Thank you for Today's Edition. It's always topical and thought provoking and sometimes challenging.
Your comments on DeSantis' attack on education are, I believe, very important. It feels like a redux of the Regan playbook. As Governor, Regan took CA schools (K-12) from #1 in the world to #49 in the US (just above Mississippi). Many of our best professors left CA's colleges and universities for those in other states. I have researched but have not found a quote I remember from his gubernatorial days to the effect of: I'm not going to pay to educate people who are going to grow up to vote against me.
I love this remark that I read this week: "End qualified immunity - then the police will 'de-fund' themselves."
I'd also add that more rigorous random drug testing using HAIR (not urine) needs to become the norm for law enforcement (drugs stay in the hair for months). Not to excuse the Memphis PD et al, but that insane violence looked steroidal to me.
And watch "We Own This City" (the true story about the Baltimore PD first aired on HBO) . The higher ups KNEW what was being done and did nothing.
Yes! I wouldn’t go to Florida as a matter of principle. Unfortunately too many of our citizens like the sunshine and warm weather. The people of the state should feel some loss since they (a majority) continue to vote for DeSantis.
I watched a good piece today. It was the Problem with Jon Stewart called Excessive Use of Force. It was so worth my time. Excellent discussion, brilliant guests and I learned a lot. It’s on YouTube and I hope this link will get you there, if you are interested. BTW it was from today.
Thank you Robert. Fundamentally, we have the wrong approach to policing. We have militarized the police to act like an occupying force (akin to slaveholding militias and military units overseas). With the USA awash in guns, police are also incentivized to ramp up. Alas, violence is part of our history and present. The sooner we address that fact the more we might be able to change how we police and how we deal with guns. At the moment I don’t have much hope, but we can try!
Of all the chilling sentences I have ever read about our police, this might be the chilling-est: "teach police officers how to intervene when a civilian is being stomped to death by their supervisor or co-worker."
There's a voice in my head that wants to scream out, "Is that even a thing?!" Sadly, it is. And I agree; we've got the resources for both the training and social services needed in these complex situations. Now we need the will.
If you read the article on Jane Roberts job as a legal recruiter you are struck by this being a complaint from a guy who lost a lawsuit asserting he was wrongly discharged and striking out vindictively at a former work associate who is the wife of John Roberts. It's pretty thin gruel for asserting an ethics violation by Roberts. Let's stick to criticizing Roberts for not adopting the ethical code binding all federal judges but justices of the Court. there is no justification for this. Also, let's continue to criticize his investigation of the leak of the Alito draft decision in Dobbs for being incomplete and done by a person too close to the Chief Justice . But this latest attack sounds like piling on and along with the continuing attacks on Garland. It begins to sound like the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity phrase made famous by Spiro Agnew.
And yes, while it was not a policeman, I was confronted with a very agitated fellow ordering me to lay down as he held a live hand grenade in his hand. I complied with no injury. He detonated it about 20 minutes later and thankfully no one was injured. That was in Bangkok, Thailand in 1981.
On a cultural note I was born and raised in Atlanta and moved back and live here now. I went to school with blacks, did sports with blacks, socialized, best man at an all black wedding, and my next door neighbor is black. I lay out those credentials as a matter of course to explain I feel comfortable asking the question based on my personal experience.
Among my college football betting group, one fellow went on line to the rest of us and vented about the progressive explosiveness of these black policemen. He also asked us,
“Why didn’t he comply and lay down”?
And yes, as you might assume by now, he is black.
I appreciate your outrage at my question. It’s not at all uncommon among whites outside of black communities. If you know a black person well enough you might ask them the question. But only if you are a good friend.
Right on today, Robert, on all the topics. My agitation is stimulated by the daily New York Time's daily report that (here enter your own prosecutor ) concerning your own (enter criminal's name) and you will find that the investigation is "ongoing". (For you mathematicians that means approaching infinity as a limit.)
