This may be the only time I share a favorable post about Fox’s Judge Napolitano. Often an ardent supporter of the insanity that is the Trump administration, Napolitano apparently found his voice and decided to step out on a limb to chastise Donald Trump – something unheard of on his Fox News channel.
Watch video below
It’s the most anticipated announcement this election cycle, that former Vice President Joe Biden is entering the race to be American’s next president in 2020. But unlike the other Democratic presidential hopefuls, Biden did not make his announcement pushing policies, he went straight for the jugular, hitting Trump and his open racism.
Straight from Charlottesville, Biden’s announcement video focused on Trump’s “fine people on both sides” statement, when the president defended the racists screaming “Jews will not replace us.” The former Vice President called that moment something he had never seen before in his long political career, and he referred to it as a defining moment in his decision to run for president in 2020.
See Biden’s announcement video below.
I’m actually glad that the Mueller Report found no credible evidence of direct cooperation between the Russians attempt to infect the 2016 election and the Trump campaign. It would be terrible, shocking and dispiriting to know that an American presidential candidate was working with an enemy to undermine our democratic institutions.
Then there’s the rest of the report.
The disgraceful, dispiriting, venal, vile attempt by the president to stop the investigation, intimidate witnesses, subvert the investigative process, and otherwise use his office as a blunt instrument to bludgeon those who would question his utterly questionable behavior is proof positive that when it comes to draining the swamp, Donald Trump is an utter failure. In fact, Trump has brought so many mosquitoes into the swamp that Washington could run out of by the end of the year.
What saved the country and indeed his were the actions of many of the president’s subordinates who refused to carry out his orders, stalled, quit, or in some ways redirected the president’s anger to other concerns. They are not heroes, but they do qualify as capable public servants who knew the constitution and our democratic processes better than the president.
And, as is usual, most of them no longer work in the Trump White House because they defied his destructive instincts. The ones that are left, including Attorney General William Barr, seem to be more committed to the president than the workings of their offices and their responsibilities to the constitution.
What’s worse is that the president believed he had to undermine the free press, question people’s loyalty to the country, and pay fealty to his most ardent supporters by making himself the victim of some misbegotten prosecutorial overreach. What we now know is that the press is alive and vital, proving that it was the president and his press secretary who did not have their facts straight. And those former underlings who had their loyalty questioned or who were fired and/or testified against the president turned out to be the ones with the correct stories.
The president might not have cooperated with the Russian attempt to subvert the 2016 election, but he did absolutely nothing to stop it and everything to goad them and Julian Assange to feed the press stories that would not only hurt Hillary Clinton but would denigrate our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies. He expressly denied that it was even the Russians who were the main actors, despite the CIA conclusion to the contrary. He tried to get his Attorney General to stop the and he fired James Comey thinking the whole problem would go away.
Tell me where, in all that heavy traffic, he made that tricky u-turn back to being completely exonerated. There might not have been collusion, but there was active ignorance. No crime, but plenty of attempts at breaking the law. And the president blew lots of hot air, but that only fed the fire. He has set a terrible example for the country and has made it clear that he is only interested in appealing to the minority of people who voted for him in 2016.
We deserve better and I hope we get that in 2020.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
The Robert Mueller Report – or what Donald Trump and his Attorney General, William Barr wants you to see – is now online. Read it here
This is not shocking news to anybody. If we know nothing else, we know that Fox News is a subsidiary of the Republican party. So it is not surprising that the network is the water-boy for Republicans and Donald Trump.
With that said, Fox News went out of their way to hammer former President, Barack Obama, every chance they got. Even non-news stories were picked up, dissected, debated and became the “news” at the network for days, for weeks, for years!
But what if Fox News was unbiased? What if they were an equal opportunity offender? What if they stop covering up for Trump and applied some of the same criticism to him that they tossed Obama’s way. What would that look like?
The good people at Now This put together a compilation of things the talking heads at Fox said about Obama and wondered, what if Fox News covered Trump the way it covered Obama?
