Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) thinks Donald Trump’s personal vendettas could lead to the collapse of American democracy.
Sanders told The Guardian he believes the “bitter” and “humiliated” ex-president would be more vindictive than ever, if elected for a second term later this year. I could not agree more!
Yesterday Trump told the people of Iowa, “You can’t sit home. If you’re sick as a dog… even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it,” mimicking a dying supporter as he delivered the line.
What kind of human being would say something so cruel! Iowa is facing a brutal cold front as voters prepare for the Republican caucus on Monday, with reports saying with wind chill, the state could reach 35 degrees Fahrenheit below zero the day of the caucus.
Thanks to Trump and his Congressional enablers,
America has become the Devil’s playground!
Now he’s subliminally trying to manipulate Supreme Court judges. As a subtle threat he said, “he hopes the Court does “the right thing.”
He said the same thing regarding Mike Pence on January 6th, 2021. Remember, the judges on the Supreme Court have sworn to uphold the Constitution and are supposed to be apolitical!
This comes on the heels of the bomb threat called into the home of Judge Engoron!
I believe Trump not only promotes violence against anyone who tries to hold him accountable, he also enjoys it! That’s why he waited so long on Jan 6 to call off his dogs! They erected a gallows and intended to hang his VP! Trump tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done,” prompting rioters to chant “hang Mike Pence” and erect mock gallows. Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney has described testimony from Trump aides saying he responded by saying Pence “deserves it.”
Until Trump is held accountable for his many crimes it will only get much worse! No one in the Republican Congress condemns him for his despicable behavior! Their Parents must be so proud of what they are doing to our country!
All of these people need to uphold their oath because they are the role models for the rest of us! They all swore to uphold the Constitution not anything else!
Iowa, why restrict political confusion just to the state of Iowa. I listen to the interviews conducted with the local inhabitants and wonder what planet these people are really from. How do every day ordinary citizens develop thinking, or the lack thereof, seen in these people. They express opinions I would expect to find in disillusioned young children, not in educated adults. I have a feeling the word "educated" takes on an entirely different meaning for people who live in rural areas. It would seem their schooling is complete after a student earns their GED. It's not just Iowa, the lack of political vision is more of an epidemic that is rapidly spreading, at breakneck speed, across this country. It is almost as if our neighbors are endeavoring to emulate the dysfunctional mentality found within the mind of Donald Trump. Stupid is as stupid does, our own people exist as if they were in some sort of trance. How do we break the spell?
Donald Hodgins, another "great and intentional" benefit of GOP defunding schools for decades, keep them dumb to facts and truths so they are easier to manipulate and also won't most likely have the resources to learn the truth or get in their way. Add onto that the limited contact with counter-views to oppose the goliaths of propaganda being pounded into their heads day after day in church, on the radio, in the coffee shop, and on cable propaganda shows and you have GOP winners. They have been conditioned on steriods. I don't believe they are less intelligent than me, just conditioned differently.
For more than a decade I worked in the educational publishing business in the social studies area (1976-90). Our civics textbook, I thought, was especially good with lively illustrations and lots of questions to stimulate discussion. But we had an increasing amount of trouble selling it, because people were nervous about asking middle schoolers to think. (Every chapter ended with a short commentary from a historical or contemporary figure, and students were asked, "What do you think?") It didn't help that the Reagan and G.H.W. Bush administrations pushed a curriculum that was oddly elitist. (Thank you, Lynn Cheney and E.D. Hirsch.) And something began to eat away at the market—an insistence that a kind of consumer economics was more vital and necessary. Students, they claimed, wanted to learn to make money for themselves. Proctor and Gamble even gave away curriculum materials so that schools got free teaching materials for students and teachers. I'm not sure why the social studies groups did not push back harder, but my company got out of the market entirely.
Around here, we were told we needed to focus on the basics and couldn't afford the extras like art, music and civics. What will happen now that big banks are buying single family homes to rent? They won't want to pay property taxes for schools. Public education may soon be finished.
Tying school funding to real estate taxes was a terrible idea from the start. It just guarantees that wealthy neighborhoods get the best schools, and there was a failed push in California to put a stop to it at some point.
I taught in NYC public school for over 30 years, and they have been trying to destroy the public school system from the early 70s. Discipline has been destroyed. Teaching ,unless you are connected, is a dead end job . They implement program after program ,example Common Core , to make fortunes for corporations ,that are worse than useless. Now it is Charter Schools ,publicly supported schools that when teaching similar students as public schools have not been found to be any better . The teachers are less qualified ,make less , have no representation and that's exactly what big money wants.
I wonder if the federal govt. could 'outlaw' or put a stop to banks buying homes,doesn't seem to work out well.They're already too big for their britches!
Liberal Arts is no longer considered the template for a basic, well-rounded education. It seems the vast majority of undergraduates want to specialize in a field WITHOUT being exposed to the Arts and Humanities. SO, instead of a student who is taught to think critically for themselves at the undergraduate level, they fast-track to a "business" background at the expense of delving into the intellectual realm of ideas and fact-based research. "Higher-education" appears to be emphasizing "training" OVER thinking and experiencing...
I took a business major at the university but was still required to take electives to round out my education. My philosophy class was on a Friday evening. I could barely keep my eyes open. Same with banking course...boring. Today I have no idea what they teach about banking. It is so corrupt and unorganized thanks to de-regulation and international banks. CEOs steal as much as you can?
There's your answer. As usual, public schools are in the hands of state governments, whose political leaders have their own objectives. But they would do well to go back and read John Dewey, who understood the primary importance of teaching each student to understand the workings of government and what it means to be a responsible citizen participating in the democratic process.
Actually, governing schools is largely in the hands of local governments—usually cities or counties but sometimes larger districts. State funds vary, and broader rules are in the mix, but local politics can play an important role.
Progwoman --My roommate in my first year in college had a father who was big in the publishing business centered around textbooks. His Name was Hobbs, ring a bell, he lived on the East coast. This would have been in the 60s.
Probably before my time. I came in just as the big publishing houses in Boston and New York were beginning to lose power. I can remember when the art deco McGraw Hill building in mid-town NYC sat almost empty because it had never been air-conditioned and it was too big a job in a recession.
Donald Hodgins ; And financial literacy, in addition to Civics, which may never have been taught to those on the bottom, and they are lied to as they are fleeced to the max.
Laurie--It is easier to take from those who don't understand. It is easier to lie to those who have trouble thinking, and it is easier to control those who don't know what freedom really is. To those at the top, ignorance is bliss.
Donald: When I was in 4th grade they taught us financial literacy by taking time out of class to have anyone who wanted to sign up for a savings account at the local S&L (the only one in town).
I guess they wanted us to save up for college (my town was 90%+ white). I deposited 25 cents a week. Had at least $30 in my account when I graduated from high school. even in 1969, at the (cheap then) U of Delaware, I think that was not quite enough to pay for my first class (Calculus I at 8 am on Monday).
M--Those letters are out of alphabetical order but what you said is so true. Keep the overall understanding of the public at a low level and they are easier to control.
Keeping the people controllable by denying them access to an education has been the most effective method used by all authoritarian governments for millennia! Religious institutions have been doing the same thing for centuries,let the masses have just enough of approved teaching to make them able to do the bidding of those in charge!
This was a required and needed fundamental class on how to participate as an informed citizen in my day. The kids today are unaware of how our system actually is set up to function much less given the critical thinking skills required to participate and sift through all the mixed messaging out there (in every form).
Karin--I hear you, that's the way it was when I was in school. It would seem the class was systematically removed to suit someone's agenda. The loss of that class is exactly how we got Boebert.
While Congress is busy persecuting Hunter Biden, I wonder why they're not asking how Boebert (who was bankrupt prior to election) is now worth $20 million?
NY State has had Regents Exams for ages. It tests to make sure students are learning the lessons given. You need a Regents Exam diploma to get into public university and state teachers colleges.
Standardized testing is good if not abused like the Bush administration did to make money on them.
I finally realized that Boebert was an escaped character from "Dilbert." Like Dogbert, Catbert, and Ratbert. Alas, "Dilbert" is gone but Boebert remains.
(This is probably the wrong time and place to mention Robert, LOL.)
When the government decided in the 90’s on state testing and they decided what should be tested. Also book companies control what is taught it all political and money driven. There is big money in testing.
Joan--Get this, I live in a district where the schools give mock exams that reflect the state tests given in the fall. They give these things over and over again to improve the results from their kids. Then they brag about how well their students did, and how progressive their educational programs are. Like Trump they cheat to get what they want.
Donald, I understand. I have my masters in elementary education. I taught in the central city. (98 %poverty) it was my choice. We worked very hard teaching our core subjects. When we took our tests we came so close. We teachers would say next year we got this. The government would again raise the “bar” because the districts with a low percentage of poverty scored so high!
Now, our country continues to dumb down. If trump gets in the poor will have less opportunities for success. The rich will get richer…
No one. That's a myth. I taught was civics for years and my grand daughter is taking civics now. The problem is fully funded public education stops at age 18. Then it is up to the media to educate the adults.
I can only speak for California, Oregon and Washington. Civics and government was taught in every school I worked in, where my son went to school and where my grand daughter is now. She knows a lot! Especially in 6th through 12th grades, but it is woven into history and social studies classes all the time. The problem is when education stops at 18. They're not even fully grown yet. And some people forget or don't keep up. I would support continuing education and more non-profit news media.
More than a hundred years ago, during the educational reform period at the turn of the twentieth century, the decision was made to not teach information and knowledge in the schools.
Conformity and obedience disguised as education were the mandate of that era and still are; more easily aided and abetted by political polls, social media stars and influencers in our daily flood of noisy misinformation. The question we must routinely ask ourselves is, 'Who planted that and why?' Though such a question may appear paranoid, it isn't. It's part of the cure for the ideological cancer that is eating away at our minds and by extension at our democracy.
some people have what is called an "authoritarian personality" where (for whatever reason) they don't want to learn, they don't want to think, they don't want to take responsibility for their own actions; instead, they gladly surrender their thinking (and their money) to follow the Authoritarian Leader who tells them what to think and what to do. They also find security and power in submerging themselves in a mass movement.
Here's a short review of Erich Fromm's "Escape from Freedom" - written in 1941 to explain why so many of his countrymen surrendered themselves to Hitler; it's scarily prophetic of today's MAGA crowd surrendering themselves to Trump.
My great grand father was teaching at that time. Believe me, no one came into his one-room school house, grades k-12 to supervise content. Nor my grand mother's classroom, nor my mother's, nor mine. Not until George W Bush. NCLB was purged of content and now students are tested on skills, only. It's why I hate Bill Gates, for starters.
Right. The USA has been turning out complete dolts for 100 years.
That's why we had to wait until the aliens landed to build rockets for us, and where would we be if Wakanda had not carelessly tossed out that computer for some midwit to find and get working again somehow?
Nailed it. It’s like the iceberg of the First Amendment broke off the glacier of morality and is headed for the ship of democracy.
The first amendment was meant to allow controversial speech, but not let deliberate deception spread unrestrained, as it is now doing. Morality was supposed to act as a limitation.
Edit: I should have have said “and is now grinding along the side of the ship of democracy.”
it's the conundrum of liberty - it has to be curtailed to be functional - otherwise you get fox 'news' - also the problem of modernity: so much going on, world so complicated, and one has to keep nose to grindstone...no time or opportunity to learn everything one needs to know, politically and otherwise - as someone said: we're stone-age minds with medieval institutions in an advanced technological world...a lot of us peasants still learning how to make flint knives
In "Escape from Freedom" Nazi survivor Erich Fromm said it this way:
“Man’s brain lives in the twentieth century, but his heart still lives in the Stone Age.”
Written in 1941, it describes how and why his German countrymen surrendered to Hitler, and a prophecy of the millions of Americans who are turning to Trump.
the 1st amendment was not meant to imply that those with the most money could be free to drown out the voices of the many, despite what SCROTUM said in Citizens United.
Donald and M Tree, I lived in a rural area of northwest Montana for twenty years and observed with dismay how the political climate changed. However, it is our part of creating the divide when we look down upon our rural countrymen and women with disdain. With one statement, by calling Trump supporters “A basket of deplorables” Hilary Clinton only succeeded in driving a deeper wedge into the division in our country. Her disconnect from our rural cousins and disdain for them may be a significant part of what drove them to Trump.
Yes, you and I are better educated, but we are not necessarily better people. Joe Biden and current Democratic leadership do not know nor even try to relate to these citizens. In contrast, John Tester, a grain farmer has survived as the lone Democrat holding high office in Montana. He is a brilliant and highly educated man, but he talks with Montana voters, not at them. This linked article give a bit of insight into his critical importance in keeping the senate Democratic. Personally, I think he should be a key advisor to the Biden reelection campaign who do not seem to be able to put on their britches straight. https://apnews.com/article/tester-senate-montana-2024-election-197d50f3aef99d35148e775acff52ed9
And so many more. The Big Lie. Insurrection, etc. But those issues mean nothing to the cult. They would gladly offer their wives and mothers to him.
He is still in denial about politics. Can't deny that he hates dogs -- had to pay fines for stealing from kids with cancer -- fined for using illegals on his work sites.
Marc Nevas, you addressed your response to Donald but replied to me. Not sure who you meant, but that's okay. You made good points. I grew up in farm country and some of my ancestors on this land have been farmers since colonial times. Even have some iin Iowa I have never met. So deep in my heart I feel them and appreciate your kind reminders for us to dig deep and remember that our ancestors were most likely farmers at one time or another.
I grew up in an entirely different part of the continent (Alberta, in Canada) and my relatives were 90% farmers - religion, suspicion of outsiders (esp the feds, who were so far away in the evil East), group-think, isolation from anything resembling culture - people who were deprived but didn't realize it, and the education offered didn't seem to make a dint - and now their way of making a living is being transformed and leaving them behind (tho they seem to have shiny new big trucks, RVs, boats...) - anyway, point is the population is varied but of necessity the ways of governing are simpler; country & uneducated people tend to be small-c conservative and city people more progressive by osmosis, and all sorts of shades between, and it makes it difficult to achieve national coherence - OH, AND THE ENORMITY OF THE LAND: European countries have more coherence cuz size...the US and Canada are just too big and too varied for any kind of efficiency or commonality, even in these days of transportation and communication...
When less populated and not technology based immigrants still had it hard adjusting to the language, culture, etc.
We have immigration laws because it did become a problem. Many different administrations passed them for various reasons. It is not good to let in the whole world in without knowledge of who they are.
Get real...anti-immigrant is anti-American BS. We have laws for good reasons like it or not.
Marc, Agree and Tester is key to keeping the senate under control of the Democrats. I’ve commented before that national and rural candidates need to talk with, not talk to, the people from whom they seek votes, whether they be rural, blue collar, or urban. No voter wants to be talked to or told what they should think. (Well, except members of the tRump cult.) My previous posts have highlighted how tRump got the rural vote in 2016 by purchasing every commercial spot 24/7 for the two weeks prior to the election on rural farm cable network RFD-TV for $150,000. Not a single female voter, who watches RFD-TV when polled said they’d vote for Clinton.
Clinton was an elitist mess! She and Bill are part of the New World Order of Devos, now called the World Economic Forum. They'll tell us mere mortals what to do and how to think too!
"No voter wants to be talked to or told what they should think. (Well, except members of the tRump cult.) "
There's a book called "Escape from Freedom" that describes the "authoritarian personality" as people who DO want to be told what to think"
The book was written in 1941 by Erich Fromm about how and why his German countrymen surrender their hearts and minds to Hitler; it's an important book because it's also a prophecy of today's MAGA cult - people who WANT to surrender their thinking (and personal responsibility) and submerge themselves in a Supreme Leader and mass movement/cult.
It's a difficult book to read, so here's my short substack review: it explains a lot about how and why tens of millions of American (the ones wearing the red MAGA hats especially) seem to be losing their minds.
Marc, Hilary Clinton did not call "Trump supporters" deplorable: that day a poll was released in which 38% of Republicans self-identified as "racist". THAT is what she called "deplorable", that a third of Republicans openly admitted they were racist.
But the right wing media immediately (and intentionally) applied her comment to ALL Republicans. She never called all Trump supporters deplorable; she said it was deplorable that a third of them weren't afraid to say openly that they were racists.
It was "spun" at the time, and it's still being spun. The tyranny of repeated lies.
Marc, I'd say that second-time orange voters, and those who'd vote for him a third time, are unquestionably deplorable. If one votes for him, one supports what he is. First-time orange voters....just gullible. Hillary's mistake was saying it out loud, and demonstrating her disdain. Not an effective campaign tactic, as she found out. And yes, I realize she won the popular vote, but had she conducted herself differently, she might have put the EC results over the top, as well.
Adam, and that is so opposite of the image Iowans are trying to portray, the independent, prove-it attitude. So many in that state and other "white" states have bought into the fear that they are going to be overwhelmed by those horrible not-white people, anger that they are being dismissed as unimportant, resentment that factories and other businesses have left the state along with their kids, and hatred of anyone who is not them (and they don't seem to like themselves too much either). How can a different perception break through. They are in a loop that keeps repeating and pumping the same nonsense into their circle over and over and from every quarter. They no longer permit themselves to hear or see anything else. Then they resent the "city folks" for not going along with the nonsense the rural folks have been fed for years. It is hard to watch and harder to realize that this whatever it is, is spreading across our nation like a sickness and the Republican party of today is the vector of a lot of the contagion.
Daniel Solomon ; The very few seconds that I watched MSNBC's coverage of the Iowa caucuses, I heard it said more than once that 11% of Republicans will vote blue.
Adam, you are correct: "they have been taught to not trust their own thoughts and that they need validation from outside of themselves". Thanks for identifying this.
M Tree, maybe we should take something from the Republican/conservative playbook, do a little propagandizing ourselves, making the truth something people really want instead of being lulled into believing whatever lies come down from Republicans on high. How is it their lies are so much more palatable than the truth, even when the truth would mean something positive for the people? I don't get it, but I know money has a lot to do with it, and Republicans/conservatives have a lot more of it than anyone else due to the way we the people have not properly regulated business. Ugh!!
One of MLK's prominent themes, often forgotten today, was his insistence that materialism was a threat to American society. I think he would not be surprised that consumerism is rampant.
