WHEN EDUCATION FAILS

By Ruth A. Sheets

As a teacher, I wonder what impact the planning and materials I present will have on the students with whom I work.  I try to offer them different points of view, although I do not share articles, columns, etc. that are clearly lies or conspiracy theories because I don’t want to plant those seeds. 

I know teachers work very hard to cover the materials they are required to serve up, but it seems lately, education, not just public education,  is failing our citizens. 

How is it we were unable to help 35% of our population see that a particular presidential candidate did not know enough to hold that office, that he was not a good businessman, and that the TV program he was on and so admired for was scripted, neither spontaneous nor a true showcase for his talent or lack thereof?

How is it more than 30% of our citizens believed we were being invaded on our southern border by a few thousand desperate, exhausted immigrants, mostly women and children?

How is it a significant percentage of the population approved for the Supreme Court of the United States an over-emotional, disrespectful womanizer?

How is it that many of our elected officials are ignorant of human reproduction, abortion, and related issues and make laws based on their ignorance?

How is it citizens are easily confused by a president who does not know our Constitution and ignores it on a regular basis?  Is it they don’t know it either? 

How is it people who have not visited a college campus since they graduated criticize current students as not open-minded enough when that open-mindedness only goes as far as including ultra-conservative voices?

I suspect it is we the teachers who are failing our children.  When we require only specific answers to complex questions, or just don’t ask complex questions at all, we encourage ignorance.

We claim we expect students to think critically, but when their critical thinking leads them in directions we don’t like, we use our red pencils and teacher voices to shut them down.

OK, this lack of careful thinking cannot be fully placed at our feet.  Administrators choose curricula that avoid challenge, designed to get kids through the standardized tests.

Parents are often overworked and don’t have time to check to see what kind of thinking their children are doing.  They count on the schools to take care of that, right?

State governments have cut education funds, some hoping to drive public education into the hands of private companies who can then control what children are taught, what to think.

A Secretary of Education who has no experience with education was not only nominated by someone ignorant of education but approved by Senators who should have known better and cared more about our children. 

It breaks my heart when supporters or Mr. Trump are interviewed and they can’t even speak rationally about why they support him.  They claim they want to “make America great again,” but beyond keeping immigrants out and improving the economy in some undisclosed manner, they can’t give any kind of meaningful answer.  It’s embarrassing to listen to them.  Where were their teachers?   Where is their critical thinking?   

How can we teachers do better?  What is getting in the way of our giving students the tools they truly need to live as good citizens in a democracy?  We need to have a lot of conversations about this if our democracy is to survive. 

We need to teach about advertising, propaganda, and the many tools used to get us to dismiss our critical thinking.  We need to set our own egos aside so we can hear student questions and comments that might challenge our own thinking.  Then, we must challenge theirs right back. 

For example, we need to give children choices and teach them how to determine which would be best for them at a given time.  We need to teach history, not as dates and events to be memorized, but as people like themselves making decisions, good and bad, considering the factors the men, women, and children of the past took into account as they chose their actions. 

So, fellow teachers, citizens, we have a lot of work to do.  We can’t take the chance of losing another generation to inadequate thinking and thought thieves.

HONESTY?

By Ruth A. Sheets

I was catching up on my reading this week when I came upon an article from washingtonpost.com.  The title, "Trump Could Be the  Most Honest President in Modern History" by Marc A. Thiessen.   It was dated October 11, 2018.  As I read the title, I anticipated a humorous article sarcastically mocking Mr. Trump's inability to distinguish truth from lies.

Alas, that is not what I found.  The writer claims that because Mr. Trump has kept some of his campaign promises, perhaps more than predecessors (although that is really debatable), he is somehow honest.

Wow!  Where do I begin with this one?  Since when is keeping promises the mark of honesty?

What are the promises?  
- Move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. - Yeah he did this one, but at what cost?
- bring back some jobs (Trump said MANY jobs) - We're still waiting!
- Middle class tax cuts (minimal at best since most of the breaks - 83% - go to the top 1%.  Mr. Trump claimed this was the greatest tax cut, ever.  (well, not even close, but for a while, the stock market was glad to have so many corporations buying back their stock and driving up prices.)
- Nominate mega conservative Supreme Court justices - yes, he did nominate Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, then whined when Kavanaugh didn't go through like a slip on a banana peel.  How honest is it to claim this man who lied to Congress was worthy of sitting on our highest Court?  We didn't get the truth about why Justice Kennedy retired either.  Hmmm!
- Mr. Trump told African-Americans they had nothing to lose by voting for him.  The African-American unemployment rate is reported to be at its lowest level ever.  So what if African-Americans and other people of color are losing voting rights all over Red America and police violence against them continues!  Mr. Trump thinks he took care of them, kept his promise.   Uh huh!
- The Donald promised to cancel clean air and water regulations.  In the Washingtonpost.com column, this is seen as honesty even though Mr. Trump was not honest about whom he was really making those promises to and to whom he was actually lying.  Clearly certain favored corporations benefit, while everyone else, including our general health suffers.
- Trump promised to withdraw from any international agreement made under President Obama (or any other Democrat) even if the American people didn't want that.  He lied to sell this to his supporters, saying we can go it on our own as a nation without allies and all that.  A lie, of course, but he kept his promise and is trying to continue the practice. 
- Mr. Trump and his Congressional allies (he likes that kind of allies) said they would give all the militarized groups more money and they did.  They forgot to tell the truth to the people about the fact that the military would use the money for things like building more weapons and helping out in wars that most Americans don't want. 

In short, Mr. Trump made a lot of promises on the campaign trail, many of which he later denied making.  After a while,. the fact checkers gave up trying to keep track of which were "promises" and which were just rhetoric to keep his blood-thirsty supporters rallied enough to go vote and to keep Democrats and Independents from believing their vote would matter.

So, if honesty is based on whether you keep promises, Mr. Trump is probably up there in the ratings.  If honesty is telling the truth, Mr. Trump rates at the bottom.  I cannot remember reading about any president who lied more regularly about everything, even the promises.  Mr. Trump reshapes campaign promises as he goes along, hoping people like Mr. Thiessen will see them as achievements and laud him for it. 

Let's face it.  Mr. Trump is not honest either about the reasons for his promises nor about the success of his promises kept.  His first big lie, he won the popular vote.  The second, he would "drain the swamp."  The lies continue at an appalling pace, day after day at his ego-boosting rallies and from the Oval Office.  He regularly shows disrespect for our nation, our democracy, our people, our media, our allies.    

He's like a cult leader that no one but his followers understand. They can't explain why they like him.  They make excuses for his lies and deceit, and they fall back on slogans and their perceived wrongs, their perceived invisibility to everyone else.  Mr. Trump knows he need not be honest with them because they don't care about honesty, just the power they think he wields on their behalf.  He doesn't.  His power is just for himself.  He can't even be honest about that. 

The GOP's End To Democracy

by muon

The word “coup” is defined as a seizure of power from the government, usually sudden and violent, usually having to do with military activity. But there’s another kind of subtle political coup that’s oh so much more diabolical because it happens slowly.

The government of the United States, as set down in our Constitution, is supposed to be a government of, by, and for the people. It’s a democracy in which its citizens ought to have the ultimate power by the use of their vote. And it was constructed with three branches ~ executive, legislative, and judiciary ~ which are supposed to remain independent of each other, so that no one man nor one group would be able to seize absolute power and destroy our democracy.

The Republican Party has been trying to do just that ~ stage a political coup at the Federal level of the government, and through non-democratic means. In order to maintain a majority in Congress, the GOP has developed gerrymandering and voter suppression to an art form. Because of Citizen’s United, they’ve been able to shift power from ordinary citizens to corporations and the very wealthy. Power has even been given to foreign interests who seek to fund candidates and influence elections.

