MESSING WITH OUR HIGHER EDUCATION

 

By Ruth  A. Sheets

You have probably heard that the Trump Regime is asking nine U.S. universities to sign an agreement pledging to uphold the regime’s higher education priorities, or risk losing out on a range of grants and other financial assistance for the university’s research and other programs, and it is likely those are just the first.  That is a kind of blackmail and totally unacceptable. 

So far, 5 universities have said “”NO,” but 4 still have not responded.  I just learned Vanderbilt, my alma mater,  is one of those universities being “offered” this compact and has not responded.

The major stipulations are not items any government should be demanding of any educational institution at any level.

According to Wikipedia, Key Demands of the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education include:

• Capping international undergraduate students at 15% of the total student body.

• Freezing tuition rates for five years. (the only one that could be good)

• Adopting policies that prevent the belittling of conservative ideas and ensure First Amendment rights are upheld on campus.

• Implementing admissions practices that do not consider sex, ethnicity, race, nationality, political views, or other similar factors.

View source at wikipedia.org …

I had heard, but not been able to confirm that Vanderbilt was talking about ditching their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in student acceptance.  I received an email from Chancellor Daniel Diermeier this evening.  Here is the final paragraph of that email.

Vanderbilt believes deeply in the power of constructive dialogue, particularly among people of differing views and perspectives. This is often how the greatest progress is made.  We look forward to continuing the conversation—on our campus and with leaders in government and higher education—as we work toward our shared goal of restoring public trust in higher education and ensuring that America’s universities remain the best in the world.  

It sounds to me as though compliance is in the offing.  The following is my response to the email.  
 

Hello Vanderbilt Administration” 

I noticed in this email that students were only mentioned at the very end along with parents and alumni as commenters.  It seems to me that there should be some students involved in the compact discussion.  I am sure you are aware that this is not a compact at all, but a desire of those who have no idea what they are doing, to force colleges and Universities to do the bidding of those who have no clue but want power over and compliance in advance from those institutions. 

I am sure you know this, so I don’t understand this talk about sharing different points of view.  When, in a democracy, one side wants to take over the universities, media, education in general and pretty much everything else, that is not differing points of view, that is “Truth” in the face of autocracy which is made up of lies, cheating, fraud, and dismissal of the thoughts, needs, and beliefs of others.  In this case, for this regime pumping out something as appalling as this “compact” the only folks worth listening to are rich, white, pseudochristian, “straight” men.  To the regime, the rest of us are irrelevant, worthy of only being bossed around by and made subservient to those rich white etc. men.  If you are not sure of that, this Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies and marches should have let you know. 

 I admit I will be very disappointed, perhaps even quite angry if Vanderbilt submits to this undemocratic, unamerican nonsense by Trump and his project 2025ers, all done for their own gains and the gains of their billionaire sponsors, and election buyers. 

Signed, Ruth Sheets, Vanderbilt 1975 & 1988         

 I don’t know if this will have an impact, I’m guessing not because it seems only the Administration and a few department heads will be making the decision.  I hope enough students, parents, and alums have told them we do not want compliance; We want defiance!

WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE UP AGAINST AND CAN DO!

By Ruth A. Sheets

Have you noticed that Trump is pumping up hatred even beyond what he has done in the past?  I suspect it is because he and his crew are recognizing that people are not supporting him 100%, even mocking him. 

Trump’s toddler pool of some of the worst of America: Steve Miller, Russell Vought, the incompetent cabinet, congressional AND STATE Republican LEGISLATORS, and the Supreme Court Roberts 6, are trying to steer this ship to fascism with them in charge. That way, they and their billionaire string-pullers can get even more power and money.  Unfortunately, they are proving they’ll do whatever it takes to get it (except actual work on their part).  One of their current weapons is using Trump's known hatreds to do actual harm to our nation’s Democratically run cities and states.

Trump’s “crew” is a cesspool of whiny white boys who must not have had enough bullying in their lives already and at a high enough level that they have to make sure they get a lot of practice for their Baby Donnie, a bully who like many bullies is a coward.

For the toddler pool, it's like playing a war video game with no actual risk to themselves. However as anyone who is paying attention can tell you, if it were a real video game, their character would be dead from incompetence.

