schools, I was baffled. What the heck is that, I thought. I taught elementary school for 42 years. I have a BEd in elementary ed and an MEd in reading Instruction. I had NEVER heard of CRT.
I did a search which yielded no information about what CRT is. Over the next year or so I continued to find very little information about what it actually is, then finally I stumbled on something in the news explaining it. Apparently it is a legal theory discussed in legal academic settings. I couldn’t explain it to you; I’m not a lawyer. But, it is not taught in public schools.
If a politician tells you that they are against teaching CRT in the schools, they are showing you their ignorance. They do not know what CRT is, as is true of most of the rest of us. It’s time for our leaders to get educated about CRT and start speaking out, telling the truth about this.
Well said! CRT is not taught at that level. Methinks they are confusing CRT with, perhaps, a field of study which is critical of racism... kind of like what should be being taught.
Thank you for the work you do, teaching in that environment.
Aww! Thanks! I’ve had some struggles with it but ultimately I love my students and know they need a voice of calm right now. Young elementary kids are having struggles once held by high school and college kids. I just want them to feel loved and accepted!
Sorry to hear about one of your children falling under the spell Miselle.
Hopefully, the specific actions and teachings of Jesus will get through.
And?
That stark contrast between Jesus message of love, acceptance, value of diversity, and forgiveness, will begin to chafe with Baptist theology of judgement, superiority, hypocrisy, “going to hell” and male/white supremacy.
Here’s the deal; “I read what Jesus said, but that’s not really what he meant with respect to ‘Murica. Jesus didn’t know ‘bout ‘Murica cuz it hadn’t been discovered yet. If he had known, he’d agree with ‘our’ message that segregation and control keeps things peaceful. That’s why they call him The Prince of Peace”
I do believe that Republicans forget that Jesus was black and Jewish
It does not occur to them at all
I disagree, Dave. The message of Jesus as I recall it, is love and acceptance and forgiveness. The only reason that slavery is accepted in the bible, is that it was common at the time, and it apparently hadn't occurred to anyone that slavery conflicts with the primary new testament message (love and acceptance and forgiveness.) Segregation is opposed to acceptance and forgiveness, as Jesus demonstrated with his treatment of the woman at the well, the parable of the good Samaritan and the acceptance of the thief on the cross.
Please reread the passage in quotes as if it was delivered by a Southern Radical preacher
Again, my “facetious” font is not working
Stunningly accurate.
Baptist became republicans, officially in 2004, Karl Rove orchestrated that for W a second term.
Hang in there Miselle. We hear you.
I'm not anxious at all. What will happen, will happen regardless of the stress I could put myself under. Please, recognize that putting your own state of mind (and health) at risk will not change anything. Life will continue.
Miselle, I understand what you are going through. I've never felt this anxious about a midterm election before. Try to take a break from it and meditate, pray, anything that can help to calm you. You are not alone.
I threw my energies into writing postcards and letters to voters. 220 letters, 60 postcards.
I need to take a break from comment areas in Yahoo and msn.com, that will make your BP skyrocket.
THIS is why civics literacy and active life-long engagement in civil society are of central importance for beating back fascist, authoritarian messaging of the MAGA GOP tribes. I focus on these areas in my teaching. I’d like to know how others are resisting the polarization?
Yes, we need better civic education, starting with the earliest grades. And anyone running for office should be able to pass a basic civics test.
Ruthie, Absolutely, “And anyone running for office should be able to pass a basic civics test.” I have believed this forever. It’s absurd that junior high school students often know more than some/many citizens running for office. Likely TFG wouldn’t have passed.
Given his narcissism, he would fail the test (that is if he couldn't find someone to take the test for him.)
That would have been his go to
They should also be able to demonstrate a knowledge of mathematics and science to at least the high school level. Roe v Wade might still be standing if the Supreme Court had even an elementary knowledge of basic biology.
Knowledge is secondary to grievance politics, ask Mitch
You got it, Ruthie! Let’s start with Tommy Tuberville (R Senator from Alabama) and test his knowledge of the three branches of the American government.
I agree about the ignorance of civic knowledge. Also, it is mind boggling how ignorant of economics most politicians are, considering how vital economics are to most legislation.
And pass a background check for national security clearance (looking at you, tfg and Jared).
Hahaha, I wish
I’d like to tell a story. Teaching French at Xavier University, the oldest black Catholic college in America, I was startled when a student stood up in the middle of class and announced that she had never expected to be taught by a white teacher. To this day I don’t know why I stood up and replied that I didn’t expect racism in reverse. The rest of the class applauded. This was mid ‘70’s. It’s the small acts that will finally erase racism and mistrust on both sides. Laws help, but the “lifelong engagement” is what counts.