In the past 2 years, the line between executive branch and the Republicans in the legislative branch has completely disappeared. Most GOP congressmen support Trump without question, giving him the confidence to act like a dictator, while they turn a deaf ear to the vast majority of voters. Laws these days aren’t legislated, but come down from the White House as executive orders, or as Trump probably thinks of them, empirical edicts.

Still, we used to be able to rely most of the time on the Supreme Court to be the fair and impartial conscience of the country (albeit, not always ~ Dred Scott, for instance). Now, beginning with the Merrick Garland fiasco, the GOP has repeatedly ignored procedures set down centuries before, in order to manipulate the judiciary to their own will instead of the will of the people.  The Kavanaugh nomination is only the latest symptom. Legal minds and institutions from all over the country say Kavanaugh doesn’t have the temperament for the Supreme Court. Even former Justice Stevens believes Kavanaugh shouldn’t be appointed. Yet, the GOP is plowing forward, ignoring prudence and precedence from the beginning. Nothing about this confirmation process has had anything to do with true democracy. It’s all about illegal seizure of power from the voters of the United States.

This is why the 2018 general election is so important. Voters on both sides of the political divide need to take their power back from congressmen who’ve been in office so long, they think somehow that it’s their birthright. We need to remove people from office who have no respect for the separation of the three branches of government, who think our government is about their own power and wealth.

Only one political party is seeking to merge the 3 branches of government into one. The Republicans are staging a coup, pure and simple. You need to vote this November before that right is taken from you as well.

KIDNAPPING TRUTH

by Ruth A. Sheets

There are two basic types of truth, the capital "T" truth and the lower case "t" truth.  The first is what we hold as ultimate truth, our beliefs, our understanding of how the world/universe works.  I am not talking about that Truth here.

The second is "the" truth.  This involves facts, what actually happens.  It involves numbers, language, observation in the real world.

Not only has there been an assault on the truth, (lower-case "t") lately, but in some cases, it has been kidnapped, possibly held for ransom.  Perhaps, it has been replaced with the changelings Alternate Facts and Fake News. 

The problem is not that we can't tell these are changelings, (you know, the beings fairies exchanged good little children for), but we are getting used to having them around.  We know Alternate Facts just spouts fabrications.  We even laugh sometimes at her blatant misuse of information and data.  We know that although the main stream media does cover the changelings too often and too deeply, it does try to get the story right most of the time, when it is not afraid of being called "enemy of the people." 

Cute little Fake News is very active, but not where current politicians direct our attention.  Conservatives/Republicans cry out, for example,  that some social media has banned Alex Jones from their platforms, yet also cry out against the media reporting on the kidnapping of children by US Government officials at the border as the work of Fake News. 

Alex Jones consistently employs Fake News and her consorts to tell Americans that Sandy Hook was a hoax and a spate of other ridiculous false tales, while there is every kind of physical evidence of the border child kidnappings.

Kelly Anne Conway, Mr. Trump's nurturer of young Alternative Facts insists her protege is alive and well and explains all Mr. Trumps forays into the land of untruth.  For many, Alternative Facts is their darling.  It lets them continue to pledge their allegiance to Mr. Trump while maintaining their personal belief that lying is a sin (or at least that is what their Judeo-Christian faith tells them they should believe).  It's not lying, it's Alternative Facts. 

There are a few ways we can tell that truth has been missing for a while and its absence was barely noticed.
- Even Democrats believed Republican lies that Nancy Pelosi was an ineffective leader.
- Millions ignore the overwhelming evidence of human activity causing global warming, so leaders do nothing.
- Republicans/conservatives  are guaranteed to bow to the choice of Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court justice, but Democrats are buying the nonsense that if they don't vote for Kavanaugh, we'll get someone worse.
- Immigrants are criminals, so it really doesn't matter what happens to them.  They have no right to be here.  Separated from their children?  That's their fault.
- Corporations have the people's interests at heart or they couldn't make any money.
- There is an infinite amount of fraud in our voting system.
- Republican/conservative legislators name bills that will do exactly opposite of their title and don't see a problem with it.
- Russia didn't meddle in the 2016 election, so we should fire Robert Mueller.

Truth is missing from the current administration and Republican party in general. Her loss is being felt by everyone whether they know it or not.  We need to get out and actively look for her and replace the changelings with veracity, you know, the basic honesty we were taught as children.  We need to send those changelings back to hades where they came from.   

WOMEN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE - 45 YEARS LATER

By Ruth A. Sheets

It's been 45 years since the Roe v. Wade decision came down from the Supreme Court.  Abortion still remains one of the most divisive issues in our nation.  I truly do not understand the "controversy."   Why are some people willing to harm others over whether a woman should be able to choose abortion?  Why is a president stroking his base by considering only candidates for the Supreme Court and other government positions who are against abortion? 

This nonsense regarding abortion has been going on for generations now.  Notice, I did not say millennia?  That's because the reason religious people stood against it a century and a half ago is that women, many women were dying in "back alley" abortions.  To convince women not to choose that deadly option, all kinds of religious tags were attached.  Today, abortion is safe and rarely problematic if conducted in a clean space by a well-trained professional.  In fact most abortions only involve taking pills. 

There just should not be a controversy about abortion.  It makes no sense that any man should have a say whatsoever in the decision of what a woman does related to her body, PERIOD, unless, that man is the woman's partner or doctor and she has chosen to include him in this decision.  Then, he is an OBSERVER/advisor, not a dictator. 

What is hard to understand is that in addition to men who believe they are in charge of women, a bunch of women have been convinced that somehow abortion is murder.  First of all, it isn't, so why do these women and so many men want to make it so?  You women who hate your sisters so much, what is wrong with you?  Just because you don't want to choose abortion should not mean  you can force others to make that same choice.  Life situations differ greatly.  You cannot know what a woman facing this decision needs to do.  Just as people have been telling you for years, if you do not want an abortion, DON'T HAVE ONE!!!.  It IS that simple. 

State legislatures and governors, majority white male, the Congress, majority white male, the president, white male, and the Supreme Court, majority white male should have no say in abortion.  If their body cannot bear a child, if they will never have to face carrying a pregnancy they do not want, cannot afford, or can handle, if their personal lives will not be impacted by carrying a pregnancy, they must just shut up and let women decide for themselves.

I understand it will be difficult for some pathetic men and women if abortion in certain states is declared illegal.  What will they scream, whine, and do to otherwise make life miserable for women, beware, they will find something because that is what powerful men do when they feel they are being challenged by intelligent, strong, decisive women.  Look out all of us!

Men, if you really care about the unborn as you claim, demand and pass legislation that will keep our environment clean, get people permanently out of poverty, ensure women's right to birth control, champion health care for all, INCREASE FUNDING FOR INFANT AND MOTHER PROGRAMS, PROMOTE PUBLIC EDUCATION, things that would really make a difference.  First, though, stop Mr. Trump's gag rule, you know, the one that tells medical personnel and fake medical personnel to lie to women about their reproductive needs. Legalizing lying is not acceptable. 

You say you can't do that?  Why?  Is the problem that attacking women's right to choose is easy, while making a real positive difference for women and the unborn is really hard, perhaps too hard for you!

Stop with your platitudes and lies.  And you Christians, Jesus knew about abortion and didn't condemn it.  He did condemn hate, treating people like garbage, lying, and a lot of other things.  Go with that.  Leave women alone to choose for themselves, then support them in their decision.  That is the truly loving, Christian thing to do. 