In real life, the REGIME KEEPS on keeping on because they have a lot of MAGA sympathizers, people who choose ignorance, compliance, and subservience, to thinking, considering, and principles. OK, a moral compass is also missing and that is pretty important for navigating politics and well, life itself.

The old Democratic structure and practices will not work in the face of this onslaught.  We need a strong different, positive  approach with ideas and practices that will catch the attention of people who don’t like what is going on AND KNOW THEY DESERVE BETTER. 

• We will benefit from a shadow government with those “fired” federal experts, keeping track of what the Trump Klan does not want known.  These are enormously talented people who  could step in to monitor what is HAPPENING, with systems they previously USED.
• Follow court cases and provide information to those standing for clients against the regime. 
• There must be young people and some older folks too who know computer systems and can counter some of the damage being done to our government systems.  Get them involved!, 
• We will benefit from a powerful media online and over the airwaves who will get the truth out to people across the country, countering the constant lying of this regime.  We can use some catchy tunes promoting our democracy and scorning/MOCKING the regime. 
• We need more anti-MAGA artwork everywhere with a clear purpose.
• More people need to visit museums and historical sites that celebrate the people Trump and his Klan hate.   
• Teachers must tell students the truth carefully while encouraging the students to research and think for themselves when they hear something said then recognize the students’ efforts.
• Push civics lessons from kindergarten onward that teach about rights and responsibilities in a democracy using cartoons, movies, graphic and other novels, plays, books, art, and more, culminating in a high school course that ties together what has been learned throughout the public school years, MAKING IT INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT.
• Buy “banned” books and get reviews out everywhere of those books
• Show up next Saturday for the “No Kings” rally #2 wherever you are or are willing to go!  It is important.  Help others to get out there too.
• Keep going with the petitions, phone calls, in-person connections with representatives, and anything else that comes to mind to let folks know how we feel and what we think should be done.  Maybe post this list asking for additional ideas for things we can do.

We can do this if we have the will and choose to find people to provide the leadership (or step UP ourselves), and look for support at all levels.  The leaders are out here and they are of all ages and backgrounds!  We need you, “Come out come out wherever you are!”

WE MUST DO BETTER!

By Ruth A. Sheets

September 30, 2025

 It seems to me our Democratic leadership is not even playing on the same field as Republicans.  Perhaps, Democratic leaders are too much of the past to even imagine the EVIL that is the childish Donald Trump and the way he is being "helped along" by his sycophantic toddler pool, led by Steve Miller, Russell Vought, John Roberts, and some other ghouls hiding in the shadows.  The toddler pool has no guardrails on their behavior or their desire for supreme power.  They want to be victorious comic book bad guys while pretending they are the "saviors of mankind" and I do mean MANKIND. 

 This crew is delighted with its good fortune, having taken over most of our nation’s institutions after 5 decades of preparation and sometimes narrow escapes from detection.  They ran an insurrection on January 6, 2021, called by the incompetent president, and literally got  away with it.  Donald Trump was the perfect figurehead for their aims: 

• Trump is ignorant of most things unless specifically pertaining to himself
• He is well-known for being a “great businessman” when he was nothing of the kind
• he was a reality TV “star” whose acting was pathetic, but won the hearts of people who want to believe in fantasy, and love bullies
• he learned from an unscrupulous man, Roy Cohn, to bamboozle enough of the crowd they won’t notice what is really going on
• he has money, not nearly the amount he claims, but is desperate for more

 

The cadre of anti-Americans tried several names for their movement, the best-known to me were “The Tea party” and MAGA.  They saw their time had arrived when the United States elected Barack Obama, the first Black president.  They knew the level of racism in this country and were aware that they could rustle up even more support among their lily-white members, families, and friends. 

 They knew they couldn’t get power without someone like Donald Trump, a blow-hard who could bit by bit be shaped into just the kind of guy they could use while letting him continue to believe that he was the one running things.  They are obsessed with their ability to control so much of this nation, Donald Trump too, and so far, with minimal interference. Why, they even got him elected a second time, OMG! 