Dems make the mistake of using rational arguments while Republicans use emotional ones with fear being uppermost! People are motivated more by emotion than by intellect unfortunately.
Ruth Sheets, what a great question!!! How do we get people to want to hear the truth? My first thought is get them to not want to hear lies. I don't know for sure, of course, but I'll take a try at it. You asked why are lies much more palatable? I think it's how their life experiences conditioned them, particularly when they were children. The ego, a conditioned mind pattern, crowds out logical reasoning, especially in a person with a very strong ego Then, they do mental gymnastics to justify and rationalize their chosen candidates who will be detrimental to them but who will resonate with their egos. A person strongly conditioned by love rather than ego, would choose candidates that resonate most closely with fairness and kindness for everyone. People need to unlearn their egoic conditioned patterns of behavior by waking up, becoming aware of their conditioning. Not an easy task.
But you made me think of the people who don't have the time or interest, or perhaps even confidence to learn about the differences between the two parties. They just vote like someone they trust, like a spouse, friend, or parent tells them they to. They may be open to some truth if it really isn't their strong ego that chooses their candidates. I'm sure there are so many other possibilities.
Whew, Ruth. I think my brain is smoking; you made me think so hard. Not that everything I said is true, just some thoughts based on my life experiences. Thanks for your great questions and helping me clean out some cobwebs in my brain and probably grow some new brain cells.
It's worth noting that three of the most successful Republican candidates in the past have been actors: Reagan, Schwarzenegger, Trump. Many vote for images they have in their heads; these images are created by media, and have nothing to do with expertise. If an actor enters politics with a prefabricated positive image he is hard to beat.
Yes M Tee...the repubs have won the media war...and Dems are consistently on the defense. Could Dem Dept of Ed make civics mandatory in high schools? Reagan dispensed with Fairness Doctrine which allowed RW media to flourish. And Dems did nothing in response.
Take FOX off the air? The fascists are relentless and have engenuity....many other disinformation stations would pop up. Note that Sinclair Comms has bought up thousands of TV stations nationwide and use some news time to spread propaganda...Goebbels & the Nazis would be utterly dumbfounded at the level of media domination repubs have acquired.
This is why MAGA really should mean Make America Gullible Again. Nothing is more appealing to psychopathic politicians than a way to create a playground in which they can manipulate others and enrich themselves along the way.
M, While I greatly appreciate your comment, I would add an additional noteworthy distinction between you and they—the ability to think critically, to put up a fight against the junk food of propaganda, to ask questions and be skeptical.
I don't think the education system has anything to do with it. People believe their own propoganda,people see what they want to see and, hear what they want to hear.
This board or any other board is the same.During Covid Bezos gave around $500 million to feeding America.He did that because he can. The propoganda made up is ,sits there counting money,doesn't pay tax,steals from the poor etc,etc,etc.Nobody should be allowed to have more than say $5 million.How many people may have died because of self delusional stupidity.How can be donate $500 million if he should never be allowed to have more than $5 million .
CALPERS ,Vanguard,Black Rock,State Street etc produce fact sheets.CALPERS is a very simple one to analyse.They give you the breakdown of assets,say 40% goes into the shares of companies around the world,,35% US companies.10% fixed interest ( govt bonds etc).They will give you the breakdown every year.People would rather believe their own self delusional rubbish.Where does the education system fit into said self delusional rubbish.
CALPERS will supply you with how the fund has grown,around $40 billion in 1988 to around $800 billion now.People contribute for a secure retirement.Share prices rise,dividends rise,they get richer because the wealth is shared around.
As obvious as that is,as easy as it is to check people are going to deny it every day of their lives.Denial to the grave,generation after generation.
I'll leave it there.Nothing is ever powerful enough to shatter self delusion.
Aussie, I agree we are our own propaganda hunters. But were we born delusional? No, we were conditioned by institutions, all of us were, by families, churches, governments, schools, etc. and by our life experiences in the wider society also. Some of us have more profound blindspots (delusions of grandeur for example) than others due to the frequency and intensity of our conditioning.
Right now, we have state boards of education rewriting curriculums, tossing out books, using fear and intimidation of students and teachers to further their self-delusional propaganda goal that whites and white men are superior morally, intellectually, physically, etc. to non-whites and women. This is an example of what I meant by the correlation between education and propaganda.
One note about the GED. I was a very troubled and frustrated student who resented the "by-rote" style of teaching and rebelled all of the time.
I took the GED and got 296 out of 300 points. My secret weapon? My love of reading. This love allowed me to educate myself and gain new skill sets as needed.
To your point, no one monitored the books I read, nothing was "off-limits" as such and I was not hindered by any family history or my townspeople's parochial attitudes.
Adam--My 3 kids were so considerate of their old man none of them graduated from High School, saving me from having to purchase any gifts to reward their educational efforts. They all got their GED. My oldest had an IQ of 165, she dropped out because the school system helped the average student but those who needed special assistance and those who were gifted were pushed aside and basically neglected. The test they gave was given in two parts and on consecutive nights. My child looked over the test and raised her hand. Once called upon she simply asked if she finished the first half could she take the second part that same night? The teacher conducting the test laughed at the question and sarcastically said, Yes sweetie, if you can finish part one you are more than welcome to have a crack at completing the second part. She did both parts on the same night and got a 97% as an overall grade. They wasted an opportunity to reach a truly gifted young thinker. Considering she skipped her entire senior year.
Donald, as a retired teacher of gifted students, I am so sad your daughter's school didn't respect her enough to offer her what she needed. I would have loved to have had her among my students. I worked hard to find paths for them to do a lot of independent but guided learning. The classroom teachers worked hard to see that they were challenged. We didn't have the resources wealthy districts have (as the poorest district in my state), but I and the other teachers offered many opportunities for them to learn and develop their skills in and out of the school setting. I often took on students not officially tested gifted because their teachers knew tests don't tell everything about a student. I hope your daughter and your other "children" used the GED to find a valuable place for themselves in this crazy world, using their gifts for the benefit of their community and beyond.
Ruth--My daughter was given a special exam that they gave to all perspective members of a special group of young students, she scored in the top 1/2 of 1% of all the gifted kids in the country and she was only 5.
Awesome! Donald, that must have been a bit tough for you at first. Having a gifted child is a challenge most parents are not ready for. It appears that you were and did the testing that would have helped her school provide the accelerated programs that would have made her education interesting and challenging. When they did not properly follow-through for her, it was just plain wrong. There is no excuse today because there are so many resources online and even in teacher manuals the teachers could have consulted to stimulate her learning. I hope that with your family's guidance, she found all kinds of things to keep her mind whirring along, growing into the amazing gift she was given.
Schools dumb us down! Homeschoolers do so much better usually. I tried teaching High School in a rural, Republican area. It was glorified day care! I had four students who loved electronics and won a State Championshiip because I let them loose to take anything they needed while I babysat the rest! No support from administrators who were content to collect their nice paycheck! Worse job I ever had and they werren't going to fund the class for 10 years but we did get new Football bleachers!
I was fortunately to be born a few years after Sputnik, when the US was afraid of falling behind the USSR. Thanks to that and a dedicated teacher/administrator Henrietta (Hattie) Glenn who created the gifted program for Jefferson Co, KY and ran it the way Adm. Rickover ran the nuclear navy. She oversaw all aspects of the program, and made sure everything was top notch. After I was recommended by my 1st grade teacher, Ms. Glenn gave me the evaluation test personally. Ms. Glenn would come to our class 1-2 times per year to observe, and teach a short lesson. There were 40-50 gifted elementary classrooms in the district, and she made time to visit them, while administering everything else. Thanks to her and a bunch of amazing teachers, most of whom Ms. Glenn hired, I got challenging, top notch education. It’s a shame we needed to be losing a missile race to create support for good education.
Yes, that's a problem with schools today. They're designed to keep the top students down to the level of the average students, failing to take advantage of superior skills of top students to advance them on a faster scale which they can handle.
Jaime--It was a case where my daughter was smarter than many of her teachers. She even told off the principal for interfering with her education, you should have sat in on that phone call.
I would've loved that. I often corrected my math teachers. One of them took revenge on me by not crediting answers without writing down the "work", unnecessary intermediate calculations that I always skipped because my mind could reach the answer more directly. That held me back & discouraged me about math.
true that - I was a very bright student (dumb in other ways, but that's another story) and was neglected, ignored, while teachers tried in vain to penetrate the cement skulls that just laughed at their efforts...a little better when my kids went to school...
Adam, I do not think anyone should disparage the GED. It has made life better for a lot of students who could not for a variety of reasons, manage regular school and either dropped out or didn't complete classes to get the diploma. Several of my "gifted" students did that and I am glad for them. It seems that public education needs a boost in funding, course requirements, but also in attitude. The charter schools get lots of public money, in our state, off the top of the state budget, so they can advertise a lot while the regular public schools can't afford to, they are just there, even though in general, regular public schools either outperform or match the charter schools a vast majority of the time (in one study 83% of the time), which means we the people are pumping a lot of money into entities that really don't need to exist at all. Then, there are vouchers (OK, that's a story for another day). When a political party decides public schools need as little support as they can get away with, the children and the state as a whole suffer. We must find ways to let all people come to believe that education and life-long learning are critical to a successful life and society, the economy too.
I totally agree, Ruth. If the right had its way, public schools would cease to exist, and depriving them of funds is one way to move in that direction. Both teachers and students suffer.
Two of my sons homesshooled. They'd finish all their work in the Morning and made money with a paper route in the afternoon beside playing outside or helping me. They both took the GED and finished their college degree. One even had a scholarhship. The other paid for all his music lessons and equiptment and is now a teaching musician.
I dutifully conformed to the teachers’ “by rote” lessons (& graduated with high honors). I agree that learning & critical thinking are a product of a totally different approach. I also eschew the growing used of videos & other passive activities in the classroom. Students need to interact with their teacher, read more, & acquire a love of inquiry.
Donald, I, too have been disheartened and disturbed by the comments of the Iowans interviewed about the Caucus. I am not sure, though that it is entirely the fault of Iowans themselves. The interviewers rarely ask "real" questions, only questions that will get the mixed-up, pathetic answers the people give. Have you heard any follow-up questions like: name two positions your chosen candidate has that you are in agreement with, then 2 that you oppose; have you ever considered or voted for a Democrat or independent candidate, and if not, why not, if so, why; how do you feel about the violence Donald Trump is suggesting should happen if he does not win the election; do you receive Social Security or Medicare and if so how do you feel about Republicans desire to cut those programs. I hear a lot of interviewees mumbling that they don't know who they are supporting in the caucus (but of course they know), and mouthing their unsupported choice for the caucus but no follow-up to give them a chance to explain. Now, is that because the pieces aired are only specifically chosen phrases or that there was nothing else? The Republican candidates, like the voters are not asked challenging questions either and are permitted also to mumble or writhe their way through an answer with little to no follow-up. Maybe the voters are just following what their candidates do as though that were some kind of badge of honor. I do wish our media and screen media journalists would do better; I know the Republican candidates can't do better.
1,000 likes from me. I’ve often thought the same thing. But not even one “and just what exactly do you think trump will do to make it better?” Whether it’s the economy, the war in Ukraine or Israel, inflation, the border etc. etc.
We lost an experienced Democrate doing a very thorough job as tax collector to a 20 year old who lives in his mother's basement, is still in school and his only work experience is selling on EBAY and cutting grass! All a candidate needs here to win is an "R" after his name!! So discouraging!
TJ--I'm just an ordinary guy trying to find my way through this unordinary world. You misjudged me and I don't hold that against you in any way. I find it odd, that what lies at the heart of this country's problems, is exactly what happened between us. People making themselves unapproachable because of their ideology and the fear that their world will be broken by a new sense of reality. We need a wall at our Southern border, but we don't need walls between our people.
I had to turn off the Iowa PBS show that showed MAGA Iowans (and not all of them were rural) explain their fealty to Trump. Nauseating. I live in rural Iowa, and I cannot stomach their nonsense, but we only have one state-elected Democrat in office, State Auditor Rob Sand, and Gov. Kim Reynolds has hamstrung him in the extreme. She publicly stated during the election cycle when Sand was running for re-election that she wanted someone to unseat him because, get this, she wanted "her own" auditor. That tells you everything about the state of Iowa's politics and lack of transparency and ethics. Sand would make a GREAT governor, but the DMC will never back him because state politics runs deeply red.
Joan--I live in Michigan and my neighborhood is infested with Trumpers. One individual on the other street has had dozens of Trump signs on her front lawn, and they've been there since 2015. I thought I had it bad, but your entire state is holding you captive.
some people extricate themselves from ignorance - just read how Ray Bradbury couldn't afford to go to university so he went to the local library (at least he had one!! god bless Carnegie) and read everything there...but not everyone has the inclination, the time, or the individuality (we're group creatures after all) to go it alone
Jen--I had a small growth on my neck, it turned out to be a left over from my chem class, probably the result of working on too many "Molar", equations.
Donald, "spell" is the right word, and some of these individuals may die for the sake of Trump (some actually did on Jan 6). Trump is a savvy actor, and we need actors to confront, question and ridicule him. Biden cannot do it.
The way to break the spell is to let Trump keep pumping out his verbal diarrhea. Sooner or later these MAGA folks will realize they are drowning in it. Hopefully sooner. I only have a GED but I have some Common Sense! I would question how many of MAGA have GEDs?
Kieth0-- Good morning, Sir. Your GED is more in the line of a PHD around here. A guy that went by the name of Paine would love your "Common sense." Pumping the Don with as much crap as possible just might cause the orange guy to over amp, as it were.
Iowa has been draining brains since WW2. The left-behinders fall into two categories. Those who work in factories and those who own the factories. Don't let the bucolic fields fool us. Every square inch of Iowa is a factory engaged in ruthless resource extraction.
Iowa is experiencing brain drain. The college graduates are leaving the state for better pay in other more progressive states. Also Iowa has become much older and more “Christian” thus less open to forward thinking. “It was fine when I was a kid” type thinkers.
Alice--Iowa gives a look into what life would be like under Trump. Poorly educated but still our people, Iowans are a small segment of our population that teach the rest of us a good lesson--stay in school.
Actually I think it’s the canary in the mine. Shows that something is killing our people. This problem in Iowa started with “No Child Left Behind”. Iowa used to rate very high on how well students did in school. Then the world changed and lots of changes happened because we lost something - the different paths one could follow. There used to be shop class, drafting, office skills and the like taught in high schools. The schools taught to the child’s interests (and parents wishes) rather than to a series of tests.
Joan--Get this, I live in a district where the schools give mock exams that reflect the state tests given in the fall. They give these things over and over again to improve the results from their kids. Then they brag about how well their students did, and how progressive their educational programs are. Like Trump they cheat to get what they want.
It’s not even that they’re stupid- it’s just plain denial. When presented with an undeniable fact:
Me: Trump thinks Dad is a chump for his service as a Marine and cop, because there was nothing in it for him - no way for him to become rich. Here’s the quotes….
Mom: I’m not buying that.
The facts or intelligence do not apply. I think that generation spent so much of their lives denying all the bad stuff going on around them (people born in the 1930s), and following the patriarchy blindly- it’s genuinely scary 🫣 for them to veer away- even if it’s hurting themselves
Yes- lol that actually is helpful, because trying to figure it out is not working x too many years. Steeling myself for a birthday visit …. Therapist on call
Yes!!!!! I am pretty sure that Civics and civility are not being taught in school now and it is a shame. No intelligent person should support #45. He is deranged and a threat to our Democracy. Wake up America!!!!!
We continue the prosecutions,then kick his ass into a dungeon.(A muzzle might also work
very well)One way or another people need to be deprogrammed and see the light.This maniac will do nothing for them!Maybe someone from the Biden campaign can reach the people that need it the most.
Well no actually, if I get your intent. That movie was a spoof of course, or a satire, but its plot involving ignorant unintelligent and cowed people being ruled by corporate elites has all kinds of corollaries for today. And the writers could not have known then just how prescient they were. That is very sad.
The problem really goes beyond trump. It goes right to our fellow Americans who allow a cretin like trump to exist in American politics in the first place. These are people we see every day, and they like what comes out of his mouth. Something has happened to make them hate, and trump has made it not only ok to hate but the righteous way to be. He's made it ok to hate their fellow Americans. That's why I hate him!
I think ConDon is a vile human being, I will not let him turn my heart black with his hate..instead I hope.. hope the justice system brings him to his knees and he continues to tell his follower they are but mere pawns needed for votes then they can die ..
Media needs to do much better at covering him is another hope..
Sanders told The Guardian he believes the “bitter” and “humiliated” ex-president would be more vindictive than ever, if elected for a second term later this year. I could not agree more!
In one of his many columns after 9/11 Thomas Friedman described how the young men who"slammed planes into those buildings" had been humiliated when they arrived from their homelands to Western Europe to attend university.
They were not treated like "princes amongst men." Rather, they were treated like brown-skinned young men whose home culture had not been put through the cuisinart of the Enlightenment.
The radical Imams kept an eye out for that humiliation, and weaponized it.
Hell hath no fury like a young (or not so young) man humiliated...
Or a (mostly older) Iowa voter, who was implicitly referred to by Reich as “UNTALENTED.” It’s a short leap to “DEPLORABLE.”
Do we see where our elitism as gotten us? Our “superior-because- we-have-more- formal-education” mindset has created these conditions-- of course a fascist has stepped in, so all those “untalented” folks can “correct” us.
Educated does not mean “talented”-- as in, we are innately gifted with superior TALENT. But we sure think so! And it comes across in micro aggressions like Reich inadvertently revealed in this piece.
Liz, there is some truth there! I felt that from all my progressive friends who attacked me for opposing the clotshot, vax that was neither safe nor effective. I was even called a Trumper! Wow, how ignorant can some educated people be?!
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, a friend who taught college sociology recognized the name of one highjacker as a student from a class she taught. She called the FBI and they interviewed her, but of course, he was dead.
keep in mind what djtrump said a few weeks ago to the people of Sioux City, Iowa after a school shooting; “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here,” he added. “But have to get over it, we have to move forward.”
If anyone wants to 'understand' Trump, look up the definition of a malignant narcissist. It's all right there. Everything he does is textbook. They leave a trail of damage for generations. His rallies feed his narcissist personality disorder. They are nothing short of a KKK rally.
