Not in These United States

Each week seems to deliver new turmoil courtesy of Donald Trump.  This week, two biggies: the armed services to LA to manage protestors, and a military parade in DC.  Trump has said anyone who shows up to protest the parade will be met with “heavy force.”  Really?

Since the Boston Tea Party in 1773, we as a nation have honored the right of our people to gather peacefully to protest the government, whether that government was in the form of the Executive, Legislative, or Judicial Branch.  Trump wants to change all that and arrest people for disagreeing with him.  That sentiment is not only unconstitutional, but also blasphemous in these United States.

Colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor to protest an English law regarding taxation.  The phrase, “no taxation without representation,” was a special pro-democracy position against a monarch.  Thinking about it in today’s context, we should not forget that those colonists, whom history has judged as heroes, destroyed private property to prove their point.  We do not allow that destruction to go unchallenged anymore, and that is good IMHO, but even so, the right to protest the government was established early.

Is it OK with you that people who disagree with Trump and MAGA programs have the right to peacefully protest those programs?  Or shall we be a nation with a leader whose skin is so thin he cannot handle criticism?  Trump can’t take the heat and should review what Truman said about the heat associated with the job of President and get out of the kitchen.

For me, the right to protest is so democratic, so instilled in our blood, that any effort to persecute alternative perspectives should be met with legal consequences, not punishment of the protesters.  The point at which the protest turns violent or destructive calls for intervention, but not the protest itself.  If I'm an American, I should have the right to stand with my fellows, hold a placard that calls ICE practices into review, or a military parade in the streets of our nation’s capital is disgraceful.  And I symbolically stand with all those who agree and show up and protest.  I do not want a president more comfortable with Putin, XI, or Jong procedures than American inherent rights.

There, I have printed my protest.  Trump is wrong.  Even if you like Trump, surely you see that persecution of alternative thought should never happen in a free nation.  Not in these United States.

Or are we no longer these United States?

Not Right

Trump is not right. He is a seriously flawed person, and as soon as we all realize that, we can remove him and end the MAGA nightmare. Bold statements. Please allow me to build my case. 

If you are a MAGA member, then your mind may have already shut down because you have been given labels to describe me that allow you to ignore what I say. I encourage you to take an intellectual risk and consider the alternatives to a Trump presidency. I am not a socialist. I am not a communist. I am not a fascist. And I am a former American Government teacher, so I know what those ideologies buttress, and I do not accept any of them. 

I am a supporter of democracy and a limited and overseen capitalistic system of economics. I believe when the people speak, that is as close to “gospel” as a secular liberal state can generate. That is what we are, or have been, a secular liberal form of government. Simply put, before the USA, there were only two types of governments. 

One type required you to be born into a ruling family, so leadership was a birthright, and the other was the strongman type, where some member of the group gathered an army and simply took over the government. In both types, what the people wanted was irrelevant. The king or emperor or ruler mandated what was right in terms of civil liberties, religion, taxes, etc. People were born to a certain class and remained in that class their entire lives. Kings ruled by right. No one questioned whether the king was the king or had the right to rule. He just did, or she if the autocrat was a queen. 

Imagine, in that context, that a group of scholars decided to try letting the people rule. No one was born to power. No one had an inherited right to power. The only route to power was through the votes of the citizens. Anyone could be a congressman or a President based on the vote and the will of the people. 

Connected with that was the conscious elimination of the kinds of things kings and emperors imposed. There could not be a state religion; in fact, the government must be neutral when it comes to religion. Everyone had certain liberties as in freedom of speech, right to a fair and speedy trial, court time if there was a risk of punishment (due process), freedom of the press so that the press could keep the citizens informed of the doings of the leader so that when the people voted they were knowledgeable. 

In time, all people born in America had those rights, including Black people and women, though Black males were allowed to vote before women could. All that is the context that occurs in an election. It is time for the people to speak. To declare by vote what they support and oppose. There was a mutual understanding that the winners would be gracious and the losers would be civil and support the winner. It was a democracy. 

We fought a civil war to determine that all people were free of slavery and that all people had rights and could vote. Though there were some in the South and elsewhere who never really understood that it is the law of the land via the Constitution. Those folks continued to make decisions based on pocketbooks rather than ideology and prejudice based on race. They lost. But they just went underground. 