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE -- REALLY?

by Ruth A. Sheets

It's time the Senate wake up and notice the poor quality of people Mr. Trump is nominating to all really important positions in OUR government, remember it is the government of ALL of us, not just the rich, white, males.  The latest nominee is Brett Kavanaugh, a Yale trained lawyer and judge on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

There are problems already with this nominee.  It seems Mr. Kavanaugh does not think it matters if he tells the truth to the Senate, as exemplified in his previous hearing for a judicial position (which he got despite his lies).  The Senate did nothing about it back then and I predict Mr. Kavanaugh is sure they will ignore it again.  The Senate probably will, at least the Republicans will.

Mr. Kavanaugh served with Mr. Starr to indict Mr. Clinton for lying about stuff he should never have been asked.  Then, he writes about not ever indicting a sitting president because of the chaos it would cause.  Yep, he only worries about a presidential indictment after he tried to bring down a sitting Democratic president.  Mr. Trump is delighted because he knows Mr. Mueller's commission is looking into his activities that his handlers, at least, know are illegal and unethical.  Mr. Kavanaugh will save him. 

There is no evidence Mr. Kavanaugh cares about women's right to choose, in fact, there is plenty of evidence he is against it, despite the fact that a super majority of Americans want the right to choose. 

There is evidence this nominee does not respect the LGBTQ community or anyone who is not white for that matter.  He loves BIG BUSINESS and will give them everything they ask for, demand, or take without permission.  His prior record makes that clear. 

The environment, this is not anything Mr. Kavanaugh cares about unless he chooses to encourage drilling, pipelines , digging for coal, and more, none of which will benefit anyone but the company owners and shareholders.  This is obscene!  

Mr. Kavanaugh opposes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the few agencies to actually protect consumers from the harmful practices of BIG BANKS AND BIG BUSINESS.  What does that do for the people who are getting screwed by those companies?  Oh well, too bad guys.  We are so far above you, we just don't care, we conservatives, but we can pretend to care if you want us to.

In addition to all this, Mr. Kavanaugh tried to block an immigrant teenager in U.S. custody from accessing reproductive healthcare. His decisions for the 6th Circuit in Washington, D.C. show that He opposes affirmative action, promotes public funds being used for private school vouchers, and favors prayer in public schools (an issue decided more than 50 years ago).  How do these positions help ordinary Americans?  They don't, of course!!

Mr. Kavanaugh's prior rulings raise serious concerns for some about where he stands on issues like employees’ right to organize, workplace discrimination, voting rights, marriage equality, access to healthcare and corporate responsibility.  It is pretty clear to most of us where he stands.  What average Americans let alone special interest groups need is irrelevant to conservatives these days and Mr. Kavanaugh has a history of sticking to the conservative line and justifying it, no matter how crazy.

So, it's going to be hard to fight this one.  It's been 30 years since a Supreme Court nominee, Robert Bork, was rejected.  With 30 years of hindsight, we are hearing what a terrible thing it was to reject this "good man" as several Republicans and a few centrist Democrats have said, because now candidates will not answer any real questions about their positions.  But Bork was not that great.  He, too, had little respect for anyone who was not white, rich, straight, and male.  How would that have helped the majority of us?

We are so good at revisionist history that we have turned Ronald Raegan who allowed all kinds of illegal and questionable things to happen during his presidency into almost a saint.  He wasn't.  Mr. Bork was such a good man.  Not really!  Justice Kennedy  was such a centrist, our only hope.  This was true only when it suited him.

We still live with the consequences of Mr. Reagan's union busting, tax cutting, disregard for government operations, and the change of the American understanding that the government is for the common good.   We have already felt the devastation of Mr. Kennedy's vote on Citizens United declaring money as speech.  Really a stupid decision, but conservatives always have to side with the wealthy and business, no matter how ridiculous.  Voting rights was not Mr. Kennedy's big thing either. 

We don't know exactly what Mr. Kavanaugh would contribute to the harming  of the American system, but his influence would be considerable.  There is no evidence that Mr. Kavanaugh cares.  Perhaps, he will be like Mr. Trump who wants to cause as much chaos for as long as he can, raking in money and power with impunity. 

We have to find ways to reject Mr. Trump's crazy nominees for all government jobs, including Supreme Court justice.  Maybe if enough are rejected, he will start trying to find people who are actually qualified and who give a damn about the United States, its citizens, its allies, and our planet.

The next Supreme Court justice should be fair, independent and committed to safeguarding the rights and freedoms that protect everyone.  I suspect Mr. Kavanaugh cannot truthfully commit to this.  The current conservative justices claim fairness, independence, and the ability to commit to protecting the rights of all Americans.  They are none of these things.  How sad that conservatives have to harm everyone to keep their conservative bona fides.  I do not see Mr. Kavanaugh stepping up to be concerned for the rights of anyone but himself and those like him.  There is just no courage among Republicans or conservatives whether it is in Congress, on the Court, or as head of any of the executive branch departments.  That's too bad for all of us, since for now, they are in charge of everything.

A Look at Patriotism 2018

By Ruth A. Sheets

Patriotism clearly means different things to different people.  Traditionally, it meant love of one's country.  That sounds simple, but how does that manifest itself in the real world?

How can you tell if someone is patriotic?  That varies depending on the group or groups to which one has loyalty.  For some, one can only demonstrate love of country through military service, while for others, vocally supporting the nation’s military/wars is sufficient.  Some require patriots to display a flag on the lawn and wear a flag pin in public.  Some expect patriots to know and sing all the “patriotic” songs and stand with their hand over their heart when singing the “National Anthem” (don't take a knee!)  Some demand the saying of the “Pledge of Allegiance” at every possible occasion, (even though it is pledging to a flag, not a country).

The element missing from all but the first description of patriotism above is depth.  Mouthing support for a war, waving or wearing a flag, saying the “Pledge,” singing  “America the Beautiful” demand little or nothing of the practitioner.  These acts  are visible, but say little except that one has a handle on the trappings of patriotism.  Where is the substance?
 
The problem is that just having the trappings of patriotism allows practitioners to designate those who don’t participate in the superficiality as unpatriotic, therefore not as good, not a "real" American.

The most commonly cited factor of patriotism involves military service of some kind.  Serving in the military generally involves sacrifice of time, health, opportunities, even one's life, all of which are valuable to our nation.  People who make this choice deserve kudos, but we need to expand our understanding of sacrifice.  

Communities throughout the United States have people making patriotic sacrifices every day:  fire-fighters, people who work against violence, folks who care for frail seniors and the vulnerable youngsters among us.  Consider Scout leaders, youth directors, people who staff soup kitchens and community pantries, and non-profit workers, often volunteers.  These are all patriots as are local elected officials, mediators, school safeties, teachers, mental health workers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, farmers, environmentalists, innovators, police officers, and so many others, all patriots.

What all patriots have in common is that they care not just for the country, but for the people who live here too.  No matter what their political leanings, they see a need and try to meet it using the resources available to them.  These folks understand that America is a diverse place and that there is room for everyone here, no matter where they were born.  They believe in and understand that our nation was founded on the rule of law and justice for all, and that we are stronger together than separate.

Just in case that is too vague, I'll be more clear.  A patriot does not force his/her opinions and behaviors on others.  A patriot does not work to deny healthcare for people who can't afford it.  A patriot does not help to stack courts who will favor one group over the rights of other groups.  A patriot does not use their religious beliefs to justify their own prejudices.  A patriot does not try to restrict voting in a society that depends on voting for its success.  A patriot does not approve of cruelty done in America's name to defenseless children and adults, for any reason.  In short, Patriots care about more than their own comfort and the enforcement of their own beliefs.