Watch this:
A year ago, I wrote this post about Passover, Easter, and immigration.
Here we are again, but the problem seems to have gotten worse. And by , I mean what the president says and does about people who want to escape violence. People who have a well-founded fear that their political views will get them jailed or killed, or who live in countries where they belong to the wrong social, ethnic or religious group. Trump speaks about a crisis at the border, but much of that crisis is based on decisions he has made, such as separating children from their parents and creating camps that, in any other country, would ignite a firestorm of criticism for human rights violations.
But my main point now, as it was a year ago, is that the president and those who most fervently support him on religious grounds have simply betrayed their beliefs. The Bible is clear about how Christians and Jews should treat those who are strangers or poor or in need in our countries. There’s really no debate or contradiction. We should all welcome those who are less fortunate or need food or shelter both realistically and metaphorically.
If the president wants to make good on his threat (threat!) to allow immigrants to go to cities where they will be welcomed, then I say let him issue the order. There is nothing but contempt., fear, and distrust behind such an order because he is assuming that other Americans see these migrants the same way he does: as criminals, gang members, job and benefit thieves, and worse. Somehow, by presenting one’s self at the border, a person changes from a citizen of another country who wants a better life into a marauding threat.
This is a disgrace. It serves no other purpose than to stoke fear and reprisals. A serious president would ask Congress to do nothing else than to get a bill on his desk that will address the immigration issue with a recognition that both sides need to compromise. The great deal maker could go into the room and not come out until there is a bill. But that would require serious ideas and discussions, something that’s been sorely lacking in Washington.
Should everyone be let into the country? No. The law says that each case must be heard and that people must provide evidence that they cannot go back to their country. But those who do show cause should be allowed to stay. After all, this country’s growth is based on immigration. If we are to sustain our economy, we’ll need more workers to do the jobs that Americans can not or will not perform.
We are not making enough Americans grow the economy and without we will be in real trouble. Immigrants have always provided this growth. It is time to stop the fear.
It’s also time for religious people who support the president to live by the words they preach and to demand that Trump stop the harmful rhetoric.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
In a recent House testimony, IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig admitted that there are no IRS rules preventing Donald Trump from releasing his taxes, even if those taxes are under audit.
“If anybody’s tax return is under audit, is there a rule that would prohibit that taxpayer from releasing it?” Asked Representative Sandford Bishop of Georgia.
The IRS Commissioner answered, “…No.”
There have been a number of articles and posts lately about the rise of antisemitism around the world, with the main point being that we’re seeing a rise in attacks, defacements and comments that question whether Jews are really trustworthy citizens. That a US member of Congress, Representative Ilhan Omer was also guilty of saying such things is troubling, to say the least.
But it’s important to note that antisemitism has been alive and well for, well, for as long as there have been Jews in the world, and the rise in antisemitic attacks is more directly related to the rise in global nationalism and populism than anything else. Because when people feel threatened, they lash out at those they believe are responsible for their problems, and since the stereotypes of Jews are related to money, power and nation, we are a convenient scapegoat at a convenient time.
It’s disturbing enough to see the rise of this hatred in other counties. It’s even worse when we see it in the United States, and it’s not just Representative Omar who is a problem. The rise and nurturing of the far right is fueling anti-every minority hatred in the country, and although the president says that he’s the best friend Israel ever had, many of his supporters are the worst perpetrators of racist and antisemitic vitriol.
The truth is that antisemitism has friends on the right and the left, so on this issue, there are no uninterested parties. Jews have historically been seen as others who are not part of the nations they inhabit or are allied with its enemies, financial interests, dark conspiracies, and communist revolutions.
The climate is better than it was, but like the real climate, antisemitism is heating up and belching poison into the atmosphere. We will need to be diligent and strong if we are to beat back this latest insurgency.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
I know that I really shouldn’t even be acknowledging that Betsy DeVos has anything useful to say about education, but the vacant smile she wears when she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, which is pretty much most minutes of most days, is on brilliant display in this video where she gratuitously supports the idea that larger class size leads to more learning, at least for “some students.”
