Imagine for a minute that everything just came to a stop. All of it. Suddenly there was no work. No money. No cars on the road. Air pollution plummeted. Schools were closed. No one had to go to the office.
Everything stopped.
We all know right now that we don't need to imagine this because we're all currently living a variation of the above...or all of it. Maybe you lost your job because of the pandemic. Maybe you were told to work from home indefinitely. Maybe you're in a sort of limbo where you don't know how much longer you're going to have a job. Maybe you own a business and it was made to shut down. Maybe you were furloughed.
The point is that right now the world has drastically changed.
What if we find out tomorrow that we need to social distance for another month? What if we're told next week that this is how life is going to be until at least July...maybe longer?
What if, when this ends, in two years we experience an environmental crisis? Do you think we're ready to handle something like that?
It's no secret that we treat the planet like our personal dumping ground. We don't seem to care about it very much. Scientists have been warning us for some tome now - much like the ones warning of a pandemic - that something cataclysmic is going to happen environmentally and we don't seem to care. In fact, some of us (literally) laugh at the warnings.
What's going to change when this ends? Are people going to willingly begin pumping filth and exhaust back into the air like we were before? Do people still need to get into their cars in the morning, jam up the highways, bridges, tunnels, and roads to go sit in an office? It would appear that this has been completely and totally unnecessary for quite a while.
So why start doing it again when this ends?
What makes us think that we're above it all? What made us think that something like we're experiencing right now wasn't going to happen to us? Why did we believe that a global pandemic was out of the scope of reality?
I think it's because we haven't been living in reality for some time now. In the last fifteen years we have all become somewhat clueless and/or ignorant to the world around us. We have chosen to believe that none of us are connected. We look at politicians and rich people as if they're above it all - and they look down at us and think the same thing.
We also came to believe that we are separate from the environment. We don't believe we're a part of it. We think we're above it. We dump and pump filth and waste into the air, water, and soil like we own the place. Well - we don't own it. No one owns it. We're actually just another part of it - but we chose to stop believing that.
A virus is a natural biological thing. Think about that for a minute. It's not manmade. COVID-19 came from the natural world around us, and has brought the manmade world - literally - to its knees. A microscopic thing that you can't see or touch has bankrupted companies. It has taken your job. It shut down schools, universities, bars, and restaurants. It has cancelled concert tours and conventions. It shut down New York City. It cancelled graduations and proms. It wiped out 401K's, and it crushed the stock market.
It stopped everything.
What will it change though? How are we going to be better when it ends? Are we going to stop dumping filth and and waste into the air, atmosphere, oceans, rivers, streams, and lakes? Are we going to stop burying chemicals in the soil? Are we going to treat the natural world around us with the respect it deserves?
I think that we need to because I think that right now at this precise moment Mother Nature is sending us a very clear message: I don't need you.
Monday, April 13, 2020
The Pundit Effect
Recently the radio host and political commentator Rush Limbaugh announced he'd been diagnosed with lung cancer. I don't care what your political affiliations are, but this is horrific for anyone. I say this as someone who lost their mother to lung cancer when she was just fifty years old. Trust me when I say: No one deserves to go through this.
Due to this news, there's been a lot of discussion about Limbaugh - and his effect on American politics. To say that he has not changed the game completely is to say you have not been paying attention to American discourse for the last thirty years. After all it was Limbaugh who took the lightly acknowledged mindset of a liberally biased media and not only shoved it into the mainstream but can (and should be) directly acknowledged as the catalyst for Fox News. In fact, one could argue that you can draw a direct line from Limbaugh to Fox to Alex Jones to One America News to Sinclair Media to Breitbart...
You get the idea.
The thing with Rush is that he's not so much a well read intellectual high brow critic as much as he is a marketing genius. He did, after all, begin his career as a deejay who, typical to the profession, bounced around from station to station in an effort to gain prominence. He became disillusioned after a while and eventually changed gears to another career. When he eventually came back to radio, his timing was perfect.
Limbaugh returned to the air right after the Federal Communications Commission had repealed what was known as the Fairness Doctrine. This legislation had been in place since 1949 and served the sole purpose of making sure holders of broadcast licenses presented balanced views of controversial public issues. Basically, it said that radio and TV stations were required to give equal air time to both sides of an issue. When it was repealed (1987), the Fairness Act had been in existence for almost forty years. Its elimination meant that TV and radio stations were no longer obligated to present a balanced or differentiating perspective on anything.
Enter Rush Limbaugh.
In the time since, it is no secret what radio and TV "news" programming has morphed into. By and large they are simply spaces where pundits and/or personalities yell, scream, and berate the perspective that is not in agreement with their own. This is the Limbaugh model. He took to the airwaves and began delivering a message that essentially said "Don't listen to anyone but me". He made fun of the "mainstream media" and their biased perspective. He went as far as to call them outright liars. He began publishing his own newspaper of sorts - The Limbaugh Letter - and told his ever amassing audience to stop reading main stream newspapers and to, instead, read his (which one had to pay a subscription fee for).
This was all rolled into a narrative that chastised any perspective left of his. He didn't just criticize democrats, he vilified them. Since his station was under no obligation to present a different perspective or opinion, his word became Bible. And, perhaps most importantly, his audience grew.