So, celebrate this July 4th, but do it with your neighbors and friends.  Display a flag, but remember that it is the symbol of a people more than of a place.  We are a flawed people, but we are trying to get better. 

WHEN HATRED AND LIES BECOME THE NORM

By  Ruth A. Sheets

Lying is an integral part of Donald Trump's public behavior.  He lies whenever it occurs to him that a lie might work better than the truth, that is if he has any idea what is the truth.   

Yesterday, the Supreme Court's conservative majority confirmed as acceptable, Mr. Trump's hatred of Muslims.  They used as justification Mr. Trump's lie that travelers from a specific set of countries, mostly Muslim, puts the security of the United States at risk.  Alas, there is no evidence of this, but the Supreme Court majority says, that doesn't matter.  Mr. Trump says it is, so it is.  Wow!  That's a lot of power for someone who didn't win the popular vote and has little regard for the Constitution.

Everyone knows that throughout his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump told the nation of his intent to stop all Muslims from coming here.  That intention was never hidden.  Like everything else he says in hatred and most of his lies, it was loud and clear and harmful to many people, the kind of people Mr. Trump doesn't like.

Lying and some hatred (of women and abortion) was front and center in another Supreme Court ruling yesterday.  The conservative majority  basically said it is perfectly OK to lie to citizens, particularly women about their health care options. 

Fake health care centers have been set up all over the country to lie to women.  They have no medical help to offer, only lies about abortion, pregnancy, and a host of other issues facing women related to health care. 

California decided to order fake clinics to inform potential patients that other facilities could take care of their needs, while the fake clinics could not.  The Supreme Court has now said the state can't make the fake clinics tell the truth.  They can lie through their teeth, trapping mostly poor women into maintaining pregnancies they can't afford or physically handle.  Yep, lying is in the ascendency.  Free speech, you know.

These rulings  coincide with the cheating allowed in the June 25th decision permitting racial gerrymandering in Texas and probably other places too.  The justification is not very clear.  Are conservative justices OK with cheating and subverting the American voting system?  Or is it something more? 

One might have expected Mr. Thomas, the African-American justice to stand on the side of voting rights in this decision, but alas, no.  It is no surprise, however, that white conservative men are in favor of whatever will give white people the most power.  Racial gerrymandering, why not!  We'll find a reason to OK it.

These days, one cannot be shocked that Mr. Trump lies about immigrants, the activities of his staff, and just about everything else.  His followers love it.  They, themselves must lie regularly to be so positive concerning the lies so freely tossed off.  It's like a kinship. 

Conservatives want to have the Ten Commandments in every courthouse.  How is that possible.  One of the commandments is "Thou shalt not bear false witness."  False witness means lie.  Have they convinced themselves that the things Mr. Trump says are not lies?  Isn't that a kind of pretense?  Another word for pretense is lie.  So, perhaps they are lying to themselves too.  If you can't tell the truth to yourself, who can you tell it to?

Which other president has lied to the American people more than 3,000 times in just over 500 days?  No one, of course.  Even if one did not agree with the person in the White House, there was a sense that the person had some integrity.  That cannot be claimed for this White House occupant.  His hatreds and lying make him unique, and not in a good way. 

I get it that Mr. Trump often has no idea what is true and really doesn't care.  As long as everyone is bowing to and cheering for him, giving him everything he wants, like a spoiled child, he is happy and can gloat.  He does not want anyone challenging his hatreds and need for vengeance.  And, for the most part, people comply.  Republicans in Congress and in the states comply.  We learned yesterday that Even the Supreme Court complies.  

Hatred, lying, and cheating, the three pillars of Mr. Trump's presidency do not seem to be helping anyone but him.  He hopes Americans will ignore his lies because if he says something long enough and loud enough, he thinks we will all believe it.  What many of us believe is that we don't want lying, hatred, and cheating to be a norm for our society and will do what we can to see that these three are ultimately moved off the main American stage along with Mr. Trump. 

DICTATOR IN TRAINING

by Ruth A. Sheets

A dictator is master of all he surveys.  He controls nearly every aspect of his people's lives from where they can live to what they can learn, even what they can think.  Some dictators have determined how many children a woman can have, how people can act - even in their own homes - where one can work and is allowed to live.

Our president, Donald Trump is taking notes.  He is a dictator in training.  He has many of the qualities of a dictator, (perhaps not a successful one), but nonetheless, he is in serious training.

Mr. Trump got some practice while he ran his own company and was a "boss" on reality TV.  He could make a gesture or give a command and someone who didn't do his bidding was fired or in some other way punished.  He could also distribute largess.  This is at least as important as the punishment because the possibility of receiving acknowledgment from the boss, king, dictator promotes extreme loyalty in some, especially if the gifts are not given often and are considered of great value within the organization, effective conditioning.

Recently, Mr. Trump met alone with one of the world's current total dictators, Kim Jung Un of North Korea.  Mr. Kim has been developing his dictatorship bonifides since birth.  He watched his father and grandfather at work and learned well.  The good little people are rewarded with nice digs in the capital while most of the rest scratch out a life on some of the poorest land in east Asia.  The bad little people, (that is bad enough to be noticed), are sent with their families to concentration camps where the hell to which they are consigned is supposed to be a deterrent to the rest of the population.  Mr. Trump would like such a system here, with a few minor modifications of course.

Mr. Trump's first official visit was to Saudi Arabia, a kingdom where the king or prince in charge can dictate every aspect of life for the people and claim it is all God's will.  He treats women as less than second-class citizens who need Daddy's or brother's permission for whatever they do.  Women were just given the right to drive which until a previous dictator took the "right" away 50 years ago was theirs.  "Oh, thank you beloved dictator, we are so grateful to you for what you have done for women."  Mr. Prince, you threw women who fought for the right to drive into prison, "but the other women can drive now," you whine.  Mr. Trump would like to hear such gratitude from American women too. Why, they should be grateful he notices them and selects a few of them to lie and cheat for him, only demanding complete loyalty and just a few other things too.

Russia's Mr. Putin, a former KGB agent, and Stalin wannabe, is a dictator who Mr. Trump admires.  Mr. Putin uses a variety of techniques to keep anyone who opposes him from getting in his way and spreading the truth to the Russian population.  Mr. Putin's fake news machine works overtime to make sure the people learn nothing he doesn't want them to know.  His reach extends to influencing American politics too.  Mr. Trump is well on the way to making this work in America.  He has learned that a dictator can lie with impunity, so he is practicing to see just how many lies he can get away with.  He already has a cult following that loves and believes everything he says, and a media that is afraid to challenge him, except around the edges.

The Philippines elected a president who does not care about the law.  He is totally OK if the police shoot down or otherwise disappear people they "suspect" of dealing drugs.  Thousands have been sacrificed to Mr. Duterte's edict.  The courts turn their heads and pretend they don't see.

Mr. Trump and his sidekick, Attorney General Jeff Sessions want to be able to do the same thing.  They believe that going after "drug dealers," (no matter how dangerous the drug) will clean up the cities and stop the opioid epidemic, or something.  And, if the police had more power, they could shoot down the pesky people of color who mar "our cities."  (Just the bad ones, you know.)

The Syrian dictator has committed atrocities on "his people" because he is desperate to stay in power.  His family has been at it for a long time.  Al Assad can make the people do what he wants.  He has no trouble with gassing, bombing, shooting, and starving the people.  Mr. Trump does not have to resort to that yet.  He can just refuse aid to places like Puerto Rico after a hurricane and a thousand people at least die.  He can encourage the Environmental Protection Agency to cut regulations for clean air and water, champion the increased use of coal, ignore global warming and people will die, especially the pathetic people who just can't afford to get out of the way.  "Ah, isn't that too bad.  They could do better if they worked harder."  We must help business you know.