Voters don't seem to be aware of Project 2025 or what I call the Chattel Project. They are using every tool in their racist toolbox to turn this country back to the John D. Rockefeller days. If Ayn Rand was on the ticket she would win. I hope Iowans will be thrilled to lose their pensions, Healthcare, social security and pay a 30% National Tax across the board. The rich will get richer and the rest of us will feel like we live in Venezuela. They don't just want to own the liberals. They want to own us all.
That's the problem. They say 5 Hail Mary's turn around and repeat the same inhumane behavior. There idiots. One does have the right to be dumber than a doorknob in this country. And it shows.
Keith Olson ; as I have been saying ; Why are they not disqualified for violating their oaths of office? Who enforces these things that directly impact all of US? If they can't put a man in jail for violating his bail agreement, will judges and prosecutors be unable to do their jobs? Over three years and counting, and this criminal still threatens our Democracy! I have been asking all three years ; Where is our defense? What is 'Homeland Security"? Just to protect the wealthy criminals and their thugs? Why is Justice so slow? The evidence is plain and ample! We do not need or want a KING! Especially one who is so despicable. At the very least ; Revoke his damned bail! and end his megaphone! also keep him incommunicado, except for monitored communications with this lawyers as absolutely necessary! Get it done! He should be REQUIRED to clear his name before being on any ballot! BEFORE any election for president!
I remember Lyndsey Graham after midnight 1/6, certifying Joe Biden, disgusted with Trump and chaos: “I didn’t sign up for this!” [more or less]
Later at the airport confronted by angry Trump supporters condemning Graham’s disloyalty and cowardice, Graham must have realized that 1/6 wasn’t over.
Last night on the news: a well-dressed Iowa lady talked cheerfully about waiting in the sub-zero wind for the chance of seeing Donald Trump.
What would the Founders say? What would Jesus say? Truly amazing.
These Republican elected office holders are perverting their oath of office. They swear allegiance to the Constitution, not a person. They are shallow, shameful people, who are acting on their own personal interests, the country be damned. They are models of naked self interest.
JennSH from NC ; Those who violated their oath of office, in support of the big lie have disqualified themselves, and being thus disabled, should be removed from office and ineligible to run again for any office in government.
Here's a commentary on a recent Axios poll that Democrats should pay >very< close attention to. It makes sense to me that the opposition will be trying to draw them into a $#!7-fight over non-economic issues, conspiracy theories, and attempts to draw a false equivalence between Biden and his - currently - likely opponent, or even some half-assed understudy clone if the current favorite is indeed eliminated. It's a trap that the Democrats must avoid falling into, if at all possible.
The key will be in promoting a "vision" for dealing with kitchen table issues as discussed in the following: https://youtu.be/FBQshqkXPx8?si=gV1-owhvjEs4-ybg That would include detailing concrete measures to address those concerns in as understandable a way as possible, focusing a tad more on the needs of rural communities.
Keep in mind that Democratic voters seem to generally hail from metro areas, while the opposition comes from more sparsely populated, rural areas suffering from "brain drain" to the metro areas, and what's left are older voters and those "undereducated" folks the opposition so loves.
Keep also in mind that metro life is hectic. People have so little time that they tend to own homes or live in apartments that stand vacant most of the day until the residents come home to shove something into the microwaved, stuff it into their mouths, then collapse in exhaustion until morning.
By contrast, rural life tends to be less eventful, where major forms of entertainment revolve around church - and of course, politics. Generally - unscientifically - speaking anything else involves a trip to the local metro areas, which they've traditionally feared and considered evil places back to biblical times - Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylon, and the like. The conservative media they gravitate to does everything it can to encourage that view, as well.
AN INTERESTING BBC TAKE (for those of us beginning to believe this is what it's like to be going mad!):
ON ANOTHER ISSUE: I actually approve of keeping track of UFO/UAP's for all the reasons the expert focuses on in this piece: https://youtu.be/LPrvnyIeyDA?si=HbOUo4i_n-QeNWab and not the LGM superstitions and "X Files" conspiracy theories that MAGA media seem to focus on and promote. I rather like the notion that it's a coin-toss probability that the image they show is a result of "forgotten" - to me, that translates "undetected" - spyware. That latter take squares pretty well with the cyberwarfare that has raged on uncommented for 15 or more years, and only grabs public attention when major financial, infrastructure, government, or defense systems are breeched.
Indeed. That's the "tad" more Democrats should emphasize when they campaign in rural areas, that "Fox & friends" - that dominates that market - downplay in favor of the "non-economic issues, conspiracy theories, and attempts to draw a false equivalence" I speak of.
Further proof that Trump doesn't give a flying fig about people. "Get out and vote for ME!" "I don't care if you die afterwards, just vote for ME!" His adherents just cannot see past their far and rage to understand that they are playing into the hands of a despot.
I was sick to my stomach that he would be callus enough to not care about the human being voting...just that he gets the vote. I'm not surprised at all though. That headline should be broadcast far and loud on NPR, CNN, NBC, CBS et al.
Oh, I think he realized that when the first indictment came down, Keith. Maybe even when he lost on 11/3/20. He may be an idiot, but he has a feral sense of his own status. Now, he's scrambling like mad to find a path out of those encroaching walls, like a cornered rat. Except rats are much more intelligent, adaptable, innocuous creatures---not meaning to insult them with the comparison.
You covered all facets of trumps damage to America well....all I can add is that it's a disgrace that supposed Christians would align with D. Then again, Hitler had the Catholic church under control. And Prof. Reich explains the brain drain from certain red states...yet they hold inordinate political sway sue to electoral college. Democrats must start thinking aggressively. You better believe the fascists would move heaven & earth to achieve dissolution of electoral college if situation reversed.
Some congress people might be role models, but I venture that a lot of them are there for the power and easy corruption money. How else can you explain the congressional support for Trump?
“That Trump will be tried for his coup attempt is not a violation of his rights. It is a fulfillment of his rights. It is the grace of the American republic. In other systems, when your coup attempt fails, what follows is not a trial.”
—Timothy Snyder (Read his Substack, and his book "On Tyranny.")
How? That's the one million dollars question. Unfortunately Democrats need a new leader who could excite the young people and get back the black and Hispanics that Biden has lost to Trump. I hate to say this but we need a charismatic leader who could unite the Democratic Party.
Someone suggested Michelle Obama. What do you think?
I really don’t think Michelle would because she has too much class. If he’s healthy enough, Jamie Raskin could become the next Democrat with enough experience and constitutional knowledge to lead the party.
You are correct, Michelle is a lady who will not go down to the level of a horrible bully like Trump. To fight a bully, you have to behave like one. Raskin is a good man but I don't know if he has charisma. If Nancy Pelosi were not so old, she put up with Trump and showed more balls than many men. I will never forget when in a meeting at the WH she stood up and pointed to Trump's ugly face with her finger and then she tore his last State of the Union in front of the whole world.
I first drove across Iowa in 1974, as a private in the US Army, taking his first leave from Ft. Carson Co to Brooklyn NY, in a spanking new Ford Pinto and a dog, a Border Collie as smart as any drill sergeant during boot camp. I called him Sarge. Sarge and I were on I80 just past Omaha when the Pinto started to buck. This is in the middle of a December blizzard and minus one million degrees with wind chill, and with the Pinto's heater on the fritz. Then the timing chain broke, allegedly (the car was 3 months old). But we were dead in the water somewhere between Dexter and Desoto in a whiteout, with Sarge smartly in the back of the Pinto snarling, guarding the only blanket in the car. Being a fresh recruit, now trained to take on the Rooksies single-handed, I'd packed prepared. I had a canteen of water and a duffle bag of dirty laundry for Mom to wash. Oh, and the dog lease that I wanted to hang myself with at that point (and for more reasons than a storm).
But it was for the grace of Iowans, not God, that I survived that ordeal. One drove Sarge and me into town (two cornfields sewn together), to a diner somewhere in another cornfield, and then a gal gave me numbers to call, and another came and got us to tow the lame Pinto to a community college, where others put it up on a rack to tear the engine apart. Another kind Iowan drove us to a hotel that took dogs, and then we got a hot shower and a nice sleep. Then someone picked us up from that cornfield and took us to the one where the small college was hidden behind domes of snow and husk. That's where we found my horse awaiting, snorting and stamping at the bit to get going again, and even the heater was hot to trot.
My emergency leave from my platoon to go see Dad for the last time was only made possible by the kind hearts of Iowans, folks much different than I knew of who inhabited my home state, NY. Dad died a few days later. If not for the swiftness of some college kids in shop class, and the trustfulness of the hotel owner to take an out-of-state check from a GI, I might have never seen him alive again. So thank you Iowa, after all these years, of which I've never said a word to anyone of your grace and hospitality. That was 1974 Iowa, so I hope you still exist. You do in my heart.
It has a name - Iowa Nice - and we're still here. Many of us are carving out our little blue pockets and winning school board elections for Dems by 12 scant votes. We're pushing back against the evangelical radicals, Mom's For "Liberty", and our disgusting, inhumane governor. I know to a lot of the country, including and perhaps especially the DNC, we're a lost cause but those of us who really fight hard resent that sentiment to our cores. Iowa Dems need more support and funding than ever before to get back to blue. Don't forget about us.
Nikki, I hear you! Keep fighting and winning those pockets of blue. I was raised in rural eastern Iowa, my folks sent all ten of us to college. My father was elected into the Democrat Hall of Fame in his county at age 92. We were raised to be resourceful, to take responsibility for creating our best lives and to care about others. My siblings and I are teachers, doctors, lawyers and social workers. I have a home in Iowa City and Arizona; cannot seem to leave behind my beloved Iowa. Our three sons (all with masters degrees) have long fled Iowa. The truth is, as Robert writes, some parts of Iowa cities are leaning left, but Iowa City has always been our oasis of liberalism in the midst of red. It is a beautiful town filled with the arts and a hub of divergent thinking. What I’m trying to say to all of you is yes, Iowa has changed drastically, experienced brain drain and has been propagandized by FOX and Rush. But there are many of us like Nikki and myself trying to keep the Democratic Party relevant here. We will never stop trying.
I’ve donated to Mike Franken twice (from Oregon). He was a wonderful candidate. If someone like Franken can’t beat the pig castrator and a senile old idiot, there is no hope for Iowa and I won’t waste my money ever again. But I love your comment and your unfailing hope for Iowa’s future. Best of luck to you - keep up the good fight!
Yet I do remember a farmer telling me once that he was not political at all, as he had to feed both sides of the aisle, and both sides kept his family in diapers and got the kids through college. I guess those days of Iowa are over? The reason Iowa was first in the caucus, historically, is because they were an apolitical group of people at one point, no? Perhaps that's just the grandparent class now, and perhaps social media has ruined the discourse and sensibilities of you all, but ya better wise up, true farmers don't care about your dickerry, they just want to feed you and themselves. Do right by them, and they will do right by you. The problem is, how many true farmers are left, or have they all become part of the Corporate Grain Gain machine?
"less than seven percent [of Iowa farms] are small or medium-sized farms that are owned by one family."
That means that over ninety three percent of Iowa farms are owned and operated by large corporations like Stein whose owner is the richest man in Iowa and a large Republican donor.
So...there's almost no such thing as a nonpartisan farmer in Iowa anymore. Almost. I'm sure there are a few, but they're far between.
This is why I have worked with farmers and coops here for decades to help prevent the destruction of family farming: the corporate takeover by cookie and other agro companies, and the massive diversion of grain to alcohol. I'm sure this is the same thing Iowans went through during the 50s and 60s up to this day. But it's a snowball that keeps rolling and there is no stopping it, unless GoN steps in and takes charge (which they won't). So like in the US, things here are being run by the Agro giants, and it's just getting worse every month. See my vids here for more context:https://youtu.be/Stsdj_Nw_RQ
What a great story. It’s refreshing to hear something nice about out (stupid?) rural cousins for a change. I read a post the other day from a friend who I suspect is a magahatter. The responses from his magahatter friends were hateful, angry and mean. I wondered to myself is this what they have become? Then I wondered is this what we are becoming?
thx Dave! I ponder this every day about my country's people these days. I meet tourists who are unrecognizable as Americans unless a QANON tee passes for a loud Hawaiian shirt these days. I find that shocking, and so does the rest of the world whenever a MAGA hat is encountered abroad. Terrible. And I spilled blood for this.
Oh they are! But that’s a very condescending mindset. And, believe me, Iowans feel that. Why do you think they look to Trump to “correct” our elitist mindset?
Trump will get their confidence, and later he's going to take their lunch money. If they had been allow to read Penthouse magazine, they could have read about what kind of shyster Trump is. (not the only source for that information).
Once upon a time, I held hearings in Omaha. Turns out the neighboring city is "wide open." Four major casinos. Denizens of Omaha go to Council Bluffs, the Las Vegas of Iowa for a wild time. 23 casinos in Iowa including four Native American casinos and 19 state-licensed casinos. The state-licensed casino include 18 land based and one riverboat casino. See Iowa Indian Gaming Casinos and Iowa State-Licensed Casinos.
I get it. Can't say I've ever lived there but I've been to Iowa several times in the past 3 years, including once just before 2020 election. Once to Council Bluffs.
We know this but it bears remembering: People in places like Council Bluffs have increasingly been required by realities of modern life to send their money to the (fewer) people at top of finance and tech industries--the educated "elite"--who are on the coasts. And they're trapped doing this--especially older ones who of course never had the remotest opportunity to participate in any way in finance or tech, but have paid dearly with their (poorly compensated) labor for these necessities. Of course parasitic industries like gambling have taken over. End-stage capitalism in dying places, hastened and made worse by both establishment Dems and Reps.
Like residents of other Trump strongholds, Council Bluffs residents who can must pay their "fair share" of taxes, while corporations and uber-wealthy don't. Their money goes to Washington, which ensures that tech and finance corporations, especially their CEOs, don't pay taxes through an airtight system of legalized corruption. They are trapped doing this and they know it.
Why don't we think they'd want to burn it all down, which is exactly what Trump promises to do? Versus what Dems do, which is give giant bailouts to Wall Street--same as Trump--but Dems STUPIDLY try to hide it. Talk about a con.
And lest we think that Trump supporters are simply stupid racist doofuses (read: lacking in institutional education), here's a representation of the mindset that elected Trump in 2016 (from Des Moines Register, 9/28/2016):
"Kathleen Eckerman, a retired nursing assistant who twice voted for President Barack Obama, described living in an apartment where she’s surrounded by young families facing financial hardship and no obvious prospects for improvement.
After backing U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic caucuses, Eckerman said she’s voting for Trump with the hope that his tough talk on trade and promises about restoring American manufacturing will yield results for people like her neighbors."
I voted for Clinton in 2016. I regret not voting for Sanders. I now support Justice Democrats, whose candidates both Dem and Rep party machines have done everything in their power to "disappear".
From a blue state, I presume. I have not lived in the States since 2000, but I loved living in Colorado regardless of the way people voted (back then, no one could give a shit one way or another). Colorado was very conservative then, but for the 5 square miles surrounded by reality, we called Boulder. This was a magical area mixed with red-neck Ranchers and Rainbow dancers. Everyone seemed to party just fine, despite cultural or otherwise differences, except for one issue back then: homophobia. And it seems all of today has extended from that, but what do I know, I'm just a dirty emigrant now.
Yes, i moved from Connecticut to Montana. I loved the civility of the people, especially the ranchers. I was friends with the two largest ranchers in the valley who were libertarians and we could tease each other mercilessly. One used to be an engineer and read the Wall Street Journal everyday and the other graduated from the University of Michigan, studied computer science and went on to work for Honeywell. Although both in their 60s and 70s they worked from dawn to dusk raising cattle and growing hay. They were not uneducated, they just saw the world differently then us city folk.
I am so frustrated that “educated” progressives are unable or unwilling to speak to the concerns of these hard working folks. They have been looking for someone who at least seems to hear them. They are not “deplorables,” they have been unheard. It was ranchers and farmers that created electric cooperatives in rural areas in the thirties to have access to electricity and they created agricultural cooperatives to store and market their grain.
Montana was politically solidly purple until wealthy conservatives and racists moved in and utilized unlimited wealth to sway voters. The white supremacy leaders in Montana have mostly moved in from other states in the 2000s. They then promoted Montana as a good place to raise your white christian children and drew in other racists from the South and conservative parts of California. It was sad to see that happen.
we (I) tend to forget in our (my) exasperation with these people that they are good-hearted, even when ignorant (in the best and original meaning of the term)
Well, I think the "somehow" is Social Media, and perhaps "low info" is an anachronistic descriptor these days. Maybe it's the "high" rate of info that's the problem, and the shorter attention spans we have as a result.
I just lost a family member yesterday (I loved him very much) and after spending time screaming and crying I wanted to quiet down my brain with some mind numbing reading. I, however, stupidly checked my email (it was reflex) and saw stories about the republicans begging people to risk their lives to go to their caucuses - for what!? Then I read a headline (I tried to avoid the news but didn’t succeed obviously) where a woman and two children died trying to cross the river from Mexico to Texas and the CBP was barred from helping them by the Texas “military”. How can someone just stand there and watch people die? To hell with Abbot’s order in trying to prevent migration and to hell with him busing people to states that are currently in below zero temperatures. What has happened to people who now no longer value other human beings? Have we not learned anything from our past? How can some only value the people who can help us with our own agenda and not love everyone for who they are, where they have come from and where they are going. What has happened to this world? Power, money and domination only gets you so far and at what price?
It is negative 10 degrees today in Chicago with a wind-chill factor of NEGATIVE 29 degrees folks. This weather will kill you. I would love to see Abbott, duct-taped to his wheel chair, parked in the middle of the any bridge crossing the Chicago river, spend the whole day feeling what these poorly clothed migrants he's sending here, most of whom have never experienced cold like this, are feeling for a whole day.
It won't make any difference of course, but it would be grand to see him get his!
The Democrats need to talk about Greg Abbott’s inhumanity in Texas, allowing murder by drowning, in service to a political stunt,over and over, until it is seared into the minds of every decent person in the US.