A lesson well learned for that class
For Starters: Stay away from clicking on malevolent algorithms, chirons that scream "look at me" and malignant narcissists. Try clicking on "block", "unsubscribe", "spam" & statutory law restricting the misuse or abuse of personal data. Boycott products hawked on the wings of the chirping Bird by the Chief Twit.
Or. Just don’t bother with Facebook, twitter, tik toc, instagram and the like.
Rather. Go read “To make men free: history of the Republican Party. By HCR
Or. Read the 1619 Project Book.
Use time well. Don’t throw it down the abyss of social media.
It's so addictive! I am relatively self-aware, and yet still doom scroll. Self-awareness isn't exactly a MAGA trait, so imagine how valuable this tool is for fascists. That's why Musk bought Twitter. It clearly wasn't for the company to make money directly.
Thank you becky, you are spot-on with word "addictive"; we need more "situational awareness": self, family, community, city, county, region, nation, hemisphere & Planet- our only really big home.
Thank you Mike, anti-social media.
Good advice. Don't click on a big BREAKING NEWS either.
That eliminates ABC nightly news where "NEWS" is always "BREAKING as we come on the air" & urgently delivered in a firm, concerned voice including weather as so & so "times it all out for us" ... body counts preferred.
LOL! Beautiful - I can just hear it!
Family members scatter to other rooms. :)
:D
❤️
It's been BREAKING for so long it's done broke.
"Ain't no use jiving"
"Ain't no use joking"
"Everything is broken"
Author & Singer: Bob Zimmerman, Hibbing, Minnesota aka Bob Dylan.
No, voters should have the right to elect whoever they choose. Morons, included.
The voters elected FDR four times then the Republicans pushed through the an amendment limiting a President to two terms.
Raise your hand if you would prefer to have had Obama remain President instead of Trump or Biden.
I have no issue with Biden. He has been a good statesman, a good president. I was crazy about Obama but in certain areas he was weak, not wanting to "rock the boat". He didn't call out a lot of the disgusting stuff from the GOP. He should have pushed Garland thru to the Supreme Court, should have insisted. Biden has passed so much legislation just in the past few months. Yes, he is old. So what. He has a lot of experience and I applaud his support for Ukraine. I don't have the sense that he will run again, even if he says he is at this point. If he were to say he isn't running, he would be a lame duck, so I think it's important at this point that he says he is running. I don't know that Obama would have gotten so much done. Indeed, he was focused on health care and that's great but that wasn't the only issue at hand.
Obama was likely focused on staying alive. The vitriol was earth shattering. The tea party was the KKK in tee shirts. Looking back, his election “woke” up the racist pigs who then used “socialist” as the epithet of the day. It became du rigueur for the haters and the opportunists. Chump took notice and licked his chops.
Completely agree, Jeri
I remember well the vitriol towards Obama. Racists in and out of the government just couldn't come to terms with a person of color in the White House. It didn't matter how intelligent and capable he was. Not only was he attacked, but his wife and daughters.
I’m not sure Obama would have been elected if Biden hadn’t been on the ticket. If it had been Hilary, I don’t think Obama would have won. Biden was a huge asset for that time. And I like him now! He’s getting way more done than any president I’ve seen before! Getting away from trickle economics disaster is huge!
I recall the capable & disciplined 2008 Campaign work by David Plouffe & others including an active, digital Community that was essentially abandoned In 2009. A couple of years into Obama's 1st Term, David was lost to Uber.
Imagine the rage of MAGAs if Obama ran in 2024. The domestic terrorism would be off the hook.
My dream would be for Michele to run.
She's brilliant but she has said she wants no part of it and who can blame her.
I'm quite happy with Biden, thank you. He's built on Obama's legacy, and achieved in areas where Obama struggled, such as adding women and minorities to the administration, and getting us out of Afghanistan. He's soon turn our relationship with the Saudis on it's head. Would Obama have been so bold in Ukraine? I doubt it. On abortion? I wonder. If sensible voters show up at the polls, which I believe they will, Democrats will expand the Supreme Court, opening the possibility of a purge of decades of regressive ruling. We may look back on these years as a Golden Era. So, miss the romance of Obama? Yes and no.
