Whither "Education" in an era of Anti-intellectualism?

Major challenges of education have long been to teach youth [and others]: to respect factual evidence; to critically examine such evidence with regard to its reliability, relevance and weight; to apply rigorous logic to such evidence leading to reasoned inferences and conclusions; and to discuss and debate the inferences and conclusions to test their probity and strength. The application of evidence and reason to govern the affairs of society has been employed since at least the time of Hammurabi (c.1792 BC) through Socrates (c. 469-300 BC) to the adoption of the 5th and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution and into modern times. Societal evolution has advanced and become more inclusive [with significant setbacks] over time largely as a result of this reliance upon critically evaluated and reasoned evidence.

Yet the PUTHOP Administration appears to mock and discard these processes and values. ["What you are seeing, is not what is really happening!" - PUTHOP] A cornerstone of US representative democracy charged with ensuring an informed electorate [gathering and disseminating information to be critically evaluated and used to form inferences and conclusions] is now under attack. [Labeled "the enemy of the people!" - PUTHOP] Substantial factions of the electorate disdain facts and reason, almost in cult-like fashion and embrace declarations by Administration and Congress that are deceptive, unreliable and often insupportable by evidence. The declarations often obscure actions designed to undermine the rights and well-being of the very public urged to embrace the deceit. These members of the public also encourage their children to ignore facts and reason and follow the lead of their parents and "leaders."

These "leaders" are now advocating for diversion of public taxpayer funds to support "choice" schools in which generalized principles of learning are supplanted and subordinated to insular and myopic versions of history and the world that align with this anti-intellectual trend.

What, then, should be the direction and future of education in a discursive context that not only devalues, but openly attacks evidence and reason as a basis for constructing knowledge? In the past [as well as in the present], pre-service teachers have expressed concern about attempting to address issues of inclusion and cultural responsiveness when parents with bigoted and privileged viewpoints might be antagonistic or disapproving. Now that perceived "risk" may extend to processes of teaching children to think critically and to research and support their conclusions and positions. [To be continued....]

Prediction of a New Civil War?

A recent poll indicates that almost a third of likely voters are fearful that the United States will experience a new civil war within five years. Polls are remarkably unreliable as predictors, but they can gauge levels of public sentiment or mood. Similar polls have indicated fears that opposition to the current Administration policies might result in violence. That is not, of course, the same a open rebellion and civil war. It does, however, gauge the level of division and polarization among the populace.

I believe that it is hyperbole to predict that an open civil war is on the horizon. However, a tacit civil war over the soul and substance of the nation may well have already begun. We have an insular group invested in white supremacy and oligarchical capitalism holding reins of administrative authority. From this bastion, they issue policies and exercise brutal police state power and violence. Such actions, despite patronizing pronouncements, are not to protect public or national safety, but rather to preserve privilege and retain power.

Propaganda and false rhetoric are used to goad the weaker minded and the resentfully insecure to engage in attacks on any designated by the insular group as "other." These include people of color, women who believe in self determination as to their actions and their bodies [including reproductive rights], Muslims. The policies are intended to oppress and enslave the "other" and to exploit the vulnerable for political gain. The agencies that function as the infrastructure of government have been placed in the control of ideologues rather than under leadership of experts with actual knowledge or experience in the areas to be guided or regulated. The Fourth Estate, a fundamental component of a functional democracy, has been publicly branded as an "enemy" of the Administration and its followers. And the Administration is poised to seize control of the Supreme Court, the arbiter of the Rule of Law. Cities have had to declare themselves as "sanctuaries" in opposition to abusive exercise of national police state power.

Those who would question the actions of the insular group are either publicly branded as "liberals" [as though it were an epithet-it may surprise you to read the actual definition] or they are harassed and intimidated into silence. The insular group resorts to policies and practices that are patently inhumane [by international human rights standards] and unconscionably violent, often merely to stoke fervor and hatred among followers, to promote a cult like entourage of sycophants. The group invents bastardized interpretations of founding precepts, or else simply ignores Constitutional tenets, and claims such transmogrified notions as guiding principles.