Given all that as context, we inherit Donald Trump. His first act at the end of his first term was to question the election outcome. He filed 61 court cases claiming the election was rigged or stolen. He lost every single one of those cases because he could produce no evidence supporting his claim. He was sued, as was Fox News, for lying and slandering voting tabulation companies. Both he and Fox lost those cases, and Fox had to admit that they lied. Then he campaigned on the “great lie” that he should be president but was somehow cheated out of it. In other words, the people spoke, and he could not accept or support the outcome. He was special. And he believed his specialness qualified him to be a ruler, not a president, He banished from government everyone who, via the freedom of speech, expressed their disdain of his leadership. He promoted new laws to make voting much more difficult and suppress the vote. He argued that the states should make decisions regarding education and abortion, but if states decided in ways he did not like, he would overturn the state’s decision as in sanctuary cities. He attacks institutions of higher learning, whom he characterized as brainwashing students when in fact they taught science and fact. He appointed people to Cabinet-level positions who opposed the existence of the department they were to lead. He had claimed he would bring in the best and the brightest, but recruited people not based on skill or knowledge or expertise but on their loyalty to him. None of these acts were pro-American philosophy. They were all characteristic of dictatorships. 

And even now, he is firing people who are critical of him. Not for incompetence or malfeasance, but lack of loyalty. That is not American. He is issuing executive orders in direct conflict with our Constitution and then ignoring court orders to stop doing so. He is acting as though Congress and the Courts have no authority to check his power. That is un-American. 

His tariffs have resulted in worldwide chaos, mostly because Trump does not understand tariffs and refuses to admit he does not. He is siding with Russia over Ukraine. He is abandoning NATO and moaning that we support that organization too much, which is not factual. He is moving this nation more and more to join the dictatorial, fascist-like governments of the world while he undoes the fundamentals of freedom in our country. He does not like science because he wants rules to be based on his opinions, not facts. He is flying in the face of classic conservative politics by raising the national debt, instigating tariffs, rewarding loyalty not competency, and ignoring facts and science when in conflict with his opinions. In no way does he support the classic conservative beliefs of being pro family and family values while being pro-military and pro-civil rights. Trump has never admitted to being wrong. He cannot tolerate criticism. He dreams of sharing power with Putin and Kim Jong Un and devastating the UN, NATO, EU, and all the other organizations that are working toward world peace and improving the lives of the less fortunate. He never should have been on the ballot, as he was convicted of 34 felonies. He should be in prison. 

If he empowers the billionaires at the expense of losing the support of the people he should not be surprised when the billionaires turn on him, and he will have no one to turn to for succor. 

He is not right as in correct, and he is not right as in conservative. He is pro-Trump with no real ideology other than anti-democratic opinions and actions. He received less than 50% of the vote and claims a mandate. His lies are known worldwide. 

He must be removed. For this democracy, something about this man is just not right. Petty, thin-skinned, full of revenge and retribution and hatred and anger, anti-science and anti-fact, he is the worst possible model for the leader of the world’s most prominent democracy.

 The Trump Approach

Trump has garnered remarkable support by simply lying.  He states the characteristics of a world that does not exist anywhere but in his mind and the minds of his ardent followers.  That seems to work so well for him I decided to give the alternative perspective a try blatantly admitting I am lying.

Trump had the smallest turnout for an inauguration than any president in recent history.

Trump did not receive a majority of the popular vote and barely won the electoral college vote.  He is a minority president with no mandate

Trump lost the 2020 election fair and square.  Despite multiple attempts no one could ever find or prove that votes were changed, or hidden, or created.

Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts, sexual assault count, fraud, and misuse of federal funds and top-secret documents.  By law and Constitution, he is ineligible to run for  the Presidency.

There is no liberal Deep State.  Evidence is that the deep state is members of the conservative oligarchy.

Trump swore, though he refused to place his hand on a Bible, that he would preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.  He lied.  He has attacked the Constitution in multiple ways and attempted to re-write sections using Executive Orders.

Trump and his proxies will vote internationally with Russia, China, Iraq, North Korea.  Trump is a Russian asset and freely uses Russian talking points and Russian developed propaganda.

Trump will seek an unconstitutional 3rd term, once again violating his oath of office.