My Congressional Representative Chip Roy sent a newsletter yesterday titled "Should government schools teach racism with your money?" Under the heading "Putting Parents Back In Charge of Education" he says:
"Last week, I introduced two education bills, giving parents the power in their kids’ education, instead of bureaucrats, politicians, or union bosses.
The Combatting Racist Teaching (CRT) Act will prohibit federal funds for schools that indoctrinate students with critical race theory. The Support Children Having Open Opportunities for Learning (SCHOOL) Act allows federal funds to follow a student regardless of whether the child is in public school, private school, or homeschool.
Let's be clear. The goal here is to weaken public education and fund private schools with tax payer money, our money. The result is poor education for our children in schools for profit and makes the general public more vulnerable to indoctrination by groups like Neo-Nazis. There is an Ohio couple using a neo-Nazi homeschool curriculum and distributing their lessons to thousands via a Telegram channel.
I am going to float a "contrary idea". I think Trump likes the idea of being a "king maker". Endorsing or destroying other politicians. I think he needs to be the center of attention. His insecurities are such that if he isn't in the headlines, he feels inadequate and irrelevant.
Which is the only reason he says he is running for President. Oh, yeah and for the money. And, yes, he thinks it might keep him out of jail (not).
So here is my "idea". Trump will enjoy the attention - until he finally remembers how much he really didn't want to BE the President. Remember how shocked he was when he won. Being President means having to work. Trump doesn't work. He talks.
At some point he will step away from the race because his numbers will look less than perfect...embarrassing, actually. He will come up with a typically lame but repeatable statement withdrawing from the race.
He will endorse Nikki Haley, withdraw his support and give it someone else, then withdraw that and then finally settle on somebody that has kow-towed enough to his fragile ego.
Speaking of the scandals revolving around the US Supreme Court, I had marvelous and fascinating lunch Monday with a friend who is a senior member of the Texas Judiciary. In our over two hour conversation I learned a lot about the Third Branch of Government. He is a Presiding Judge for one Texas region and the Chair of the Presiding Judges. The Presiding Judges supervise all the District Court Judges in Texas. When we discussed the US Supreme Court he told me that Texas has a Judicial Conduct Commission which looks into and rules on any conduct questions of Texas Judges including the Texas Supreme Court Justices! Seems like this would be a good solution to having oversight of the US Supreme Court Justices that we should implement at the Federal level. He agreed with me that adding more Justices to SCOTUS was not a satisfactory remedy to the balance in the Court. He felt how closely the Justices have to work with each other over time moderates the rulings. In that vein I think Justice Jackson who is a consensus builder will have a very positive impact on the Roberts Court. We, the People, all of us this time!
It looks to me that DeSantis has not thought or does not care about the unintended consequences of his education proposals. The effect is to push the best and brightest to seek an education at institutions outside of the state of Floridia, especially at the college/university level. It also will make students from out of state think twice about going to a Floridia school.
Our only hope is that Republicans "eat their own" and split the Republican party into warring foes/factions. With the hatred, racism, and divisiveness, they will be exposed as the fascists they truly are. Education, education, repetition of Democratic values must be heralded through every News, TV and Radio station in our Land. Thanks, Robert, for being one of those strong voices.
“DeSantis is turning Florida into a “forced re-education camp”
Just more of the Christian Extremist pursuit of making the USA a White Christian Nation. Remember all the re-education camps of native Americans here as well as the Christian re-education camp atrocities done to the indigenous peoples in Canada. (At least Canada acknowledged these atrocities and has begun reparations).
Thank you for Today's Edition. It's always topical and thought provoking and sometimes challenging.
Your comments on DeSantis' attack on education are, I believe, very important. It feels like a redux of the Regan playbook. As Governor, Regan took CA schools (K-12) from #1 in the world to #49 in the US (just above Mississippi). Many of our best professors left CA's colleges and universities for those in other states. I have researched but have not found a quote I remember from his gubernatorial days to the effect of: I'm not going to pay to educate people who are going to grow up to vote against me.
I love this remark that I read this week: "End qualified immunity - then the police will 'de-fund' themselves."