If these descriptions of current affairs appear strikingly similar to the Southern Confederacy, to the Third Reich, and to other despotic regimes, it is perhaps not merely coincidence. When US leadership expresses "admiration" for despots who jail opposition and order killing of dissidents living in exile through use of neurotoxins [Putin], or who publicly executes dissidents, family members who might gain power, or just public servants who "disappoint" the leader [Kim Jung Un], the deterioration of government and society should be less surprising.

The current polarization and struggle for the identity and conscience of the nation is no less dramatic or less consequential than the divide and principles at issue during the civil war. There is still a glimmer of hope that a plebiscite in November can begin to restore some balance and redemption. However, even the electoral process has been compromised and corrupted by the insular group to tip the balance in its favor. So, while I would not predict a civil war in the immediate future, it would be fair to suggest that we are teetering on the brink.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/poll-almost-a-third-of-us-voters-think-a-second-civil-war-is-coming-soon/ar-AAzglF4?li=BBnb7Kz

Let's Review the Bidding, or State of the Union: Midpoint 2018

If one doubts that we are in "trouble" [with a capital "T" that rhymes with "P" and that stands for Pool...sorry, got a little carried away] then consider some basis facts regarding the current state of the Union as "governed" predominantly by the GOP.

There is a president who could be charitably described, based upon firm evidence, to be a petulant, churlish and megalomaniacal narcissist. When arriving for a so-called "historic" meeting between PUTHOP and North Korean Leader Kim Jung Un, the president nearly blew up the entire planned meeting by insisting on a timetable that was convenient for HIM, but would have disrupted the North Korean Delegation and all planning that went into the meeting. Only when his aides explained to him that the change he demanded would mean he would lose worldwide TV coverage did he relent.

Consider that the major agencies of government are run by individuals patently incompetent to manage them. Housing and Urban Development, Education, Energy are all run by individuals who have admitted and demonstrated the lack of experience and competency to run these major organs of government.

Consider that the Attorney General, responsible for upholding Constitutional separation of church and state relies upon the "Bible" to supposedly justify actions generally deemed criminal violations of human rights by the rest of the world. Tearing children from their parents using tactic previously seen only in Nazi concentration camps [telling parents that children are being taken for "baths" and then never returning the children to their parents]. Those children are detained in chain-link fenced cages in what are euphemistically called "detention centers."

Consider that the Speaker of the House, who is responsible for oversight committees that supervise government agency actions and budget claims to "know nothing about" major corruption at the EPA. Consider that there is a Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of State that continually insult and alienate our strongest historical allies and initiate trade wars and destruction of major multinational accords.

And Consider that we have a majority in the SCOTUS that appears to condone restrictive practices such as purging voter lists in order to prevent people from voting to overturn the current regime. The current state of the SCOTUS was reached because the Senate, under GOP control, prevented a well qualified nominee legally put forward by the prior Administration from being installed. That same Senate leadership is furiously getting Federal judges seated, including individual with NO significant trial of high level judicial experience, but who espouse right wing ideology.

The Budget Deficit is growing as the non-partisan CBO projected that it would as a result of a huge tax cut that has reduced revenue from corporate taxes and shifted wealth to the top 1%. While the economy seems to be relatively stable, subject to disruption by arbitrary and counterproductive tariffs and trade wars, the healthy economy has not resulted in significant wage gains. Home ownership is increasingly out of reach for the poor and middle class. Disruptions of protections under the Affordable Care Act now threaten the financial stability of millions of families, and financial ruin to families who have substantial health care issues and especially those with "pre-existing conditions."

Even the controlling GOP Party is having major disputes among themselves, one senator accusing the party of acting like a "cult." Others responded by chiding him and demanding that he only make statements that are consistent with the "Party Agenda" or say nothing.