Trump will seek to have his face etched in stone on Mr. Rushmore, hysterically juxtaposed with really great Presidents.

He broke many promises during his first term.  He did not build a wall.  Mexico did not pay for it.  He did not cure cancer.  He made the pandemic worse by ignoring it.  Etc.

He is breaking many promises as he begins his second term.  Prices are going up, not down.  Stock market is going down not up.  Tariffs are hurting American trade.  His policies are protecting and advancing the richest among us. He is ending the war in Ukraine by switching sides  to pro-Russia.

Trump will seize the Panama Canal with US military.  He will seize Greenland with US military.  He will continue to propose the US consume Canada as its 51st state.

His Supreme Court appointments will be impeached for lying under oath to the Senate during confirmation hearings.

Global warming will become critical while Trump is President.  He has abandoned climate improvement accords and has promoted more dependency on fossil fuels.  He believes global warming is a myth.

Immigrants do not receive public benefits but do pay taxes.  Immigrants are not criminals.

The most dangerous demographic group in America is white, rural, uneducated, weapon-owners.

Immigrants are not criminals.  They are escapees from nations that are similar to the one Trump is trying to create.

Diversity is a strength.

Women merit the same rights and privileges as males.  They should have legal control of their own bodies.

Trump will be impeached for violating the Constitution, his oath of office, and the emolument clause.

As his new appointments assume their duties, they will be removed by a Senate furious that vetting was not allowed.

Police and military will wake up and learn that he is a self-serving crook and stop taking orders from him.

Americans will realize that Citizens United changed the political landscape and will work to undo it. 

Americans will realize that socialistic democracies are the only nations with a higher standard of living, longer life expectancy, smaller infant mortality rate, lower cost of drugs, fewer mass shootings, less negative environmental impact, higher levels of education, etc. than the USA. 

Socialism and liberalism are not bad words.  Law enforcement, the military, public schools, libraries, health clinics, fire departments, public parks, road work, water delivery systems, waste disposal systems, military and space research and development are all socialist organizations.

Trump will be arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to jail.

Fox News will be subject to live fact checks.  As will MSNBC, etc.

Musk will be removed.

Reduce taxes on the rich while cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid afford benefits to the wrong group in this nation and the people will not stand for it.

Vance will assume the presidency but Congress will call a special election for the office ending his reign of terror.

It will become clear even to the most ardent supporter that opposing Trump does not mean one is a traitor or an enemy of the state.  That is dictator talk.

Members of Congress and SCOTUS judges will meet with him to inform him of his legal future, remind him no man is above the law, and recommend he resign prior to impeachment and conviction.

When he attempts to pardon himself Congress, the courts, and the citizens will rise up and demand his resignation.

We discover that the so-called swamp is a group of dedicated, expert civil servants.

Trump supporters will discover they are Tories supporting a king wannabe and that those that oppose Trump are the real Patriots. 

America will resume her rightful role as leader not ostrich, both domestically and internationally. 

 

Ok, most of the “lies” I told are in fact the truth.  Bottom line, if we want to remain the United States of America with a constitutional republic form of democracy Trump must  go and take Musk and his cabinet and court appointments with him.  If he was a man of character he would resign as a result of his crimes and divisiveness.   He is not a man of character.

 Flew the Coup

Never in my wildest flights of the imagination did I dream I boarded a flight like this.   One month of Trump, though it has really been much longer, and friends and family are seriously considering leaving the country.  Leaving the country?  Yes, bailing out, seeking freedom, enlightenment, truth, and equal justice for all.  That place is not here anymore.  And my heart breaks.

Liberals and conservatives will always disagree on the programmatic implementation of their respective belief systems.  Public schools will be supported by liberals and opposed by conservatives.  Defense will always be supported, but conservatives will want to spend more.  Income tax will always be resented by conservatives and a fair and equitable taxation system will always be supported by liberals.  Viewing our population as a caste system with good guys being white males will likely always be a conservative perspective and everyone else, women, people of color, people from different areas of the world, people with different sexual orientations, and people with different points of view will always be protected by liberals.    Clear separation between religion and government will find conservative views wishing to push our nation toward a theocracy ruled by Christians while liberals stand to defend all beliefs and no beliefs at all.  Conservatives will believe that making the rich richer somehow creates more wealth and more jobs though that has never happened.  Liberals will argue that putting more money in the hands of the working class and the poor will create more wealth and more jobs.  And that belief has been sustained every time.  Every time. Liberals will support labor unions as a way for workers to negotiate with producers, but conservatives will bust them every chance they get.  There are many more, but those are the biggest sources of difference between liberals and conservatives.  We can live with that.  However, If the majority in power is free but no one else is then that is not freedom.  The fact that the nation has always prospered under enlightened leadership and always fell under conservative leadership is ignored in this debate where the conservatives see billionaires as the good guys and liberals see them as crooks seeking even more money from the rest of us. 