I think Biden made a horrible call in not running for President in 2016. I think that H. Clinton was the most unilaterally and uniquely qualified candidate for President that we have had in my lifetime who had sadly been the recipient of at least 15 years of crafted RepubliQan objection so that she was unable to be elected in spite of winning the popular vote. I also believe that the election of Obama ripped the scab off the festering wound of racism which also kicked up a backlash like nothing else could have.
Well, Trump anyhow.
I think that's terrific. Civics lessons are so important and they seem to have dropped out of our education system. Glad you are teaching civics.
Too bad we, who subscribe, know it well. Post and spread to those who have no clue.
I know that (at least in my limited experience with public education as a consumer of that for my first 12 years of education) that teaching to the mean was the philosophy, at least for many. This was then dropped to the mandated "no child left behind" which quit teaching anything other than rote information for regurgitation at test time (as I watched teacher friends struggle to impart anything other than what would get their kids to pass these mandated tests). I have come to believe that "no child left behind" has actually meant "all children, then an informed population left behind".
As a teacher, I have to agree with you.
I believe there are two keys to resisting polarization; teaching logical and teaching how to ask good questions
Got that right Dave ... basically the scientific method: Deductive Reasoning.
So much of our voter ignorance and political dysfunction goes back to longterm structural limitations built into public education regarding history and civics. Right wingers especially in the South wanted those subjects to convey their political and cultural indoctrination, not the truth. Consider the outsize dominance on the content of public school textbooks country-wide by the Texas state Board of Education, simply because they’re such a huge market that publishers found it expedient to concede to their demands, and economical to publish only one edition of each history textbook for the whole country. https://education.msu.edu/green-and-write/2014/texas-textbooks-and-the-politics-of-history-standards/
Texas is Santa Ana’s ultimate revenge
Elizabeth, I spotted "Giving to the College of Education", I will donate.
And let us not forget that Southern evangelicals seized on abortion, years after Roe v. wade as an issue for their followers to distract from the fact that the IRS was going after their tax exemptions for their segregated private schools in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. In one way or another, it's always about race.
And money...
Not necessarily. I remember growing up around a Southern Baptist majority who hated Catholics first, and liturgical churches second. Took me a while to figure out why they had teamed up with anti-abortion folks who were mostly Catholic at that time.
This is why we need civics and history classes in high school and college. And not a curriculum that just memorizes events and dates. I am old enough to have witnessed the history HCR discusses in real time: Nixon's southern strategy, James Meredith public stand . . . I don't know if Tudor Dixon is truly ignorant or deliberately devious in her portrayal. But the fact that she is running for governor is frightening.
I don't remember a thing from my US history class in high school except that it was taught by a football coach who I think actually took his teaching seriously. I had a wonderful prof for 19th century US history in grad school. He could cram a hour and half worth of lecture into a hour. We also had to read 4 or 5 books each term....three, so it was 12 to 15. As a grad student I had to read 5 more each term and write reports on them. I concentrated on slavery which showed me, among other things, how the writing about it changed.
I don't remember my American government class either except that it was taught by a track coach, who once again, was sincere about his teaching. My best teacher was a Brit for world history. I also taught government in a small high school. I wanted them to understand why we needed government and they did figure that out and then we concentrated on the amendments to the Constitution.
Brava!
“Truly ignorant or deliberately devious”. Those are the bookends of of the parameters. We had some ditches that were blocked with debris which my old friend(79) and I were obliged to clean. After which we thanked each other for always being there for each other. He asked me if I had heard about Pelosi getting attacked. His information had it wrong as he was tickled that Nancy was hurt. This is completely out of character. He is a kind and giving man and yet he was eager to divulge this catastrophe in a manner meant to be good news. When he didn’t get my approval rather eliciting a severe reprimand his demeanor went back and he apologized for being so heartless. Going to work in the woods ending his education at 14 and logging all of his life makes me sure this man’s ignorance far outweighed any kind of deviance. I find this to be the dilemma.
Very illuminating anecdote Pat. Thank you. I think this illustrates how close we are to another hot Civil War. The ideological battle lines have been drawn and the bigots and autocrats among us have armed themselves to the teeth. As in the prelude to the Civil War, the arteries have hardened. The forces of evil have marshalled the ignorant. At age 68, I’ll do what I can but as in all wars it will be the youth who must gather their courage and confront this evil. In the face of all this confusion, there is still something called right and wrong. Good and evil. We are staring evil in the face and have to prepare ourselves for the fight. When duty calls out low “thou must” the youth replies “I can.” We’ve done it before. We can do it again. And we must.
I completely agree with you. I am 65. We must screw our courage up and speak out. vote!
