17 Comments
May 12, 2021Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

The linkage of Margaret Chase Smith and Liz Cheney is brilliant!

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Thanks, but I can't take credit for the insight. i am certain those others have made the same connection. in fact, i focused on Margaret Chase Smith several weeks ago when a reader sent a note comparing her to the House GOP members who voted to impeach Trump.

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May 12, 2021Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I remember watching the McCarthy hearings, the Watergate Hearings and Trump's ImpeachmentS, and the January 6 attack on our Capitol and our democracy. What is missing now is a bi-partisan search for truth that the electorate can trust. The Texas Legislature is shameful. Senator Ted Cruz is a danger to our democratic principles of transition of power.

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Betty, it is important that you share your experiences and perspectives with the next generation. Except for the events of the last year, many young people today do not understand the significance of those events.

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I was in Washington DC the night before Judge Sirica ordered Nixon to release the tapes. I wrote the Judge that whatever he ruled next day, I would be accepting of it because of his total fairness in presiding. We need more elected officials we respect for the commitment to truth and fact and rule of law. I visited Senator Sam Irvin's office to thank him for his bipartisan service on the Watergate committee--there were so many defenders of truth on both sides of the aisle on that committee.

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I was raised in Northern Ohio and only knew the Republican sides of things, although I had several women in my life who clearly cared about all human beings. When the Watergate scandal was going on, I was surrounded by defenders of Nixon and how he'd been cheated so often by the Democrats that ... My point is, it wasn't until the papers were released only in the last years or so that I saw a documentary (I believe narrated by Rachel Maddow) that went into all that was going on back then. My point is, I was duped. I fell for what I was hearing around me back in my late teens and early twenties. My high school civic class taught me about the way our government is supposed to work, about the balance of powers, etc., and the teacher never talked at all about how and when those values were diverted, misused. This is not the time (there never is a time) when we should avoid talking about politics and our government, etc. I have many experiences and opinions about our educational system that I will write about after I finish my book project, but not all teachers are capable of the dialectic approach to teaching. Yes, we can train them, but a certain minimum level of learning ability is also needed and we don't respect and honor (and pay) teachers enough to draw the very best into the profession at this time. So, none of them is allowed to think for themselves.

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Thank you!

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May 12, 2021Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I’m trying to understand the language in the Texas proposed bill: “ Teachers may not be compelled to discuss...”. On the one hand, it sounds reasonable not to “compel” discussion, on the other, such murky language is dangerous because of the way it is interpreted.

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The point of the Texas bill is to prevent educational professionals from creating a curriculum that includes discussions of current events and public policy. If individual teachers can opt out of standard curricula because of the Texas bill, then the whole point of a standard curriculum is defeated--which is what Republicans want. To avoid that mess, curriculum planners will simply ignore "current events" and "controversial public policy" issues in the curriculum.

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Years ago when I taught 6th grade during the first years of busing in Alexandria, VA, and then a mixed age group of gifted kids near Minneapolis, MN, I developed two curricula that are about historic events: the WWII Resistance and the Holocaust. No one, not even any parents, complained. In fact, no adults said anything about either project. I don't know if the kids spoke about it at home. They likely did, at least some of them. I've always tried to use a dialectic approach that gives beliefs and opinions from other sides (I did that early on with my own children, too) but there would have been no question as to which "side" I thought was doing the right thing. Thanks for keeping us up to date on these goings on, Robert.

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Thanks for hope, Robert!

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Thanks, Jim!

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To depose Liz Cheney, House Republicans held a voice vote--unoubtedly, because the "leadership" was afraid of how many "no" votes there would be if a secret ballot were to take place. Yes, Republicans are members of a zombie party.

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You beat me to the punch. I had planned to make that point this evening!

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You still can!

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Wasn’t sure if you’d already provided a link to these comments by Olivia Troye, Director Republican Accountability Project, interviewed by Joy Reid this past Monday. https://twitter.com/AccountableGOP/status/1391899601561653250

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I thank God for you Robert Hubble.

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