This debate has been waged for years.  It became the source of war in 1861.  Freedom won.   It became the source of disaster from 1929 through 1941.  The working class and the poor lost.  2008 again the working class and poor lost and the wealthy won, but the government rescued them with government spending.  FDR, Truman, JFK, Clinton, Obama, and Biden all improved the economy based on liberal ideals.  Not so much the others.  Trump, Bush, Bush II, and Reagan all left the economy in worse shape.  Eisenhower did not because he supported massive government spending to build the interstate highways system, and NASA.

Liberals see diversity as a national strength arguing one would rather live in a country people are trying to get into than one people are trying to get out of.  Hence, conservatives have ended DEI, affirmative action, etc.    

Most amusing of all is the fact that liberals will fight to the death to ensure that conservatives can believe and articulate their beliefs and it appears conservatives may fight to the death to ensure everyone thinks as they do.  Liberals believe in the tenets of democracy.  We now know conservatives do not.

Conservatives believe lies from the chief lie officers, Trump, Vance, Musk, McConnell, Fox News, Newsmax, etc.  It is important to note some of the absolute falsehoods conservatives claim to believe:

Biden stole the 2020 election from Trump.

Immigrants are felons, criminals, drug dealers.

Teaching diversity and civil liberties is not brainwashing.  Eliminating alternative views is.

The inflation rate under Biden was 9.9%.

Trump's felony convictions were witch hunts and the deep state was behind his convictions.

Trump will end inflation.

Trump will increase employment.

Tariffs benefit Americans.

A wall will keep immigrants out.

Anyone who criticizes Trump is an enemy.

Trump will leave NATO because we should not fund international peace and defense.

Trump will pull us out of the Paris Climate Accords because climate change is a hoax.

Trump will support anti-vaccination to fight pandemics.

Injecting bleach will cure COVID.

Dropping a nuclear weapon in a hurricane will end a hurricane.

Trump’s opinion is superior to the facts of math, science, and logic.

Federal employees who disagree with Trump should be fired.

Trump will make America great again by returning to a rigid white male rule, no tolerance for diverse thinking, no tolerance for criticism of Trump or his programs, ending liberal brainwashing, stopping promoting diversity, ending monitoring of big business and the stock market and consumer products, leaving kids with disabilities out of public education, ending public education funding and programs, promoting charter and private schools, and intolerance of any other point of view.

The America described above is not the America so many have fought and died for.  It does not believe that felons and sexual abusers should be able to be President.  It believes all men, (sic) are equal and should have the same rights, we are a nation of laws and no one is above the law, we are a nation free of government support religion, we believe when the votes are counted the people have spoken, we believe there should be a clear path to American citizenship, we believe we have to keep the world safe for democracy, we support the rights of sovereign nations, we will not bully friend or enemies, Russia and China and North Korea are not friends.  NATO, EU, and Pacific Accords are all friends, any nation that fights aggression and authoritarianism are friend, and any notion that promotes ending global warming is a friend. 

The ideals of America are well worth defending.  20,000 Americans left our country when Trump was first elected.  In the 2024 election, 30% of Democrats did not vote.   If one leaves now the army for truth, justice, and the American way will be greatly diminished.

We have witnessed a coup.  The beliefs and philosophy of America have been overturned by Trump.  Nixon told one lie and resigned.  Trump told over 30,000 lies in his first term and is well on his way to breaking that record.

Stand for truth.  Stand for democracy.  Stay put.  Flew the Coup will not help restore America to the nation she has always been.   That is how to make America great again.  

6th Graders

I was a public school educator in various roles for 40 years. I remain ignorant of elementary school. I have never taught there or managed there. The only elementary kids I know are my kids and my grandkids.