 The Democratic Party has been trying hard to play by the rules of our Constitution and our laws and mostly did a commendable job.  Then, some Democrats were taken in by the same oligarchs who commandeered Trump and have bought Senate and House as well as state legislative seats.  It becomes harder and harder to see where one’s loyalties lie when elections are purchased for them with enormous donations that are “perfectly legal,” thanks to Johnny Roberts and his cons in Citizens United.  The "old Dem leaders are too willing to capitulate and pretend it is bipartisanship; it isn't. 

 I, like many others understand it is time for new Democratic leadership.  We need younger, more progressive voices.  When polled, it is issues the progressives champion that are most popular with the American people:  universal healthcare, affordable housing for all, bodily autonomy for everyone, massive moves to stop climate change and make renewable energy available everywhere, sensible gun control, DEI for all, etc. 

 A great thing, we do have Democratic leaders ready to move into top positions.  I am thinking of:  Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC), Jamie Raskin, Jasmine Crockett, Tim Walls, Pete Buttigieg, Gov. Pritzker, Katie Porter, Wes Moor, John Osoff, and many more.  They will need the guidance of Bernie Sanders and others who are excellent mentors too.  All of the above are fighters who know the truth and are willing to stand up against the Trump toddler pool to get things done. 

 Democrats need solid planks that every single rally or protest will include and every candidate will pledge to stand on.  In addition to the popular items listed above, we must have:   a strong emphasis on freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and protest (the First Amendment rights); equal justice under law (the words above the Supreme Court building but ignored by the Roberts 6) and due process; forbidding our military to be used against people living in this country, right nopw, Portland,, OR, a progressive Democratic city; climate justice and renewable energy; a fair tax code where the wealthy pay at least as high a percentage as other Americans or higher; an easier path to citizenship; a high-quality public education priority for all students, uninfected with religious or political propaganda requirements and no banning of books; improved farming practices and sufficient food for all; improved international aid wherever it is needed; tariffs dumped.  You get the idea. 

 I think a 10 to 12-point set of platform planks would work and number them so the crowds will get it and know that they are the major issues for ALL Democrats with specifics for each state and district.  This will work if we are in it together. 

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH WORDS?

By Ruth A. Sheets

September 22, 2025

Language and how it is used is really important.  Lately, we are dealing with a bunch of folks who understand the power of words and their value for themselves.  Because the very rich own so much of our media at all levels, they have been spreading negativities about people they despise and attach their hate to particular words so their followers will know who to hate and what to call them.

  The first big word was “woke.”  It was used at one time, as I understand it, in the black community to mean people coming awake to the challenges they face and how they can deal with them.  The “conservatives” (or ultra-right), attached “woke” to anyone left of themselves who is educated and believes in human rights for all people.  (I am guessing right-wingers don’t believe in those rights for anyone else.) 

The “woke” are being identified as “Communists, socialists, unpatriotic, etc., reprehensible to all Americans.  Those calling names have no clue what Communism and Socialism are, but they know they have negative connotations maybe from history.  For them, unpatriotic means the “woke” don’t wrap themselves in the flag and practically worship it as the Ult-right does.   

I remember the insult a person who cared about the environment got from the right-wingers a couple of decades ago, “tree-huggers.”  Many adopted the term and still smile when someone dredges up that title and flings it at them.  Some on the Left have been calling themselves “Democratic-Socialists,” embracing the term “socialist,”  while others own the term “woke.”  The “word” used now most frequently by Trump is ANTIFA which is not really a word but a movement for rights and against Fascism.

Our current government is trying to make certain words seem disgusting, like “educated and elite.”  That’s ironic and hypocritical when one realizes that most of them attended and graduated from Ivy League and other “elite” colleges and universities, afforded with their wealth.  They tell us they are for working people.  Uh-huh!

The Trumpers have told park rangers, for example, not to use the term biodiversity, too difficult a word for the Ult-right?  Science has become a bad word and vaccines kill people.  Refugees, asylum-seekers, immigrants, and Venezuelan gangs now mean to them, pretty much the same thing.  In addition to dumping certain words, they want us to take on their concept of which words to use and which to drop, hoping to put word and thought police wherever they can.

DEI has for the ult-right become the boogyman and they are determined to stamp it out.  They know it refers to Black people and other people of color, women, disabled persons, LGBTQ folks, and a few other groups.  They can’t imagine white people being in DEI, because white men have privilege in this society that the right claim white men don’t have.  Those  white men are trying hard to “get back” that privilege they of course, don’t have, and are sure they can’t do it if DEI is around.