Pretty soon the Rush Limbaugh Show was syndicated across the nation. America soon had a flourishing army of citizens who believed very little of what the "mainstream media" reported. They were good soldiers and didn't read the paper or watch TV news. They listened to Rush. Others saw dollar signs and soon, Fox News popped up. Their underlying message was (and still is) the same as Limbaugh's: Don't listen to anyone else. Fox featured their own Lihmbaugh-esque personalities who shouted the same message into the camera seven nights a week. Pretty soon there was a crossover and personalities like Sean Hannity not only had shows on Fox, but also radio shows. People could, literally, listen to Rush...or Sean...or Glenn...or Ann on the way to and from work then come home and watch/listen to them again on TV. The public were being bludgeoned with a message - and America was becoming more and more divided.
In addition, Americans were becoming less and less informed. We were not being very good democratic citizens - and how could we be? What was once an essential role of the news - keeping the citizenry of a democratic republic well informed - had morphed into a ratings game. Suddenly it had nothing to do with information and truth. What it did have to do with was advertising dollars and making money.
By the time the Internet age rolled around, the damage had been done and the door had been opened. The Internet didn't (still doesn't) have any guidelines for presenting fact or fiction. One can find entire websites and/or YouTube channels where complete lies and huge distortions are presented as "truth". This is how individuals like Alex Jones are able to present the inane and absurd lies he does. Because of him, grown educated adults believe nonsense like the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was perpetuated by "actors". According to Jones, no children actually died. The entire thing was a "false flag" staged by anti-gun activists. And while this sounds insane, people did (still do) believe it.
This mindset, and language, has made its way into the mainstream. Limbaugh (who has millions of daily listeners) has used the term "false flag" in his broadcasts and has moved into pushing inane conspiracy theories to his audience. The peddling of nonsense has overtaken society and has caused grown educated adults to believe things like the Pizzagate conspiracy. This was a theory that said Hillary Clinton (and other prominent Democrats) were running a child sex ring out of the basement of a Washington DC pizza parlor. And while this sounds absurd, the whole thing culminated with a Pizzagate believer showing up to the DC establishment with a gun and firing off a couple of shots in an effort to "save the children". It is because of complete nonsense like this that right now in America there is no consensus on what qualifies as "truth".
Thanks Rush.
There is no truth in America now and this should scare the hell out of everyone. Our system of government is reliant on many things, but perhaps greatest of all is a well informed populace. It is this well informed populace that elects the politicians who make the laws. But if this populace believes things like Pizzagate...I'd say we're in trouble. If this populace believes that vaccines cause autism (they don't) then people stop vaccinating their children and diseases once thought to be eradicated suddenly begin increasing. This happens despite pleas from scientists and the scientific community telling the populace this isn't true, but because there's a website(s) telling them otherwise, they don't listen. In fact, we're beginning to not listen to anyone.
I have friends who are avid Limbaugh listeners and/or Fox News watchers and they tell me things like all scientists are lying. Why? I ask "Because they don't want to lose their government funding" comes the response. These same people don't read a newspaper anymore and find my daily reading of the New York Times outwardly hilarious. They don't read books - unless they're written by people like Dinesh D'Souza or Ann Coulter. They don't go to the movies because they're all made by the "Hollywood liberal elite". They tell me (a school music teacher) that public school teachers can't be trusted. Why? I ask "Because they're all trying to indoctrinate our kids!" They don't trust college professors either. The only people they do trust are the ones who've been bludgeoning them over the head for the last thirty years.
Mind you, many of these individuals are highly educated people. They have at least a Bachelors degree. Some have an MA or have attended law school. Yet, they stand in front of me and repeat nonsense as fact. Not only that, they do so indignantly. They scoff at anything that involves critical thought or insight. I don't find it insulting, I actually find it terrifying.
This is what is preventing a critical response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have grown men and women in the White House who don't believe in science. We have a President who pushes crazy conspiracy theories and who referred to the Coronavirus as the "latest Democrat hoax". Limbaugh himself told his (millions of) listeners the virus was "the common cold". It has reached that point. Now, people who were mere media characters, have enough power to sway a populace into believing things that could kill them. That's not only irresponsible, but outright criminal.
I am hoping when this madness ends, there will be a public reflection on our national sense of epistemology. What has happened to thought? What has happened to truth? How many people ended up in a hospital or, worse yet, morgue because they decided to listen to a voice on the radio? These individuals can no longer be allowed to spout unfettered nonsense on a daily basis without a sense of civic responsibility. If these individuals truly believed in America, they would stop doing what they're doing and encourage truth. They would encourage their listeners to investigate. They would encourage reading, listening, and the consideration of another perspective.
That's what democracy is.
Due to this news, there's been a lot of discussion about Limbaugh - and his effect on American politics. To say that he has not changed the game completely is to say you have not been paying attention to American discourse for the last thirty years. After all it was Limbaugh who took the lightly acknowledged mindset of a liberally biased media and not only shoved it into the mainstream but can (and should be) directly acknowledged as the catalyst for Fox News. In fact, one could argue that you can draw a direct line from Limbaugh to Fox to Alex Jones to One America News to Sinclair Media to Breitbart...