From the lens of the rest of the world, the United States is viewed as being led by an unstable and unreliable president who cannot be trusted or relied upon by allies as they had done in the past, even with changes of Administrations. The united States has pulled out of Major multinational accords, such as the Paris Accord, TPP, Iran Nuclear Agreement. NAFTA is also in grave danger. At the same time, personal insults and threats by PUTHOP are accompanied by imposition of tariffs on countries based upon false "justifications." The President cites "national security" as a justification primarily because no one can explain what the term means. However, it is clear that the countries and trade attacked have no relationship to what has historically been thought of as a "threat" to national security, military or
economic.

With the foregoing [and the recitation is by no means a complete list] issues we see dysfunction in virtually every branch of government and a lack of a clear path to make course corrections. GOP candidates for local state and federal office include white supremacists, a formal brothel owner, openly racist and homophobic individuals who not only hold beliefs antithetical to decency and democracy, but feel fully enabled to espouse such discriminatory, hateful and amoral attitudes and opinions as campaign slogans.

And the media, the Fourth Estate that is charged with supporting an informed citizenry, act like trained seals barking and flopping about at whatever the PUTHOP Administration or the aforesaid extremists toss them, without significant professional judgment as to whether what is being reported and newsworthy. Indeed, many stories are posted that include claims that the media outlet KNOW are false and misleading. Yet they fail to act professionally and reject publication that would place them in the position of a propaganda tool.

In all of these dire observations there is at least one ray of hope. Students who have survived horrible attacks and massacre of their classmates have recognized and called out the failure of "adult" leadership to address these basic responsibilities of government officials to act for the public benefit and support the common good. These young people are mobilizing to register and VOTE. And they are aware and focused upon voting out individuals who reflect the problems described above. So "open up the pool halls, let the young people gather" and enable them to reclaim the values of the nation that current "leadership" has abandoned or lost sight of. But our Union and our fate rests on the shoulders of each one of us. WSe OWN what we will CONDONE.

Dangerous "Leadership"

Certain things are very difficult to reconcile or explain, except in the most extreme cynical terms. They defy logic, common sense, common moral standards and social justice values. When such behaviors are exhibited by the occupant of the Oval Office, it constitutes dangerous leadership.

The president's decision to walk away from the Iran Nuclear Agreement is one such event. This was a campaign slogan, but most people do not take such rhetoric seriously, least of all the politicians who assert them. There is no substantial evidence that Iran has violated the agreement, PUTHOP claims of violations have no credible grounding; but he has been described as "untethered from the truth." All of the remaining participants, including close US allies, are at odds and in disagreement with the US action. Most experts with actual experience in international relations and specifically in the Middle East, agree that there is NO realistic chance that the attempt to bully Iran will be successful in yielding any significantly different agreement from Iran. And as noted, other participants to the Agreement see no need for any major revision, certainly not sufficient to walk away from the deal or to support the US in doing so.

Of course, the action could be cynically attributed to PUTHOP's bigotry because Iranians are Brown people and Muslims. Moreover, the agreement was realized under the Obama Administration, the accomplishment of a Black President that PUTHOP strives to dismantle. But it does not reconcile with the tens of thousands of lost jobs that Boeing and other companies' employees will suffer as a result of the revocation of licenses for Billions of dollars in aircraft production deals. It cannot be reconciled with increased costs to American public from oil price hikes due to disruption from renewed sanctions. All of the pain an sacrifice that the action would inflict cannot be rationally justified by petty and virulent bigotry.

A similar analysis would apply to curtailment of the TPS Program for disaster refugees and the cut in funding to CHIPS medical support for vulnerable children. PUTHOP would destroy these programs, not because they fail to provide necessary relief, but because they are achievements under Obama.

But another even darker theory emerges. PUTHOP appears to display characteristics of megalomania, a psychiatric malady marked by delusions of greatness and power. His delusions manifest in viewing himself an autocrat with absolute power to indulge any whim, whether benevolent or deeply malicious. This is evidenced not only by arbitrary decisions described above, but by his actions that impose broad tariffs and then controlling suspension of the penalties [relief] only for those nations with whom he personally finds favor. Rejection of the Iran Nuclear Agreement fits this analysis because, unlike general legislation, it is a measure where US participation was subject only to PUTHOP's judgment or caprice.