We are not supposed to use words like Latine, feminist, indigenous persons, etc.  However, our Constitution provides for “free speech” in the 1^st Amendment.  The limits on that “free speech” are extreme threats, yelling fire in a crowded place, and similar very dangerous language.  Yet, the right-wing that should know better with their elite education, is trying to silence use of words they don’t like, any criticism of their “dear leader, and whatever else comes to their narrow minds. 

That is why we must all defy them at every turn, call out their fear of terminology they can't define, identify for them their fear of everyone they don't understand, tell them we know when they are lying.  We must make up chants, rhymes, and slogans to use in protests and rallies to let them know we will not be defeated.  We must together point out to people on the Right we see their racism, their hatred of women, and their fear of immigrants, activists, and LGBTQ persons (even drag performers), refusing to use the words those groups prefer for themselves.  In short, we must say to MAGAs “we see you and what you are doing to this country and we won’t have it.”  We want them with us in this struggle because they are impacted too, and this language insanity isn't helping them.  it is primarily the work of the guy in the white house and his minions, perhaps some of them even standing for things against their faith, their patriotism, their communities, and this nation.  We can do this if we don’t give up or give in!

WHAT LITTLE TYRANTS CAN GET AWAY WITH

By Ruth A. Sheets

The genocide being conducted by Israel in Gaza is beyond appalling, but it seems our leadership is doing little to nothing to stop it.  Israel is our ally perpetrating these murderous actions.  Though we are much larger and the major provider of war material for Israel, somehow, we can’t/won’t stop their barbarism. 

I recently read a comment that mentioned similarities between what is being done to Gaza by Israel and the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.  It is important to me that others have come to see this connection too.  I noticed it nearly from the beginning when the people were shuffled around Gaza for no logical reason other than so Israel could bomb the areas the people were being forced to leave, being enclosed in smaller and smaller areas.  The Israeli "guards" became like the Ghetto and concentration camp guards, killing at will, laughing at the horrors.  There seems little difference between what Israel is doing to the people of Gaza and what the Nazis did to Jewish and other people during the Holocaust.  It is on a smaller scale as there are fewer Gazans, but the basic excuses for the horrific behavior are the same:  those people are just animals; they are a threat to us; they are vermin and need to be destroyed.  Essentially, Gaza is a large ghetto and the prisons where Palestinians are being held are concentration camps where violence, torture, starvation, and more are the sadistic tools of guards who have lost any semblance of decency they might once have had.  Sound familiar?

Netanyahu has made pathetic excuses for what Israel is doing in Gaza, and Trump wants to build a resort there when the Palestinians are gone. It is clear Netanyahu ordered the genocide, supposedly to destroy Hamas.  The Israeli soldiers have gone along with it, Now, readying for a gigantic invasion using military reserves and weapons supplied by the US. 

As an American, I am ashamed that again we are participating in genocide. It seems when a nation commits genocide once (against indigenous Americans), it is easier the next time.

It also seems "never again" means only Jewish people not facing another holocaust, not that Israel couldn’t perpetrate one on its neighbors. Netanyahu is also OK permitting illegal settlers in the West Bank to steal land, homes, and possessions from the Palestinian people.  Murder of Palestinians is a pretty regular event there too. 

Palestinians as everyone should know have been in the land that is now Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank as long as the Jewish people have been there, so, it should be time Israel and Palestine find ways to work together instead of committing atrocities. 

Out of a feeling of guilt or just to make money, over the years, The US has given Israel free rein to do as much harm to Palestinians and others as it chooses.  I just read of an incident I had forgotten about.  Israel attacked an American ship during Israel’s “6-Day-War” in June 1967, killing at least 34 sailors and injuring many more.  The US declared itself neutral in Israel’s “war,” and the ship was well-marked as American, flying our flag clearly and moving slowly through the international waters of the Mediterranean.  The American survivors were informed they would be imprisoned if they told the truth of Israel’s unprovoked assault, so it took more than 20 years for information about the attack to get out. 