You get the idea.
The thing with Rush is that he's not so much a well read intellectual high brow critic as much as he is a marketing genius. He did, after all, begin his career as a deejay who, typical to the profession, bounced around from station to station in an effort to gain prominence. He became disillusioned after a while and eventually changed gears to another career. When he eventually came back to radio, his timing was perfect.
Limbaugh returned to the air right after the Federal Communications Commission had repealed what was known as the Fairness Doctrine. This legislation had been in place since 1949 and served the sole purpose of making sure holders of broadcast licenses presented balanced views of controversial public issues. Basically, it said that radio and TV stations were required to give equal air time to both sides of an issue. When it was repealed (1987), the Fairness Act had been in existence for almost forty years. Its elimination meant that TV and radio stations were no longer obligated to present a balanced or differentiating perspective on anything.
Enter Rush Limbaugh.
In the time since, it is no secret what radio and TV "news" programming has morphed into. By and large they are simply spaces where pundits and/or personalities yell, scream, and berate the perspective that is not in agreement with their own. This is the Limbaugh model. He took to the airwaves and began delivering a message that essentially said "Don't listen to anyone but me". He made fun of the "mainstream media" and their biased perspective. He went as far as to call them outright liars. He began publishing his own newspaper of sorts - The Limbaugh Letter - and told his ever amassing audience to stop reading main stream newspapers and to, instead, read his (which one had to pay a subscription fee for).
This was all rolled into a narrative that chastised any perspective left of his. He didn't just criticize democrats, he vilified them. Since his station was under no obligation to present a different perspective or opinion, his word became Bible. And, perhaps most importantly, his audience grew.
Pretty soon the Rush Limbaugh Show was syndicated across the nation. America soon had a flourishing army of citizens who believed very little of what the "mainstream media" reported. They were good soldiers and didn't read the paper or watch TV news. They listened to Rush. Others saw dollar signs and soon, Fox News popped up. Their underlying message was (and still is) the same as Limbaugh's: Don't listen to anyone else. Fox featured their own Lihmbaugh-esque personalities who shouted the same message into the camera seven nights a week. Pretty soon there was a crossover and personalities like Sean Hannity not only had shows on Fox, but also radio shows. People could, literally, listen to Rush...or Sean...or Glenn...or Ann on the way to and from work then come home and watch/listen to them again on TV. The public were being bludgeoned with a message - and America was becoming more and more divided.
In addition, Americans were becoming less and less informed. We were not being very good democratic citizens - and how could we be? What was once an essential role of the news - keeping the citizenry of a democratic republic well informed - had morphed into a ratings game. Suddenly it had nothing to do with information and truth. What it did have to do with was advertising dollars and making money.
By the time the Internet age rolled around, the damage had been done and the door had been opened. The Internet didn't (still doesn't) have any guidelines for presenting fact or fiction. One can find entire websites and/or YouTube channels where complete lies and huge distortions are presented as "truth". This is how individuals like Alex Jones are able to present the inane and absurd lies he does. Because of him, grown educated adults believe nonsense like the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was perpetuated by "actors". According to Jones, no children actually died. The entire thing was a "false flag" staged by anti-gun activists. And while this sounds insane, people did (still do) believe it.
This mindset, and language, has made its way into the mainstream. Limbaugh (who has millions of daily listeners) has used the term "false flag" in his broadcasts and has moved into pushing inane conspiracy theories to his audience. The peddling of nonsense has overtaken society and has caused grown educated adults to believe things like the Pizzagate conspiracy. This was a theory that said Hillary Clinton (and other prominent Democrats) were running a child sex ring out of the basement of a Washington DC pizza parlor. And while this sounds absurd, the whole thing culminated with a Pizzagate believer showing up to the DC establishment with a gun and firing off a couple of shots in an effort to "save the children". It is because of complete nonsense like this that right now in America there is no consensus on what qualifies as "truth".
Thanks Rush.
There is no truth in America now and this should scare the hell out of everyone. Our system of government is reliant on many things, but perhaps greatest of all is a well informed populace. It is this well informed populace that elects the politicians who make the laws. But if this populace believes things like Pizzagate...I'd say we're in trouble. If this populace believes that vaccines cause autism (they don't) then people stop vaccinating their children and diseases once thought to be eradicated suddenly begin increasing. This happens despite pleas from scientists and the scientific community telling the populace this isn't true, but because there's a website(s) telling them otherwise, they don't listen. In fact, we're beginning to not listen to anyone.
I have friends who are avid Limbaugh listeners and/or Fox News watchers and they tell me things like all scientists are lying. Why? I ask "Because they don't want to lose their government funding" comes the response. These same people don't read a newspaper anymore and find my daily reading of the New York Times outwardly hilarious. They don't read books - unless they're written by people like Dinesh D'Souza or Ann Coulter. They don't go to the movies because they're all made by the "Hollywood liberal elite". They tell me (a school music teacher) that public school teachers can't be trusted. Why? I ask "Because they're all trying to indoctrinate our kids!" They don't trust college professors either. The only people they do trust are the ones who've been bludgeoning them over the head for the last thirty years.