David - whole heartedly agree. I don’t understand how any person with a beating heart could not only watch an adult struggle and then drown but two Children! I for one would defy orders and gladly go to jail just because I tried (and possibly succeeded) to save another human being. The others being bused up north are without proper clothing and are not accustomed to the weather. What is wrong with people? After reading that article I checked about ten other news sites and only two gave it a blip on their website. Yes, Democrats should be loud about this. We may not be Ukraine or Gaza/Israel but do we not have humanity when we do/see such unspeakable atrocities? Our fight might be different but it is a fight worth fighting for. Don’t get me started on guns.
and doctors watching women with unviable pregnancies get close to the edge of death - sorry, not watching, cuz the women are sent out to the parking lot to see themselves thru their ordeal
David - I appreciate your words. Before I realized that I could hit the edit button I had originally typed Egypt instead of Israel. I wasn’t thinking correctly at first so that is why I was frustrated with my original post. I guess I was just mad at my stupidity because I don’t want to mislabel any person’s pain. However, your reply gave me comfort so thank you for your compassion.
maybe there's just too many of us - and we're potentially in touch with all the billions in the world - we evolved to hang with relatively small family/tribal groups - probably natural to close ranks
Keith, that quote came from the speech that Martin Luther King gave in Memphis the night before his assassination. He said that, if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” He felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice. (Obviously the Republicans call that “woke,” which I wear as a badge of honor.)
… “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
It is oddly ironical that the day chosen for the first Republican caucus of the Presidential race is the day that celebrates the champion of being “woke.” It is just and fitting that the forces of the environment are making it particularly difficult to get to the polls of this race among racist candidates to vote in the most unimportant primary in recent history.
What they have accomplished with the willing collaboration of the media, is to draw almost all attention away from a holiday meant to commemorate one of our most important modern-day heroes for justice and equality.
Note: I have to thank Heather Cox Richardson for bringing this event and speech forward in her substack.
Quite the dichotomy, Martin Luther King Jr. who epitomized love all people and non-violence and The Former Guy who epitomizes cruelty for all people and endless, ruthless violence.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we humans were past this evolutionary stage of perpetual violence? Wouldn't it wonderful if all the candidates in our lifetime were woke, peaceful, kind, honorable, and pursuing public service to truly serve the public?
We can be woke in our words but not in our actions. Hence, MLK's famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, where he described his "great stumbling block," the white moderate. Perhaps we need to look in the mirror?
Along those lines, the example of Justice Democrats (who elected the Squad) seem especially relevant. They embody the spirit of MLK, and--exactly as was his experience--have have to fight the white moderate (as well as of course the white conservative) every single day to make progress. On this MLK Day, I thank god for them. It is in the best interest of the Dem establishment and their corporate donors to plant fear of leaders like Sanders, Warren, AOC in the hearts of Dems and the country--making sure the message of such leaders is disparaged, so they don't get too close to the brass ring.
From Letter from Birmingham Jail: " For years now I have heard the word "wait."...This "wait" has almost always meant "never."
Liz, we are all on a continuum of evolving awareness of the suffering of others and ourselves. It is a journey not a light switch.
MLK expressed his disappointment and pain at the white clergy especially, which he dubbed moderate, not truly reflecting Jesus' teachings in their sermons and communications with their flock and communities. I don' t believe MLK was advocating shaming or fighting "moderate" whites in power. He was expressing his experiences honestly and his painful feelings. And as part of the brotherhood of clergy, he was trying to inspire them to look within themselves to ask if their words and actions were in alignment with the foundations of Christianity.
In life I have experienced the sayings, "Whatever you fight, grows stronger." and "Whatever you resist, persists." To effect positive, sustainable change in the D establishment, we must look within and find how to take wise action (which includes our words). We can't change how people act, but we can change how we respond, which can have a positive effect on how people act.
If democrats can win back the House, keep and increase the majority in the Senate, hold onto the Presidency, one of their most important priorities must be to do for high speed internet what FDR did for electricity with the Tennessee Authority, make sure every home has access to broadband! To go along with that, we must find a fair and systematic way to curb and regulate misinformation and propaganda through that system, a difficult task, but necessary for Democracy to survive!
as I keep saying, quoting somebody, we're stone-age minds in a world we never made - well, some of our more clever members have made and now we live in it
I wouldn't characterize Iowa as, "no state has swung as heavily Republican as Iowa." Rather as "Iowa went MAGA." While technically part of the GOP, since MAGA has become dominant, the values of MAGA -- as enumerated by Trump, their godhead -- have superseded what the rest of us think of as being "What Republicans do and believe." Republicans are, for the most part, into greed for money and Power. MAGAheads are all about anger, anarchy, and "Our way or no way!"
The Dutch Christian Reformed population there is large ...and growing. These folks are comfortable with strong men, comfortable with racism, comfortable with misogyny. Donald Trump has read this population like a cheap novel and tells them just what they want to hear.
I am not as knowledgeable or as eloquent as many of your commenters but I did live in Des Moines from 1996-2003. I caucused in 2000 and “stood” for Bill Bradley. When our group was small, we were honest about our chances and moved to stand for Gore. No paper, no privacy. It was a thrilling experience and I’m forever grateful. When I read what is happening in Iowa as you described my heart breaks. My late husband called Des Moines home for decades until he met this Pennsylvanian. As an attorney he was an active Democrat and co-founded the Youth Law Center. I wish he were still with me for endless reasons but at this very time to explain what is happening. But he isn’t so I appreciate this post more than you know.
I saw Iowa’s conservative bent start when Rush Limbaugh gained popularity in the 80s. Friends and relatives surprised me when they got hooked on his rhetoric. Many of us assumed “this too will pass.” Instead, local radio saw a marketing opportunity and created more conservative programming until it pretty much dominated the airwaves. Independent voters swung conservative. Democrats had no answer. Enter DT and GOP took over the legislature, the governorship, and countless local boards. Until a younger, less indoctrinated population returns, I don’t see much changing here in Iowa.
I’m wondering if Iowans, specifically Trump supporting Iowans, will take a minute to digest what he just asked them to do?
Trump told them even if they’re “sick as a dog” to go out into sub zero weather and vote for him. Even if they die as a result of being out sick in the extreme cold “ it would be worth it”.
Trump’s compassion is flatlined.
Sadly, those elderly, sick Trump supporters will go out there and give him the best of what they have- their votes. And Trump will accept those precious votes with his usual sense of entitlement with no sense of gratitude or appreciation for their sacrifice.
On this day, Martin Luther King Day where we recognize the remarkable legacy of a 39 year old Black preacher who sacrificed his life, was snatched from his wife and young children, while standing up for garbage workers in Memphis when he could’ve stayed home in Atlanta “ safe”. He died for his belief in a better America.
Donald Trump tells elderly people to sacrifice, even if they die, in the frigid Iowa weather to vote for him. He cares not a whit about Iowa. Or America. We are all just his pawns to be moved about the chessboard of his ambition to be an American dictator.
Let the contrast between Martin Luther King and Donald Trump inform this day.
John, I agree with all that you wrote, except for “Trump’s compassion is flatlined.” I don’t think compassion has ever been part of his makeup, even as a child. Maybe you were talking historically, in which case we agree totally.
This is a low information population, with lack of media other than FOX & right wing radio especially outside the city & the demise of small town newspapers contributing credible news.
Iowa is not alone in this transition. Nearby states of Nebraska and Kansas have moved from being leaders in progressive ideas to regressive politics. As someone who lived in these states a good portion of my life, I attribute the shift to two factors: corporate media and economic concentration.
All three states are the targets of conservative media, which found fertile ground in smaller populations, an aging white population, and few large urban centers. The Des Moines Register is a good example of what was a stellar, Pulitzer Price winning news paper that transitioned in 1985 to corporate blandness. The Omaha World Herald, now owned by Warren Buffet, has its own checkered history, as can be illustrated by an editorial in support of Richard Nixon the weekend before he resigned. Religious affiliated radio is also very popular in these states and supports a form of Christianity that would be unrecognizable to the immigrants who brought their faith from Europe generations ago.
All three states were free states or territories before the Civil War and did not have the oligarchy civic structures of the slave states. The shift in agriculture from small holdings to massive corporate farms has involved not just fewer farmers but also a concentration of massive agribusiness companies. Interestingly enough, this consolidation and concentration has been driven and subsidized by successive farm bills at the Federal level. As we know from Europe, massive corporatization of farming is not a given. The Common Agriculture Policy in the EU has supported smaller holdings to a greater extent.
Large corporate agriculture operations resulted in concentrated facilities that produce substantial environmental load. Iowa has over 20 million pigs but only around 4 million people. Most all the crops grown in these states are to feed animals not humans. The animals are fed in highly polluting CAFOs or “concentrated animal feeding operations.” The cycle of subsidized mono-cropping for feed and subsidized industrial animal agriculture is led by an agribusiness that wants to keep the game going. Attempts to deal with the massive levels of pollution and ecosystem degradation are met with howls of protest by corporate media. The story spun is that we might endanger the family farm. That Grant Woods type of farm has largely been snuffed out since the fence post to fence post agriculture policies under Gerald Ford and his infamous Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz. My grandfather’s 80 acre farm would be seen today as a hobby farm for some retired college professor.
The future in these areas will be challenging with climate change and ecological degradation. Crop yields drop with extreme weather events from an unstable climate. The irrigation from water mining of aquifers is reaching a critical point as the aquifers are depleted. Mono-cropping produces depleted soils incapable of sustaining crop yields. Extended use of concentrated industrial animal agriculture produces toxic waste that will impact the future ability to raise animals and human health.
Supporting a politics of profitability over people and planet is a cruel use of a corporate power and media.
The population of Iowa is 3,206,173. The population of the greater Boston area is 4,900,550. While Iowa won't decide the 2024 election, other Midwest states will. That's the problem with our electoral system, the presidential election is going to come down to a few hundred thousand voters in the Midwest from states that don't represent the majority of voters in the nation.
I think Trump is well on his way to winning, if the election was held today Biden would lose and lose big. The war in Israel and Gaza and crisis at the Southern border as well as the false narrative that the economy is worse due to Biden, are not going to subside anytime soon. Netanyahu is clearly playing Biden and wants Trump to win. Biden is a fool for letting Netanyahu and his extreme right wing government get away with mass destruction of Gaza. Biden should have come down hard on Netanyahu on day one. In my view Biden is looking weak and seems to not be in control of the what is happening in Israel and Gaza. It's going to cost him a lot of young voters and Black voters.
Trump will be more vindictive and he will weaponize the DOJ and the courts and if the Republicans take control of both Houses of Congress, well that would spell a huge downfall to our nations standing in the world and I suspect there will a lot of upheaval, violence and 4 more years of chaos.
Trump told the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in 2020 that the US would “never come help” if Europe was attacked and also said “Nato is dead”, a senior European commissioner said. This man and his MAGA Republican congressional boot lickers will do a lot of damage not only to the economy, but to the U.S.'s standing in world.
Don't discount a nuclear exchange with China -- who Trump blames for sending the virus that turned his perfect economy upside down. When he asks .. "We have nukes; why can we use them?" he's not going to have sane people around him this time.
And yes .. our "friends" in Israel would love nothing more than a Trump win. Money is flowing here to defeat anti-fascist Democrats.
I live in Iowa. I have voted Democratic since I voted for Dick Clark and John Culver. I learned political science from Chuck Gifford. Everything you say is true. What drive me nuts now is is hearing the very people who vote for Trump and Grassley and Ernst complain when their Social Security Disability claim is denied.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) thinks Donald Trump’s personal vendettas could lead to the collapse of American democracy.
Sanders told The Guardian he believes the “bitter” and “humiliated” ex-president would be more vindictive than ever, if elected for a second term later this year. I could not agree more!
Yesterday Trump told the people of Iowa, “You can’t sit home. If you’re sick as a dog… even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it,” mimicking a dying supporter as he delivered the line.
What kind of human being would say something so cruel! Iowa is facing a brutal cold front as voters prepare for the Republican caucus on Monday, with reports saying with wind chill, the state could reach 35 degrees Fahrenheit below zero the day of the caucus.
Thanks to Trump and his Congressional enablers,
America has become the Devil’s playground!
Now he’s subliminally trying to manipulate Supreme Court judges. As a subtle threat he said, “he hopes the Court does “the right thing.”
He said the same thing regarding Mike Pence on January 6th, 2021. Remember, the judges on the Supreme Court have sworn to uphold the Constitution and are supposed to be apolitical!
This comes on the heels of the bomb threat called into the home of Judge Engoron!
I believe Trump not only promotes violence against anyone who tries to hold him accountable, he also enjoys it! That’s why he waited so long on Jan 6 to call off his dogs! They erected a gallows and intended to hang his VP! Trump tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done,” prompting rioters to chant “hang Mike Pence” and erect mock gallows. Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney has described testimony from Trump aides saying he responded by saying Pence “deserves it.”
Until Trump is held accountable for his many crimes it will only get much worse! No one in the Republican Congress condemns him for his despicable behavior! Their Parents must be so proud of what they are doing to our country!
All of these people need to uphold their oath because they are the role models for the rest of us! They all swore to uphold the Constitution not anything else!
Iowa, why restrict political confusion just to the state of Iowa. I listen to the interviews conducted with the local inhabitants and wonder what planet these people are really from. How do every day ordinary citizens develop thinking, or the lack thereof, seen in these people. They express opinions I would expect to find in disillusioned young children, not in educated adults. I have a feeling the word "educated" takes on an entirely different meaning for people who live in rural areas. It would seem their schooling is complete after a student earns their GED. It's not just Iowa, the lack of political vision is more of an epidemic that is rapidly spreading, at breakneck speed, across this country. It is almost as if our neighbors are endeavoring to emulate the dysfunctional mentality found within the mind of Donald Trump. Stupid is as stupid does, our own people exist as if they were in some sort of trance. How do we break the spell?
Donald Hodgins, another "great and intentional" benefit of GOP defunding schools for decades, keep them dumb to facts and truths so they are easier to manipulate and also won't most likely have the resources to learn the truth or get in their way. Add onto that the limited contact with counter-views to oppose the goliaths of propaganda being pounded into their heads day after day in church, on the radio, in the coffee shop, and on cable propaganda shows and you have GOP winners. They have been conditioned on steriods. I don't believe they are less intelligent than me, just conditioned differently.
M--Whose idea was it to remove "Civics" from the list of required classes taught in our High Schools.
For more than a decade I worked in the educational publishing business in the social studies area (1976-90). Our civics textbook, I thought, was especially good with lively illustrations and lots of questions to stimulate discussion. But we had an increasing amount of trouble selling it, because people were nervous about asking middle schoolers to think. (Every chapter ended with a short commentary from a historical or contemporary figure, and students were asked, "What do you think?") It didn't help that the Reagan and G.H.W. Bush administrations pushed a curriculum that was oddly elitist. (Thank you, Lynn Cheney and E.D. Hirsch.) And something began to eat away at the market—an insistence that a kind of consumer economics was more vital and necessary. Students, they claimed, wanted to learn to make money for themselves. Proctor and Gamble even gave away curriculum materials so that schools got free teaching materials for students and teachers. I'm not sure why the social studies groups did not push back harder, but my company got out of the market entirely.
Around here, we were told we needed to focus on the basics and couldn't afford the extras like art, music and civics. What will happen now that big banks are buying single family homes to rent? They won't want to pay property taxes for schools. Public education may soon be finished.
Tying school funding to real estate taxes was a terrible idea from the start. It just guarantees that wealthy neighborhoods get the best schools, and there was a failed push in California to put a stop to it at some point.
I taught in NYC public school for over 30 years, and they have been trying to destroy the public school system from the early 70s. Discipline has been destroyed. Teaching ,unless you are connected, is a dead end job . They implement program after program ,example Common Core , to make fortunes for corporations ,that are worse than useless. Now it is Charter Schools ,publicly supported schools that when teaching similar students as public schools have not been found to be any better . The teachers are less qualified ,make less , have no representation and that's exactly what big money wants.
The banks will just pass these costs on to the hapless renters.
tho eventually, surely (hopefully) banks etc. will realize they need an educated sane population...
I wonder if the federal govt. could 'outlaw' or put a stop to banks buying homes,doesn't seem to work out well.They're already too big for their britches!
Liberal Arts is no longer considered the template for a basic, well-rounded education. It seems the vast majority of undergraduates want to specialize in a field WITHOUT being exposed to the Arts and Humanities. SO, instead of a student who is taught to think critically for themselves at the undergraduate level, they fast-track to a "business" background at the expense of delving into the intellectual realm of ideas and fact-based research. "Higher-education" appears to be emphasizing "training" OVER thinking and experiencing...
I took a business major at the university but was still required to take electives to round out my education. My philosophy class was on a Friday evening. I could barely keep my eyes open. Same with banking course...boring. Today I have no idea what they teach about banking. It is so corrupt and unorganized thanks to de-regulation and international banks. CEOs steal as much as you can?
There's your answer. As usual, public schools are in the hands of state governments, whose political leaders have their own objectives. But they would do well to go back and read John Dewey, who understood the primary importance of teaching each student to understand the workings of government and what it means to be a responsible citizen participating in the democratic process.
Actually, governing schools is largely in the hands of local governments—usually cities or counties but sometimes larger districts. State funds vary, and broader rules are in the mix, but local politics can play an important role.
Progwoman --My roommate in my first year in college had a father who was big in the publishing business centered around textbooks. His Name was Hobbs, ring a bell, he lived on the East coast. This would have been in the 60s.
Probably before my time. I came in just as the big publishing houses in Boston and New York were beginning to lose power. I can remember when the art deco McGraw Hill building in mid-town NYC sat almost empty because it had never been air-conditioned and it was too big a job in a recession.
Progwoman - Your up close and personal commentary explains a lot!
I remember those books. They were awful. Teachers should know their subject and teach it. The book is a supplement and a guide at most.
Right. Teachers have a curriculum they are to follow. NYS gives Regent exams to check they are.
Donald Hodgins ; And financial literacy, in addition to Civics, which may never have been taught to those on the bottom, and they are lied to as they are fleeced to the max.
Laurie--It is easier to take from those who don't understand. It is easier to lie to those who have trouble thinking, and it is easier to control those who don't know what freedom really is. To those at the top, ignorance is bliss.
Donald ; Yes , it was against the law to educate the slaves, for a reason.
THANK YOU!!!
Donald: When I was in 4th grade they taught us financial literacy by taking time out of class to have anyone who wanted to sign up for a savings account at the local S&L (the only one in town).