Secondary kids I know.  I spent years teaching high school students and years as an assistant principal at a junior high, a.k.a., middle school.  I know kids from grades 6 to 12 very well.  Each of these kids is unique, but they all share some common characteristics by age and grade level.  My reflection tonight is on 6^th graders. Those kids who have finally escaped elementary regime for a taste of secondary freedom.  They do not have to walk in a line.  They are trusted to get to their own classes on their own.  Subjects come at them discreetly rather than by block of time covering multiple disciplines.  They can make choices in the lunch room.  Their parents no longer send them to the big yellow limousines nor meet them at the curb when they are delivered back home.  6^th graders are way cool, as they know, or at least until an 8^th grader shows up.  But left to their own devices, 6^th graders are 11 or 12-year-old children now blessed with some adult decisions to make, but somehow remain free from recognizing the consequences of those decisions.  They claim adulthood, not because they have earned it, but because they are as tall as some of their teachers and parents.   There have been many an adult driven totally bonkers by a sixth grader.   Child-like adults with an enhanced vocabulary, an understanding of math and science and history are smart enough to know their time is coming even if it has yet arrived.  Nose-to-nose they will back down, but they do not want to.  Being an adult cannot be just about age, they will argue, it is about knowing and understanding everything, and now that they know and understand everything, well, except the opposite sex, they must surely be eligible to wear the badge “adult.”

Wrong.  It is a mistake to assume they are adult though any 6^th grader you love will lobby for that moniker.  So, lets take some areas of the human experience and compare 6^th graders to adults and see how that turns out.

Feelings.  Yes, 6^th graders have feelings.  Deep feelings.  They can feel outstanding and successful then dreadful and a failure in a matter of minutes.  Much of their feelings are ego-centric.  They feel, those feelings can now be articulated, so those feelings must be real. They feel, therefore they are.  But they feel without boundaries and without defenses.

As a first-year principal at a junior high I clearly remember Sue, the young lady sent to my office in tears, sobbing so hard she could hardly catch her breath.  I waited her out after making sure she was not in physical pain and that no one she knew was in physical pain or danger.  Then we sat.  15 or 20 minutes, her crying, me waiting.  Finally, Sue asked me if I knew Jane, another 6th-grade girl.  Yes, I knew Jane.  Great kid, good student, popular, funny.  That was a mistake to label Jane in a positive way before Sue who sat across the desk from me.  More tears.  What’s wrong with Jane, I asked. " Oh nothing, she is fine.  She used to be my best friend.  But when I saw her this morning she was walking Erica to class instead of me and Jane did not even say hi.  I guess we are not best friends anymore.  Boo-Hoo."  I am an idiot.  I am still waiting to hear what the problem is while I am watching a life-level crisis unfold.  Jane did not speak.  Sue was devastated.  Sue had strong feelings and Jane just smashed right through them.  Didn’t Jane know that as Sue’s best friend she had responsibilities to care for Sue’s feelings?   Nope.   Hard lesson.  Jane does not have to be your best friend for you to be a worthwhile person.  That’s 6^th grade.  Best friends are really big deals and by designation come with all sorts of baggage and responsibilities that are not listed anywhere but in the heart of the other friend. 

It did not take long for Sue to morph from heartbroken to vengeful.  She began to itemize all the little ways she could hurt Jane.  She could call her names, make fun of her, ban her from other groups, laugh at her in class, avoid her in the lunch room, on and on.  She could make sure Jane was not invited to birthday parties or days at an arcade.  Sue could be vengeful and seek retribution.  Sue did not want to hear those adults, people who have really grown up, do not do that.  It is hard, but it is those hard lessons 6^th graders have yet to have and they cannot see them coming.  For now, dishing out punishment to people who have hurt her is enough.  If they could respond appropriately to such a setting there would be no tears, no bitter recriminations, no necessity for some other person to determine their worth.  Sue is OK just as she is, though Sue doesn’t know it yet.  Years later as an adult she can look back and laugh, but not today.