Mind you, many of these individuals are highly educated people. They have at least a Bachelors degree. Some have an MA or have attended law school. Yet, they stand in front of me and repeat nonsense as fact. Not only that, they do so indignantly. They scoff at anything that involves critical thought or insight. I don't find it insulting, I actually find it terrifying.
This is what is preventing a critical response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have grown men and women in the White House who don't believe in science. We have a President who pushes crazy conspiracy theories and who referred to the Coronavirus as the "latest Democrat hoax". Limbaugh himself told his (millions of) listeners the virus was "the common cold". It has reached that point. Now, people who were mere media characters, have enough power to sway a populace into believing things that could kill them. That's not only irresponsible, but outright criminal.
I am hoping when this madness ends, there will be a public reflection on our national sense of epistemology. What has happened to thought? What has happened to truth? How many people ended up in a hospital or, worse yet, morgue because they decided to listen to a voice on the radio? These individuals can no longer be allowed to spout unfettered nonsense on a daily basis without a sense of civic responsibility. If these individuals truly believed in America, they would stop doing what they're doing and encourage truth. They would encourage their listeners to investigate. They would encourage reading, listening, and the consideration of another perspective.
That's what democracy is.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
The Secretary
On Tuesday, February 7th, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as our new Secretary of Education. Her confirmation was not without controversy.
First off, this was not a landslide decision. It was a tie and Vice President Mike Pence had to cast the deciding/tie breaking vote. The resistance to DeVos came primarily because she has never worked in, nor attended, a public school. In addition, her children have never attended a public school. She is also a huge proponent of school choice, and this means - with the assistance of her amassed fortune of billions of dollars - she has spent the last thirty years advocating and supporting charter schools, school voucher programs, as well as for profit education.
My opinion of charter schools has been stated here repeatedly. While I agree with what they stand for (choice in education) I do not agree with the fact that too many are connected to corporate money. This, in my opinion, is having far too big an influence in the way we educate our kids.
During her senate conformation hearing Betsy DeVos was asked about the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). It wasn't just about the questions asked, but the fact that they came from Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Hassan is well versed in the area of special education because her son has cerebral palsy. She brought a level of insight and understanding that Devos clearly lacked. In fact, throughout Hassan's questioning (which was insightful, heartfelt, sincere, and well stated) the glaze in DeVos' eyes grew thicker.
One topic Hassan chose to address was how some voucher programs make participants sign away their rights in order to qualify (she specifically sighted the McKay voucher program in Florida). This essentially means that students with special needs sign away their rights to access the services required through IDEA. These students typically end up leaving the voucher school due to poor or inadequate services - but that school still gets to keep the money provided for that student. The student now goes to a public school whose funding is being depleted through voucher and charter schools and she/he will not get the proper programming they're entitled to. Hassan's worry is that this practice will grow under the Trump administration. When pressed on this particular topic DeVos, again, was obviously clueless.
Right now 13% of the American public school population receives special education services. That means just over 6 million kids report to school every day and demand some type of special programming. To allow the confirmation of a woman seemingly clueless to the needs of these kids is mind boggling. Public education has experienced a paradigm shift due to IDEA - and this shift has changed every aspect of the way our schools are run (and I mean this in a good way).
Betsy DeVos is going to make mess of it.
First off, this was not a landslide decision. It was a tie and Vice President Mike Pence had to cast the deciding/tie breaking vote. The resistance to DeVos came primarily because she has never worked in, nor attended, a public school. In addition, her children have never attended a public school. She is also a huge proponent of school choice, and this means - with the assistance of her amassed fortune of billions of dollars - she has spent the last thirty years advocating and supporting charter schools, school voucher programs, as well as for profit education.
My opinion of charter schools has been stated here repeatedly. While I agree with what they stand for (choice in education) I do not agree with the fact that too many are connected to corporate money. This, in my opinion, is having far too big an influence in the way we educate our kids.
During her senate conformation hearing Betsy DeVos was asked about the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). It wasn't just about the questions asked, but the fact that they came from Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Hassan is well versed in the area of special education because her son has cerebral palsy. She brought a level of insight and understanding that Devos clearly lacked. In fact, throughout Hassan's questioning (which was insightful, heartfelt, sincere, and well stated) the glaze in DeVos' eyes grew thicker.
One topic Hassan chose to address was how some voucher programs make participants sign away their rights in order to qualify (she specifically sighted the McKay voucher program in Florida). This essentially means that students with special needs sign away their rights to access the services required through IDEA. These students typically end up leaving the voucher school due to poor or inadequate services - but that school still gets to keep the money provided for that student. The student now goes to a public school whose funding is being depleted through voucher and charter schools and she/he will not get the proper programming they're entitled to. Hassan's worry is that this practice will grow under the Trump administration. When pressed on this particular topic DeVos, again, was obviously clueless.
Right now 13% of the American public school population receives special education services. That means just over 6 million kids report to school every day and demand some type of special programming. To allow the confirmation of a woman seemingly clueless to the needs of these kids is mind boggling. Public education has experienced a paradigm shift due to IDEA - and this shift has changed every aspect of the way our schools are run (and I mean this in a good way).
