Of course Republicans want to say that institutions defend themselves - it absolves them of responsibility for defending them. Then when the attack against the institution of American democracy is successful they can stand up with a straight face and say "Who knew that institutions can't defend themselves? That's what we were taught. It's not our fault."
Too convenient. It is basic to democracy that we are all responsible for the institutions that are the bedrock of our society. Who will defend them if not those who are part of the democracy? It doesn't come with an "auto" setting. It's a republic, if you can keep it according to Benjamin Franklin. The trick is coming up with ways to defend and preserve the republic in order to keep it. Right now it is obvious to anyone reading the tea leaves that there is an active threat to the institution of government in America and its name is Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The other relevant quote is from Maya Angelou - "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." Trump and his acolytes have shown us who they are and told us what they are going to do - declare martial law, subvert the Department of Justice to the will of the Presidency, establish displacement camps, shoot shoplifters and arrest anyone they deem an enemy - dictatorship.
Believe them the first time. There won't be a second.
We need to end child apartheid, however. Close the classroom, unless it's a special room where kids and grown-ups can work and play together. Keep the teachers, and radically change their job descriptions. (Some will leave; others will rush in.) It takes a whole village to raise one child. School is no longer safe. We must re-build the village. There's a plan, an idea, how to save ourselves by re-creating the village, and give every child the opportunity to grow up like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison (kicked out of school for being autistic), George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ . . . Leonardo daVinci!!! (who wasn't allowed to go to school, as his father wouldn't claim him as his child); many other thousands of "great" people in history did not get a typical American education, never suffered child apartheid. Every winter weekday we put our kids in what amounts to jail—during their prime hours for holding attention! It's a crime against humanity.
Of course Republicans want to say that institutions defend themselves - it absolves them of responsibility for defending them. Then when the attack against the institution of American democracy is successful they can stand up with a straight face and say "Who knew that institutions can't defend themselves? That's what we were taught. It's not our fault."
Too convenient. It is basic to democracy that we are all responsible for the institutions that are the bedrock of our society. Who will defend them if not those who are part of the democracy? It doesn't come with an "auto" setting. It's a republic, if you can keep it according to Benjamin Franklin. The trick is coming up with ways to defend and preserve the republic in order to keep it. Right now it is obvious to anyone reading the tea leaves that there is an active threat to the institution of government in America and its name is Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The other relevant quote is from Maya Angelou - "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." Trump and his acolytes have shown us who they are and told us what they are going to do - declare martial law, subvert the Department of Justice to the will of the Presidency, establish displacement camps, shoot shoplifters and arrest anyone they deem an enemy - dictatorship.
Believe them the first time. There won't be a second.
Well done Jerry. Tim Snyder's book is an easy but uncomfortable read and call to action.
We need to end child apartheid, however. Close the classroom, unless it's a special room where kids and grown-ups can work and play together. Keep the teachers, and radically change their job descriptions. (Some will leave; others will rush in.) It takes a whole village to raise one child. School is no longer safe. We must re-build the village. There's a plan, an idea, how to save ourselves by re-creating the village, and give every child the opportunity to grow up like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison (kicked out of school for being autistic), George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ . . . Leonardo daVinci!!! (who wasn't allowed to go to school, as his father wouldn't claim him as his child); many other thousands of "great" people in history did not get a typical American education, never suffered child apartheid. Every winter weekday we put our kids in what amounts to jail—during their prime hours for holding attention! It's a crime against humanity.