Behaviors.  6^th graders are notorious for acting without thinking, or saying anything to get a laugh or attention from various audiences.  Nothing worse for a 6^th grader than to be ignored.  6^th grade boys will pull ponytails and 6th-grade girls will rip off the hanging hook on the back of nice shirts.   These same kids who fear becoming the target of ridicule will go to any lengths to ridicule others so that by putting others down they somehow elevate themselves.  “I didn’t mean to hit her with the orange I threw in the cafeteria, she just got in the way.  We were just playing.”   Or, “I didn’t mean to make him cry when I called him chrome mouth.  He wears braces and that is just a nickname.”  6^th graders cannot take either slapstick or word play humor.  The result will always be boundary forming, other blaming, retribution, or flat-out punishment.   And all the behaviors will be displayed without malice or forethought according to the kids who have yet to learn that thrown things do eventually fall to earth and word zingers do eventually pierce hearts.  6^th graders simply do not understand treating others as one wants to be treated.  That phrase is Greek to them. And when something does go wrong, when homework is forgotten or a younger sibling gets hurt or a mess is made it is always someone else’s fault.  6th graders are perfect.

Groups/Clans.  Every 6^th grader wants to belong to something bigger than himself or herself.  Exclusion, or worse, banishment is the punishment of death for without a group one does not exist.  If a 6^th grader is chosen to play on a team in PE, he or she will choose their friends to be on the same team and will not weigh their athletic talent or abilities.  Friendship counts more than the score.  Some 6^th graders will walk down the hall alone, but they will be bullied for such defiance.  Most will walk in a loosely formed covey or mobile wall.  Commiseration ranks high in the group dialog as members confirm that some teachers are just jerks, some principals are just stupid, and some moms are just cool.   Having been blessed or cursed these adults feel the accolades or the albatross but can do little about it.  It is the group that matters and the group that will trample the very rights these kids fight for with their parents that they quickly abandon with their peers.  Freedom of speech?  Parents will not grant that and the kid will merit vitriol.  The group will declare the adjectives for other groups and other students and no one in the group dare disagree for fear of group abandonment.  Stacey is hot whether any other guy in the group thinks so or not.  6th graders are not above the peer pressure, they are the masters of it. 

6^th graders have selective memory, thus remaining childlike rather than adult-like.  They know what is appropriate and what is inappropriate.  They know what is OK and what is bad.  They know what is allowed and what is not allowed.  They just have brief memory loss when there is something they want to do.  Inappropriate, bad, not allowed, duh.  What’s that.  These kids hate rules but as soon as they are left on their own, they make really tough rules.  Kids are not encouraged to jump from group to group and explore various interests, they are strongly encouraged to follow the rules and norms of their group without question.

So why have I spent so much time thinking about 6^th graders as pseudo adults, as thin-skinned, vengeful, spiteful, retributional people who prefer to ignore rules but rigidly enforce their own rules, and people who will banish anyone who does not think like the group of choice thinks?  Because we have a 6th-grade President.

If Trump was a 6^th grader, he would fire anyone who previously attacked him or belittled him.  He would promote any loyal friend regardless of talent or expertise.  He would ignore rules, both formal and informal, but figuratively behead anyone who breaks one of his rules.  He would find that group he supports and supports him in return.  And nothing will hurt more than having a bestie turn on him and criticize him for child-like behaviors even when the bestie is right and the behaviors are labeled accurately.  Gulf of America, Greenland, Canada are all ploys to stir-up non adults who cannot recognize that he is just silly.  His own group of loyalists would never say so.  And he has important friends like Musk and Putin and Jong Un so we should all go ooh and ahh.  He will support groups that are not only destroying more than just one country to become richer, they are destroying the only planet we can live on. Trump is perfect.  You will never hear him apologize and when things do not go his way it is always someone else’s fault.  Always.

And if we do not start seeing Trump as the 6^th grader he is we will continue to head down the wrong path faster and faster.  Trump is a thin-skinned child who sees himself as a genius just as every 6^th grader sees themselves.  He is not.  He speaks at the 6th-grade level and uses syntax of less than that.  He has a gift for calling people names and assigning nicknames, but that also places him clearly in the 6^th grade ranks.  And compromise, effort toward the greater good is anathema to him because he must live in a win-lose world, not an adult world.  Every highly complex human problem has a simple solution.  And it is wrong.  Walls, deportation planes, detention centers, tariffs, and purging enemies who are fellow citizens are simple solutions and they are wrong.

Doubt me?  Spend some time with a 6^th grader.