The USS Liberty should not have been attacked from the air and on the sea and it is not clear why Israel chose to do it and why the US under President Johnson didn’t respond.  We were supposedly their ally and we gave them a pass, just as we are doing right now.  

For the sake of the whole Middle East, the killing and famine in Gaza must stop, blaming Hamas for acts of Israeli violence must also end. Getting food and medicines to the people of Gaza is critical, and in sufficient quantities to actually make a difference, not the tiny trickle Netanyahu and his cronies have permitted so far, while Israeli soldiers shot down people who came to collect food for their starving families.

What Israel is doing and has been doing for years is EVIL! There is no other word that comes close to describing it, except Holocaust. The insanity must stop and the Israeli people be fully informed as to what their own government is doing in Gaza and the West Bank.  It must be called genocide done in the name of the Israeli people. 

I am still wondering when people will publicly ask how it was that Israel/Netanyahu was so completely caught off-guard on October 7^th when they had been warned that Hamas was planning a major attack, a year ahead.  How fortunate for Hamas that Israel’s intelligence was “off-line” that particular day.  One might think that Netanyahu had known the time of the attack and wanted something big to happen so he could go all-out against Gaza and the Palestinians in general, now, 64,000 dead and counting.  Like many, I have noted what has happened in the past couple of years.  It is pretty obvious something was up when Israel got no warning while there is surveillance everywhere in Gaza.  I am thinking the reason “no one knows what really happened” is that Israeli citizens might not be OK with the idea of sacrificing their loved ones for the Gaza takeover plans of Netanyahu. 

The United States needs to withdraw from support of Israel, knowing Israel will do whatever they wish to whomever they wish if they think it will send their message.”  We do not need that in our lives, so there must be a lot more pressure from the American people to stop the genocide and our donations of weapons to Israel.  If more of us realized we are being used by a would-be dictator of a little country, to boost the influence of our own would-be dictator, more people might step up to demand Congress stop the insanity.  It could happen.

 

TRUMP AND THE TODDLER POOL, EVIL AWAKENED

By Ruth A. Sheets

 

What Trump and his toddler pool have been doing for the past 7+ months is immoral, but it is also mostly illegal.  We can't forget that.  We have laws which make it possible for us to live together in this nation in peace.  Trump and crew break laws at every turn hoping it will get them something they want, either power or money or both. 

Trump does not want peace nor do the billionaire oligarchs (Trumplandia in the White House).  This collection of anti-democracy folks includes the nominees approved by Senate Republicans for high office in our government plus Republican legislators throughout the country.  I think their ultimate goal is world domination by oligarchy, with them on top!  They want action as long as they get to order it, getting others to do their dirty work.  They claim to be victims, but have no idea what victims experience because none of them is a victim of anything but their own greed, ignorance, dismissal of the truth, narcissism, contempt for everyone not them. 

The most significant emotions they possess are fear and anger, with a heaping helping of hatred.  They are afraid of not getting away with their coup and they toss that fear out on everyone else, spreading it like a plague, to make all of us comply.  They are furious that anyone dares question their actions because they think they are and should be masters of the universe even though they are not even masters of themselves, you know, like adult toddlers. 

It is critical that we are going to have to stand tall against them and get low when necessary because these mostly white men and their female surrogates know no depth to which they will not go.   They don’t realize they are not worthy of respect beyond that due any human being.

In my way of thinking, this is EVIL!  There is no concern for anyone who will be impacted by their senseless rulings, pronouncements, search for old laws they can reimpose on this nation, imposition of military rule, and more.  The Trump pool knows their fearful leader, the guy they pretend to bow and scrape to is mentally and physically failing, but they are positioning themselves to be the guy who takes over.  The American people do not like any of them, but it won’t matter because Vought, Musk, Thiel, Bessent, or one of the other too-rich fools will try to jump in, hoping the ground has been properly laid for them to take over when the time comes.  In the meantime, they are trying to get Trump to do as much damage as possible so it will be easier for them to breeze in and strike the final blow. 

The EVIL ones are friends of Putin of Russia, Orban of Hungary, and any other dictator in the world they can find and convince to join them in the takeover.  Those guys are all super rich and can appreciate the superrich of this current swarm of a-holes, all cut from the same greedy narcissistic cloth.