I'd also add that more rigorous random drug testing using HAIR (not urine) needs to become the norm for law enforcement (drugs stay in the hair for months). Not to excuse the Memphis PD et al, but that insane violence looked steroidal to me.
And watch "We Own This City" (the true story about the Baltimore PD first aired on HBO) . The higher ups KNEW what was being done and did nothing.
Yes! I wouldn’t go to Florida as a matter of principle. Unfortunately too many of our citizens like the sunshine and warm weather. The people of the state should feel some loss since they (a majority) continue to vote for DeSantis.
I watched a good piece today. It was the Problem with Jon Stewart called Excessive Use of Force. It was so worth my time. Excellent discussion, brilliant guests and I learned a lot. It’s on YouTube and I hope this link will get you there, if you are interested. BTW it was from today.
https://youtu.be/PWmxRzYlR7U
Thank you Robert. Fundamentally, we have the wrong approach to policing. We have militarized the police to act like an occupying force (akin to slaveholding militias and military units overseas). With the USA awash in guns, police are also incentivized to ramp up. Alas, violence is part of our history and present. The sooner we address that fact the more we might be able to change how we police and how we deal with guns. At the moment I don’t have much hope, but we can try!
Of all the chilling sentences I have ever read about our police, this might be the chilling-est: "teach police officers how to intervene when a civilian is being stomped to death by their supervisor or co-worker."
There's a voice in my head that wants to scream out, "Is that even a thing?!" Sadly, it is. And I agree; we've got the resources for both the training and social services needed in these complex situations. Now we need the will.
A couple of quick comments.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/us/john-roberts-jane-sullivan-roberts.html?smid=em-share
If you read the article on Jane Roberts job as a legal recruiter you are struck by this being a complaint from a guy who lost a lawsuit asserting he was wrongly discharged and striking out vindictively at a former work associate who is the wife of John Roberts. It's pretty thin gruel for asserting an ethics violation by Roberts. Let's stick to criticizing Roberts for not adopting the ethical code binding all federal judges but justices of the Court. there is no justification for this. Also, let's continue to criticize his investigation of the leak of the Alito draft decision in Dobbs for being incomplete and done by a person too close to the Chief Justice . But this latest attack sounds like piling on and along with the continuing attacks on Garland. It begins to sound like the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity phrase made famous by Spiro Agnew.
Beth -
Yes I am serious.
And yes, while it was not a policeman, I was confronted with a very agitated fellow ordering me to lay down as he held a live hand grenade in his hand. I complied with no injury. He detonated it about 20 minutes later and thankfully no one was injured. That was in Bangkok, Thailand in 1981.
On a cultural note I was born and raised in Atlanta and moved back and live here now. I went to school with blacks, did sports with blacks, socialized, best man at an all black wedding, and my next door neighbor is black. I lay out those credentials as a matter of course to explain I feel comfortable asking the question based on my personal experience.
Among my college football betting group, one fellow went on line to the rest of us and vented about the progressive explosiveness of these black policemen. He also asked us,
“Why didn’t he comply and lay down”?
And yes, as you might assume by now, he is black.
I appreciate your outrage at my question. It’s not at all uncommon among whites outside of black communities. If you know a black person well enough you might ask them the question. But only if you are a good friend.
Right on today, Robert, on all the topics. My agitation is stimulated by the daily New York Time's daily report that (here enter your own prosecutor ) concerning your own (enter criminal's name) and you will find that the investigation is "ongoing". (For you mathematicians that means approaching infinity as a limit.)
My Congressional Representative Chip Roy sent a newsletter yesterday titled "Should government schools teach racism with your money?" Under the heading "Putting Parents Back In Charge of Education" he says:
"Last week, I introduced two education bills, giving parents the power in their kids’ education, instead of bureaucrats, politicians, or union bosses.
The Combatting Racist Teaching (CRT) Act will prohibit federal funds for schools that indoctrinate students with critical race theory. The Support Children Having Open Opportunities for Learning (SCHOOL) Act allows federal funds to follow a student regardless of whether the child is in public school, private school, or homeschool.