Jeeze William. I’m never sure if someone has seen our armed forces in serious action or just in the movies. Being armed to the teeth is not a qualifier to face the army, marine corp, navy, or air force. The 266 combat assaults in my very short military career gave me a good impression of our forces capabilities. There is no fucking chance you will find me trying to face us. I can’t even describe horrors that await idiots who think they are capable of taking on the tsunami of war. That is why I used the F-word.
Sadly, but the youth don’t want to.
I know those, very amenable to propaganda. The dilemma indeed. But they are still first in line to vote. I said this to bro, who had just said that he couldn’t be bothered with all the details. A dangerous man, indeed…
Being gleeful if another’s serious injury is more a reflection of today’s powerful propaganda than this man’s education background.
Yes Mike. It was an iteration of near perfect propaganda. A Serious Rush fan, he simply did not have the where-with-all to refute the massive daily indoctrination. He is an old fashioned Idaho Republican, not computer literate, who simply and happily accepted the kool-aid. He won’t/can’t change his politics. He was ashenly contrite for offending my democratic sensibilities but surprised as well that I was an actual Democrat. Not many of us around hereabouts. He always considered me to be a “normal rancher type, straight up Republican sort of person.” Be that as it may, I am quite sure that by supper time all 7000 dwellers of Lemhi County were on to me and that other Democrat.
Yes, yes, yes
Yikes!
The fact that Tudor Dixon is running for governor in Michigan is indeed very frightening.
It didn't help that The Washington Post ran a hit piece of Gov. Whitmer.
Woah! Why would they do that! Please post the link if you can. I missed it.
I will guess that this 10/28 op-ed from Thiesson was a / the hit piece on Whitmer.
“ Opinion: Gretchen Whitmer must think she’s the governor of Florida,”
By Marc A. Thiessen. In it, he crabs about something to do with statements made at a debate, school remote / hybrid learning and lockdowns during Covid, touting supposed drops or differences in student achievement during lockdown in FL vs MI. I didn’t finish reading it. Do read the comments for critique of Thiesson’s screed. I think of how different Covid lockdown would be for a cold MI winter vs. FL.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/28/gretchen-whitmer-covid-school-shutdown-record/
Thiessen is a real poor fit for WaPo, quite a tool IMO. “Marc Thiessen writes a twice-weekly column for The Post on foreign and domestic policy. He is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush.”
Ick.
Yes, this is the article. Thank you for posting.
We need to teach students to think, but critical thinking is harder to teach and test than memorization.
Yes!!! Extremely important and often neglected I taught a variety of grades for many years in California, starting with kindergarten and In college. And in between. Our California curriculum included “Blooms Taxonomy,”teaching, learning and practicing problem solving. Methods we all need to know. “The framework elaborated by Bloom and his collaborators consisted of six major categories: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.” https://www.google.com/search?q=bloom%27s+taxonomy+and+critical+thinking&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
We need to teach basic logic and elementary debate
And yet that is E DUC ATION. From Latin roots, it means bringing out what is there; helping us to know and become what we really are: complete human beings.
As opposed to inculcating dead facts, mostly forgotten within hours of successful testing.
It's horrifying, all those kids working to pass tests in subjects they couldn't give a damn for... Nothing to do with their lives, no interest.
Schooling like teaching dogs tricks. Only, less useful.
Teach people to ask themselves a question FIRST.
And they will teach themselves over time.
That first question leads you to find a real answer -- in time, perhaps, many answers that complete one another -- and that first answer seeds many more questions, gradually leading through confusion to genuine understanding.
So, as far as I am concerned, Mike, you have put it very well.
This is growing away from all that we are not into what we ARE.
Yes, I kept asking, thanks to good prompts from early on
Once again voting is crucial. Politicians running the education system don’t have any knowledge about education, yet make all the rules for it. Abbutt appointed a realtor for our head of education who immediately tried to move education departments to his properties. Leave no child behind from W increased testing without funding it and placing huge demands on passing a test. It turned our schools into training programs to just get the scores.
Beto holds a lot of promise for turning our educational system around. He sees the flaws firsthand with his own children. And supports teachers! Beto’s first rally I went to I shook his hand, told him I’m a teacher, and said please save us! Ha! While Abbutt panders to the highest bidder. Texas educational system is a mess! Abbutt has to go!
I agree, and critical thinking is what so many sorely lack.