The degree of his egocentrism, narcissism and delusion is displayed daily, such as publicly stating and tweeting multiple times that he thinks HE deserves a Nobel Prize. [If anyone else truly believed this, PUTHOP would not need to be the one trumpeting the absurd notion.]*

If this analysis of psychopathology and arbitrary behavior is accurate, the implications for when the 25th Amendment to the Constitution may be invoked should be seriously discussed. The "Ship of State" is clearly in uncharted waters and at serious risk of a shipwreck with such a person at the helm.

*https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-everyone-thinks-i-deserve-nobel-peace-prize/ar-AAx0Vdm?li=BBnb7Kz

Game of Thrones in the Comey Versus Trump War of Words

Former FBI Director James Comey is by no means a paragon of virtue in this war of words with Trump. Comey violated FBI precedent and policy against commenting on the status of ongoing FBI investigations, and against interference with elections by FBI intervention. His actions of publicly announcing a reopening of a probe of Clinton’s email server usage was inexcusable. Moreover, he did so before examination of the “newly discovered” emails, which ultimately turned out to be previously examined evidence. This premature action of failed logic and protocol resulted in a promptly announced reclosing of the probe, but nevertheless affected the election. However, Comey has owned up to the action as ill-advised, maybe even “idiotic.” He has not attempted to paint himself as faultless. Neither is he driven purely by self-serving promotional egocentrism, as the Trump camp complains. That charge, ironically, may be evidence of “projection,” in which one accuses another of a fault that more aptly characterizes the accuser. In fact, the Trump reaction to Comey is likely to sell more copies of the book and enhance promotion of Comey’s visibility more than anything Comey says or does.

It is deeply ironic that the apparently strongest criticism of Comey by Trump and his surrogates is an action that helped Trump get elected without winning the popular vote. The secondary complaint by Trump against Comey is that he is a “liar” because he revealed an attempt by Trump to coerce him to drop an investigation against former National Security Adviser Flynn. Substantial other circumstantial evidence supports Comey’s version of the events, including departure from the room by Sessions and Pence at the time, and demands for “pledge of loyalty” made to other White House personnel. Ultimately, facts reveal that Flynn was corrupt and any attempt bt Trump to shield him from investigation would be obstruction. Comey acknowledges that he should have specifically stated to Trump that acceding to the Trump directive would have been obstruction of justice but admitted he did not have the courage to call out Trump at the time.

Another accusation by Trump against Comey is that he allegedly leaked classified information. It is unclear what that "classified" information was, and Comey has not even been formally charged with any such wrongdoing. Ironically, Trump now moves to pardon Scooter Libby who has been formally charged and convicted of leaking classified intelligence information for political gain, a release of information that put lives of intelligence operatives in the field in mortal danger. Such contradictions only serve to further support the Comey claim that Trump lacks the moral judgment and capacity to occupy the Oval Office.  

Taken as a whole, the public should simply exercise patience and critical judgment, examining the facts and evidence regarding each charge and counter in this war of words. Trump would appear to come out the loser so far in any contest regarding credibility. Empirical studies have demonstrated the verity in Comey’s accusation that Trump is “untethered from the truth” and is a pathological liar about things big and small. This goes beyond Trump’s very limited vocabulary and tendency for hyperbole and well beyond opinion. For example, on a factual basis, abridgment of civil rights, social justice transgressions, and personal and moral corruption of J. Edgar Hoover would surely make any actions by Comey pale in comparison. But Trump claims Comey is the “worst FBI Director” in the history of the agency. Factual inaccuracy, driven by personal animus and perhaps by fear that Comey's disclosure actually threaten his position of power lie behind Trumps attacks.