I guess they wanted us to save up for college (my town was 90%+ white). I deposited 25 cents a week. Had at least $30 in my account when I graduated from high school. even in 1969, at the (cheap then) U of Delaware, I think that was not quite enough to pay for my first class (Calculus I at 8 am on Monday).
Now if you had put it in McDonald’s stock back then…
Donald Hodgins, exactly! The R's not the D's.
M--Those letters are out of alphabetical order but what you said is so true. Keep the overall understanding of the public at a low level and they are easier to control.
Keeping the people controllable by denying them access to an education has been the most effective method used by all authoritarian governments for millennia! Religious institutions have been doing the same thing for centuries,let the masses have just enough of approved teaching to make them able to do the bidding of those in charge!
It seems to be working, to judge by MAGA’s hold.
This was a required and needed fundamental class on how to participate as an informed citizen in my day. The kids today are unaware of how our system actually is set up to function much less given the critical thinking skills required to participate and sift through all the mixed messaging out there (in every form).
Karin--I hear you, that's the way it was when I was in school. It would seem the class was systematically removed to suit someone's agenda. The loss of that class is exactly how we got Boebert.
When Boebert announced she was running for Congress, she didn't even have a GED. Eventually, she got one.
Not to mention the popularity of drugs and booze…
While Congress is busy persecuting Hunter Biden, I wonder why they're not asking how Boebert (who was bankrupt prior to election) is now worth $20 million?
I found that the most textbooks in the USA are produced by California and Texas. Comparing what each state chooses to include in them is enlightening : https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2023/california-property-map/
I am opposed to standardized anything in education.
NY State has had Regents Exams for ages. It tests to make sure students are learning the lessons given. You need a Regents Exam diploma to get into public university and state teachers colleges.
Standardized testing is good if not abused like the Bush administration did to make money on them.
You can look it up. The answer is GOP congresses. And presidents.
They took away Boebert's chance at being normal.
That ship sailed long ago.
I finally realized that Boebert was an escaped character from "Dilbert." Like Dogbert, Catbert, and Ratbert. Alas, "Dilbert" is gone but Boebert remains.
(This is probably the wrong time and place to mention Robert, LOL.)
Greg--It never a bad time to smile, unless the woman's husband is bigger than you. LOL
BoBo Boebert is the poster girl for what's wrong with Congress.
This ignorant loser got fame and glory and tons of money (she went from bankrupt to $20 million since being elected).
And with gerrymandering, when she's set to lose in CO3, she simply moves to deeper-red CO4.
This would all be a comedy/parody if it wasn't so sad and sick.
God Bless America
There seems to be an active movement to degrade the overall understanding of how our country actually works, I wonder why that is.
When the government decided in the 90’s on state testing and they decided what should be tested. Also book companies control what is taught it all political and money driven. There is big money in testing.
Joan--Get this, I live in a district where the schools give mock exams that reflect the state tests given in the fall. They give these things over and over again to improve the results from their kids. Then they brag about how well their students did, and how progressive their educational programs are. Like Trump they cheat to get what they want.
Charter schools are full of fraud and cons.
Donald, I understand. I have my masters in elementary education. I taught in the central city. (98 %poverty) it was my choice. We worked very hard teaching our core subjects. When we took our tests we came so close. We teachers would say next year we got this. The government would again raise the “bar” because the districts with a low percentage of poverty scored so high!
Now, our country continues to dumb down. If trump gets in the poor will have less opportunities for success. The rich will get richer…
No one. That's a myth. I taught was civics for years and my grand daughter is taking civics now. The problem is fully funded public education stops at age 18. Then it is up to the media to educate the adults.
Mac--Myth or no myth, all I know is the course needs to be put back into the mainstream of core classes needed for graduation.
I can only speak for California, Oregon and Washington. Civics and government was taught in every school I worked in, where my son went to school and where my grand daughter is now. She knows a lot! Especially in 6th through 12th grades, but it is woven into history and social studies classes all the time. The problem is when education stops at 18. They're not even fully grown yet. And some people forget or don't keep up. I would support continuing education and more non-profit news media.
Not going to happen. If you didn't listen in school it is your fault not media.
@Donald Hodgins, this is a perfect teaching moment, in which we can practice what we preach. Look. It. Up.
No teaching allowed! It's the MAGA law.
In my life, I have encountered very little that can't be resolved with psilocybin or dynamite.
I think the MAGA law is No "learning" allowed.
Martha--All I get are ways to make a perfect teacher.
And that is a large part of our job.
More than a hundred years ago, during the educational reform period at the turn of the twentieth century, the decision was made to not teach information and knowledge in the schools.
Conformity and obedience disguised as education were the mandate of that era and still are; more easily aided and abetted by political polls, social media stars and influencers in our daily flood of noisy misinformation. The question we must routinely ask ourselves is, 'Who planted that and why?' Though such a question may appear paranoid, it isn't. It's part of the cure for the ideological cancer that is eating away at our minds and by extension at our democracy.
some people have what is called an "authoritarian personality" where (for whatever reason) they don't want to learn, they don't want to think, they don't want to take responsibility for their own actions; instead, they gladly surrender their thinking (and their money) to follow the Authoritarian Leader who tells them what to think and what to do. They also find security and power in submerging themselves in a mass movement.
Here's a short review of Erich Fromm's "Escape from Freedom" - written in 1941 to explain why so many of his countrymen surrendered themselves to Hitler; it's scarily prophetic of today's MAGA crowd surrendering themselves to Trump.
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/erich-fromms-escape-from-freedom
Tanitil--That was an idiotic idea thought up by stupid people.
I can’t find a reference for that. I’m unfamiliar with the term.
My great grand father was teaching at that time. Believe me, no one came into his one-room school house, grades k-12 to supervise content. Nor my grand mother's classroom, nor my mother's, nor mine. Not until George W Bush. NCLB was purged of content and now students are tested on skills, only. It's why I hate Bill Gates, for starters.
Troll.
Right. The USA has been turning out complete dolts for 100 years.
That's why we had to wait until the aliens landed to build rockets for us, and where would we be if Wakanda had not carelessly tossed out that computer for some midwit to find and get working again somehow?
troll.
Nailed it. It’s like the iceberg of the First Amendment broke off the glacier of morality and is headed for the ship of democracy.
The first amendment was meant to allow controversial speech, but not let deliberate deception spread unrestrained, as it is now doing. Morality was supposed to act as a limitation.
Edit: I should have have said “and is now grinding along the side of the ship of democracy.”
Exactly - the first amendment was not meant to help liars promote their schemes
it's the conundrum of liberty - it has to be curtailed to be functional - otherwise you get fox 'news' - also the problem of modernity: so much going on, world so complicated, and one has to keep nose to grindstone...no time or opportunity to learn everything one needs to know, politically and otherwise - as someone said: we're stone-age minds with medieval institutions in an advanced technological world...a lot of us peasants still learning how to make flint knives
well said, Gina.
In "Escape from Freedom" Nazi survivor Erich Fromm said it this way:
“Man’s brain lives in the twentieth century, but his heart still lives in the Stone Age.”
Written in 1941, it describes how and why his German countrymen surrendered to Hitler, and a prophecy of the millions of Americans who are turning to Trump.
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/erich-fromms-escape-from-freedom
Mr. Washington, thank you for the work you put into your substack piece, I learned a lot. :)
more accurately, our tiny forebrain lives in the modern world, but the overriding lizard brain is back with the dinosaurs
liberty exists in limitation, like art.
the 1st amendment was not meant to imply that those with the most money could be free to drown out the voices of the many, despite what SCROTUM said in Citizens United.
the first step in electoral reform (if Trump gets beat and America gets a chance at electoral reform) is to overturn Citizens United.
Stan, your analogy is superb!
I just edited it…
Stan, both are good analogies!
More interested in "protecting" liars than "teaching" facts...
Donald and M Tree, I lived in a rural area of northwest Montana for twenty years and observed with dismay how the political climate changed. However, it is our part of creating the divide when we look down upon our rural countrymen and women with disdain. With one statement, by calling Trump supporters “A basket of deplorables” Hilary Clinton only succeeded in driving a deeper wedge into the division in our country. Her disconnect from our rural cousins and disdain for them may be a significant part of what drove them to Trump.
Yes, you and I are better educated, but we are not necessarily better people. Joe Biden and current Democratic leadership do not know nor even try to relate to these citizens. In contrast, John Tester, a grain farmer has survived as the lone Democrat holding high office in Montana. He is a brilliant and highly educated man, but he talks with Montana voters, not at them. This linked article give a bit of insight into his critical importance in keeping the senate Democratic. Personally, I think he should be a key advisor to the Biden reelection campaign who do not seem to be able to put on their britches straight. https://apnews.com/article/tester-senate-montana-2024-election-197d50f3aef99d35148e775acff52ed9
I agree. Attack the candidate not the supporters -- they can have an epiphany.
Haley and DeSantis missed their chance to attack Trump's Achilles heel. On MLK Day, it's the content of his character.
Hates dogs!! 2/3 of American families have pets!
Stole from kids with cancer and disabled veterans.
Pederast, if not a molester.
Etc.
You forgot rapist.
And so many more. The Big Lie. Insurrection, etc. But those issues mean nothing to the cult. They would gladly offer their wives and mothers to him.
He is still in denial about politics. Can't deny that he hates dogs -- had to pay fines for stealing from kids with cancer -- fined for using illegals on his work sites.
Marc Nevas, you addressed your response to Donald but replied to me. Not sure who you meant, but that's okay. You made good points. I grew up in farm country and some of my ancestors on this land have been farmers since colonial times. Even have some iin Iowa I have never met. So deep in my heart I feel them and appreciate your kind reminders for us to dig deep and remember that our ancestors were most likely farmers at one time or another.
Corrected.
I grew up in an entirely different part of the continent (Alberta, in Canada) and my relatives were 90% farmers - religion, suspicion of outsiders (esp the feds, who were so far away in the evil East), group-think, isolation from anything resembling culture - people who were deprived but didn't realize it, and the education offered didn't seem to make a dint - and now their way of making a living is being transformed and leaving them behind (tho they seem to have shiny new big trucks, RVs, boats...) - anyway, point is the population is varied but of necessity the ways of governing are simpler; country & uneducated people tend to be small-c conservative and city people more progressive by osmosis, and all sorts of shades between, and it makes it difficult to achieve national coherence - OH, AND THE ENORMITY OF THE LAND: European countries have more coherence cuz size...the US and Canada are just too big and too varied for any kind of efficiency or commonality, even in these days of transportation and communication...
Not until Nixon did we have that problem. Although until
Trump was it ever so dangerous and traitorous. GOP can't govern but only destroy it.
M Tree, we should also dig deep and remember that our ancestors were also "immigrants"
And reject totally this anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Right.
Anti-immigrant is anti-American.
When less populated and not technology based immigrants still had it hard adjusting to the language, culture, etc.
We have immigration laws because it did become a problem. Many different administrations passed them for various reasons. It is not good to let in the whole world in without knowledge of who they are.
Get real...anti-immigrant is anti-American BS. We have laws for good reasons like it or not.
Marc, Agree and Tester is key to keeping the senate under control of the Democrats. I’ve commented before that national and rural candidates need to talk with, not talk to, the people from whom they seek votes, whether they be rural, blue collar, or urban. No voter wants to be talked to or told what they should think. (Well, except members of the tRump cult.) My previous posts have highlighted how tRump got the rural vote in 2016 by purchasing every commercial spot 24/7 for the two weeks prior to the election on rural farm cable network RFD-TV for $150,000. Not a single female voter, who watches RFD-TV when polled said they’d vote for Clinton.
Clinton was an elitist mess! She and Bill are part of the New World Order of Devos, now called the World Economic Forum. They'll tell us mere mortals what to do and how to think too!
... and Trump isn't telling you mere mortals what to do and how to think? Who said "I am your voice"?
BS. You are uneducated period is what you are saying.
Believe the propaganda. Better to vote for a liar, con and dictator, eh. Troll.
Michael, you nailed it with your line:
"No voter wants to be talked to or told what they should think. (Well, except members of the tRump cult.) "
There's a book called "Escape from Freedom" that describes the "authoritarian personality" as people who DO want to be told what to think"
The book was written in 1941 by Erich Fromm about how and why his German countrymen surrender their hearts and minds to Hitler; it's an important book because it's also a prophecy of today's MAGA cult - people who WANT to surrender their thinking (and personal responsibility) and submerge themselves in a Supreme Leader and mass movement/cult.
It's a difficult book to read, so here's my short substack review: it explains a lot about how and why tens of millions of American (the ones wearing the red MAGA hats especially) seem to be losing their minds.
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/erich-fromms-escape-from-freedom
Leave Hillary alone. She did not create this divide
Trump and have since Nixon.
Marc, Hilary Clinton did not call "Trump supporters" deplorable: that day a poll was released in which 38% of Republicans self-identified as "racist". THAT is what she called "deplorable", that a third of Republicans openly admitted they were racist.
But the right wing media immediately (and intentionally) applied her comment to ALL Republicans. She never called all Trump supporters deplorable; she said it was deplorable that a third of them weren't afraid to say openly that they were racists.
It was "spun" at the time, and it's still being spun. The tyranny of repeated lies.
Marc, I'd say that second-time orange voters, and those who'd vote for him a third time, are unquestionably deplorable. If one votes for him, one supports what he is. First-time orange voters....just gullible. Hillary's mistake was saying it out loud, and demonstrating her disdain. Not an effective campaign tactic, as she found out. And yes, I realize she won the popular vote, but had she conducted herself differently, she might have put the EC results over the top, as well.
"I don't believe they are less intelligent than me, just conditioned differently."
Agreed. They have been taught not trust their own thoughts and that they need validation from outside of themselves.
Adam, and that is so opposite of the image Iowans are trying to portray, the independent, prove-it attitude. So many in that state and other "white" states have bought into the fear that they are going to be overwhelmed by those horrible not-white people, anger that they are being dismissed as unimportant, resentment that factories and other businesses have left the state along with their kids, and hatred of anyone who is not them (and they don't seem to like themselves too much either). How can a different perception break through. They are in a loop that keeps repeating and pumping the same nonsense into their circle over and over and from every quarter. They no longer permit themselves to hear or see anything else. Then they resent the "city folks" for not going along with the nonsense the rural folks have been fed for years. It is hard to watch and harder to realize that this whatever it is, is spreading across our nation like a sickness and the Republican party of today is the vector of a lot of the contagion.
Actually, polls show 11% of Iowa Republicans support Biden.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/poll-nearly-half-haleys-iowa-backers-say-ll-vote-biden-trump-rcna133821
A general election will be different.
I think so too. When it comes down to it, I think this will be like the vaunted "red wave" that failed to materialize.
IMHO channel Taylor Swift. Voters under age 45 can sweep!! https://www.iowadatacenter.org/index.php/data-by-source/other/reported-registration-and-voting-age
Republicans outnumber us by only 1% in Iowa. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/state/iowa/party-affiliation/
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Daniel Solomon ; The very few seconds that I watched MSNBC's coverage of the Iowa caucuses, I heard it said more than once that 11% of Republicans will vote blue.
Plus, they get the incessant drum of the Fox network every day.
Adam, yes, I think you are right, it seems to be for some very pronounced.
Adam, you are correct: "they have been taught to not trust their own thoughts and that they need validation from outside of themselves". Thanks for identifying this.
not quite the way it comes across - they're all too trusting of their own thoughts
M Tree, maybe we should take something from the Republican/conservative playbook, do a little propagandizing ourselves, making the truth something people really want instead of being lulled into believing whatever lies come down from Republicans on high. How is it their lies are so much more palatable than the truth, even when the truth would mean something positive for the people? I don't get it, but I know money has a lot to do with it, and Republicans/conservatives have a lot more of it than anyone else due to the way we the people have not properly regulated business. Ugh!!
One of MLK's prominent themes, often forgotten today, was his insistence that materialism was a threat to American society. I think he would not be surprised that consumerism is rampant.
Rampant for luxury goods by the rich. Many are homeless and jobless otherwise.
REALLY good point, progwoman!
Dems make the mistake of using rational arguments while Republicans use emotional ones with fear being uppermost! People are motivated more by emotion than by intellect unfortunately.
Ruth Sheets, what a great question!!! How do we get people to want to hear the truth? My first thought is get them to not want to hear lies. I don't know for sure, of course, but I'll take a try at it. You asked why are lies much more palatable? I think it's how their life experiences conditioned them, particularly when they were children. The ego, a conditioned mind pattern, crowds out logical reasoning, especially in a person with a very strong ego Then, they do mental gymnastics to justify and rationalize their chosen candidates who will be detrimental to them but who will resonate with their egos. A person strongly conditioned by love rather than ego, would choose candidates that resonate most closely with fairness and kindness for everyone. People need to unlearn their egoic conditioned patterns of behavior by waking up, becoming aware of their conditioning. Not an easy task.
But you made me think of the people who don't have the time or interest, or perhaps even confidence to learn about the differences between the two parties. They just vote like someone they trust, like a spouse, friend, or parent tells them they to. They may be open to some truth if it really isn't their strong ego that chooses their candidates. I'm sure there are so many other possibilities.
Whew, Ruth. I think my brain is smoking; you made me think so hard. Not that everything I said is true, just some thoughts based on my life experiences. Thanks for your great questions and helping me clean out some cobwebs in my brain and probably grow some new brain cells.
It's worth noting that three of the most successful Republican candidates in the past have been actors: Reagan, Schwarzenegger, Trump. Many vote for images they have in their heads; these images are created by media, and have nothing to do with expertise. If an actor enters politics with a prefabricated positive image he is hard to beat.
Yes M Tee...the repubs have won the media war...and Dems are consistently on the defense. Could Dem Dept of Ed make civics mandatory in high schools? Reagan dispensed with Fairness Doctrine which allowed RW media to flourish. And Dems did nothing in response.
Douglas D Greitz, yes, great point. What has been or could be the Dem response? They have missed the mark also.
Take FOX off the air? The fascists are relentless and have engenuity....many other disinformation stations would pop up. Note that Sinclair Comms has bought up thousands of TV stations nationwide and use some news time to spread propaganda...Goebbels & the Nazis would be utterly dumbfounded at the level of media domination repubs have acquired.