Of course, my solution, then would be to put some students in a large class, but since the number of students who learn best in a large class is small, well, can you see my dilemma? Norman, please relate.
The truth that most every educator knows is that smaller classes are, shall we hedge and say, ALWAYS better than larger classes, because the truth is that the more time a teacher can spend with individual students during a day or class period is always better than spending less time with those students. Yes, it is important for students to collaborate and confer, but in the end, it’s the teacher’s job to deliver the curriculum to students and then to evaluate the extent to which those students have learned the information. And the most effective way of doing that is to interact with more students for as much time as possible every day.
Are there some students who learn more efficiently in larger classes? Yes, but those students are generally better at absorbing and synthesizing information on their own since they don’t need, or get, as much direct teacher support. And, of there are those students who like larger classes because then they can hide or sit in the back or count on the fact that the teacher will not call on them as much. Those students, in fact, need smaller classes.
If this was only a Betsy DeVos issue, then we wouldn’t have as much of a problem because she doesn’t really support federal involvement in state public schools. But this is not just a DeVos problem. The large class know-nothings are alive and well in the leafy suburbs, employing suspect research that says that classes above 30 students are where education tends to break down. This is convenient for school boards because then they don’t have to hire as many teachers and pay them salaries and benefits. This saves money on property taxes and facilities.
Now let’s go back to the video. Notice that the first words Secretary DeVos uses to answer the question (around 1:38) are “Given education freedom initiatives, there are different kinds of environments in which students learn well.”
First of all, education freedom initiatives code for privatizing education and using government money for non-public schools. Second, what does the first part of the sentence have to do with the second? It simply means that schools should feel free to make classes larger because that’s what freedom means. I think.
This administration is doing precious little in education and promoting large classes will do even more damage to children.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
Have you seen the Mueller Report?
Me neither.
But I’ve certainly seen scores of breathless posts, tweets and articles conjecturing on what it might say and what it might mean and what parts of it will be released or not released or released through a summary, which is merely Nixon’s “edited transcripts” using different words.
Perhaps we ought to wait a bit before moving to a High Dudgeon Alert (HDA) or twisting our skivvies, which will only produce a high pitched wail when a sober-minded conversational tone will suffice.
In short, we will need time to mull over the Mueller report and process what it says beyond the headlines and the breathless, usually fatuous real-time interpretations available to us through the wonders of technology. Because, in the end, this is important and we need to read carefully, provide context and make sure we don’t jump to snap conclusions.
It will be up to us as citizens to put unyielding pressure on this administration to release the report in full as soon as possible, and it will be up to us to push for further action if it’s warranted by its findings. Congress will then need to investigate further and square what Mueller found with other areas of investigation.
The president wants the report to be the final word on whether he or anyone in his campaign or administration did anything illegal. In fact, that process is just beginning.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
Yes, yes, the pursuit of money has always been a key component of American life, but the economic gains the wealthy have made since the election of Ronald Reagan borders on the obscene.
The upper middle class has done pretty well too, and have been able to partake of the fruits of their success as few generations have in our past. We are awash in references to money and comparing ourselves to the measures that money represents. Think of box office receipts, athletes’ salaries, the price of pricey cars and real estate, and of course, the media’s fixation on big expensive…everything.
Given all of that, does it really surprise you that wealthy connected parents would use their money and influence to benefit their children? Maybe it’s because I work in education and see the nefarious influence money has had on students and parents. Maybe it’s just the zeitgeist. Or maybe we have sold a part of our souls to the gods of capitalism. Whatever it is, perhaps this scandal will cause us to revisit some of our cherished beliefs.
Perhaps. I will not hold my breath.
As long as parents and students and the education system in general sees a university education as a jobs machine, then we will not make any headway in solving the problems that led to last weeks story. Most of my students say that the reason they are going to college is to get a good job. I’ve tried to fight against that mighty tide for decades, making the point that if that’s your reason for going to college, then that’s probably the only thing you’ll get out of your experience. And you might not even get that good job.