Separate children from their parents, Trump got that from Nazi Germany and from the U.S. treatment of Native Americans.  Zero tolerance of immigrants, Trump saw that many countries did that to Jews seeking asylum at the start of World War II.  Undermine the institutions of a nation, China is doing that as we speak.  And, Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi are working on it together.  Mr. Xi has someone from his country's recent history, Mao, to help him out.  Mr. Trump depends on the slimy slugs he has surrounded himself with to guide him along the way.

There is no program that helps struggling Americans that Mr. Trump  has not targeted for destruction.   He gets lots of help from his sycophantic "advisors," the Supreme Court, Republicans in Congress, Republican governors and state legislatures, all of whom seem to have forgotten what it means to serve the common good.  Perhaps Dictator Trump will give his followers even more power, or the illusion of it, a feeling of importance, or a hope that somehow, "those awful people who aren't like us real Americans, will be forced to go away," and, of course, "give us back our country, our white Protestant, male-controlled country."

Donald Trump is learning fast.  He never learned much about history, math, economics, science, or anything else, but dictatorship 101, he is mastering with the help of his willing tutors.  And, we are all paying for his tuition. 

WHEN EVIL STALKS

by Ruth A. Sheets

Evil does not just happen.  It has a cause (and it is not Satan).  The cause is human action and occasionally mental illness.  I dismiss mental illness here because of its limited impact.

The evil I want to discuss is the creeping evil that starts relatively small, then grows as it is nurtured.  Spouse abusers don't start their relationship by one partner beating up the other.  If so, the relationship, unless it is a forced marriage, would stop right there.  The future abuser begins with charm, laughter, joking, to entice the victim into complacency.  If the future abuser slips and commits some violence, there is always a quick apology and promise it won't happen again.  Over time the future abuser divides the spouse from family and friends, isolates the partner, and increases the violence/abuse.

I suggest, as others probably have, the Trump administration is like the spouse abuser, but on a larger scale.  Mr. Trump started out as a barely functioning real estate guy.  He had lots of money from Dad and a big mouth.  He associated with high-profile people and made sure he stayed in the public eye, a kind of fun guy.

Some people around him saw that Mr. Trump liked power, obtained with as little effort as possible.  He published a book that he didn't write.  The book, for some who wanted to make a name for themselves in business, won fans to this deal-making genius.  Mr. Trump went through bankruptcy numerous times (some say 4, others say 6), and each time he came out losing very little.  Everyone else involved took the hit.  The explanation, "It wasn't my fault and I'm only using the tools the Government permits."  His reputation didn't suffer with anyone who mattered.  The abused were powerless to do anything.

Mr. Trump was given a reality show where he strutted around, yelling "You're fired!" no more was necessary, and won a whole new fan base.  He had little to do with the show except come in at the end and look like a CEO.  As always, other people did all the work while his name kept getting bigger.  Who cares about the "fired" ones.  It was all about Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump had his eye on politics for a long time.  He shaped his "beliefs" to what he thought potential supporters believed.  He realized his best chance for any kind of success would be among conservatives, although it is not clear that he was particularly conservative.  To get onto the political map, during President Obama's administration, Mr. Trump's was the voice in the background trying to undermine policies.  He made outrageous claims like that Mr. Obama was not born in the United States, and    that Mr. Obama was a Muslim, (he isn't, but who cares if he were).  Both were carefully designed to show Mr. Obama was not a legitimate president or even American, not like us.  Mr. Trump's prestige  grew.

The evil dripped slowly, albeit loudly; it was spreading into the national discourse.  The whole thing might have been stopped then if the media had unanimously agreed not to cover ANY birther BS, but instead, they amplified it.  That is exactly what Mr. Trump needed to launch his presidential bid.

Mr. Trump had no political experience whatsoever, but claimed he was an amazing businessman, a lie, of course, but his fans didn't care.  They were getting used to his lies and even reveled in them.  As his campaign progressed, Mr. Trump used the co-opted the media, all of it.  it didn't matter what he said or did not say. the media was on board.  And, if they wrote or said anything that did not speak of Mr. Trump in the most glowing terms, he called them fake or claimed the "election is rigged."

Mr. Trump  surrounded himself with people who knew how to make use of his name recognition and media attention.   every word Mr. Trump said was recorded and shared.  The media was by then afraid to use the word "lie." even though much of what Mr. Trump said was untrue. Hardly challenged, Mr. Trump's followers swallowed the lies as facts.  This too was planned by Mr. Trump's handlers.  To them, Mr. Trump presented himself as a strong man who would cut through the crap in Washington and "drain the swamp."  When asked to explain, he was vague and dismissive, knowing it was all just talk. 

He bullied his way through the Republican primaries and debates.  By this point, Mr. Trump was like a runaway freight train.  His fans, people who think they like "strong" men set themselves on his path permitting no deviation.  When interviewed (which was often), Mr. Trump's followers could only say. "He says what he thinks and he'll do what he promises."  They could rarely identify which things they liked about his plan, probably because there was little substance to it.

Mr. Trump tried out his racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic statements on his campaign crowds to see which would work.  If the crowd cheered, the comments stayed in, if not they were gone until they could be reworked to be more acceptable.

Mr. Trump tapped into America's deep racist streak.  Some whites looked at the world and perhaps, for the first time, noticed that white is a minority (as is every other group).  Mr. Trump spoke to their fears, telling them he would fix things for them since it was those people who were the source of all their righteous woes.

Evangelical Christians were co-opted too.  As crazy as this sounds, it shows how easily evil can creep into communities where people might otherwise stand against it.  Evangelicals perhaps thought of Mr. Trump as a work in progress.  They excused him of everything they would never have permitted in a member of their community.  They dismissed true people of faith as unworthy

So, Mr. Trump was elected with lots of help, small and large drops of evil that buoyed him up.  He didn't win the popular vote (by nearly 3 million votes), but that was in some way a boon for him too.  He could use that to  distract the country from the small evils he would perpetrate.  The Russia investigation, a feud with the FBI, nomination of incompetent, inappropriate, often evil people for all positions in the government would hide the actual dismantling of the government and the programs that supported the American people.

Mr. Trump, by the second year of his term, had pulled in the majority of the Republican leadership.  They too have capitulated, gradually, but inexorably.  Nearly anything Mr. Trump wants, they will agree to with few exceptions, that is until now.

Immigration has been a point of contention for Mr. Trump and his followers for years.  He began his campaign by accusing Mexicans who come here of being rapists.  He has tried to ban Muslims and for no reason except that he can, he tried to stop the "Dreamer" program )DACA), only temporarily halted by the courts.  He stepped up deportations, taking people who have families here to support, who have been here for decades and who have made positive impacts on their communities.  He wants a ridiculous wall and kept claiming it would be higher and higher, as if that would stop desperate people.

In April, he started separating children as young as one year old from their parents at the southern border (as a deterrent), with no specific plans to reunite them.  Children were sent to "baby jails" (now euphemistically called "Tender Age Shelters).  They are cages where children are held without their parents.  Mr. Trump hoped no one would notice, and at first few did.  To date, nearly 25400 children have been separated and taken away.  Mr. Trump makes a lot of claims about the children which sound a lot like the claims about Jewish children made by some Germans in the 1930s, like "they're an infection."  Alas, for Mr. Trump and his evil team, people did take notice and actually stood up to stop it.  Mr. Trump finally signed an executive order to stop stealing the children from their parents, but neglected to say how those already stolen would be reunited.  The order allows establishment of family jails to take the place of the baby jails.  Amazing!  Beware, though, we will all pay for this in some way.  The machine of evil is whirring on and it is guaranteed something currently off the radar will come to bite us or someone else while we are focused on this cruelty.  A man like Mr. Trump who has lied and cheated his way into power will not stop just because he has been checked.  Watch for it!