Betsy DeVos is going to make mess of it.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
And So It Begins
On the morning after Election Day my fourteen year old daughter woke up and, upon hearing Donald Trump was voted in as President, asked "Are we safe?".
This is not supposed to be the response to a newly elected leader here in the United States - but this election was anything but normal. Donald Trump's campaign carried a tone that was simultaneously disrespectful and mean, while also being void of facts. In the wake of his election a majority of our media outlets have also forgotten how it was chock full of racism.
Fortune magazine reported how, back in January, Trump re-tweeted a Nazi sympathizer, and then - a mere three weeks later - did it again. The same Fortune piece goes on to show how many within the Trump campaign either followed or re-tweeted white supremacists or Nazi sympathizers themselves.
In addition to the re-tweeting, Donal Trump's son, Donald Jr., appeared on a talk radio show with a white supremacist. In the wake of that interview, Jr. shook the blame off of himself and onto the "liberal media" claiming he wouldn't have made the appearance had he known about its racist affiliations. His excuse would've held up nicely except months later his brother, Eric Trump, appeared on the same radio program. All the while the Trump campaign feigned ignorance. This despite the fact that the now infamous white supremacist radio host received press credentials to a Trump campaign event. Said radio host has stated, amongst other things, that Martin Luther King Jr's. "dream is our nightmare" and "slavery is the greatest thing that ever happened to" African-Americans. In all of these instances Trump either shifted the blame to people outside the campaign or went to the old faithful move of blaming the "liberal media" for changing the narrative.
Again, this would all hold up nicely except that Trump hired Steve Bannon onto his campaign staff. Bannon is the editor of the website Breitbart News which is the outpost for the ultra conservative/Alternative right/white supremacist movement. Bretibart has published headlines like: There's No Hiring Bias Against Women in Tech, They Just Suck at Interviews; Gabby Giffords: The Gun Control Movement's Human Shield; Teenage Boys With Tits: Here's My Problem With Ghostbusters; Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy....you get the idea. The Southern Poverty Law Center defined Breitbart as a "white neo-nationalist propaganda mill". To make this all worse, Trump just appointed Bannon as his Chief White House Strategist and senior counselor. The people most excited about Bannon's rise: white nationalists, American nazis, and former KKK imperial wizards.
So, I am not surprised with my daughter's response. While this election has proven we are divided over many things, it has also shown we are willing, and able, to overlook flagrant hate. How is this going to play out? Well when your President elect selects an individual who once described himself as a "Leninist" who wants to "destroy the state" and "bring everything crashing down" as one of his closest advisors? You tell me.
This is not supposed to be the response to a newly elected leader here in the United States - but this election was anything but normal. Donald Trump's campaign carried a tone that was simultaneously disrespectful and mean, while also being void of facts. In the wake of his election a majority of our media outlets have also forgotten how it was chock full of racism.
Fortune magazine reported how, back in January, Trump re-tweeted a Nazi sympathizer, and then - a mere three weeks later - did it again. The same Fortune piece goes on to show how many within the Trump campaign either followed or re-tweeted white supremacists or Nazi sympathizers themselves.
In addition to the re-tweeting, Donal Trump's son, Donald Jr., appeared on a talk radio show with a white supremacist. In the wake of that interview, Jr. shook the blame off of himself and onto the "liberal media" claiming he wouldn't have made the appearance had he known about its racist affiliations. His excuse would've held up nicely except months later his brother, Eric Trump, appeared on the same radio program. All the while the Trump campaign feigned ignorance. This despite the fact that the now infamous white supremacist radio host received press credentials to a Trump campaign event. Said radio host has stated, amongst other things, that Martin Luther King Jr's. "dream is our nightmare" and "slavery is the greatest thing that ever happened to" African-Americans. In all of these instances Trump either shifted the blame to people outside the campaign or went to the old faithful move of blaming the "liberal media" for changing the narrative.
Again, this would all hold up nicely except that Trump hired Steve Bannon onto his campaign staff. Bannon is the editor of the website Breitbart News which is the outpost for the ultra conservative/Alternative right/white supremacist movement. Bretibart has published headlines like: There's No Hiring Bias Against Women in Tech, They Just Suck at Interviews; Gabby Giffords: The Gun Control Movement's Human Shield; Teenage Boys With Tits: Here's My Problem With Ghostbusters; Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy....you get the idea. The Southern Poverty Law Center defined Breitbart as a "white neo-nationalist propaganda mill". To make this all worse, Trump just appointed Bannon as his Chief White House Strategist and senior counselor. The people most excited about Bannon's rise: white nationalists, American nazis, and former KKK imperial wizards.
So, I am not surprised with my daughter's response. While this election has proven we are divided over many things, it has also shown we are willing, and able, to overlook flagrant hate. How is this going to play out? Well when your President elect selects an individual who once described himself as a "Leninist" who wants to "destroy the state" and "bring everything crashing down" as one of his closest advisors? You tell me.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Panic
Now that Donald Trump has secured enough delegates to get the Republican nomination this summer, we can all officially begin to panic.