Very frightening. I too lived this history. My very conservative dad sent me off to be a ‘Gal for Goldwater’ at our state convention in 1964 when I was 14. We had to wear white boater hats, beauty queen-like sashes and mini skirts. Yuck. I knew there was something very wrong with the Goldwater people right away. It was like they were hiding their evil with smiley faces. The older men were gropers and the women looked away with dead eyes and had strange hair and makeup. Everything they said felt wrong and had no real kindness or truth in it. So, I went home and said, no more of that! And my dad said, well Ok, the most important thing is to be able to think for yourself. When I cared for him in his last days he was a Rush Limbaugh fan and when he had the radio blaring I would put in my earbuds and listen to NPR. Or we would both agree to put on some Mozart. So we were able to co-exist, each thinking for themselves. On his deathbed I asked if there was anything he regretted and he smiled took my hand and and said, well, having children was a mistake …. And we both laughed. Evil seems more contagious than Good but with mutal respect I believe that sooner or later Love does and will conquer all.
WOW - “Evil seems more contagious than Good but with mutal respect I believe that sooner or later Love does and will conquer all.” Thanks, Robin.
You are a trooper. How very prescient you were. And still loving…
Beautiful essay. Thank you for sharing.
Great commentary, Robin. In my culture a really good sense of humor trumps (small "t") both conservative prejudice and liberal sanctimoniousness.
It would also be nice if such things as the Wilmington Massacre, Tulsa Race Massacre, the history of lynching in the south during the 20th century, the genocide of the Indigenous populations, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, and the exploitation of coal miners were included in that history. I only list these because I have learned of them in this century, 24 years after graduation from high school.
My brother and family have LIVED in Tulsa for over 45 years and had never heard of the massacres which wiped out almost the whole Black middle class. His kids took Oklahoma history school and never learned about the Tulsa massacres. In 1970, the Tulsa Sun was going to do a story and it was nixed.
Wow. Just wow. I learned of it from a friend whose family is from that area.
One of my ex-students asked me what I had learned about some local Native Americans growing up. I explained to her that I had learned next to nothing. Oh yeah, there was the Battle of Tippecanoe and I had heard about Tecumseh. The West was about cowboys and Indians. I remember seeing Mt. Rushmore when I was about seven and of course, was impressed. Now I can't look at it without seeing a travesty and sacrilege. I learned about Africa when I was a student at Fourah Bay College and then in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone. Since my husband has Sioux ancestry, I have learned a lot about the Lakotas. We both read voraciously, so we are, dear me, woke. Now I am reading Legacy of Violence about the British Empire which is full of events similar to those you mention in your post. And people wonder why people of color, in particular, have had it.
I need to read "Legacy of Violence"!
It is a tome. I am reading it slowly because I can only take so much of the awfulness at a time. Right now I am in WWII where British hubris led to the Japanese overrunning Singapore, supposedly impregnable. Oops. Lovely road system in the peninsula leading there built by the Brits and the Japanese rode bicycles down it. So much for jungles.
Deliberately devious, no doubt.
I had it in 8th grade.
Trump is back on Twitter. The Saudi's own the second largest share of Twitter. China is holding Musk over the coals wrt to Tesla, demanding favorable treatment on Twitter.
If. You. Are. On. Twitter. You. Are. Part. Of. The. Problem. Period.
Never have, now never will. Elon Musk makes great rockets and cars, but as a human, he doesn't measure up.
Elon Musk does nothing.
Talented employees working long hours, quite unlike Musk, are the creators.
Musk is just a spoiled, rich white boy sucking up to people like himself.
It would seem you are at risk of confusing parts (of Musk) for the whole, not unlike assuming somehow celebrities (actors, musicians, talk show hosts, etc) have something important to say about politics.
Musk seems to be VERY good at some basic engineering concepts and visualizing how we could use them in the future (e.g.-Tesla, battery technology). BMW, Honda & Toyota also were building hybrid electric vehicles at the time, however, they apparently failed to see & capitalize on the vast opportunities for this emerging technology at the time. That's how BMW's CEO lost his job a couple years ago.
What Musk does NOT do is provide a stable sense of character, more effectively projecting and promoting self than reliability and common sense. The thought bipolar or hypomania come to mind. These do not necessarily discount his creativity nor his business acumen, just his political judgment more in line with authoritarians.
TC here has written on Musk and his neurodivergence (on the Asperger's scale) that augments your last paragraph quite well.
Yep! Especially if ya know folks that on the spectrum, ya see it loud and clear.
He doesn't make great cars. Every Tesla owner I know complains about how shoddily they are manufactured. And try getting timely service.