Comey should have been fired from his post as FBI Director for his procedural mistakes and errors of judgment, but not for his pursuit of Russian interference and collusion by Trump and his campaign. The subsequent work by Mueller strongly indicates the necessity and importance of such inquiries. More importantly, none of that makes Comey's revelations in the book less credible or less verifiable. He has stated that he kept notes and records of his actions and interactions with Trump. Many of those pieces of information are likely in the hands of Mueller’s investigation team. Time will reveal where the weight of the evidence rests. Comey may make some financial gain from the revelations, to make up for losses resulting from termination of his career. There may also be some sense of vindication for the way Trump treated him.  That is but part of the lesson Trump might learn that when you treat people unfairly and maliciously, you can fairly expect there to be negative consequences.

Breaking the Choke-hold on Oscar White

Reflecting on the 2018 OSCARS, there are things to celebrate, but more issues that are still problematic.

Last year's critique was that the awards were "so white.!" It really was not so different this year, which demonstrates systemic bias. McDormand won Best Actress and asked for solidarity with other female nominees. She reminded the audience that many female writers and directors, as well as actors, have stories to be told which needing financing. Her award itself reflects a binary sexism that ensures at least two actors will receive highest awards. ["Best Actor" and "Best Actress," etc] But what of movies and roles and stories that are non-binary? [Boys Don't Cry, Call Me By Your Name, etc] What about an award for best acting performance, period?!?

McDormand also tossed a squib to the viewing audience with mention of a little known term: "inclusion rider." This is a concept put forward in 2016, really just a mode of affirmative action, a clause in A-List actor contracts that demands diversity among non-lead cast and the film crew. While it seeks to move the demographics needle of film participation forward, and discourage the persistent practice of cultural appropriation [e.g., whites acting in roles as Native Americans or Latinx, for example], it does not attack the core of the problem.

Jordan Peale won an award for Original Screenplay, and was the FIRST African American to do so in 90 years of film awards. Again, the systemic problem persists. His victory was a creative comedic turn for him, to be applauded, but the topic was an indulgent send up of bigotry and racism. It was a chance for the white film elite cadre to laugh at itself in a non-threatening parody.

As long as participation in movie-making at all creative levels is controlled by the same white cadre, then inclusion by women, people of color, disabled and LGBTQ professionals are dependent upon their largess and caprice. That is what enabled Harvey Weinstein to wield such abusive power. It is the power that decides which films get made and which stories are buried. The power in the hands of a very few to decide which films get green-lighted will always constrain the quality and content of messages that get wide public exposure. The importance of this power in creating and reinforcing discursive narratives should not be underestimated. Unfortunately, and by extension, the same issue manifests in the "inclusion rider" concept. A few top box office stars may have the cultural awareness to demand of film producers what should not even have to be demanded. Most do not. And some, having awareness or power, may decline to exercise star power for fear of being denied roles defining them as "A-List."

But the solution to the problem rests not only with changing mindsets of the aforementioned cadre. Audiences need to pay attention to and seek out movies that are more inclusive. I saw "The Black Panther" and appreciated the Black theme many are talking about. What struck me more, and a reason to pay high movie theater prices to see it, was the number of female personnel involved in the film at ALL levels.

To make change, women, people of color, disabled and LGBTQ persons with wealth and access to financing need to get engaged in funding media projects that not only reflect more authentic and diverse storytelling, but also provide employment for sustaining and developing diverse professionals.

The "system" will change from "handouts" to inclusiveness only when the demographics of the decision-makers change. When Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Jay-Z, Carlos Slim and other very wealthy non-whites start investing in film projects [including films by or about whites] the dynamic will change. The stories that get told through films can become richer and more authentic, and important ones that get told can garner stronger support [e.g., "Mudbound," and "Traffic Stop"] Oscar awards can then reflect a more diverse profession and industry, rather than handouts to a select few that the current cadre allow to participate in film projects. In addition, the group of professionals voting for such awards will become more diverse as well, making the awards themselves more fair and inclusive, releasing the choke-hold on Oscar White.