But if you go for an education or an experience that you can’t really replicate at any other time in your life, then you might find more pathways to a broader, more satisfying existence. After all, anyone can take a job away from you at any moment, but nobody can take away your education.
That’s the real reason for why the pay-for-admission scandal is so distressing. It’s right out of the resume-enhancing playbook that puts more value on the name and the money rather than the effort and the education. It’s also a sad commentary on the trend in K-12 education that says that the goal of a child’s schooling is to get them into as if all students can succeed in college.
There’s a reason why the percentage of adults with a four year college degree has remained relatively steady at around 35% for many years, and why the college dropout rate approaches 50%. Yes, there are students who cannot pay for their education or have personal issues that prevent them from completing their education, but most of the reason has to do with the nature of college itself. It’s school. Difficult school. It demands executive function skills in addition to analytical, writing, and strategic thinking. Not everyone has those skills, yet the K-12 industry has been pushing all students in that direction for at least the last 30 years, sacrificing non-academic skills and learning or sloughing it off to district or county schools of technology.
And given the competition for jobs and status, it’s no wonder that some parents will try to subvert the system or gain an unfair advantage. In the end, for them, academic skills or success means little compared to the opportunity to bypass what their child can actually do and focus on the school’s name. Admission based on legacy or financial contribution is bad enough. Bribing a coach or having someone take the SAT or change a students’s answers is immoral.
The clear lesson here is that pushing college for all students is not a reasonable strategy, nor should it be the goal of our education system. There are many pathways to success, and many measures of a successful life. Only one of them leads to college.
I hope that this is the worst of the scandals, but again, I won’t hold my breath. Because I’ll probably die.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
Democrats are fighting amongst themselves? There’s a brawl for the soul of the party? The far left and the moderates don’t see eye-to-eye? And the conservative Democrats are nowhere to be found?
Do tell. And welcome to another presidential election season.
Democratic dysfunction has been the norm for every election cycle save for the ones where there is a Democratic incumbent. Let’s see; that would mean 1996 and 2012 in the most modern era. Other than that? What we have now.
I’ll get this out of the way early: If the Democrats run on a decidedly left-wing agenda, they will lose the election. Donald Trump won a minority of the popular vote, but he won in enough places where relatively conservative voters switched to him from Obama because they didn’t like Hillary Clinton to win in 2016. That’s exactly where the 2020 election will be won.
Or lost.
Forget about Texas. Forget about Arizona. Forget about Georgia. Forget, even, about Ohio and maybe Florida. The key for the Democrats is going to be the Midwestern states that had hitherto been reliably in their column. And the key to winning those states back lies in a more moderate message about health care, security, and a return to a government that functions in the interests of the people. They can even talk about bringing respect and dignity back to the presidency, an immigration system that meets our economic and human rights needs, and a tax plan that doesn’t ask middle class Americans to pay more than they did before the last tax act was passed.
And what about Medicare for all? Free college tuition? Higher taxes on the wealthy? The Green New Deal? Great ideas. Their time will come. Remember that it took the conservatives 40 years for their terrible ideas to become mainstream. It will take around 20 years for these good ideas to replace them. Trying to force them earlier will result in delays because Democrats will not win enough elections by moving to the far left.
Move to the moderate left. The pragmatic left. Win majorities in statehouses and Congress. Move the state courts leftward. That’s how it’s done.
Joe Biden can win enough of the people who voted for Trump but are now tired of the president’s incompetence and embarrassing behavior. Maybe some of the other announced, Kamala Harris, or unannounced, Kirsten Gillibrand can too. I don’t think Bernie or Elizabeth Warren or Beto O’Rourke can.
The other key is to make sure that Americans register to vote. There’s enough time to continue the drive, file complaints, and educate the public on how important it is to participate. Especially those people who will support our issues.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest
