Your America Must Survive

Dear Hillary Voter,

If you are the passionate believer in America you claim to be you must fight for America's survival starting today.  You outnumber Trump voters by 106,053, you're better educated, and, by and large, you're motivated by hope not fear, optimism not anger, progress not regress.

Your America was born of an idea that defeated the world's most powerful empire...and did it again when she was just 29 years old in The War of 1812.  Your America survived Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears.  Your America survived the loss of 620,000 souls -- 2% of the population -- in the Civil War, more souls than were lost in WWI, WWII, and Vietnam combined.   Your America survived the Spanish Flu of 1918-1920 in which 50,000,000 died worldwide and 1 in 4 Americans were infected.  So many Americans perished that we began to run out of coffins and gravediggers.

Your America triumphed over fascism in Germany, Italy, Russia, and Japan.  It vanquished communism in the USSR and China (yes, China where capitalism is slowly replacing communism while democracy remains a dream).  Your America's values have freed hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, from the bonds of political oppression and economic privation in Eastern Europe (Poland, former East Germany, Ukraine, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and Asia (Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan).

Your America -- a country defined by the ideals of freedom, equality, acceptance, love, charity, and a belief in the greater good over naked self-interest -- must and will survive if you fight for her.

Nationalism, fascism, and demagogues have crushed lesser democracies.  But your America, where half of you voted for hope over fear, need not suffer that fate.  Listen deeply to the fears of your neighbor who voted for Trump.  Your weapons are freedom of thought, reason, and discourse. Over 50 million angry, frustrated, scared Americans live amongst us.  You can demand they salute and support the ideals of America-- freedom, equality, acceptance, love, charity, and a belief in the greater good over naked self-interest--in spite of their frustration and anger, and you can marshal those shared ideals to fight together for America's survival.

Your America can and must survive.  But she needs your open heart, steel spine, and clear head today.

Release the Student Hostages

The anti-charter school campaign in MA maintains that voting for the ballot initiative and increasing the number of charter schools will drain $400 million from public schools.  First point: charter schools ARE public schools.

The Department of Ed website specifies how school districts with students who leave and go to charters are given state aid to offset the cost of sending that student to a charter.

When a student leaves a district for a charter school the state reimburses that district for 100% of the tuition cost charged to the district by the charter school for that one student in the first year the student leaves.  So in that first year the losing district does not have a student to educate but the districts gets every penny it has to send to the student's new charter school for his/her tuition.  In year 2 of the student's move to the charter the district that lost the student gets a reimbursement from the state of 25% of the tuition cost.  To be clear: in year 2 the losing district no longer has to educated the student who has gone to the charter school yet the district gets 25% of the tuition that the district has to pay to the charter; no student to educate, 25% of the money that leaves the district paid back to the district by the state.  

This continues for 5 years after the student departs.  100% reimbursement to the district in year 1, 25% reimbursement in years 2-6.  At the end of 6 years the legislation assumes the district who lost the student 6 years ago will have adjusted their costs to accommodate the lower enrollment brought on by students leaving to go to charters.  At that point the district losing students does not have to pay any money to educate the students who are gone yet the district is collecting taxes from its residents to educated students it does not have enrolled in its system.  It is that money that the district sends to the charter school who is now educating students who live in the district but are not going to the districts' schools.

So, will increasing the number of charter schools drain $400 million from public schools?  Yes, probably, but it will not drain any money away from well-functioning school districts where students' parents believe the education is worthy, where kids are not leaving in droves for better charter schools.  It will affect failing school districts with horrible teachers and poorly managed administrations.   And the money it "drains" away is money a district gets in taxes but does not need for students it no longer educates.

Since the teachers union won't give up tenure and let taxpayers (via their district administrations) fire bad teachers, charter schools are the counterpunch.  You don't get to have guaranteed employment disconnected from your performance AND guaranteed revenue flowing into your failing, horrible school.  You have to pick:  no tenure & better district schools where good teacher stay and bad teachers go, OR keep your tenure and release your student hostages.

NFL Players Take a Cheapshot

On September 13 I posted this on FB:

"And then it hit me: NFL players may face a 4-game suspension for possibly knowing about a football being deflated, but it's fine if they publicly disrepect the United States and her National Anthem. Got it."


The part of my inital post that seems to have aroused ire from many friends was that when NFL players "...publicly disrepect the United States and her National Anthem" they suffer no consequences.  One friend said "I don't think it is disrespectful at all to not stand. I think it is the greatest thing about our country...so different from the rest of the world. We can express ourselves by questioning authority and even the symbols of the country we live in. It's what makes us great." Two other friends agreed.  My son implied I was suggesting "an employer should punish someone for doing something that is still within their constitutional rights."  One other friend agreed with me due, I expect, in large part to his 30 years of service in the Navy. 

My assertion that the sitting players are disrespecting the US and her National Anthem rests on this belief: The National Anthem represents the essence, the spirit, the totality of all that is America. (You can stop here if you don't agree with that belief).   It does not just represent the racism in our country. 

Standing up is a broad, well-accepted sign of respect in our culture (gentlemen will commonly stand when a respected or honored member of society enters a room; the assembled in a courtroom will stand when a judge enters; the congregation at a wedding stands when the bride processes). This is why people who respect the essence of America expressed in her National Anthem stand when it is performed. Ergo, sitting -- the opposite of standing -- conveys the opposite message, ie. disrespect, be it for the essence of America or a judge in a courtroom. The players who sit or take another position besides standing are therefore disrespecting the essence of our country.  They are not joining in a pointed protest against racism in the public square.  They are disrespecting the essence and spirit of the very political system that guarantees the right to free expression.  In denouncing the entire system that guarantees free expression they are not, in fact, strengthening it. They are damaging that same system. 

Not every display of free expression strengthens our polity. A woman in the public square organizing an overthow of the government because racism/bigotry/sexism or another cancer infects parts of the polity would not be strengthening our country by her free expression, but rather she is promoting its destruction.  Similarly, the NFL player disrespecting the essence of America by sitting during the National Anthem attacks her broadside, damning ALL that she represents INCLUDING freedom of expression. 

Second Point (wherein my son says I imply an employer should punish someone for doing something within their constitutional rights): In fact, yes, that is what I'm implying. Many, many constitutional rights are limited by the contract between employer and worker. You cannot exercise your freedom of movement or assembly or expression when you have agreed to work at a job from 9-5; you can't leave at 1:30 if you're tired; you can't assemble with friends in the breakroom whenever you want; you can't curse at clients. But you have willingly suspended your rights in exchange for the rewards of the work.  By the same token, NFL owners could make standing at attention during the National Anthem a job requirement in the same way that players can't drag down an opponent via the facemask. That is just another job requirement owners -- through the NFL -- place on their employees. 

Final thought: These protesting players are grandstanding, risking nothing of value to themselves and gaining maximum spotlight time. Why not use their celebrity status off-field, off-camera, to damn the cancers of our body politic direclty via social media, live apperances, and so forth? Or, refuse to play the game one week in protest of our society's ills, thereby risking fines or other consequences that would have a personal impact on the player himself. THAT level of free expression would gain my enduring respect.

TrumpWTF

On August 3 I began posting reports on Trump's campaign for the highest office in the land that made me think, "WTF?"

August 9:  50 top GOP security experts say Trump is a national security threat.
Click here for the report.

August 5: Tells America's richest county, “You’re doing lousy over here, by the way, I hate to tell you.”
Click here for the report.

August 4:  Fighting off STDs was his “own personal Vietnam”.
Click here for the report

August 4 Bonus Round:  Trump literally throws the Constitution out of his rally.
Click here for report.

August 3: He wants to know, "Why can't we nuke 'em?"
Click here for the report

TrumpWTF

On August 3 I began posting reports on Trump's campaign for the highest office in the land that made me think, "WTF?"

August 5: Tells America's richest county, “You’re doing lousy over here, by the way, I hate to tell you.”
Click here for the report.

August 4:  Fighting off STDs was his “own personal Vietnam”.
Click here for the report

August 4 Bonus Round:  Trump literally throws the Constitution out of his rally.
Click here for report.

August 3: He wants to know, "Why can't we nuke 'em?"
Click here for the report

TrumpWTF

On August 3 I began posting reports on Trump's campaign for the highest office in the land that made me think, "WTF?"

August 5: Tells America's richest county, “You’re doing lousy over here, by the way, I hate to tell you.”
Click here for the report.

August 4:  Fighting off STDs was his “own personal Vietnam”.
Click here for the report

August 4 Bonus Round:  Trump literally throws the Constitution out of his rally.
Click here for report.

August 3: He wants to know, "Why can't we nuke 'em?"
Click here for the report

TrumpWTF

On August 3 I began posting reports on Trump's campaign for the highest office in the land that made me think, "WTF?"

August 3: He wants to know, "Why can't we nuke 'em?"
Click here for the report

August 4:  Fighting off STDs was his “own personal Vietnam”.
Click here for the report

August 4 Bonus Round:  Trump literally throws the Constitution out of his rally.
Click here for report.

TrumpWTF

On August 3 I began posting reports on Trump's campaign for the highest office in the land that made me think, "WTF?"

August 3: He wants to know, "Why can't we nuke 'em?"
Click here for the report

August 4:  Fighting off STDs was his “own personal Vietnam”.
Click here for the report

August 4 Bonus Round:  Trump literally throws the Constitution out of his rally.
Click here for report.

TrumpWTF

On August 3 I began posting reports on Trump's campaign for the highest office in the land that made me think, "WTF?"

August 3: He wants to know, "Why can't we nuke 'em?"
Click here for the report

August 4:  Fighting off STDs was his “own personal Vietnam”.
Click here for the report

August 4 Bonus Round:  Trump literally throws the Constitution out of his rally.
Click here for report.

No, it's not OK

A good friend's Facebook thread on Trump recently included this plea by a friend of his: "I appreciate and respect your perspective but I support Trump - why is it not ok to support him? We agree to disagree."

No, it's not OK to hold any opinion just because it's yours.  So called "opinions" that fly in the face of facts are not "OK".

I think there has been a flight to opinion as the ultimate defense of thought that defies logic.  More and more I hear this line of argument:  "Well, that's just my opinion so we'll have to agree to disagree."  Climate change is not a matter of opinion.  The age of the universe is not a matter of opinion.  Believing in creationism isn't a matter of opinion.

Preferring cubism over Impressionism is a matter of opinion.  But you cannot just say you support Trump in the face of overwhelming evidence of him being unfit to serve, fold your verbal arms over your chest and say, "well, I respect your perspective, but I still support him--why is it not ok to support him?"  It's not "ok" because your argument for giving him the top job leading the free world fails the test of logic and reason again and again and again.

I'm not railing again Trump (this time).  I'm railing against this lame retreat from reason to the "opinion defense."  Everyone is entitled to her opinion, ergo if I label a fact-based decision as "my opinion" I can make uncomfortable facts disappear faster than Samantha on Bewitched.  Too often I hear people retreat to this cozy fact-free garrison when their "feelings" clash with reality.

If, on the other hand, the friend-of-a-friend I quote above holds that,"Well, Trump has no qualifications traditionally possessed by Presidents, but I think it's time we shift from an internationalist, globalized economy back to the isolationist policy that guided us though the early 20th Century...and I think we need to deport 11 million illegal immigrants and build a wall on the southern border al la The Great Wall of China from millennia ago...so that's why I support Trump",  I'd respect his position.

So no, it's not "ok" to cast your vote for a candidate because your opinion told you so.  That's cool if you're buying a suit or a movie ticket.  But the sacred duty of voting for your elected representatives requires you to marshal reason and logic and rationality.  Leave your opinions for art.  Politics is reality and reality demands you face facts head-on.

News Media Hellscape

Lately I've noticed a lot of finger pointing at the news media for the rise Der Fuhrer Trump.   The argument goes that the media has failed to properly grill Drumpf on the details of his proposals, his flip-flops, his hate speech, and on and on.

The flaw in that logic is this: news media is now a business.  Journalism is now a business.  Les Moonves said it best on February 29, 2016 when referring to The Donald Duck's candidacy, "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS." 

Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite have been dead and gone for a long time.  With the rise of the Internet as the place voters turn for news has come the abandonment of journalism.  Who needs to pay smart people to interpret complex issues when I can just check my Facebook wall for the wisdom of my college roommate's brother?  He's got internet access,  he must know what's going on.  Media outlets practicing authentic, true, unadulterated journalism are as rare as high school students learning Latin.  Audience, ratings, followers, and subscriptions are all that matter in the hellscape that passes for modern news coverage.  (Note:  Journalism historically was supported by a paying audience and advertisers.  The Internet has vacuumed away both leaving journalism to run on the vapors of public funding or the largess of philanthropy.) 

And so the news media gave Trump air time because he draws crowds.  He activated angry whites and won a plurality of GOP votes in the primaries and that draws viewers, audience, and followers.  His performances incite, excite, and titillate so let him phone it in, just so long as he draws viewers/audience/followers/subscribers.  I no more blame the media for this than I blame my local gas station for raising the price of fuel when light sweet crude prices spike: they're both businesses struggling to turn a profit.  Period, full stop.

Now all that sounds very cynical, I know, but I had a front row seat to the collapse of a true journalistic institution that served America well since the 1920's: NEWSWEEK. I sold advertising in the last issue.  The cover read #LASTPRINTISSUE.   That institution collapsed because they refused to abandon journalism so advertisers and readers abandoned them.

That experience, preceded by 25 years in the print and online media world taught me these lessons.  This is why the only place you'll find authentic journalism (liberal or conservative or centrist) is through outlets that don't have to depend upon market support for survival such as NPR/PBS or BBC. (And don't point to the WSJ; their readers, by and large, get their companies to pay for their subscriptions because it's a "must read" for business.) However, if the scourge of a Trump presidency is visited upon our great nation, I'd expect him to disappear NPR in short order.  Why fund public journalism?  Let the market decide.  They're doing a bang-up job already!

My Mom said...

My Mom said…
Date tall women if you’re a tall man.
Wash your hands before dinner.
Wash your hands after you use the bathroom.
Take a bath at night.
Don’t bite your nails.

My Mom said…
Enjoy eating.
Learn to cook.
Eat Swiss chard.
When picking a partner, find someone who makes you laugh.
Cook things you and your partner like to eat.
Never stop romancing her.
Never stop romancing him.
Stay on pitch.
Tell the truth, but if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all.

My Mom said…
Read books.
Practice every day for 20 minutes.  Preferably music.
Tend to your relationship with God.
Raise a pet; dogs, fish, snakes, cats, doesn’t matter.
Have children.
Love those children and your partner as if your life depends on it.
Make enough money by working hard to take care of yourself, your partner, and your children, and then a little bit more, just in case.

My Mom said…
Go camping.
Play a competitive team sport when you’re young.
Play sports when you’re older, even if you’re competing with yourself.
Take care of your joints.
Don’t drink too much.
Don’t smoke.
Stand up straight.
If something makes you angry, get mad; then move on.
Get your teeth, eyes, and body checked by a doctor once a year.
Know your body; listen to it, and like it.

My Mom said…
Sing in a choir.
Respect your parents.
Fear no one, not even your parents.
Put something in the basket at church, or into the donation bin
behind the library.
The teacher is right.  But if he’s not, work with him and the school directly to fix it.
Keep your eyes on the road when you’re driving.
Pack sandwiches.
Play games with your family.
Do jigsaw puzzles.

My Mom said…
Do manual labor, especially if you get paid to think.
Do yard work.
Plant a garden and eat from it.
Learn to play an instrument well enough that you’ll play for your own enjoyment as well as others’.
Go to college and live on campus.
Get a live Christmas tree.
Send birthday cards to the people in your family.
Don’t spend too much on a gift but don’t get something cheap.
Buy good quality clothes and take care of them.
Don’t lose your jacket.

My Mom said…
When disciplining children, speak quietly.  A look, a cluck, or a finger may do more than words.
Boys, treat girls and women as special.  They are.  They made you.
Go to live performances as often as you can afford to.
Don’t give a standing ovation for a mediocre performance, even if it’s your child’s.
Breastfeed.  But don’t overdo it.
Keep meeting new people.
Speak your mind.
Make the effort to visit friends or family when it’s important to you.

My Mom said…
Explore America.
Explore Europe.
Learn to vacation.
Take a nap.
Don’t waste time.
Be still.
Listen.
Smile.


My eulogy for my Mom, who died on August 6, 2014.

GOP Betrays Reagan

Today's GOP has betrayed its most venerated modern-day icon:  Ronald Reagan.  Whether it's Trump building big, beautiful walls. or Cruz or Rubio talking about crackdowns on illegal immigration, no one in a leadership sounds anything like the President they all like to invoke as their party's hero.  Watch this and then explain to me how today's GOP can square their position on immigration with the Gipper's?

Who knew I'd pine for the days of Reagan.  What's happened to the party of Lincoln?  One in three Republican voters say they'd pick Trump if the primary was today.  One third agree with the man endorsed by former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke.  One in three Americans back the guy who quotes Mussolini.  WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT??

My Dad sent me this today.

It got me to thinking about who the Federal government helps most.  So I looked up the states who get the most help from the Federal government (ie, me).  An article from The Atlantic citing independent analysis is here. But to summarize, here are the top 10 States ranked as most dependent on Federal dollars as a ratio of Federal Income tax paid by each state.  These are ranked in order of "receive most/pay in least":

1. SC

2. NC

3. FL

4. LA

5. AL

6. HI

7. MS

8. NM

9. KY

10. WV

The colors show which states are solid red, light red, blue, light blue, or purple based on how they've voted in the last 4 Presidential elections.  That data came from here.  But if you want the color key, here it is:

Summary of results of the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 presidential elections:

  States carried by the Republican in all four elections

  States carried by the Republican in three of the four elections

  States carried by each party twice in the four elections

  States carried by the Democrat in three of the four elections

  States carried by the Democrat in all four elections

If this analysis is right, 7 of the top 10 States getting more help -- in terms of Federal aid -- from the government than they're contributing via Federal income tax, are voting for Republican Presidents most or all of the time over the last 4 races.  Three of these states are blue, light blue, or purple,meaning they're voting for Democratic Presidents all, most, or half the time.

SO, I agree with the Gipper to a great extent.  But it seems his Republican disciples in SC, NC, LA, AL, MS, KY, and WV are all hat and no saddle.