This is why MAGA really should mean Make America Gullible Again. Nothing is more appealing to psychopathic politicians than a way to create a playground in which they can manipulate others and enrich themselves along the way.
I agree if people in rural areas do not enlighten themselves about real world issues their beliefs system remains the same as past generations.
M, While I greatly appreciate your comment, I would add an additional noteworthy distinction between you and they—the ability to think critically, to put up a fight against the junk food of propaganda, to ask questions and be skeptical.
I don't think the education system has anything to do with it. People believe their own propoganda,people see what they want to see and, hear what they want to hear.
This board or any other board is the same.During Covid Bezos gave around $500 million to feeding America.He did that because he can. The propoganda made up is ,sits there counting money,doesn't pay tax,steals from the poor etc,etc,etc.Nobody should be allowed to have more than say $5 million.How many people may have died because of self delusional stupidity.How can be donate $500 million if he should never be allowed to have more than $5 million .
CALPERS ,Vanguard,Black Rock,State Street etc produce fact sheets.CALPERS is a very simple one to analyse.They give you the breakdown of assets,say 40% goes into the shares of companies around the world,,35% US companies.10% fixed interest ( govt bonds etc).They will give you the breakdown every year.People would rather believe their own self delusional rubbish.Where does the education system fit into said self delusional rubbish.
CALPERS will supply you with how the fund has grown,around $40 billion in 1988 to around $800 billion now.People contribute for a secure retirement.Share prices rise,dividends rise,they get richer because the wealth is shared around.
As obvious as that is,as easy as it is to check people are going to deny it every day of their lives.Denial to the grave,generation after generation.
I'll leave it there.Nothing is ever powerful enough to shatter self delusion.
Aussie, I agree we are our own propaganda hunters. But were we born delusional? No, we were conditioned by institutions, all of us were, by families, churches, governments, schools, etc. and by our life experiences in the wider society also. Some of us have more profound blindspots (delusions of grandeur for example) than others due to the frequency and intensity of our conditioning.
Right now, we have state boards of education rewriting curriculums, tossing out books, using fear and intimidation of students and teachers to further their self-delusional propaganda goal that whites and white men are superior morally, intellectually, physically, etc. to non-whites and women. This is an example of what I meant by the correlation between education and propaganda.
One note about the GED. I was a very troubled and frustrated student who resented the "by-rote" style of teaching and rebelled all of the time.
I took the GED and got 296 out of 300 points. My secret weapon? My love of reading. This love allowed me to educate myself and gain new skill sets as needed.
To your point, no one monitored the books I read, nothing was "off-limits" as such and I was not hindered by any family history or my townspeople's parochial attitudes.
Adam--My 3 kids were so considerate of their old man none of them graduated from High School, saving me from having to purchase any gifts to reward their educational efforts. They all got their GED. My oldest had an IQ of 165, she dropped out because the school system helped the average student but those who needed special assistance and those who were gifted were pushed aside and basically neglected. The test they gave was given in two parts and on consecutive nights. My child looked over the test and raised her hand. Once called upon she simply asked if she finished the first half could she take the second part that same night? The teacher conducting the test laughed at the question and sarcastically said, Yes sweetie, if you can finish part one you are more than welcome to have a crack at completing the second part. She did both parts on the same night and got a 97% as an overall grade. They wasted an opportunity to reach a truly gifted young thinker. Considering she skipped her entire senior year.
Donald, as a retired teacher of gifted students, I am so sad your daughter's school didn't respect her enough to offer her what she needed. I would have loved to have had her among my students. I worked hard to find paths for them to do a lot of independent but guided learning. The classroom teachers worked hard to see that they were challenged. We didn't have the resources wealthy districts have (as the poorest district in my state), but I and the other teachers offered many opportunities for them to learn and develop their skills in and out of the school setting. I often took on students not officially tested gifted because their teachers knew tests don't tell everything about a student. I hope your daughter and your other "children" used the GED to find a valuable place for themselves in this crazy world, using their gifts for the benefit of their community and beyond.
Ruth--My daughter was given a special exam that they gave to all perspective members of a special group of young students, she scored in the top 1/2 of 1% of all the gifted kids in the country and she was only 5.
She was fortunate to have parents who supported her.
Awesome! Donald, that must have been a bit tough for you at first. Having a gifted child is a challenge most parents are not ready for. It appears that you were and did the testing that would have helped her school provide the accelerated programs that would have made her education interesting and challenging. When they did not properly follow-through for her, it was just plain wrong. There is no excuse today because there are so many resources online and even in teacher manuals the teachers could have consulted to stimulate her learning. I hope that with your family's guidance, she found all kinds of things to keep her mind whirring along, growing into the amazing gift she was given.
Schools dumb us down! Homeschoolers do so much better usually. I tried teaching High School in a rural, Republican area. It was glorified day care! I had four students who loved electronics and won a State Championshiip because I let them loose to take anything they needed while I babysat the rest! No support from administrators who were content to collect their nice paycheck! Worse job I ever had and they werren't going to fund the class for 10 years but we did get new Football bleachers!
I was fortunately to be born a few years after Sputnik, when the US was afraid of falling behind the USSR. Thanks to that and a dedicated teacher/administrator Henrietta (Hattie) Glenn who created the gifted program for Jefferson Co, KY and ran it the way Adm. Rickover ran the nuclear navy. She oversaw all aspects of the program, and made sure everything was top notch. After I was recommended by my 1st grade teacher, Ms. Glenn gave me the evaluation test personally. Ms. Glenn would come to our class 1-2 times per year to observe, and teach a short lesson. There were 40-50 gifted elementary classrooms in the district, and she made time to visit them, while administering everything else. Thanks to her and a bunch of amazing teachers, most of whom Ms. Glenn hired, I got challenging, top notch education. It’s a shame we needed to be losing a missile race to create support for good education.
Bill--It is said- there is some good in everything. But like you said it's a shame.
Yes, that's a problem with schools today. They're designed to keep the top students down to the level of the average students, failing to take advantage of superior skills of top students to advance them on a faster scale which they can handle.
Jaime--It was a case where my daughter was smarter than many of her teachers. She even told off the principal for interfering with her education, you should have sat in on that phone call.
In 8th grade I was called to the "guidance" office for allegedly sleeping in algebra class.
Me: Have I ever disrupted the class?
Counselor: No.
Me: When I've been called on to answer a question, have I ever not given the right answer?
Counselor: No.
Has the teacher ever tried to catch me sleeping, and did he?
Counselor: Uh... no.
Me: I'm sorry, can you please explain again why I've been called down here?
Counselor: Go back to class. And try to LOOK like you're paying attention.
I would've loved that. I often corrected my math teachers. One of them took revenge on me by not crediting answers without writing down the "work", unnecessary intermediate calculations that I always skipped because my mind could reach the answer more directly. That held me back & discouraged me about math.
true that - I was a very bright student (dumb in other ways, but that's another story) and was neglected, ignored, while teachers tried in vain to penetrate the cement skulls that just laughed at their efforts...a little better when my kids went to school...
Gina--When I was in grade school the disfunction we refer to as Dyslexia was an unknown.
true that - a lot of the cement heads were just wired differently
Adam, I do not think anyone should disparage the GED. It has made life better for a lot of students who could not for a variety of reasons, manage regular school and either dropped out or didn't complete classes to get the diploma. Several of my "gifted" students did that and I am glad for them. It seems that public education needs a boost in funding, course requirements, but also in attitude. The charter schools get lots of public money, in our state, off the top of the state budget, so they can advertise a lot while the regular public schools can't afford to, they are just there, even though in general, regular public schools either outperform or match the charter schools a vast majority of the time (in one study 83% of the time), which means we the people are pumping a lot of money into entities that really don't need to exist at all. Then, there are vouchers (OK, that's a story for another day). When a political party decides public schools need as little support as they can get away with, the children and the state as a whole suffer. We must find ways to let all people come to believe that education and life-long learning are critical to a successful life and society, the economy too.
I totally agree, Ruth. If the right had its way, public schools would cease to exist, and depriving them of funds is one way to move in that direction. Both teachers and students suffer.
Two of my sons homesshooled. They'd finish all their work in the Morning and made money with a paper route in the afternoon beside playing outside or helping me. They both took the GED and finished their college degree. One even had a scholarhship. The other paid for all his music lessons and equiptment and is now a teaching musician.
Keith, good job all 'round. Congrats to you and your sons.
Thanks, Ruth! My wife had a degree in English and she was a great mother and teacher! All three boys are doing well.
I dutifully conformed to the teachers’ “by rote” lessons (& graduated with high honors). I agree that learning & critical thinking are a product of a totally different approach. I also eschew the growing used of videos & other passive activities in the classroom. Students need to interact with their teacher, read more, & acquire a love of inquiry.
Did everybody who posted get this response? I know I got one. Is it really Robert Reich? Or a ghost.
I did. Clearly a scam of some sort and certainly not from Mr. Reich.
Ya... That was my conclusion too.
Donald, I, too have been disheartened and disturbed by the comments of the Iowans interviewed about the Caucus. I am not sure, though that it is entirely the fault of Iowans themselves. The interviewers rarely ask "real" questions, only questions that will get the mixed-up, pathetic answers the people give. Have you heard any follow-up questions like: name two positions your chosen candidate has that you are in agreement with, then 2 that you oppose; have you ever considered or voted for a Democrat or independent candidate, and if not, why not, if so, why; how do you feel about the violence Donald Trump is suggesting should happen if he does not win the election; do you receive Social Security or Medicare and if so how do you feel about Republicans desire to cut those programs. I hear a lot of interviewees mumbling that they don't know who they are supporting in the caucus (but of course they know), and mouthing their unsupported choice for the caucus but no follow-up to give them a chance to explain. Now, is that because the pieces aired are only specifically chosen phrases or that there was nothing else? The Republican candidates, like the voters are not asked challenging questions either and are permitted also to mumble or writhe their way through an answer with little to no follow-up. Maybe the voters are just following what their candidates do as though that were some kind of badge of honor. I do wish our media and screen media journalists would do better; I know the Republican candidates can't do better.
1,000 likes from me. I’ve often thought the same thing. But not even one “and just what exactly do you think trump will do to make it better?” Whether it’s the economy, the war in Ukraine or Israel, inflation, the border etc. etc.
Ruth--The average Iowan doesn't seem to be concerned with positions they only know candidates, and if you're not Republican to them you need to move.
We lost an experienced Democrate doing a very thorough job as tax collector to a 20 year old who lives in his mother's basement, is still in school and his only work experience is selling on EBAY and cutting grass! All a candidate needs here to win is an "R" after his name!! So discouraging!
Keith--That kid has a real future in the Republican party, he knows nothing, and he'll fit right in with all the others.
TJ--I'm just an ordinary guy trying to find my way through this unordinary world. You misjudged me and I don't hold that against you in any way. I find it odd, that what lies at the heart of this country's problems, is exactly what happened between us. People making themselves unapproachable because of their ideology and the fear that their world will be broken by a new sense of reality. We need a wall at our Southern border, but we don't need walls between our people.
Please read Reich’s essay again. I think you misconstrued it.
"Don't believe everything you think."
- Sign in a gas station, Chestertown, MD
Greg--Interesting words from someone that seems to have issues with their thoughts. L:OL
I paint what I see.
Greg--If only I had the colors to express my displeasure.
Sounds like a liberal statement, straight out of MAD Magazine. My favorite is "Stomp out violence"
I had to turn off the Iowa PBS show that showed MAGA Iowans (and not all of them were rural) explain their fealty to Trump. Nauseating. I live in rural Iowa, and I cannot stomach their nonsense, but we only have one state-elected Democrat in office, State Auditor Rob Sand, and Gov. Kim Reynolds has hamstrung him in the extreme. She publicly stated during the election cycle when Sand was running for re-election that she wanted someone to unseat him because, get this, she wanted "her own" auditor. That tells you everything about the state of Iowa's politics and lack of transparency and ethics. Sand would make a GREAT governor, but the DMC will never back him because state politics runs deeply red.
Joan--I live in Michigan and my neighborhood is infested with Trumpers. One individual on the other street has had dozens of Trump signs on her front lawn, and they've been there since 2015. I thought I had it bad, but your entire state is holding you captive.
Ignorance is chance. Stupid is a choice.
some people extricate themselves from ignorance - just read how Ray Bradbury couldn't afford to go to university so he went to the local library (at least he had one!! god bless Carnegie) and read everything there...but not everyone has the inclination, the time, or the individuality (we're group creatures after all) to go it alone
Jen--Ignorance is fixable, stupidity you're stuck with.
Jen--I had a small growth on my neck, it turned out to be a left over from my chem class, probably the result of working on too many "Molar", equations.
Donald, "spell" is the right word, and some of these individuals may die for the sake of Trump (some actually did on Jan 6). Trump is a savvy actor, and we need actors to confront, question and ridicule him. Biden cannot do it.
Victor--Maybe not but "We the People" can.
Mr. Hodgins,
The way to break the spell is to let Trump keep pumping out his verbal diarrhea. Sooner or later these MAGA folks will realize they are drowning in it. Hopefully sooner. I only have a GED but I have some Common Sense! I would question how many of MAGA have GEDs?
Kieth0-- Good morning, Sir. Your GED is more in the line of a PHD around here. A guy that went by the name of Paine would love your "Common sense." Pumping the Don with as much crap as possible just might cause the orange guy to over amp, as it were.
Iowa has been draining brains since WW2. The left-behinders fall into two categories. Those who work in factories and those who own the factories. Don't let the bucolic fields fool us. Every square inch of Iowa is a factory engaged in ruthless resource extraction.
Mac--Robotics would feel right at home.
Iowa is experiencing brain drain. The college graduates are leaving the state for better pay in other more progressive states. Also Iowa has become much older and more “Christian” thus less open to forward thinking. “It was fine when I was a kid” type thinkers.
Alice--Iowa gives a look into what life would be like under Trump. Poorly educated but still our people, Iowans are a small segment of our population that teach the rest of us a good lesson--stay in school.
Actually I think it’s the canary in the mine. Shows that something is killing our people. This problem in Iowa started with “No Child Left Behind”. Iowa used to rate very high on how well students did in school. Then the world changed and lots of changes happened because we lost something - the different paths one could follow. There used to be shop class, drafting, office skills and the like taught in high schools. The schools taught to the child’s interests (and parents wishes) rather than to a series of tests.
But what you say is also true.
Alice--
Donald Hodgins
Writes Donald’s Substack
1 min ago
Joan--Get this, I live in a district where the schools give mock exams that reflect the state tests given in the fall. They give these things over and over again to improve the results from their kids. Then they brag about how well their students did, and how progressive their educational programs are. Like Trump they cheat to get what they want.
It’s not even that they’re stupid- it’s just plain denial. When presented with an undeniable fact:
Me: Trump thinks Dad is a chump for his service as a Marine and cop, because there was nothing in it for him - no way for him to become rich. Here’s the quotes….
Mom: I’m not buying that.
The facts or intelligence do not apply. I think that generation spent so much of their lives denying all the bad stuff going on around them (people born in the 1930s), and following the patriarchy blindly- it’s genuinely scary 🫣 for them to veer away- even if it’s hurting themselves
Susan--Aside from mass hypnosis there is no explanation to explain their behavior.
Yes- lol that actually is helpful, because trying to figure it out is not working x too many years. Steeling myself for a birthday visit …. Therapist on call
Susan--I wish it was that easy, I'd just clap my hands and the country would be as one once again.
lol- well from what you’ve written, I wouldn’t mind living in your world 🌎. You might not like having me there hahaha
Yes!!!!! I am pretty sure that Civics and civility are not being taught in school now and it is a shame. No intelligent person should support #45. He is deranged and a threat to our Democracy. Wake up America!!!!!
Jane--Ditto--
We continue the prosecutions,then kick his ass into a dungeon.(A muzzle might also work
very well)One way or another people need to be deprogrammed and see the light.This maniac will do nothing for them!Maybe someone from the Biden campaign can reach the people that need it the most.
Red--The truth must come from the Republican side of the aisle.
Yes, we feel the same about you educated, heavily medicated urban degenerates. We'll all be happier when there's a border between us.
TJ---- Why are you moving to Mexico--
Maybe he wants a Trump wall around Iowa!
Keith--I don't know if he knows what he wants.
Donald - when I watched "Idiocracy" years ago, I did not fully grasp its message. I do now.
james--I hope the meaning you infer is on the good side of life.
Well no actually, if I get your intent. That movie was a spoof of course, or a satire, but its plot involving ignorant unintelligent and cowed people being ruled by corporate elites has all kinds of corollaries for today. And the writers could not have known then just how prescient they were. That is very sad.
James--If I remember correctly, I made a comment to TJ about there being a border between us. That is still a question to be answered.
Robert--You have my home phone number, give me a call and let's talk.
The problem really goes beyond trump. It goes right to our fellow Americans who allow a cretin like trump to exist in American politics in the first place. These are people we see every day, and they like what comes out of his mouth. Something has happened to make them hate, and trump has made it not only ok to hate but the righteous way to be. He's made it ok to hate their fellow Americans. That's why I hate him!
I think ConDon is a vile human being, I will not let him turn my heart black with his hate..instead I hope.. hope the justice system brings him to his knees and he continues to tell his follower they are but mere pawns needed for votes then they can die ..
Media needs to do much better at covering him is another hope..
msaw,
I couldn't agree more with everything you said. We may have to vote him out. Then, send I'm on his way to hell.
He was never supposed to win - surprised EVERYONE, even Trump.
Gordon,
What a sad day that was, and a low point for this country. I just hope it doesn't happen again.
Do I ever agree with that!
Sanders told The Guardian he believes the “bitter” and “humiliated” ex-president would be more vindictive than ever, if elected for a second term later this year. I could not agree more!
In one of his many columns after 9/11 Thomas Friedman described how the young men who"slammed planes into those buildings" had been humiliated when they arrived from their homelands to Western Europe to attend university.
They were not treated like "princes amongst men." Rather, they were treated like brown-skinned young men whose home culture had not been put through the cuisinart of the Enlightenment.
The radical Imams kept an eye out for that humiliation, and weaponized it.
Hell hath no fury like a young (or not so young) man humiliated...
Or a (mostly older) Iowa voter, who was implicitly referred to by Reich as “UNTALENTED.” It’s a short leap to “DEPLORABLE.”