The rise of Trump has proven to be extraordinarily frustrating while also being confounding to many. But let's face it: this is not a coincidence. Trump is the bi-product of a number of things that have been boiling up in the American culture for decades now. If you're surprised, you haven't been paying attention.
The rise of right wing talk radio (RWTR) has produced an ill-informed populace that would rather believe crazed talk show hosts and their demagoguery than believe actual fact. The Wall Street Journal published a piece back in 2015 showing how RWTR essentially dictated the GOP Primary results. Their messages of "anti-establishment" and constant Obama bashing not only make for great ratings, but have shown where a majority of GOP voters are getting their marching orders.
A significant number of people listen to RWTR religiously and don't treat it as a source of entertainment, but a legitimate source of news and information. These "sources" constantly remind them to not read or believe what the newspapers say; and to not watch or pay attention to any other "mainstream media" TV or radio outlets because they're all liberally biased.
This message of supposed bias extends into our public school system and its teachers, as well as higher education. A recent piece reported on the Bill Moyers website, shows how the message of RWTR has begun to affect what gets funded and what doesn't at Colleges and Universities - especially at the state level. As far as most of these RWTR hosts are concerned - everyone is biased except them.
This message has a majority of people doubting science; embracing intolerance, and believing an underlying message that America is "under siege" from outside forces - be they political, cultural, or religious. Some high ranking GOP members have seen enough of the ignorance, intolerance, and lack of common sense and have jumped ship to the Democratic party.
This mindset brought us the first version of Trump: Sarah Palin. Ms. Palin further spread the gospel of not believing the "lame stream media" as well as not reading newspapers or...anything really, and made it a piece of our national narrative. She set the table for the rise of Trump by condemning truth, knowledge, and overall critical thought.
54% of Donald Trump supporters believe President Obama is a Muslim. What's even more frightening is 29% of Americans believe he is a Muslim. This is startling when you consider a.) he isn't and b.) he's proven it time and time again. But remember, we now live an in an age where ignorance is bliss and stupidity is the national mindset.
Even more frustrating is how the media has been treating Donald Trump. They treat him more like a reality show contestant, and less like the man who - if elected - will make policy decisions that will affect them, their children, their neighbor's children, the rest of the world and all of us. Instead of asking questions of substance, they insist on laughing along with his ignorance and carnival barker showmanship - thus playing further into his Barnumesque narrative and used car salesman winks and nods.
Donald Trump is not "cute". He's a cartoon character who recently responded to a question of who he's speaking with regarding foreign affairs by saying: "I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain, and I’ve said a lot of things.”
What potential US President speaks like that? Seriously? To make this all worse, Trump announced yesterday that after his Presidency, he'd like to have a statue of himself in Washington DC that he'd share with Thomas Jefferson. Ahh yes, two great American thinkers sharing a single pedestal to remind of us of how far we've come.
Thomas Jefferson: a great thinker, innovator, and writer. Was he flawed? Yes, but not in the context of Donald J. Trump. Jefferson was a man of letters who built and lived on his estate Monticello. He was a voracious reader capable of critical thought, and progressive ideas regarding our democracy. He was an ardent Epicurean who constantly questioned the role of religious faith in government.
If given the chance, I would ask Trump if he's an Epicurean. I know he doesn't even know what that means - and why should he? He is, apparently, what we Americans want: a misinformed, narcissistic, nut job who is under the very false impression that running the greatest country in the world is just an extension of The Apprentice.
The rise of Trump has proven to be extraordinarily frustrating while also being confounding to many. But let's face it: this is not a coincidence. Trump is the bi-product of a number of things that have been boiling up in the American culture for decades now. If you're surprised, you haven't been paying attention.
The rise of right wing talk radio (RWTR) has produced an ill-informed populace that would rather believe crazed talk show hosts and their demagoguery than believe actual fact. The Wall Street Journal published a piece back in 2015 showing how RWTR essentially dictated the GOP Primary results. Their messages of "anti-establishment" and constant Obama bashing not only make for great ratings, but have shown where a majority of GOP voters are getting their marching orders.
A significant number of people listen to RWTR religiously and don't treat it as a source of entertainment, but a legitimate source of news and information. These "sources" constantly remind them to not read or believe what the newspapers say; and to not watch or pay attention to any other "mainstream media" TV or radio outlets because they're all liberally biased.
This message of supposed bias extends into our public school system and its teachers, as well as higher education. A recent piece reported on the Bill Moyers website, shows how the message of RWTR has begun to affect what gets funded and what doesn't at Colleges and Universities - especially at the state level. As far as most of these RWTR hosts are concerned - everyone is biased except them.
This message has a majority of people doubting science; embracing intolerance, and believing an underlying message that America is "under siege" from outside forces - be they political, cultural, or religious. Some high ranking GOP members have seen enough of the ignorance, intolerance, and lack of common sense and have jumped ship to the Democratic party.
This mindset brought us the first version of Trump: Sarah Palin. Ms. Palin further spread the gospel of not believing the "lame stream media" as well as not reading newspapers or...anything really, and made it a piece of our national narrative. She set the table for the rise of Trump by condemning truth, knowledge, and overall critical thought.