Their current efforts involve targeting everyone who is not them.  They are distracting us by having masked thugs kidnap people, supposed immigrants off our streets, claiming they are criminals despite the fact that most of them contribute more to the nation than the oligarchs who are primarily “takers.”  They have also targeted trans persons and their parents, Black Americans, Democrats of any background, and of course women, something that really feels especially wrong on this 105th anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment.  They are working hard to create a throw-back woman, “trad wife” who will stay at home, make their house perfect for their hubby and the many kids they are supposed to have, white kids of course.  Those rich white men who will never be pregnant want to be sure that every woman who gets pregnant, particularly if they are raped, must carry that fetus to term.  Every piece of this effort is EVIL, but it keeps the MAGAs thinking they are not in the Trumpers’ sights, when they are right there with the rest of us, waiting for the right moment to be targeted!

I have read one way to deal with this EVIL is to mock them in a wide variety of ways:  their specific actions, their character, their greed, their inability to handle the truth even when it is right in front of them.    We need cartoonists, influencers, late-night hosts, editorials, Substack and other platforms, journalists, and pretty much everyone else to, without defaming anyone, mock the crap out of them, showing them and everyone else how unworthy of holding any position of authority they are and that their ideas for the rest of us are childish and unacceptable!  We must name this as EVIL and point out as often and in as many ways as possible just how they are dividing us for their own benefit. We don’t have to take it!

REWRITING AMERICAN HISTORY WITH REPUBLICAN CONSENT

By Ruth A. Sheets

Trump proves daily that he is an ignorant would-be tyrant, and he is well on the way to achieving that goal.  He knows nothing of history, yet wants to dictate what it should include.

Russell Vought of “Project 2025” fame, knows nothing of history either.  He’s just  a whiny white boy who is too rich for anyone's good and who has been sponsored and coddled by a bunch of racist, misogynistic cowards at the Heritage Foundation who are too scared of anyone who is not rich white and male.  OK, they are terrified of them too; they could turn on him and his kind in an instant.  It has happened throughout history.  So, Vought, Miller, Bessent, and a collected crowd of scared white men and the women who love them want to get their Baby Donnie to  make history less scary, less filled with ways white men have oppressed and abused people, less information about outstanding women, and people of color, and white men who don't buy the scared white male BS.  The Trumpers are not a large group, but want everyone to think they are all-powerful, so we will be cowed into submission. 

Trump’s next target is the Smithsonian Institution, often fondly referred to as “our nation’s attic.”  Trump and his buddies who know nothing of history, science, art, and this nation, want to have oversight for all exhibitions, displays, etc.  What!  They would be lost in the jargon of science, history, art, and the rest.  Those whiny rich boys would bring nothing positive to the museums or anywhere else they plan to try to control, just lies, inaccuracies, and their personal fears, resentments, and ignorance, none of which anyone in this country needs or wants on display in an honored institution. 

Smithsonian Secretary Bunch and the rest of the amazing people you work with, don't give in!  Ask the American people to help to support your work more now that Trump and his fascist crew are trying so hard to rewrite American history, and thus a part of the history of the world. 

When I worked for the Smithsonian, I loved working with the designers of exhibitions and giving tours of their fine work.  I can't imagine what a tour of Trump's history would sound like, a lot of lies, disinformation, and would not be worth the effort.  I am trying to imagine Trump as a tour guide of his brand of history and realize he wouldn't get past the first display because he wouldn't have a clue what was there.  He and his buddies like to whine about whites being discriminated against when that is so rare as to be nearly invisible, but Trump wants that insignificance to be more than visible, actually prominent, even if they have to make it up. 

The Smithsonian crew are going to have to be very creative to get around the ignoramuses of Trumplandia.  The residents of Trumplandia, toddler men and a few women know so little it is embarrassing.  Their ignorance is the reason only fools and the incompetent, serve as secretaries and department heads in our current government.  For Trump, ignorance is bliss.

However, Republicans in Congress, mostly white men, like the Trump takeover of our national entities like the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian, and say "sure, Mr. Sir, whatever you want, we care nothing for this nation, our oath of office,  and the people who elected us, just the money we can collect in gifts (bribes) and we are getting a lot right now, so, it’s all good,  whatever you want, we’re behind you, can you feel our presence back there?"