WHEN THEY ARE WRONG

by Ruth A. Sheets

In the Pennsylvania legislature, Republicans are working to change the way judges in the state are elected.  This isn't because the current system is not working, but because it is not working for them. 

The Republican party is furious that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the Republican-drawn/gerrymandered districts as unfair.  Of course, the Republican legislators know very well that their district lines were not drawn fairly.  A lot of time and effort was put into making sure that despite the fact that Pennsylvania has significantly more Democratic voters than Republicans, the Republicans would always have most of the US Congressional and state representatives in their column.  They want the courts too.

This phenomenon is becoming a frequent presence on the American political scene.  Republicans are the most common practitioners.  What is this phenomenon?

When you are caught doing what you know or suspect is wrong, unamerican, or probably illegal, double down on your wrong actions.  If possible, make those you don't like or respect suffer even more.

-Don't hold hearings and a vote on President Obama's nominee for Supreme Court justice (as the Constitution requires), then approve someone perhaps, just barely qualified but conservative enough he will approve anything you want the Court to do for your party and your followers.  then approve only the most ult-right, compliant (to conservative whims) nominees for all Federal court positions, nominees who will regularly rule against women and minorities.

- Your voter I.D. law doesn't pass muster, so work to eliminate as many voting days as possible to inconvenience and discourage poor and minority voters.  Then, make voter registration as difficult as possible for those who don't have easy access to the few registration locations. 

- Purge voter rolls, close to Election Day, mostly of Democratic voters, of course, and when caught, take the case to the Supreme Court which 5-4 says, "OK," when they should have said "No.  Everyone has a right to vote."  Now it's legal, Don't get caught cutting too many minorities on purpose, though.  Just accidentally.

- Migrants and refugees are a terrible problem and those people just keep coming.  We'll build a fence, no, a wall, hire thousands of people to guard the southern border, destroy cashes of water and supplies that would help people crossing the desert.  Since the people keep coming, we'll call them animals and take the children from their mothers at the border as a deterrence.  Oh yes, then the Republican president claims these actions are the fault of Democrats, a lie, but what can you expect.

- Women want control over their own reproduction.  They are moving into the male sphere.  Tell women that birth control is harmful and that abortion will destroy them for life physically and emotionally.  Oh no!  Women know the truth!  We have to stop them, so we'll force insurance companies not to cover birth control.   We'll approve of clinics that lie to patients about everything related to their reproduction.  We'll keep making it harder and harder to get an abortion.  We want the Supreme Court, that we have packed, to say abortion is illegal.  Why is abortion so horrific, you might ask them.  Ummm, it must be in the Bible or something.  Oh wait, it's murder, or something.  Oh yes, it's definitely murder.  We should punish the women who have abortions and the doctors who perform them.

In case it isn't clear, the common factors in all these cases are race, sex, and poverty, white -- or wannabe white, rich -- or wannabe rich, male (Republicans) and everyone else (Democrat and Independent).  To indicate that a Republican might be racist is the greatest insult, they claim.  I don't understand this.  The amount of thought, scheming, and effort Republicans and their allies use to figure out these ingenious actions against African-Americans, immigrants, and women, one would think they were proud of their work and should stand up and state what all Republicans believe deep down.  White, rich men should rule because they know what's best for everyone else, the inferiors who must be kept in their place. 

This situation will not improve until more people stand up to the fear, anger, and privilege Republicans deliberately infuse into everything these days.  The media will not help because they have become lazy and just skim off the top the people and events they will cover. 

Voting at all levels is the key.  Candidates that spew phony patriotism, imply inferiority of any group of people, and toss off easy answers to complex problems do not deserve anyone's vote.  These candidates are wrong and will only double down on their racism, sexism, and xenophobia to no one's benefit but their own.  We must keep this in mind as we face the lies, deceit, and scheming of the 2018 election.

THE APOLOGY PROBLEM

by Ruth A. Sheets

Lately, apologies are the thing.  Make a slip of the tongue, apologize.  Harass a woman or minority person, apologize.  Get caught bribing someone or making employees open false bank accounts, apologize a little.  Cheat on your partner or visit an escort service, apologize, if you're a Democrat, then resign from office.  Tell some jokes that might offend a member of Mr. Trump's followers/White House family, definitely apologize.  Make sexist or racist comments in public, apologize, well, sort of. 

Apologies can be a way of moving a relationship or connection closer to balance after a crime or even a slight has been committed.  Apologies are important when they are sincere and appropriate.  The consequences of apologies, however, are not in any way equal.

People have apologized for things they have done, sometimes even for things they have not done.  Often people's apologies have been false, said just to make a situation go away.  And, if the apology was appropriately moving, the "right" person could be forgiven anything.

It seems apologies now are only for certain people, in particular, Democrats, liberals, progressives, some men.  On "The Late Show" recently, Stephen Colbert had Bill Clinton as his guest.  He demanded an apology of him for the Monica Lewinski affair that took place twenty years ago.  Mr. Clinton, like him or not has apologized so many times since then it is ridiculous.  He was president at the time of his fling with  Ms. Lewinski, but she was a willing participant.  Yes, a man has more power in this situation, but to claim that Ms. Lewinski had no part in what happened is to remove her agency.  She, of course, is not expected to apologize for putting herself in the position to be drawn into the affair (or whatever it was).  She could not have walked away?  Was she threatened?  I am not blaming her, but when do the apologies end? 

I am concerned about the relentless nature of the demands for Mr. Clinton's apologies.  It seems Republicans and conservatives are rarely held to account for much.  I don't remember anyone asking for George W. Bush's apology for lying to start a war with Iraq in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and many more were displaced.  His lies were deliberate, convincing Congress to support military action that was inappropriate.  Part of the campaign against Hilary Clinton was that she "supported" the war, the manufactured war. 

Mr. Trump brags that he never apologizes for or regrets anything he does.  He has cheated on his wives, lied over and over to the American people, threatened our allies.  Where are the demands for his apologies?  Republicans are in charge of all branches of the government and they will demand nothing in the way of apologies from anyone in their sphere, including for actions that are clearly unconstitutional. 

It seems for conservative Christians and Republicans (they mostly overlap), a quick apology, possibly sincere, is just the ticket.  It "lets" God forgive whatever behavior over and over.  That, of course, does not work for anyone else because they are just not as holy or worthy, or maybe, rich.  Mr. Trump is special for the Evangelicals because he doesn't even have to apologize and he is recognized as holy.

So, Mr. Clinton will keep having to apologize while those who actually cause real harm like Mr. Bush, the sexually abusing coaches and doctors, and religious zealots won't unless they choose to.   Harvey Weinstein will and should pay for his abuses (not enough), a "liberal" you know, but the banks and companies that wrongly foreclosed on people's homes, overcharged poor people for services they didn't want or need, and produce destructive products make minimal apologies if any at all.  At most they will pay minimal fines and just keep on keeping on. 

The demanded apologies must stop.  They mean nothing and are only used as an attempt to humiliate certain enemies.  There is no "repentance" and rarely an attempt to change behavior or make amends to those harmed. 

Skip the tearful, pathetic apologies and tell us what you will do to fix what you have done.  And truly, we need to have some way of prioritizing wrongdoing.  All acts are not equally heinous and should not be treated as such.  Honest journalists need to step up and put an end to the apology demanding.  Just accurately cover what happened, minus the apologies unless  they are from the journalists themselves for getting swept up in Mr. Trump's misdirection and deceit. 