54% of Donald Trump supporters believe President Obama is a Muslim. What's even more frightening is 29% of Americans believe he is a Muslim. This is startling when you consider a.) he isn't and b.) he's proven it time and time again. But remember, we now live an in an age where ignorance is bliss and stupidity is the national mindset.
Even more frustrating is how the media has been treating Donald Trump. They treat him more like a reality show contestant, and less like the man who - if elected - will make policy decisions that will affect them, their children, their neighbor's children, the rest of the world and all of us. Instead of asking questions of substance, they insist on laughing along with his ignorance and carnival barker showmanship - thus playing further into his Barnumesque narrative and used car salesman winks and nods.
Donald Trump is not "cute". He's a cartoon character who recently responded to a question of who he's speaking with regarding foreign affairs by saying: "I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain, and I’ve said a lot of things.”
What potential US President speaks like that? Seriously? To make this all worse, Trump announced yesterday that after his Presidency, he'd like to have a statue of himself in Washington DC that he'd share with Thomas Jefferson. Ahh yes, two great American thinkers sharing a single pedestal to remind of us of how far we've come.
Thomas Jefferson: a great thinker, innovator, and writer. Was he flawed? Yes, but not in the context of Donald J. Trump. Jefferson was a man of letters who built and lived on his estate Monticello. He was a voracious reader capable of critical thought, and progressive ideas regarding our democracy. He was an ardent Epicurean who constantly questioned the role of religious faith in government.
If given the chance, I would ask Trump if he's an Epicurean. I know he doesn't even know what that means - and why should he? He is, apparently, what we Americans want: a misinformed, narcissistic, nut job who is under the very false impression that running the greatest country in the world is just an extension of The Apprentice.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Make America Great Again
I have spent the last few years writing on this page about the state of inner-city schools, violence in schools, and race relations here in the United States. These topics are inspired by my teaching of inner-city, at-risk and special needs students. I've taught in schools where the entire population was African-American. I've taught in schools where the population was all African-American and Hispanic. I've been in schools where the entire population was autistic and/or physically disabled...in other words I've spent the last eleven years of my life working with kids of every age, ethnicity, culture, and ability or disability.
We are in the midst of what can be defined as one of the more hate tinged presidential campaigns in our countries history. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Donald Trump has taken something initially seen as a joke and has become the Republican frontrunner. Now that he's won the primary elections in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina he could very well be the GOP nominee.
Trump has managed to do this by pushing a rhetoric of racist, sexist, and xenophobic hate. He directly referenced the size of his penis in a presidential debate; called opponent Ted Cruz a "pussy"; acted like an eight year-old school boy when speaking of Hillary Clinton's bathroom break; and referenced menstruation when complaining about questions from Fox news anchor Megyn Kelly. This is in addition to countless Trump rallies that have been the scene of violence - specifically against African-Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims.
At one rally, a Hispanic protester was spit on by a Trump supporter. A young black woman was being escorted out of a rally and was pushed, shoved (by a veteran) as well as called a "ni**er" and other things all while Trump bellowed "GET OUT!". At another rally a young black man was sucker punched in the face by a white man, yet the black man was arrested. The man who punched him was proud and also threatened "next time we see him, we might have to kill him". Trump responded by offering to pay the man's legal bills, and also told supporters to "punch" protesters, and promised to pay their legal bills as well.
In addition to all of this, Trump initially refused to condemn an endorsement from former KKK Grand Wizard, David Duke. He re-Tweets quotes from neo-Nazis and Mussolini. He doesn't condemn KKK leaders but he does condemn Mexicans and Muslims.
At high school basketball games in Iowa and Indiana, teams that were heavily Latino were greeted with "Build The Wall!" and "Trump! Trump! Trump!" chants by opposing fans - who were mostly white. One of the those targeted was a Catholic school and the chants caused an outcry from the local Bishop. But guess what - people are not only voting for Donald Trump en masse - his polling numbers continue to go up - a phenomena that even seems to baffle Trump himself.
The worst part is, Evangelical "Christians" love Trump, and his messages of hate and intolerance. This baffles me. How can you classify yourself a "Christian" and respond overwhelmingly to hate and intolerance? How can you support a candidate who uses fowl and disgusting language? What is "Christian" about this man?
We are at a massive crossroads in America right now. The rise of Donald Trump is representative of something terrible in this country: A message of overwhelming hate and anger that's been in place since the election of Barak Obama. It's scary but worst of all, it's anything but "Christian".
We are in the midst of what can be defined as one of the more hate tinged presidential campaigns in our countries history. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Donald Trump has taken something initially seen as a joke and has become the Republican frontrunner. Now that he's won the primary elections in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina he could very well be the GOP nominee.
Trump has managed to do this by pushing a rhetoric of racist, sexist, and xenophobic hate. He directly referenced the size of his penis in a presidential debate; called opponent Ted Cruz a "pussy"; acted like an eight year-old school boy when speaking of Hillary Clinton's bathroom break; and referenced menstruation when complaining about questions from Fox news anchor Megyn Kelly. This is in addition to countless Trump rallies that have been the scene of violence - specifically against African-Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims.
