Neither Liberal Nor Conservative

I am not the typical "liberal Eastern American University Professor." I am old enough to have added many conservative values to my "coloring book" over the years, while still preserving the ingenuous quality of integrity and kindness that underlies American youthful patriotism. I believe in America.

I do not believe in Donald Trump. He is a "capitalist"-- not a Democrat nor a Republican. He doesn't believe in "less government"; he believes "he IS the government."

The Executive branch of the government is not the only branch of the government -- it is held in "check" by the judicial and legislative branches. Since the Republican majority in both houses of Congress has apparently abrogated control of the government and its policies to President Trump, in favor of finally sneaking by their own hyper-conservative agenda. Weasels like Paul Ryan are complicit in Trump's fiats, and therefore are partially responsible for them  

America is in trouble; America has a cryptofascist as a President.

Trump the Demagogue

Of all of the ridiculous "executive orders" and "executive decrees" ordered by Donald Trump, the immigration "ban" versus Muslims from selected countries is the cruelest, stupidest, and most unAmerican of all. There are now protests at our largest International airports -- there should be! Republicans are rethinking the strategy of letting Trump do what he wants in trade for their own ridiculous and short-sighted agenda, especially as regards the Affordable Health Care Act.

When this kind of duplicitous "leadership" holds sway -- the world need watch out. We may have our own homegrown version of Hitler, or Mussolini. And he is a wouldbe playboy and underhanded "dealer" named Donald. And his henchmen in the House of Representatives now espouse and promote their own brand(s) of anti-Obama, anti-Democratic, anti-Liberal, and anti-human prescriptions.

I feel sorry for us all! Please someone help us.

On Trump ...Degrading America

Articles in all the free presses of the world have now turned to trying to analyze Donald Trump. First remember that he is "doing what he said he would do" during the campaign, as distasteful and stupid as many of those tweeted proposals were.

Now the world press, on all levels, is dropping headlines such as "Is Trump Mentally Ill?" or "Trump Can Be Removed From Office Without Formal Impeachment!" and one of my favorites, "Trump Is Ruining America." "Yes" perhaps to many of the thoughts expressed within those articles and exposes, but "no" to the concept that we couldn't have expected all this. We knew what a soulless wretch Donald Trump was, attractive children or not; and yet we presumed he would nor could not be as bad as his twisted and cynical rhetoric. Guess what? He is as bad as advertised; and he did the advertising himself.

More Reflections on my ECCA and LCCA Students

Being young I think means at times "being distracted"; being young also means being smart (and unspoiled) but also maybe  a bit lazy about what one knows or what one doesn't know. As I reflect on teaching 14-year-old's, I realize I prefer them to the typical 18-year-old's. Why?

The older students have had several more years to be "ruined by education" -- to be stifled by "time honored methods"-- which I am just as guilty of relying on as all the other teachers I know. How does an aging teacher keep from being a bore? Or a jerk?  Or someone whose only response to youthful energy is a "tsk, tsk!"   I don't want to be that guy, that dull teacher -- but my ECCA students are already deluged by knowledge (as was last term's). I want all my students to greet knowledge with "fresh eyes" and "open minds." But even at 14, for many, that is too late  to really be "all in" for knowledge.

The definition of an "intellectual" is: a person who can live their life with an open mind. I am still struggling to keep my mind open -- to youth, and process, and growth.

A Sense of Calm

What Americans need now, most of all, is a sense of calm. Surviving and enduring the years ahead will be difficult for Republicans and Democrats alike. Because few of us think exactly like our new President and even fewer approve of the way he will execute things.

There will be "blows" to normalcy, to the way government(s) usually get things done.  There will be shattered traditions which have been mainstays of our political and civic background. Our new leader will tell us that change is good -- and it is. But not change that distorts the truth or reverts everything to base economics. Capitalism is not the only game in town -- and it is not "more important" than democracy itself. It is a system of financial exchange -- and that is all. It is not war, nor patriotism, nor compulsory, not absolute. It is a system of financial exchange.