Do we see where our elitism as gotten us? Our “superior-because- we-have-more- formal-education” mindset has created these conditions-- of course a fascist has stepped in, so all those “untalented” folks can “correct” us.
Educated does not mean “talented”-- as in, we are innately gifted with superior TALENT. But we sure think so! And it comes across in micro aggressions like Reich inadvertently revealed in this piece.
Liz, there is some truth there! I felt that from all my progressive friends who attacked me for opposing the clotshot, vax that was neither safe nor effective. I was even called a Trumper! Wow, how ignorant can some educated people be?!
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, a friend who taught college sociology recognized the name of one highjacker as a student from a class she taught. She called the FBI and they interviewed her, but of course, he was dead.
keep in mind what djtrump said a few weeks ago to the people of Sioux City, Iowa after a school shooting; “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here,” he added. “But have to get over it, we have to move forward.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4393128-trump-iowa-rally-school-shooting-move-forward/
If anyone wants to 'understand' Trump, look up the definition of a malignant narcissist. It's all right there. Everything he does is textbook. They leave a trail of damage for generations. His rallies feed his narcissist personality disorder. They are nothing short of a KKK rally.
Voters don't seem to be aware of Project 2025 or what I call the Chattel Project. They are using every tool in their racist toolbox to turn this country back to the John D. Rockefeller days. If Ayn Rand was on the ticket she would win. I hope Iowans will be thrilled to lose their pensions, Healthcare, social security and pay a 30% National Tax across the board. The rich will get richer and the rest of us will feel like we live in Venezuela. They don't just want to own the liberals. They want to own us all.
It's not just Iowans. There's more than 70 million who eagerly, senselessly, vote against their own welfare.
I will go my grave never understanding the cognitive dissonance in this country.
Forgive me for using this quote. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
That's the problem. They say 5 Hail Mary's turn around and repeat the same inhumane behavior. There idiots. One does have the right to be dumber than a doorknob in this country. And it shows.
Keith Olson ; as I have been saying ; Why are they not disqualified for violating their oaths of office? Who enforces these things that directly impact all of US? If they can't put a man in jail for violating his bail agreement, will judges and prosecutors be unable to do their jobs? Over three years and counting, and this criminal still threatens our Democracy! I have been asking all three years ; Where is our defense? What is 'Homeland Security"? Just to protect the wealthy criminals and their thugs? Why is Justice so slow? The evidence is plain and ample! We do not need or want a KING! Especially one who is so despicable. At the very least ; Revoke his damned bail! and end his megaphone! also keep him incommunicado, except for monitored communications with this lawyers as absolutely necessary! Get it done! He should be REQUIRED to clear his name before being on any ballot! BEFORE any election for president!
I remember Lyndsey Graham after midnight 1/6, certifying Joe Biden, disgusted with Trump and chaos: “I didn’t sign up for this!” [more or less]
Later at the airport confronted by angry Trump supporters condemning Graham’s disloyalty and cowardice, Graham must have realized that 1/6 wasn’t over.
Last night on the news: a well-dressed Iowa lady talked cheerfully about waiting in the sub-zero wind for the chance of seeing Donald Trump.
What would the Founders say? What would Jesus say? Truly amazing.
Lindsey Graham has a slinky for a spine! This infatuation with the Orange Mess is crazy!
These Republican elected office holders are perverting their oath of office. They swear allegiance to the Constitution, not a person. They are shallow, shameful people, who are acting on their own personal interests, the country be damned. They are models of naked self interest.
JennSH from NC ; Those who violated their oath of office, in support of the big lie have disqualified themselves, and being thus disabled, should be removed from office and ineligible to run again for any office in government.
And that is why it's time to retire Merrick Garland.
Here's a commentary on a recent Axios poll that Democrats should pay >very< close attention to. It makes sense to me that the opposition will be trying to draw them into a $#!7-fight over non-economic issues, conspiracy theories, and attempts to draw a false equivalence between Biden and his - currently - likely opponent, or even some half-assed understudy clone if the current favorite is indeed eliminated. It's a trap that the Democrats must avoid falling into, if at all possible.
The key will be in promoting a "vision" for dealing with kitchen table issues as discussed in the following: https://youtu.be/FBQshqkXPx8?si=gV1-owhvjEs4-ybg That would include detailing concrete measures to address those concerns in as understandable a way as possible, focusing a tad more on the needs of rural communities.
Keep in mind that Democratic voters seem to generally hail from metro areas, while the opposition comes from more sparsely populated, rural areas suffering from "brain drain" to the metro areas, and what's left are older voters and those "undereducated" folks the opposition so loves.
Keep also in mind that metro life is hectic. People have so little time that they tend to own homes or live in apartments that stand vacant most of the day until the residents come home to shove something into the microwaved, stuff it into their mouths, then collapse in exhaustion until morning.
By contrast, rural life tends to be less eventful, where major forms of entertainment revolve around church - and of course, politics. Generally - unscientifically - speaking anything else involves a trip to the local metro areas, which they've traditionally feared and considered evil places back to biblical times - Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylon, and the like. The conservative media they gravitate to does everything it can to encourage that view, as well.
AN INTERESTING BBC TAKE (for those of us beginning to believe this is what it's like to be going mad!):
https://youtu.be/62aRfW0xLlw?si=eCmjK8t4Cy_nMNQa
ON ANOTHER ISSUE: I actually approve of keeping track of UFO/UAP's for all the reasons the expert focuses on in this piece: https://youtu.be/LPrvnyIeyDA?si=HbOUo4i_n-QeNWab and not the LGM superstitions and "X Files" conspiracy theories that MAGA media seem to focus on and promote. I rather like the notion that it's a coin-toss probability that the image they show is a result of "forgotten" - to me, that translates "undetected" - spyware. That latter take squares pretty well with the cyberwarfare that has raged on uncommented for 15 or more years, and only grabs public attention when major financial, infrastructure, government, or defense systems are breeched.
Rural? Here are the facts.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/14/trump-biden-farmers-00135396?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I still think that 1. Gen Z can save us. 2. Ridicule works better than facts on the "lumpen" voters, even though we have the facts on our side.
Seriously folks #trumpstinks
Indeed. That's the "tad" more Democrats should emphasize when they campaign in rural areas, that "Fox & friends" - that dominates that market - downplay in favor of the "non-economic issues, conspiracy theories, and attempts to draw a false equivalence" I speak of.
Further proof that Trump doesn't give a flying fig about people. "Get out and vote for ME!" "I don't care if you die afterwards, just vote for ME!" His adherents just cannot see past their far and rage to understand that they are playing into the hands of a despot.
Most, if not all, of the ones who still support Trump really believe he was sent by God to save America! That’s what we have to deal with.
The Abominable Showman.
I was sick to my stomach that he would be callus enough to not care about the human being voting...just that he gets the vote. I'm not surprised at all though. That headline should be broadcast far and loud on NPR, CNN, NBC, CBS et al.
TFG's exhortation to vote no matter what smacks of desperation, to me, Keith.
I hope you’re right Denise. Maybe he’s finally realizing the world is closing in on him.
Oh, I think he realized that when the first indictment came down, Keith. Maybe even when he lost on 11/3/20. He may be an idiot, but he has a feral sense of his own status. Now, he's scrambling like mad to find a path out of those encroaching walls, like a cornered rat. Except rats are much more intelligent, adaptable, innocuous creatures---not meaning to insult them with the comparison.
Yes, the Mob Boss is feeling the heat.
I'd say that's a good analogy, Keith, but it's actually quite a literal statement.
You covered all facets of trumps damage to America well....all I can add is that it's a disgrace that supposed Christians would align with D. Then again, Hitler had the Catholic church under control. And Prof. Reich explains the brain drain from certain red states...yet they hold inordinate political sway sue to electoral college. Democrats must start thinking aggressively. You better believe the fascists would move heaven & earth to achieve dissolution of electoral college if situation reversed.
Absolutely! They will find ways to cheat. They have the all-time greatest American cheating lowlife teaching them!
Some congress people might be role models, but I venture that a lot of them are there for the power and easy corruption money. How else can you explain the congressional support for Trump?
It’s infuriating that for so much of his behavior he would have been arrested and jailed, NO BAIL!
He obviously is blackmailing the USA government with the DOCUMENTS HE HOLDS. They just need to arrest ALL OF THEM NOW! So many TRAITORS!
“That Trump will be tried for his coup attempt is not a violation of his rights. It is a fulfillment of his rights. It is the grace of the American republic. In other systems, when your coup attempt fails, what follows is not a trial.”
—Timothy Snyder (Read his Substack, and his book "On Tyranny.")
We are witnessing the road toward fascism every day!!
We need to setup a detour while there’s still time!
How? That's the one million dollars question. Unfortunately Democrats need a new leader who could excite the young people and get back the black and Hispanics that Biden has lost to Trump. I hate to say this but we need a charismatic leader who could unite the Democratic Party.
Someone suggested Michelle Obama. What do you think?
I really don’t think Michelle would because she has too much class. If he’s healthy enough, Jamie Raskin could become the next Democrat with enough experience and constitutional knowledge to lead the party.
You are correct, Michelle is a lady who will not go down to the level of a horrible bully like Trump. To fight a bully, you have to behave like one. Raskin is a good man but I don't know if he has charisma. If Nancy Pelosi were not so old, she put up with Trump and showed more balls than many men. I will never forget when in a meeting at the WH she stood up and pointed to Trump's ugly face with her finger and then she tore his last State of the Union in front of the whole world.
I celebrated her with all my heart
You are absolutely correct. Nancy Pelosi has True Grit and She is not afraid of bullies!
I first drove across Iowa in 1974, as a private in the US Army, taking his first leave from Ft. Carson Co to Brooklyn NY, in a spanking new Ford Pinto and a dog, a Border Collie as smart as any drill sergeant during boot camp. I called him Sarge. Sarge and I were on I80 just past Omaha when the Pinto started to buck. This is in the middle of a December blizzard and minus one million degrees with wind chill, and with the Pinto's heater on the fritz. Then the timing chain broke, allegedly (the car was 3 months old). But we were dead in the water somewhere between Dexter and Desoto in a whiteout, with Sarge smartly in the back of the Pinto snarling, guarding the only blanket in the car. Being a fresh recruit, now trained to take on the Rooksies single-handed, I'd packed prepared. I had a canteen of water and a duffle bag of dirty laundry for Mom to wash. Oh, and the dog lease that I wanted to hang myself with at that point (and for more reasons than a storm).
But it was for the grace of Iowans, not God, that I survived that ordeal. One drove Sarge and me into town (two cornfields sewn together), to a diner somewhere in another cornfield, and then a gal gave me numbers to call, and another came and got us to tow the lame Pinto to a community college, where others put it up on a rack to tear the engine apart. Another kind Iowan drove us to a hotel that took dogs, and then we got a hot shower and a nice sleep. Then someone picked us up from that cornfield and took us to the one where the small college was hidden behind domes of snow and husk. That's where we found my horse awaiting, snorting and stamping at the bit to get going again, and even the heater was hot to trot.
My emergency leave from my platoon to go see Dad for the last time was only made possible by the kind hearts of Iowans, folks much different than I knew of who inhabited my home state, NY. Dad died a few days later. If not for the swiftness of some college kids in shop class, and the trustfulness of the hotel owner to take an out-of-state check from a GI, I might have never seen him alive again. So thank you Iowa, after all these years, of which I've never said a word to anyone of your grace and hospitality. That was 1974 Iowa, so I hope you still exist. You do in my heart.
It has a name - Iowa Nice - and we're still here. Many of us are carving out our little blue pockets and winning school board elections for Dems by 12 scant votes. We're pushing back against the evangelical radicals, Mom's For "Liberty", and our disgusting, inhumane governor. I know to a lot of the country, including and perhaps especially the DNC, we're a lost cause but those of us who really fight hard resent that sentiment to our cores. Iowa Dems need more support and funding than ever before to get back to blue. Don't forget about us.
The Who's said it best:
WE ARE HERE!
WE ARE HERE!
WE ARE HERE!
Nikki, I hear you! Keep fighting and winning those pockets of blue. I was raised in rural eastern Iowa, my folks sent all ten of us to college. My father was elected into the Democrat Hall of Fame in his county at age 92. We were raised to be resourceful, to take responsibility for creating our best lives and to care about others. My siblings and I are teachers, doctors, lawyers and social workers. I have a home in Iowa City and Arizona; cannot seem to leave behind my beloved Iowa. Our three sons (all with masters degrees) have long fled Iowa. The truth is, as Robert writes, some parts of Iowa cities are leaning left, but Iowa City has always been our oasis of liberalism in the midst of red. It is a beautiful town filled with the arts and a hub of divergent thinking. What I’m trying to say to all of you is yes, Iowa has changed drastically, experienced brain drain and has been propagandized by FOX and Rush. But there are many of us like Nikki and myself trying to keep the Democratic Party relevant here. We will never stop trying.
I’ve donated to Mike Franken twice (from Oregon). He was a wonderful candidate. If someone like Franken can’t beat the pig castrator and a senile old idiot, there is no hope for Iowa and I won’t waste my money ever again. But I love your comment and your unfailing hope for Iowa’s future. Best of luck to you - keep up the good fight!
Yet I do remember a farmer telling me once that he was not political at all, as he had to feed both sides of the aisle, and both sides kept his family in diapers and got the kids through college. I guess those days of Iowa are over? The reason Iowa was first in the caucus, historically, is because they were an apolitical group of people at one point, no? Perhaps that's just the grandparent class now, and perhaps social media has ruined the discourse and sensibilities of you all, but ya better wise up, true farmers don't care about your dickerry, they just want to feed you and themselves. Do right by them, and they will do right by you. The problem is, how many true farmers are left, or have they all become part of the Corporate Grain Gain machine?
"less than seven percent [of Iowa farms] are small or medium-sized farms that are owned by one family."
That means that over ninety three percent of Iowa farms are owned and operated by large corporations like Stein whose owner is the richest man in Iowa and a large Republican donor.
So...there's almost no such thing as a nonpartisan farmer in Iowa anymore. Almost. I'm sure there are a few, but they're far between.
https://modernfarmer.com/2018/09/under-the-usdas-definition-90-percent-of-iowas-farms-are-family-farms/
This is why I have worked with farmers and coops here for decades to help prevent the destruction of family farming: the corporate takeover by cookie and other agro companies, and the massive diversion of grain to alcohol. I'm sure this is the same thing Iowans went through during the 50s and 60s up to this day. But it's a snowball that keeps rolling and there is no stopping it, unless GoN steps in and takes charge (which they won't). So like in the US, things here are being run by the Agro giants, and it's just getting worse every month. See my vids here for more context:https://youtu.be/Stsdj_Nw_RQ
What a great story. It’s refreshing to hear something nice about out (stupid?) rural cousins for a change. I read a post the other day from a friend who I suspect is a magahatter. The responses from his magahatter friends were hateful, angry and mean. I wondered to myself is this what they have become? Then I wondered is this what we are becoming?
thx Dave! I ponder this every day about my country's people these days. I meet tourists who are unrecognizable as Americans unless a QANON tee passes for a loud Hawaiian shirt these days. I find that shocking, and so does the rest of the world whenever a MAGA hat is encountered abroad. Terrible. And I spilled blood for this.
Iowa -- cleanest rest rooms in America!
i do remember that, that 50 years ago!
Oh they are! But that’s a very condescending mindset. And, believe me, Iowans feel that. Why do you think they look to Trump to “correct” our elitist mindset?
Trump will get their confidence, and later he's going to take their lunch money. If they had been allow to read Penthouse magazine, they could have read about what kind of shyster Trump is. (not the only source for that information).
But everyone will pay the price.
Iowa nice.
Once upon a time, I held hearings in Omaha. Turns out the neighboring city is "wide open." Four major casinos. Denizens of Omaha go to Council Bluffs, the Las Vegas of Iowa for a wild time. 23 casinos in Iowa including four Native American casinos and 19 state-licensed casinos. The state-licensed casino include 18 land based and one riverboat casino. See Iowa Indian Gaming Casinos and Iowa State-Licensed Casinos.
"With a crime rate of 34 per one thousand residents, Council Bluffs has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 29." https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ia/council-bluffs/crime#:~:text=With%20a%20crime%20rate%20of,here%20is%20one%20in%2029.
Council Bluffs was once considered a mafia town. https://iowahistoryjournal.com/mobster-meyer-lansky-gambling-empire-of-mobs-accountant-included-council-bluffs-dog-racing-track/
I get it. Can't say I've ever lived there but I've been to Iowa several times in the past 3 years, including once just before 2020 election. Once to Council Bluffs.
We know this but it bears remembering: People in places like Council Bluffs have increasingly been required by realities of modern life to send their money to the (fewer) people at top of finance and tech industries--the educated "elite"--who are on the coasts. And they're trapped doing this--especially older ones who of course never had the remotest opportunity to participate in any way in finance or tech, but have paid dearly with their (poorly compensated) labor for these necessities. Of course parasitic industries like gambling have taken over. End-stage capitalism in dying places, hastened and made worse by both establishment Dems and Reps.
Like residents of other Trump strongholds, Council Bluffs residents who can must pay their "fair share" of taxes, while corporations and uber-wealthy don't. Their money goes to Washington, which ensures that tech and finance corporations, especially their CEOs, don't pay taxes through an airtight system of legalized corruption. They are trapped doing this and they know it.
Why don't we think they'd want to burn it all down, which is exactly what Trump promises to do? Versus what Dems do, which is give giant bailouts to Wall Street--same as Trump--but Dems STUPIDLY try to hide it. Talk about a con.
And lest we think that Trump supporters are simply stupid racist doofuses (read: lacking in institutional education), here's a representation of the mindset that elected Trump in 2016 (from Des Moines Register, 9/28/2016):
"Kathleen Eckerman, a retired nursing assistant who twice voted for President Barack Obama, described living in an apartment where she’s surrounded by young families facing financial hardship and no obvious prospects for improvement.
After backing U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic caucuses, Eckerman said she’s voting for Trump with the hope that his tough talk on trade and promises about restoring American manufacturing will yield results for people like her neighbors."
I voted for Clinton in 2016. I regret not voting for Sanders. I now support Justice Democrats, whose candidates both Dem and Rep party machines have done everything in their power to "disappear".