WHAT HAVE REPUBLICANS DONE FOR US? (revisited)

We all hear Republican candidates claiming they want to “Make America Great again,” and before that "Take America back again."  They seem to want to return our nation to some mythical time when things were better.  I can’t help but wonder, better for whom. 

If we look at what Republicans have done in the past few decades, it is not clear what that mythical time looks like to them.  It certainly is not a place most Americans would like to live in.

I have been trying to think of one thing the Republicans have done for America in, let's say, the past 40 years.  That should be long enough for a party to do something positive for the nation.  It is true they have made the rich richer, given tax breaks to the wealthiest, started a few wars, tortured a lot of prisoners, vastly increased the prison population of the country, ran a completely incompetent "war on drugs," but what was gained by  any but the top 1%?

I have only considered contributions by Republicans to American society since 1980 or so.  Going back further would have been too painful.  Check out these important categories that touch the lives of most Americans and Republican contributions.

Education:  Republican education reformers came up with vouchers which take tax payer money and give it to private and religious schools while neglecting the public schools as much as possible.  Charter schools were introduced, a vehicle for giving public money to private companies and individuals to provide educational services, whether or not those people or companies are competent.  The current Secretary of Education is totally behind these measures and contributes part of her fortune to promote them. 

Health care:  Republicans tore down every attempt to introduce programs that could assure each American of affordable medical services.  They convinced many Americans that “Obamacare/socialized medicine” would be terrible for Americans when what they meant was it would be terrible for the wealthy medical insurance companies who sponsor their campaigns. (It actually  did not.)    Even extending insurance to poor children involved a fight.  They are still working hard to get rid of the Affordable Care Act that provides many millions with coverage they can afford, through sneaky underhanded means, tucked in bills passed at midnight.

Jobs:  Republicans say they create jobs, but they are not too interested in the quality of those jobs and whether or not those jobs provide a living wage.  They work constantly to break unions and to fight raising the minimum wage.  Most Republicans barely blink when a presidential candidate tells poor people that their kids should be hired as janitors so they can learn to “show up on Monday,” as Mitt Romney did in 2012.  The unemployment rate is going down, but wages are barely rising. 

Family Values:  Republicans would have us believe they have a lock on what it means to be family while ignoring their own principles.  It is OK, though since they ask forgiveness after they are caught and are immediately assumed to be repentant.  Some of the most prominent among Republicans speak of the sacredness of marriage while not honoring it very well themselves.  Their hatred of immigrants allows them to break up well established stable families so one or some of the members can be deported.

Women's Rights:  I know this is not really a Republican issue, but since nearly 50% of Republicans are women, it automatically becomes one.  Many of not most Republicans want to prohibit use of all birth control as well as abortion but do not want to provide assistance after the baby is born. "That would foster dependence on social programs."  The Republican  position should accurately be called “Right to Birth,” not “Right to life.”  It is not sufficient that they choose not to use these family planning techniques themselves, they want to dictate what everyone else is allowed to do. Republican state legislatures work very hard to criminalize abortion and the women who choose to have one.  At midnight they pass laws that outlaw abortion before most women are even aware they are pregnant.  They would prefer that abortions never be granted, that is, of course unless their life or their wife's life is at risk.  

Government Programs:  Republicans don’t want to have Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security or other Government programs, yet these are often the only safety nets that stand between citizens, even Republican citizens, and disaster.  Republicans do not create better programs, they just put barriers in front of people who need what currently exists.  Why, In their minds, of course there should be work requirements for those receiving Medicaid, the poorest, most struggling people among us.
  
Civil Rights:  Most bills that have come before Republican Congresses and presidents related to civil rights have been either ignored or watered down to mean essentially nothing.  Police are being militarized and that equipment is often used against people of color.  Segregation in our communities, schools, and other public places is nearly as strong as ever.

Size of Government:  Republicans claim Government is too large, and should be "drowned in a bathtub."  But under every Republican administration, our government grew significantly, particularly in the areas of the military, the war on drugs, homeland security.  Growth is good as long as the right people benefit.

Tax Reform:  Republicans HATE taxes.  They want all the benefits of having decent roads, police, fire, and deportation services, safe bridges, airports, sports stadiums but they don't want to have to pay for, and will work hard to avoid paying for them.  Companies are permitted to take profits off-shore, and for quite a while, companies were given tax breaks for moving abroad.  Any tax breaks go mostly to the wealthiest 1%.  Republicans think that's fair.

Environment:  President Nixon signed the Environmental Protection Agency into law in the early 1970's, but despite the amazing clean-up it has overseen, current Republicans are working very hard to dismantle the regulations that protect our air and water, so even the one really positive thing Republicans have done is being corrupted.  Make as much money as you can and to hell with the destruction caused.  Someone will clean it up later. 

So, what do Republicans have to offer America?  It is certainly not anything to benefit average Americans.  If the past is any indication, unless we can get some Republicans out of office, our nation will continue on this destructive course, and the rich will get richer and the rest of us poorer.

CLIMATE LIARS

The Environmental Protection Agency was founded shortly after the first Earth Day back in the early 1970's.  It's mission was to clean up and protect our air and water.  This was a tough mission since air pollution at the time was horrific as were our waterways.  Ohio got to watch one of its rivers burning and citizens of New York City and Los Angeles often could not see a blue sky.

Over the years, the EPA has worked hard and fought to clean up  our air and water.  There is still a lot to do, but until recently, the Agency was moving in the right direction.

We now face an even more critical period in our nation, and the world as a whole.  We face the possible collapse of the environmental systems that support the entire planet.  The cause, global warming.  It is called "climate change."  It is a change in the climate, but the truth is, the change is global warming.  The warming began with the Industrial Revolution a couple hundred years ago and is continuing, even increasing. 

In short, nearly all environmental scientists know global warming is caused by human activity.  What activity?  The burning of fossil fuels:  coal, oil, natural gas, releasing into the air, gasses known to act as a warming blanket, creating a planetary greenhouse.  Animal farming and leaky natural gas wells also contribute large amounts of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas.
  
The current head of EPA, Scott Prewitt is what some call a climate denier.  This means he does not publicly acknowledge any change in the world's climate.  Besides, if there were any change, it could not be caused by the actions of people, Right?

Mr. Prewitt is a lawyer.  This means he attended at least 7 years of college.  Unless Mr. Prewitt attended a school like Trump University, he had basic science and math classes which teach reasoning and logic.  He would have learned about the scientific method and the ways scientists investigate an issue, testing and retesting.  As a law student, he would have learned how arguments are structured and that each position needs to be backed up with facts.

Mr. Prewitt, Mr. Trump, and all the other folks dubbed "Climate deniers" know global warming is happening.  They have seen or heard the evidence.  They know that 100-year storms are occurring every few years.  Sea levels are rising, droughts and floods are happening more frequently than at any other time in recent history. 

It is easy to see these "climate deniers" as quaint, stupid, foolish, or any of a variety of appropriate adjectives.  However, they are, in addition, really, climate liars.  They are lying to their constituents, the American people.  They know what is occurring. 

Why would people like Mr. Prewitt knowingly put all our lives at risk by weakening or eliminating regulations that have served to lower human impact on the environment?  Why would they want the United States to drop out of a climate agreement signed by every country in the world but one (Syria), and now us?

The only word I can think of is GREED.  They are hoping to make a few quick bucks before there will be no choice about the use of fossil fuels.  I suppose they think they can accumulate enough money to cushion the blow that is coming. 

The media is partially to blame for the prominence of climate liars.  In some kind of "search for different viewpoints" they think they must put up a climate liar every time an environmentalist is interviewed.  This lets people think the viewpoints are of equal weight.  They are not!  