Let's not conflate the two concepts. 1-Twitter after Musk will triple suck. He probably is sucking up to Saudis, Trumps, Chinese and has already done Putin's bidding. Really can not say enough bad things about him on this score and his douchiness seems to be accelerating! 2-Musk advanced renewable energy and EVs by a decade or more, a wonderful service to humanity. The car is GREAT (had one since 2014), the Powerwalls are great (I fear no hurricane outage), Space X greatly cut the costs of launches and eaten Boeing's lunch in aerospace for the good of NASA, Starlink is great, saved Ukrainian military at beginning of the war, faster than CrapFINITY-works in hurricanes-no hidden fees (so far or me). Let's not lose our perspective, let's always stick to facts.
Isn’t Musk requesting Ukraine now pay for using Starlink, or something?
He tried, got shot down, so far. Keep posted
I have only one friend who has an X model... he likes it. But I don't think he's had it long enough to have needed service.
Sub human, on all fronts
I just consignedTwitter to my spam folder.
I closed my account as soon as I heard Musk had walked in with his silly “sink” stunt. The next day it turned into a cesspool, e.g. with use of the “n” word having increased by 500%, and that being just the tip of the iceberg. Can’t wait to see the stats on how many accounts have closed.
Musk walked in with the wrong fixture. 🚽
Now let THAT sink in. /snark
I will after the election. It is still an important tool in speaking up against Cruz et al and urging people to change their mind and vote.
An algorithm on Twitter could block the use of the term “n***er” with one keystroke. Will Musk do that or not. And if not, why not.
Don’t leave just yet—stay on to boost Dem messaging ahead of the midterms. But afterwards, yes, we should all leave and let the roof collapse on Musky Boy’s head. If Twitter turns into a Nazi cesspool their advertisers will bail and sink Twitter’s revenue, bringing Tesla down with it.
Thanks for this post. I don’t have twitter but am not surprised to learn that China funded Musk for the purchase.
Amurca.
I tried to close my Twitter account, but the instructions are confusing, saying that if I disactivate it, someone else can use it.
Don't close any social media account. As soon as you close it, the only ones who have access to the data you have supplied (posts, likes, retweets, whatever) are the company that owns the service and law enforcement.
Keep your accounts alive but don't use them, or just post pictures of animals and flowers and jokes.
No personal information. No vacation photos. No politics.
My local municipality uses Facebook for announcements, and there is local news on FB too (coyote sightings, public events). Why lose the good things?
"Closing your account" tells the corporations that you're mad at the social media mess. One more data point in the profile they keep on you.
I’m still on Facebook, which I find a pleasant way to communicate. But I prefer telling “the corporations that I’m mad at the social media mess” created by Musk. That’s a data point that can stay in my profile.😎
🙆
As is your right, and a choice many are making.
I myself am hopeful that some brilliant law-maker will come up with a way to control this.
I deactivated my account and there is a waiting period.
I wonder if that was added, as soon as Musk took over? I also removed the icon from my iPad so If there’s a waiting period, I’ll be blissfully unaware😉
I wonder that too. It also said that my account could still be seen via Google.
They want to intimidate you
Ditto
I've gotten in arguments online with people claiming this is all made up by the "mainstream media" or something and I'm always like "Dude! I watched it happening!" 🤣 I remember my representatives switching sides! My family think they're independents because they followed the same politicians from one party to the other 🤦🏻♀️
I went to junior high school and high school in Virginia during the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement and witnessed Jim Crow myself. The public schools in Norfolk were shut down for nine months and kids went to school in their parents' basements. I witnessed the block busting and the black people living in slave shacks on the outskirts of the city. As a Navy brat, I am tremendously proud that the U.S. Navy promoted desegregation in Norfolk, circa 1959-60.
That's interesting, because my experience of the Navy as a non-southerner inside the organzation in the 1960s was that it was The South, it just didn't say so. Then, amazingly, a CNO who wasn't the typical apple polisher came along, Admiral Zumwalt (probably because he was the only one who had been successful at anything in Vietnam, where the service accomplished nothing). And when the Constellation Riots happened and spread across the Navy, he called Captain Thomas Hudner to Washington. Hudner was the only only white naval officer with the moral authority to do what Zumwalt needed, since he had been awarded the Medal of Honor for trying to save his friend, Jesse Brown, the Navy's first black Naval Aviator in the Korean War. Hudner was charged by Zumwalt with going to the bases, taking testimony about conditions, and making changes in the way things were done "to promote justice." He did, and the Navy really changed. The Hudner Reforms were so good that, when the services went all volunteer, they adopted them, and today the result is the military is the part of society where equality of opportunity and treatment comes closest to completion.