MacTrump

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it was done quickly..." A quote from my favorite plays, from one of my favorite playwrights, at one of the plays most important times!

If affords multiple lessons for our time (in America and in the world). It suggests that one must never hesitate. That for "the war" to be won, we must act quickly and continuously. We must resist; we must stand up for ourselves (and the weakest among us). Tyranny and bad judgment must never be tolerated; we cannot give away our rights nor our conscience. We are bound to "do the right thing" no matter what, no matter when.

Don't just send a dollar, or three, or five! It is not about money, Democrats -- Independents -- and normal Republicans. It is about resistance and living life fully -- on the grid -- in full view of our "overlords."  😅

Rapture ... and Love

In times of egregious stupidity and overwhelming selfishness in our politics, ordinary people look forward to the simple things, The touch of a child's hand, a gentle handshake from a friend, a soft kiss from a wouldbe lover.

The elements of life that mean something really connect with us and "mean everything" when we are beset from without by our own government, our own guilty politics, our own selfish capitalist system. Normal things of family and relationship and friendship float away on a tide of anger and regression -- but only if we let them.

Hold on to the precious blocks of building life -- love, respect, rapture. And pleasure, joy, and enthusiasm. All the very important aspects of life still exist -- but only if we let them. Nurture the images of magnificence within you. Cherish the memories of past victories and future engagements.
Learn a 'new friend.' What are they like? Who are they, really? What gives them pleasure? What makes them happy? Do you know? Can you try?

Remake yourself every day. Make your own thoughts lift you up, above the morass of the ordinary. Above the meaningless twitter of birds with no brains. We have a new crop of "hollow men" today. Don't let them contain you -- or repress you -- or distract you. You are your own joy...to be shared with others.

America, America...

America will soon have a small-minded, 'big-egoed' person as its President. That person, and his insidious approaches to human communication, contact, and control --- must be resisted. It is a kind of ideological was we will be engaged in. And we must all fight, and win, for the sake of a future America.

Donald Trump is not an ordinary person. His principles should not be governing a nation as good and compassionate as the United States. If Barack Obama was a 7 our of 10 as President, Trump is heading for a minus 3!

If there is a God, and I believe there is; he/she must help us! Help us to survive the darker days of Donald which are coming at us --- too fast.

Money Trumps Patriotism for President-Elect

Is Trump a "stalking horse" for Putin? Does the Russian "money" connection mean more to Trump than America itself? Is Trump not just an arrogant crook but also a treasonous capitalist?

I am afraid all these and many more such questions will not only come up but will be answered under crisis conditions over the next four years. Trump, and his "outsider" cabinet (for the most part) are of his mind, that "winning is everything." Unfortunately "winning" doesn't translate to winning for you and I and millions of other Americans, but only for the rich who can leverage any situation and take advantage of it for purposes of their own personal gain.

America is truly in trouble -- and Donald J. Trump, the illegitimately elected President, is the root cause. His values are shallow and reflect only greed. His education is lackluster and reflects only single minded narrowness. His focus is ridiculously puny and reflects only is native stupidity.

The Endless Failings of Bureaucracy

I view all bureaucracies as failures -- whether it be a government, a corporate structure, a not-for-profit administration, or a school staff. Why? Too many mistakes -- even after a brilliant initial idea!

STEM schools are a brilliant idea. A Core Curriculum is a brilliant idea. Career Academies on the high school level that allow students to take college classes for credit -- the same! But all at once -- without regard to what so much change adds to the burdens of the students and teachers who are the crux of the process --- an invitation to abuse, loss of focus, and subsequent measurable failure.

I have seen it in many cases, especially here in Georgia.

College administrations make the same kinds of mistakes -- form and order, correct paperwork, being correct -- 'uber alles.' We continue to make the same mistakes again and again in education. We need administrators who will follow through and correct bad processes, in particular those that result in abhorrent outcomes. But such administrators are fewer than you might think.