The climate is changing.  The change is being accelerated by human activity.  We, as a global community, need to act now.  That's it.  Everyone knows it or at least suspects it.  Those in power who publicly deny these truths are lying to themselves and to everyone else.  They are CLIMATE LIARS!  Done!

GO TEACHERS !

Teachers have been maligned in many ways over the past 2 decades.  We have been blamed for our students' poverty, their inability to focus, their negative behavior (when they exhibit such), students' lack of progress, and so many other things.  We are given more and more work every year.  Our ability to teach is infringed every day by administrators and politicians who could not do what we do.  And, we are told "You have off every summer, what are you complaining about!" 

Funding for our schools is cut over and over.  Important programs like libraries, music, and art are cut.  Those who do the cutting do not send their children to the schools without these programs.  But, they do institute charter schools in the poorest communities.  charter schools and their private owners are paid top dollar for doing less with more, while public schools must constantly do more with less. 

Adversarial relationships are developed between parents and community members and teachers by conservative media that would love all public schools to be taken over by dogmatic thought-control institutions that can steer our children's minds to a place where they will question nothing. 

We force students to take standardized, "gotcha" tests that don't measure what they know, but the level of stress and frustration they will tolerate while "proving" they are ignorant fools. 

In many states, teacher salaries are insufficient to cover daily expenses while financial guys who don't work nearly as hard are paid millions.  How is this right?

Enough!

We teachers are sick of it.  Sometimes, striking is the only weapon we have when the situation becomes so bad we can no longer function in any meaningful way.  It is interesting the states where teachers face the harshest conditions and lowest salaries are the most conservative?  Hmmm!  These are also the states that have vilified unions, which in most places are the only protection teachers have.  It's time the public learns that unions are the only force in our country that has truly championed workers over time. 

I am 100% behind the teachers all over the country who are walking out for their rights and the rights of their students to have the resources they need to succeed!  This is a start, but we have a long way to go to bring our schools to a place where schools are seen as essential, charter schools are held accountable, teachers are respected as professionals, and students are given more options related to their education.  Schools must have sufficient resources to select and teach a curriculum that emphasizes critical and creative thinking and problem-solving.

This is asking a lot, but it can be done.  In 1957 when the Russian satellite Sputnik was launched, America stepped up and enhanced its educational programs to prepare students for a challenging science-centered future.  We need another similar program to develop well-informed, thoughtful, creative citizens prepared to face a changing world where global warming will impact everything. 

So, pay teachers a professional salary.  Evaluate curricula and select those that are strongest related to truth, critical and creative thinking, and problem-solving in the real world.  Re-instate music, the arts in general, and libraries in the schools.  Incorporate technology in ways that will allow students to broadly explore their world through guided inquiry.  Truly embrace diversity and provide resources to shape each students education to actual needs.  Employ sufficient staff to support the work of the teachers. 

Then, here is the inexpensive part.  Encourage media outlets to promote the teaching profession as exciting, challenging, and essential for the future of our country. 

OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTION

by Ruth A. Sheets

Last week I read a book written about 20 years ago, The Least of These My Brethren by Dr. Daniel Baxter.  It is a memoir of a doctor who served on an AIDS ward among the poor and homeless of New York City in the 1990's.  The book took me back to my time working with people with HIV and AIDS in Nashville a few years earlier.  The illnesses from which Dr. Baxter's patients suffered were similar to those experienced by the people I worked with.  I heard again the names of the diseases and had flashbacks to the late 1980s and the suffering I witnessed. 

The diseases people with AIDS suffer from are referred to as opportunistic infections because they arise from the destruction of a person's immune system.  HIV, however,  is the actual underlying cause. 

A flash of insight came to me.  Donald Trump's election to the American presidency is an opportunistic infection in the American system.  The underlying cause is as insidious to our country as HIV is to the human body.

Our nation's HIV is inequality.  At some level, pure equality is not possible.  Many factors help to determine each person's starting point in life.  Where were you born?  Who were your parents?  What genetic contributions did your family make?  What environmental contributions did your family and community make?

Clearly people have different abilities, different gifts, different likes and dislikes which may or may not come from birth.  The shaping of these into the person each of us will be is steady and ongoing. For many, our birth circumstances provide advantages which generally only increase over time.  Others' disadvantages are so overwhelming any improvement is nearly miraculous.

Probably, if you asked anyone  living in America, the response would be that equality is a goal toward which we should strive.  Everyone should have the same rights.  Everyone should be able to vote, have a job, worship as they wish, be able to speak freely, and pursue happiness.

The problem with equality has been identified often, most recently for me by my sister who reminded me that to someone who has privilege, equality seems like oppression.

Privileged Americans do not actually want equal opportunity.  They want their advantage (which of course, they see as equal opportunity).  Since people of privilege, in their own eyes, work harder, create more, in short, deserve everything they have and earned it "fair and square."  They achieved it entirely on their own. 

Their belief structure says poor people are poor because they are lazy.  They don't work very hard.  They don't care about their homes or neighborhoods, or anything else for that matter.  So, "if they worked as hard as I work, they would have the same opportunities I have." 

Privileged Americans have a similar set of beliefs about every group that is not their own.  Women aren't as dedicated to their work and besides, belong in the house taking care of the children they must have.  People of color just aren't as good.  God made them to be less, so they should be grateful and happy with what they are given.  Refugees and immigrants in general are going to take my job and wreck my neighborhood, so we can't let them in. 

The American government is supposed to support these beliefs.  The most recent tax law makes that clear.  Cut taxes on the rich because they earned that money and the folks who need assistance are takers and don't deserve it.  We give them too much already.

The challenge is that some of these thoughts are not conscious. Most privileged Americans do not go around thinking, I'll sue that college for letting that obviously inferior black guy in instead of me (although some have done that).  They don't say to themselves, "I'll sexually harass that woman to make her feel more inferior than I actually think she is."  But privilege allows these beliefs to be manifest on a regular basis.

When challenged that their actions are racist or sexist, privileged folks claim they most certainly are not and that we are all just too PC (politically correct).  When managers are being held to a new, hopefully corrected standard, they whine that they are being picked on  and targeted.

Into this land of privileged advantages came Donald Trump, a bearer of privilege disguised as sympathy for those who could have what he has, if only those horrible other people didn't always get in the way, taking their jobs, moving into neighborhoods where they don't belong, getting handouts, leaving the givers poorer.

Mr. Trump has infected the nation with a cancerous nationalism that can ravage the body if not checked.  His "me first" approach to everything introduces a creeping fear that "maybe I won't get what I am entitled to, since we are giving so much to the undeserving."

Equality does not mean that everyone has exactly the same things, the same amount of money, lives in the same place, etc. etc.  That kind of system will never work, but it does mean that one's color, gender, nationality, educational background, religion, name, or any other factor does not automatically get you anything or deprive you of anything either.  It means we all have access to affordable health care.  We all have the right to choose what happens to our bodies.  It means we all have the same educational opportunities and chances to get meaningful jobs and affordable quality housing. 

If we had this kind of equality, someone like Mr. Trump would have gotten no traction.  He would have been seen as the pathetic human being he is.  He does not care about anyone but himself.  He claims to be a genius, but never reads, makes serious inquiries, or takes time to think through anything.  He throws tantrums like a toddler and bullies like a 3rd grader on the playground.  He is a terrible business man who cheats and lies his way through life, expecting everyone to be OK with that.   

Until we can figure out how to effectively treat our nation's underlying inequality, we will have to treat the opportunistic infections of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, privilege, fear, and so much more.  Let's get going.  It's going to take a lot of us to rid our society of these deadly infections.