For those interested, "Devotion," the story of Tom Hudner and Jesse Brown, will be in theaters on November 23. Look for it and go see it. This military and aviation historian is here to tell you it's historically accurate and for the "military nerds" and "airplane nerds" it's technically accurate also. The trailer is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCDEGP6VjYY
When I managed to escape my Southern upbringing by joining the Navy, I was appalled at how many other white Southerners had the same idea, but then brought their white Southern politics to Southern California with them! As the largest US Navy base, it sure explains a lot of Southern California's imported racist Republican politics. Now thankfully living in NorCal, I sadly often find the South romanticized instead of roundly criticized. Trotting out my credentials, I have educated all who are interested.
I would say that is a very accurate assessment. Certainly of San Diego County - all the retired USN and USMC.
I will give kudos to the USMC for race relations. Every recruit who showed up with a white power tattoo always, randomly, ended up with a black Drill Instructor. And so their education began....
That is a cool tidbit of information.
Thank you for the heads up TC. In the coming fight we’ll need the Joint Chiefs support. May there be a Zumwalt or two among them. I am ex military too and know of what you speak.
Thanks, TC. Will keep a look out for this movie.
Wow, I will and am happy for a knowledgeable recommendation.
This movie looks fantastic!
The interesting thing is that ALL of the aviation scenes are CGI and they don't "look like CGI." They only actually had two F4U Corsairs and one F8F Bearcat.
Historically, the scene with the MiG-15 never happened to the guys in VF-31; the MiGs had only just started to appear over the Yalu in November 1950. That scene appears to be a "lift" of the fight Lt. Jesse Folmar got into with a MiG-15 in 1952. As the historian who knows the real story, I have no trouble with this, because as the screenwriter I also am I would have made the same choice.
That’s amazing. I realized today that I have very limited knowledge of Korea even though my dad was AF, though stateside during the war.
You might be interested in my book "MiG Alley," which is the AF story of the war.
Thanks, TC.
Thank you
Thanks for the story of Hudner and Brown. I’ll look forward to seeing the movie.
Edited to add that it’s based on a book by the same name written by Adam Makos.
This looks like great movie. Thanks for sharing the trailer!
In Virginia, governors can only serve one term at a time, they cannot succeed themselves. In the late '60s Mills Godwin served a term as the Democratic governor of Virginia. Then in the '70s he served another trm as the Republican governor of Virginia. It perfectly supports the timeline that Dr. RIchardson presented.
In Virginia my grandfather, a Democrat, won a state legislature seat by write in vote in 1966 without campaigning. His opponent was black. In the late 60’s, early 70’s my dad won office as an independent. This was circa Republican Linwood Holten’s governorship. By the mid 70’s my cousin won as a Republican. Yep. I lived it too.
Holton was the first Republical elected to the governorship since reconstruction. Looking back as his actions while in office (including sending his children to a school in Richmond that served students who were predominately black - John F. Kennedy H.S.), someone not knowing the history would likely conclude that he was a Demodrat. His daughter married Tim Kaine, who became a Democratic governor and in now a senator.
Yup. It was an interesting time. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall for the conversations held in my parent’s kitchen. Holton’s election to Governor signaled the end of the Byrd Machine.
Yep, I lived through it too!!
Me too!
Thank you so much HCR!! I keep writing about this and telling people how the great exchange happened. Your demonstration of the true history is simple and clear.
Thank you, TC, for the way you cut it to the bone in your analysis of misrepresented history. A lie is still a lie....and to damn it in your inimitable way is powerful and wholly warranted. Godspeed, my man!
Flattery will get you *everywhere*, Stephen. :-)
Just observe which party embraces members who parade around with Confederate flags, or go ballistic when a monument praising the confederacy is removed. It sure ain't the Democrats these days, just as it would not have been any faithful follower of Lincoln back then.
What is in a name? Are Confederate flags in MAGA hands any less racist?
The problem is that the Tudor Dixons of the world are able to throw out a simplistic lie knowing that their MAGA base will believe it.
GOP has become a mental malware virus. If you believe MTG, you can be led to believe anything. They Luv Big Bother.
And, in so doing, "flood the zone with <confusion>."
As the man said.
Tudor Dixon is a stain on Michigan politics. She proudly states that she is against abortion for ANY reason, including when the mother’s life is in danger. Recently, when asked about her stance that girls/women who become pregnant as a result of rape should be forced to give birth, even girls as young as 14, she proudly stated, with a smile on her face, that those girls/women should be given the chance to experience the joy of becoming a mama. I can’t begin to enumerate all of the reasons why that statement is so disgusting.