These acts give educational power back to the parents to make decisions about their children's education. You can read more about it here." https://roy.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-roy-rolls-out-education-bills-defund-racist-curricula-and-put-parents-back
Let's be clear. The goal here is to weaken public education and fund private schools with tax payer money, our money. The result is poor education for our children in schools for profit and makes the general public more vulnerable to indoctrination by groups like Neo-Nazis. There is an Ohio couple using a neo-Nazi homeschool curriculum and distributing their lessons to thousands via a Telegram channel.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/z34ane/neo-nazi-homeschool-ohio Our education system is already quite poor particularly in the lack of teaching Civics Education. We should require that to graduate high school a student must past the test they give to people wanting to become U.S. Citizens. Would also like to see any candidate for elected office have to pass the test as well. Try it yourself: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf We, the People, all of us educated well this time.
I am going to float a "contrary idea". I think Trump likes the idea of being a "king maker". Endorsing or destroying other politicians. I think he needs to be the center of attention. His insecurities are such that if he isn't in the headlines, he feels inadequate and irrelevant.
Which is the only reason he says he is running for President. Oh, yeah and for the money. And, yes, he thinks it might keep him out of jail (not).
So here is my "idea". Trump will enjoy the attention - until he finally remembers how much he really didn't want to BE the President. Remember how shocked he was when he won. Being President means having to work. Trump doesn't work. He talks.
At some point he will step away from the race because his numbers will look less than perfect...embarrassing, actually. He will come up with a typically lame but repeatable statement withdrawing from the race.
He will endorse Nikki Haley, withdraw his support and give it someone else, then withdraw that and then finally settle on somebody that has kow-towed enough to his fragile ego.
Speaking of the scandals revolving around the US Supreme Court, I had marvelous and fascinating lunch Monday with a friend who is a senior member of the Texas Judiciary. In our over two hour conversation I learned a lot about the Third Branch of Government. He is a Presiding Judge for one Texas region and the Chair of the Presiding Judges. The Presiding Judges supervise all the District Court Judges in Texas. When we discussed the US Supreme Court he told me that Texas has a Judicial Conduct Commission which looks into and rules on any conduct questions of Texas Judges including the Texas Supreme Court Justices! Seems like this would be a good solution to having oversight of the US Supreme Court Justices that we should implement at the Federal level. He agreed with me that adding more Justices to SCOTUS was not a satisfactory remedy to the balance in the Court. He felt how closely the Justices have to work with each other over time moderates the rulings. In that vein I think Justice Jackson who is a consensus builder will have a very positive impact on the Roberts Court. We, the People, all of us this time!
It looks to me that DeSantis has not thought or does not care about the unintended consequences of his education proposals. The effect is to push the best and brightest to seek an education at institutions outside of the state of Floridia, especially at the college/university level. It also will make students from out of state think twice about going to a Floridia school.
Our only hope is that Republicans "eat their own" and split the Republican party into warring foes/factions. With the hatred, racism, and divisiveness, they will be exposed as the fascists they truly are. Education, education, repetition of Democratic values must be heralded through every News, TV and Radio station in our Land. Thanks, Robert, for being one of those strong voices.
So the Breaking News is not that Trump is being indicted, but that President Biden's beach house is being searched for documents.
Biden has been in government service for 50 years! Nobody seems to acknowledge this as a factor.
“DeSantis is turning Florida into a “forced re-education camp”
Just more of the Christian Extremist pursuit of making the USA a White Christian Nation. Remember all the re-education camps of native Americans here as well as the Christian re-education camp atrocities done to the indigenous peoples in Canada. (At least Canada acknowledged these atrocities and has begun reparations).
https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/us-residential-schools
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/traumatic-legacy-indian-boarding-schools/584293/
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/reckoning-and-reparation-canada-navigates-past-mistreatment-indigenous-populations
https://thecostaricanews.com/canada-will-pay-historic-reparations-to-indigenous-peoples/