At one rally, a Hispanic protester was spit on by a Trump supporter. A young black woman was being escorted out of a rally and was pushed, shoved (by a veteran) as well as called a "ni**er" and other things all while Trump bellowed "GET OUT!". At another rally a young black man was sucker punched in the face by a white man, yet the black man was arrested. The man who punched him was proud and also threatened "next time we see him, we might have to kill him". Trump responded by offering to pay the man's legal bills, and also told supporters to "punch" protesters, and promised to pay their legal bills as well.
In addition to all of this, Trump initially refused to condemn an endorsement from former KKK Grand Wizard, David Duke. He re-Tweets quotes from neo-Nazis and Mussolini. He doesn't condemn KKK leaders but he does condemn Mexicans and Muslims.
At high school basketball games in Iowa and Indiana, teams that were heavily Latino were greeted with "Build The Wall!" and "Trump! Trump! Trump!" chants by opposing fans - who were mostly white. One of the those targeted was a Catholic school and the chants caused an outcry from the local Bishop. But guess what - people are not only voting for Donald Trump en masse - his polling numbers continue to go up - a phenomena that even seems to baffle Trump himself.
The worst part is, Evangelical "Christians" love Trump, and his messages of hate and intolerance. This baffles me. How can you classify yourself a "Christian" and respond overwhelmingly to hate and intolerance? How can you support a candidate who uses fowl and disgusting language? What is "Christian" about this man?
We are at a massive crossroads in America right now. The rise of Donald Trump is representative of something terrible in this country: A message of overwhelming hate and anger that's been in place since the election of Barak Obama. It's scary but worst of all, it's anything but "Christian".
Friday, January 8, 2016
Oh Yeah...Them.
These past few weeks I have been thinking a lot about our kids. It would seem we currently exist in a world where actions are taken, words are spoken, and deeds performed all without care or concern for the youngest members of our communities. We've seen mass shootings that resulted in the deaths of people while they attended church and the movies. Children have been killed in school. When the President recently spoke specifically of Newtown, CT he shed tears of sorrow and disgust. His tears were not viewed in the context of a father and husband, but as someone who was "weak". Some even suggested he was faking them.
The fate of the environment is being discussed, young black men continue to be the target of police; and one of the leading candidates for president says horrifically racist and xenophobic things - yet receives applause and rises in the polls.
I would love it if reporters, as well as regular folks, would ask presidential candidates about our children. Are any of their decisions or statements made with them in mind? The same goes for the world leaders and people who lobby for more guns. The two sided question What kind of world do you see for our children and how are we going to get there needs to be asked ad nauseam. I think it should be hammered at politicians. I also think it should be asked of pundits. I'd be curious to hear their answers.
Has anyone given any thought to the tone of our discourse and what our children think of it? As I wrote earlier, some pundits stated the President faked his tears when speaking of the tragedies in Newtown. A few weeks ago a retired US military officer went on national TV and referred to his Commander and Chief as a "pus*y" live on the air. I have seen friends and family pick that up and post it on social media with pride and endorsement. If you tune into talk radio all you hear is hate, anger, and vitriol.
The great writer Marilynne Robinson talks about how we need to find the aesthetics in our discourse. She called it "the beautiful argument". I love that. I think it's time we begin to speak with more aesthetic value instead of this disgraceful tone we've seemed to embrace. We are the country that gave the world Hemingway, Whitman, Emerson, Hughes, Thoreau, Plath, and Dickinson. Former political leaders like Jefferson, Franklin, and Lincoln expressed and wrote their thoughts more like poetry and prose. It's time to bring that back. Maybe beautiful arguments will lead to beautiful answers and a better world for the people who truly matter most: Our children.
The fate of the environment is being discussed, young black men continue to be the target of police; and one of the leading candidates for president says horrifically racist and xenophobic things - yet receives applause and rises in the polls.
I would love it if reporters, as well as regular folks, would ask presidential candidates about our children. Are any of their decisions or statements made with them in mind? The same goes for the world leaders and people who lobby for more guns. The two sided question What kind of world do you see for our children and how are we going to get there needs to be asked ad nauseam. I think it should be hammered at politicians. I also think it should be asked of pundits. I'd be curious to hear their answers.
Has anyone given any thought to the tone of our discourse and what our children think of it? As I wrote earlier, some pundits stated the President faked his tears when speaking of the tragedies in Newtown. A few weeks ago a retired US military officer went on national TV and referred to his Commander and Chief as a "pus*y" live on the air. I have seen friends and family pick that up and post it on social media with pride and endorsement. If you tune into talk radio all you hear is hate, anger, and vitriol.
The great writer Marilynne Robinson talks about how we need to find the aesthetics in our discourse. She called it "the beautiful argument". I love that. I think it's time we begin to speak with more aesthetic value instead of this disgraceful tone we've seemed to embrace. We are the country that gave the world Hemingway, Whitman, Emerson, Hughes, Thoreau, Plath, and Dickinson. Former political leaders like Jefferson, Franklin, and Lincoln expressed and wrote their thoughts more like poetry and prose. It's time to bring that back. Maybe beautiful arguments will lead to beautiful answers and a better world for the people who truly matter most: Our children.
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