Of course the bureaucracy of the Federal Government, and the News Organizations of the world, and the staid traditions of Congress -- that would take several "books" or complaints and error to even begin to assess the current conditions.

The Deconstruction of Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a Capitalist, not a statesman -- and not really a politician. Discovering Twitter has made him a "star" just like discovering television made him a "celebrity." But now the rest of the celebrities have disowned him. Why? He truly is not one of them. And the stars that do rise above us all no longer recognize the "Donald" as a shining member of their club.

Donald is really a "huckster" Capitalist, making a "buck" anyway he can -- including off of the office of the Presidency of the United States. He did not really expect to win -- but he did. And now he has to deliver to all those angry Americans with all their angry expectations. The task is impossible; the job is Herculean; the desired outcomes -- are impossible. You can't go backwards in time and restore the old industries we have lost. Progress is not "regress."

And no matter how much Donald Trump takes credit for other Capitalistic growth spurts in the economy -- he is not the mastermind behind them. Donald Trump is the "huckster," the braggart businessman, the arrogant and smarmy self-appointed but voter-enhanced dictator we are now stuck with for at least four years.

Women's March on Washington (for the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump)

The women need to march -- the Trump administration will be at war with them: over not just women's issues, but family issues, education issues, parity under law questions, birth control, Roe versus Wade, insurance issues, abortion issues, rape/abduction issues, controversies over child custody, drug use issues, and about a hundred other issues as well.

Trump is an old-time chauvinist masquerading as a "modern American male." Of the 1930's maybe, but not of the current time. He is a NYC playboy-wannabe pretending to be a desirable man. But only for those women who are "turned on" by bluster and a powerful comb-over! Donald Trump is that nightmare "date" who can't keep his hands off, or his mind on any kind of clean track. He is a pig -- he thinks he can "buy" people like beauty queens, models, starlets, any beautiful woman -- just for his own personal use.

He deserves to be cut off from women -- he treats his beautiful wife Melania like a part-time consort, who happens to be the Mother of his son. He is the worst of men, not the best. He is not to be envied; but despised!

America and Its Young People

I have, in many ways, the privilege of teaching super-intelligent, highly motivated young American students. Most of them are between the ages of 14 and 25. They are truly the future. And they are terrific.

Their elders however, those that have currently risen to power in American government are soft, and uncritical, and "entitled." By virtue of color, or race, or prejudice -- they have set themselves up as intellectual oligarchs -- hoarding opinion for fact, and belief for truth. And they are leading our country into unknown chasms of ignorance, and ultimately, despair.

Arrogance is their crime. And entitlement is their game. They are the Republicans who have failed us so many times before, and will fail us so many times in the future. We who are left, can only pity them and provide for ourselves.

Winter of Our Discontent

Russia, China and North Korea routinely hack our most secret and protected government and private internet accounts in the US. Privacy is a "thing of the past."

Politicians like Donald Trump claim that all that "hacking" makes no difference in the real world. Yet elections are lost or won because of them; public opinion is shaped by outright lies and the innuendos of false news. The public is unable to decipher the difference between "truth" or "falsehood." And the world glides on into a "post-truth" era. And the opportunists take advantage of the public's confusion and incorporate and inveigle their own agenda onto the public venues.

And we are, apparently, powerless to fight the obvious and endemic flow of "s__t" descending upon us.

Past Denial

We have moved past denial, but have not (and hopefully never will) move into the realm of acceptance. We are not in the "stages of grief" here but rather in the oncoming age of "trump." Not the man, but the "movement."

What will this "movement" mean for all of us: war? poverty? social unrest? societal fracturing? strife?

What will it all mean?

It might mean no real changes will occur, just a natural progression towards the "right" so that the reverse can happen two years from now. I might mean that "trump" rules the land, and the poor people choose to love it. Not likely, but possible.