EzKool

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

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

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