"against abortion for ANY reason, including when the mother’s life is in danger"...I am sure she would die with a smile if it were her life at risk or her daughter's....'or would it be time to go visit with Uncle Herschel in Georgia?'
Self-righteous to the most evil extent.
We must Roe, Roe, Roe our votes!
The people who most need to read this never will.
I'm gonna try a trial balloon and share this on Facebook. I have been hearing that from most of my Riech Wing Nut Job (henceforth RWNJ) friends since 2010. If I remember to, I'll check and advise, and report back their ever so thoughtful and well thought out replies that are usually "nuh-uh".
One thing: Kevin Phillips was the architect of Nixon’s southern strategy. He has publicly repented for the role he played.
Another thing: Republicans were pro choice in the 1960s and most supported Roe v Wade. Until Nixon seized on the idea of being anti-abortion to split the Catholics, a group that had historically voted for Democrats, away from that party.
So Nixon owns the racist, misogynist Republican Party of the 21st century. Reagan, the 2 Bushes, and Trump all flourished in that fertile soil. While Bush 2 does not seem to be a racist himself, he was in part behind the Willie Horton ad, and he defeated McCain in the NC primary with a robocall campaign about McCain’s “black” (actually Indian) adopted child.
Didn’t know about Kevin Phillips, knew the other. Most these days have no clue. BTW, thought Bush one was behind Willie Horton (via Lee Atwater). Skanky bastards all. Nixon was the architect of evil, before and after he undercut LBJ’s effort to end V. War. So much blood on his Quaker hands.
Bush 1 campaign was behind Willie Horton. Lee Atwater and Bush 2 were the architects for the campaign.
Tudor Dixon's convenient, and more than likely intentional, amnesia of American history has come up before with modern-day Republicans and it has always baffled me that they can still make what have to be seen as bizarre assertions about Democrats' history of racism and segregation and their history of emancipation and anti-slavery. Well...that was THEN and this is NOW.-! What HCR once again for the umpteenth time has recounted was how the two parties totally flip-flopped in the 1960s. I wish THEY would get it through their heads what happened. Is the Republican base really so totally ignorant of American political history that they somehow believe the Democratic party of the 1950s is in any way similar to the party of today?? Talk about cognizant ignorance! They know that's BS, yet wing-nuts like Dixon seem to think they can still find some clueless numb-nuts in their base to believe such tripe.
I still assert this country's education system has somehow failed to inform a generation of not only American history, but also of basic civics. What TF is being taught in schools' history classes these days?? Don't they learn this stuff (what HCR details above)?? And as I've said, civics has disappeared from curricula across the boards, with a result that we have a population that really seems to lack knowledge of exactly how our government functions. They don't seem to know our Constitution, how it works, what the amendments are, and how it was they came to be. This is dangerous. It's hardly any wonder the current Republican party seems to almost have contempt for the Constitution, and they can more easily fan flames of insurrection with their base who, along with their Big Orange Jesus, seem largely ignorant of our founding document.
Sometimes HCR has despaired that she "sounds like a broken record" and that her message somehow isn't breaking through. I think every teacher wonders how effective their teaching is at some point. Historians like HCR (and by extension her adherents on here) HAVE to keep spreading the word. Mountains are moved little by little, not all at once. We have to keep informing people about history, over and over and over if need be. There's always the chance that somebody somewhere will be seeing the truth for the first time and it can change minds and hearts, one person at a time. Keep telling the story, y'all!!
The republicans know,
Bruce, as we count "generations" these days, I am not certain that as a late "Boomer" I was not among the first (started first grade in 1964) that was subjected to the "less is more" concept of teaching a watered down history of the US. I do not recall "Civics" as a part of that, but rather as an elective that could be taken separately. I do recall that History as it was taught in the four years of high school (only required for three years) included a class called "World Cultures" and that it was my junior year that I actually took US History (school year 74-75) which included the amazing opportunity to dissect the first resignation of a US President.
I fast forward to what my sister-in-law (10 years younger than me, and a Gen-Xer) was taught (she graduated HS in '85) and what I saw from the outside looking in in the 90's and the 00's, and it is NOTHING AT ALL like what I was taught.
Tudor Dixon and the Republican candidates for attorney general and secretary of state in Michigan are really bad news for our state. I am very hopeful that they will not win.
Early night professor. Thank you so much for such an excellent summary.