Jigs, thank you for this. This is exactly why I moved to Montana in 1996.
From a blue state, I presume. I have not lived in the States since 2000, but I loved living in Colorado regardless of the way people voted (back then, no one could give a shit one way or another). Colorado was very conservative then, but for the 5 square miles surrounded by reality, we called Boulder. This was a magical area mixed with red-neck Ranchers and Rainbow dancers. Everyone seemed to party just fine, despite cultural or otherwise differences, except for one issue back then: homophobia. And it seems all of today has extended from that, but what do I know, I'm just a dirty emigrant now.
Yes, i moved from Connecticut to Montana. I loved the civility of the people, especially the ranchers. I was friends with the two largest ranchers in the valley who were libertarians and we could tease each other mercilessly. One used to be an engineer and read the Wall Street Journal everyday and the other graduated from the University of Michigan, studied computer science and went on to work for Honeywell. Although both in their 60s and 70s they worked from dawn to dusk raising cattle and growing hay. They were not uneducated, they just saw the world differently then us city folk.
I am so frustrated that “educated” progressives are unable or unwilling to speak to the concerns of these hard working folks. They have been looking for someone who at least seems to hear them. They are not “deplorables,” they have been unheard. It was ranchers and farmers that created electric cooperatives in rural areas in the thirties to have access to electricity and they created agricultural cooperatives to store and market their grain.
Montana was politically solidly purple until wealthy conservatives and racists moved in and utilized unlimited wealth to sway voters. The white supremacy leaders in Montana have mostly moved in from other states in the 2000s. They then promoted Montana as a good place to raise your white christian children and drew in other racists from the South and conservative parts of California. It was sad to see that happen.
Ranchers and farmers were once thought the solution, not the problem. Strange, eh?
I lived in Boulder for a while - boy did they know how to do Halloween.
Omaha too.
we (I) tend to forget in our (my) exasperation with these people that they are good-hearted, even when ignorant (in the best and original meaning of the term)
Well, I think the "somehow" is Social Media, and perhaps "low info" is an anachronistic descriptor these days. Maybe it's the "high" rate of info that's the problem, and the shorter attention spans we have as a result.
I just lost a family member yesterday (I loved him very much) and after spending time screaming and crying I wanted to quiet down my brain with some mind numbing reading. I, however, stupidly checked my email (it was reflex) and saw stories about the republicans begging people to risk their lives to go to their caucuses - for what!? Then I read a headline (I tried to avoid the news but didn’t succeed obviously) where a woman and two children died trying to cross the river from Mexico to Texas and the CBP was barred from helping them by the Texas “military”. How can someone just stand there and watch people die? To hell with Abbot’s order in trying to prevent migration and to hell with him busing people to states that are currently in below zero temperatures. What has happened to people who now no longer value other human beings? Have we not learned anything from our past? How can some only value the people who can help us with our own agenda and not love everyone for who they are, where they have come from and where they are going. What has happened to this world? Power, money and domination only gets you so far and at what price?
It is negative 10 degrees today in Chicago with a wind-chill factor of NEGATIVE 29 degrees folks. This weather will kill you. I would love to see Abbott, duct-taped to his wheel chair, parked in the middle of the any bridge crossing the Chicago river, spend the whole day feeling what these poorly clothed migrants he's sending here, most of whom have never experienced cold like this, are feeling for a whole day.
It won't make any difference of course, but it would be grand to see him get his!
Anon;
The Democrats need to talk about Greg Abbott’s inhumanity in Texas, allowing murder by drowning, in service to a political stunt,over and over, until it is seared into the minds of every decent person in the US.
Pro-life my ass!
David - whole heartedly agree. I don’t understand how any person with a beating heart could not only watch an adult struggle and then drown but two Children! I for one would defy orders and gladly go to jail just because I tried (and possibly succeeded) to save another human being. The others being bused up north are without proper clothing and are not accustomed to the weather. What is wrong with people? After reading that article I checked about ten other news sites and only two gave it a blip on their website. Yes, Democrats should be loud about this. We may not be Ukraine or Gaza/Israel but do we not have humanity when we do/see such unspeakable atrocities? Our fight might be different but it is a fight worth fighting for. Don’t get me started on guns.
and doctors watching women with unviable pregnancies get close to the edge of death - sorry, not watching, cuz the women are sent out to the parking lot to see themselves thru their ordeal
Anon, we sing in the same choir! 🎶🎶🎶
David - so nice to know that I am not alone!
Sorry I had to go back and edit my stupidity.
This writer didn’t see any stupidity
David - I appreciate your words. Before I realized that I could hit the edit button I had originally typed Egypt instead of Israel. I wasn’t thinking correctly at first so that is why I was frustrated with my original post. I guess I was just mad at my stupidity because I don’t want to mislabel any person’s pain. However, your reply gave me comfort so thank you for your compassion.
I don't think that you are Robert Reich. I think you are a scammer.
Begone!
I am so sorry that you lost a beloved family member...puts everything in perspective.
Liz - thank you for the kind words - it means more than you realize.
maybe there's just too many of us - and we're potentially in touch with all the billions in the world - we evolved to hang with relatively small family/tribal groups - probably natural to close ranks
Happy MLK DAY
America, more now than ever, needs patriotic leaders like MLK to help us through these difficult times!
Doctor Martin Luther King once said something to the effect that the Darker it becomes, the brighter the stars will shine.
Keith, that quote came from the speech that Martin Luther King gave in Memphis the night before his assassination. He said that, if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” He felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice. (Obviously the Republicans call that “woke,” which I wear as a badge of honor.)
… “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
It is oddly ironical that the day chosen for the first Republican caucus of the Presidential race is the day that celebrates the champion of being “woke.” It is just and fitting that the forces of the environment are making it particularly difficult to get to the polls of this race among racist candidates to vote in the most unimportant primary in recent history.
What they have accomplished with the willing collaboration of the media, is to draw almost all attention away from a holiday meant to commemorate one of our most important modern-day heroes for justice and equality.
Note: I have to thank Heather Cox Richardson for bringing this event and speech forward in her substack.
Had you not written that, I would have. Her Substack yesterday was beautiful. If y’all haven’t read it I can highly recommend you do.
Quite the dichotomy, Martin Luther King Jr. who epitomized love all people and non-violence and The Former Guy who epitomizes cruelty for all people and endless, ruthless violence.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we humans were past this evolutionary stage of perpetual violence? Wouldn't it wonderful if all the candidates in our lifetime were woke, peaceful, kind, honorable, and pursuing public service to truly serve the public?
We can be woke in our words but not in our actions. Hence, MLK's famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, where he described his "great stumbling block," the white moderate. Perhaps we need to look in the mirror?
Along those lines, the example of Justice Democrats (who elected the Squad) seem especially relevant. They embody the spirit of MLK, and--exactly as was his experience--have have to fight the white moderate (as well as of course the white conservative) every single day to make progress. On this MLK Day, I thank god for them. It is in the best interest of the Dem establishment and their corporate donors to plant fear of leaders like Sanders, Warren, AOC in the hearts of Dems and the country--making sure the message of such leaders is disparaged, so they don't get too close to the brass ring.
From Letter from Birmingham Jail: " For years now I have heard the word "wait."...This "wait" has almost always meant "never."
Sounds familiar.
Liz, we are all on a continuum of evolving awareness of the suffering of others and ourselves. It is a journey not a light switch.
MLK expressed his disappointment and pain at the white clergy especially, which he dubbed moderate, not truly reflecting Jesus' teachings in their sermons and communications with their flock and communities. I don' t believe MLK was advocating shaming or fighting "moderate" whites in power. He was expressing his experiences honestly and his painful feelings. And as part of the brotherhood of clergy, he was trying to inspire them to look within themselves to ask if their words and actions were in alignment with the foundations of Christianity.
In life I have experienced the sayings, "Whatever you fight, grows stronger." and "Whatever you resist, persists." To effect positive, sustainable change in the D establishment, we must look within and find how to take wise action (which includes our words). We can't change how people act, but we can change how we respond, which can have a positive effect on how people act.
If democrats can win back the House, keep and increase the majority in the Senate, hold onto the Presidency, one of their most important priorities must be to do for high speed internet what FDR did for electricity with the Tennessee Authority, make sure every home has access to broadband! To go along with that, we must find a fair and systematic way to curb and regulate misinformation and propaganda through that system, a difficult task, but necessary for Democracy to survive!
Also something has to change with regard to the electoral college.
For the first 300,000 years humans puttered around in the real world. Over
the last 25 years or so with the advent of the World Wide Web people's
activities have moved more and more to the virtual world. This trend will
continue as virtual reality technologies become increasingly immersive.
The laws and norms that were developed over centuries have no real
counterpart in the virtual world.
The point is: our lives are increasingly impacted by companies and their
coders and as they have gained power they are largely unaccountable to the
public.
This is a complex subject but a really good exploration of how many ways
Big Tech is a bad actor in our lives and a sketch of what to do about it
are in The Digital Republic. and System Error books.
as I keep saying, quoting somebody, we're stone-age minds in a world we never made - well, some of our more clever members have made and now we live in it
From the 2020 census:
[Iowa] Households with a broadband Internet subscription, percent, 2018-2022 86.3%
I wouldn't characterize Iowa as, "no state has swung as heavily Republican as Iowa." Rather as "Iowa went MAGA." While technically part of the GOP, since MAGA has become dominant, the values of MAGA -- as enumerated by Trump, their godhead -- have superseded what the rest of us think of as being "What Republicans do and believe." Republicans are, for the most part, into greed for money and Power. MAGAheads are all about anger, anarchy, and "Our way or no way!"
The Dutch Christian Reformed population there is large ...and growing. These folks are comfortable with strong men, comfortable with racism, comfortable with misogyny. Donald Trump has read this population like a cheap novel and tells them just what they want to hear.
Agreed. The went MAGA which is the technical term for batsh*t CRAZY!
I am not as knowledgeable or as eloquent as many of your commenters but I did live in Des Moines from 1996-2003. I caucused in 2000 and “stood” for Bill Bradley. When our group was small, we were honest about our chances and moved to stand for Gore. No paper, no privacy. It was a thrilling experience and I’m forever grateful. When I read what is happening in Iowa as you described my heart breaks. My late husband called Des Moines home for decades until he met this Pennsylvanian. As an attorney he was an active Democrat and co-founded the Youth Law Center. I wish he were still with me for endless reasons but at this very time to explain what is happening. But he isn’t so I appreciate this post more than you know.
I saw Iowa’s conservative bent start when Rush Limbaugh gained popularity in the 80s. Friends and relatives surprised me when they got hooked on his rhetoric. Many of us assumed “this too will pass.” Instead, local radio saw a marketing opportunity and created more conservative programming until it pretty much dominated the airwaves. Independent voters swung conservative. Democrats had no answer. Enter DT and GOP took over the legislature, the governorship, and countless local boards. Until a younger, less indoctrinated population returns, I don’t see much changing here in Iowa.
Oh so sorry you lost your husband. He sounds like an amazing person!
Thank you
I’m wondering if Iowans, specifically Trump supporting Iowans, will take a minute to digest what he just asked them to do?
Trump told them even if they’re “sick as a dog” to go out into sub zero weather and vote for him. Even if they die as a result of being out sick in the extreme cold “ it would be worth it”.
Trump’s compassion is flatlined.
Sadly, those elderly, sick Trump supporters will go out there and give him the best of what they have- their votes. And Trump will accept those precious votes with his usual sense of entitlement with no sense of gratitude or appreciation for their sacrifice.
On this day, Martin Luther King Day where we recognize the remarkable legacy of a 39 year old Black preacher who sacrificed his life, was snatched from his wife and young children, while standing up for garbage workers in Memphis when he could’ve stayed home in Atlanta “ safe”. He died for his belief in a better America.
Donald Trump tells elderly people to sacrifice, even if they die, in the frigid Iowa weather to vote for him. He cares not a whit about Iowa. Or America. We are all just his pawns to be moved about the chessboard of his ambition to be an American dictator.
Let the contrast between Martin Luther King and Donald Trump inform this day.
TFG didn't mention who it would be worth it for. Funny how he always leaves that part out.
I suppose there is a silver lining. If they die voting for Trump in this primary, they won't be around for the general election.
That's what we said about COVID, but they're still here.
That's what I was thinking.
Covid virus loves MAGA types but Missouri still red.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-in-republican-counties-have-higher-death-rates-than-those-in-democratic-counties/
Yes, the difference amounts to only a fraction of a percent of the US population. They more than make up for it in the long run by outbreeding us.
There are multiple reasons but impotence isn't likely a significant factor.
John, I agree with all that you wrote, except for “Trump’s compassion is flatlined.” I don’t think compassion has ever been part of his makeup, even as a child. Maybe you were talking historically, in which case we agree totally.
tRump hates dogs as much as voters.
Lets put Commander back in the White House!
and if he bites people, well, so he bites people
This is a low information population, with lack of media other than FOX & right wing radio especially outside the city & the demise of small town newspapers contributing credible news.
very true about the consequence of the demise of local town newspapers!
... at least one of which has had its office trashed by the local police for political reasons.
a tragedy, and nothing (gawd knows not local internet) has come up to replace them
I cannot believe Trump holds a commanding lead. What has happened? Have we become idiots? To want Trump again? God help us
The rest of the GOP candidates are no better. They have no valid "front runners". They are all MAGA, except for Christy who dropped out.
Christie (no relation to that other fiction writer, Agatha) was the only Repooplickin candidate telling the truth
It must have been a novel experience for him, LOL.
cute ... and I may have to steal "repooplickin", if only to discombobulate auto-correct
Iowa is not alone in this transition. Nearby states of Nebraska and Kansas have moved from being leaders in progressive ideas to regressive politics. As someone who lived in these states a good portion of my life, I attribute the shift to two factors: corporate media and economic concentration.
All three states are the targets of conservative media, which found fertile ground in smaller populations, an aging white population, and few large urban centers. The Des Moines Register is a good example of what was a stellar, Pulitzer Price winning news paper that transitioned in 1985 to corporate blandness. The Omaha World Herald, now owned by Warren Buffet, has its own checkered history, as can be illustrated by an editorial in support of Richard Nixon the weekend before he resigned. Religious affiliated radio is also very popular in these states and supports a form of Christianity that would be unrecognizable to the immigrants who brought their faith from Europe generations ago.
All three states were free states or territories before the Civil War and did not have the oligarchy civic structures of the slave states. The shift in agriculture from small holdings to massive corporate farms has involved not just fewer farmers but also a concentration of massive agribusiness companies. Interestingly enough, this consolidation and concentration has been driven and subsidized by successive farm bills at the Federal level. As we know from Europe, massive corporatization of farming is not a given. The Common Agriculture Policy in the EU has supported smaller holdings to a greater extent.
Large corporate agriculture operations resulted in concentrated facilities that produce substantial environmental load. Iowa has over 20 million pigs but only around 4 million people. Most all the crops grown in these states are to feed animals not humans. The animals are fed in highly polluting CAFOs or “concentrated animal feeding operations.” The cycle of subsidized mono-cropping for feed and subsidized industrial animal agriculture is led by an agribusiness that wants to keep the game going. Attempts to deal with the massive levels of pollution and ecosystem degradation are met with howls of protest by corporate media. The story spun is that we might endanger the family farm. That Grant Woods type of farm has largely been snuffed out since the fence post to fence post agriculture policies under Gerald Ford and his infamous Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz. My grandfather’s 80 acre farm would be seen today as a hobby farm for some retired college professor.
The future in these areas will be challenging with climate change and ecological degradation. Crop yields drop with extreme weather events from an unstable climate. The irrigation from water mining of aquifers is reaching a critical point as the aquifers are depleted. Mono-cropping produces depleted soils incapable of sustaining crop yields. Extended use of concentrated industrial animal agriculture produces toxic waste that will impact the future ability to raise animals and human health.
Supporting a politics of profitability over people and planet is a cruel use of a corporate power and media.
Great writeup, depressing as it is.
The population of Iowa is 3,206,173. The population of the greater Boston area is 4,900,550. While Iowa won't decide the 2024 election, other Midwest states will. That's the problem with our electoral system, the presidential election is going to come down to a few hundred thousand voters in the Midwest from states that don't represent the majority of voters in the nation.
I think Trump is well on his way to winning, if the election was held today Biden would lose and lose big. The war in Israel and Gaza and crisis at the Southern border as well as the false narrative that the economy is worse due to Biden, are not going to subside anytime soon. Netanyahu is clearly playing Biden and wants Trump to win. Biden is a fool for letting Netanyahu and his extreme right wing government get away with mass destruction of Gaza. Biden should have come down hard on Netanyahu on day one. In my view Biden is looking weak and seems to not be in control of the what is happening in Israel and Gaza. It's going to cost him a lot of young voters and Black voters.
Trump will be more vindictive and he will weaponize the DOJ and the courts and if the Republicans take control of both Houses of Congress, well that would spell a huge downfall to our nations standing in the world and I suspect there will a lot of upheaval, violence and 4 more years of chaos.
Trump told the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in 2020 that the US would “never come help” if Europe was attacked and also said “Nato is dead”, a senior European commissioner said. This man and his MAGA Republican congressional boot lickers will do a lot of damage not only to the economy, but to the U.S.'s standing in world.
The nation is so screwed, and so is the world.
Don't discount a nuclear exchange with China -- who Trump blames for sending the virus that turned his perfect economy upside down. When he asks .. "We have nukes; why can we use them?" he's not going to have sane people around him this time.
And yes .. our "friends" in Israel would love nothing more than a Trump win. Money is flowing here to defeat anti-fascist Democrats.
I was thinking about that. Trump in the White House again with his wee hands close to the nuclear arsenal. The stuff of nightmares.
I live in Iowa. I have voted Democratic since I voted for Dick Clark and John Culver. I learned political science from Chuck Gifford. Everything you say is true. What drive me nuts now is is hearing the very people who vote for Trump and Grassley and Ernst complain when their Social Security Disability claim is denied.
Very interesting, Robert. Thank you
#MAGA knowns that #Trump is their ONLY CHANCE for bullies to take over the country.
They are NEVER going to give up that chance
They will murder anyone who gets in their way.
Your post brings to mind that quote from Bill Bryson (who as far as I know is still living in England): “I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.”