Know Nothings

When asked what he’s hoping to gain from an impeachment inquiry, Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX) answered: “All I can say is Donald J. Trump 2024, baby.”

The stunning lack of evidence for the Republican Party to inquire into President Biden’s corruption recalls an almost comical political period of the 1850’s, the rise and fall of the “Know Nothing Party.” This nickname for a party known officially as the “Native American Party” derived from a policy of its members to say, “I know nothing,” when pressed for details about the Party.

The Party was especially wary of the influence of Catholics on American politics, and it warned specifically against Irish and German immigrants as dangerous intruders on the native Americans, i.e. those white Protestants born in the United States. The irony of an anti-immigrant party calling itself “Native American” is transparent today, as we realize the only real case against immigrants could be mounted by Native Americans, as we now call those native to this country before white settlers moved in.

The Know Nothings rose to insignificance around 1856, when they nominated Millard Fillmore as their Presidential candidate.

The American Party nominated former President Millard Fillmore in the 1856 presidential election, but he kept quiet about his membership in it, and he personally refrained from supporting the Know Nothing movement’s activities and ideology. Fillmore received 21.5% of the popular vote in the 1856 presidential election, finishing behind the Democratic and Republican nominees.^[6]

That one of our most inconsequential Presidents should back away from the Know Nothings’ endorsement tells you all you need to know about the influence of this political movement. However their rise and fall is a cautionary tale about anti-immigration as a policy for candidates for higher office. The anti-Catholic concern about foreign influence in this country finally died down with the election of John Kennedy in 1960, but it was a dangerous undercurrent in American politics for years following the collapse of the “No Nothings” a century earlier.

In 1860 as in 1960 the concern for Catholic influence in politics was the potential of the Pope to dictate policy from the Vatican to his bishops in the United States.

One Boston minister described Catholicism as “the ally of tyranny, the opponent of material prosperity, the foe of thrift, the enemy of the railroad, the caucus, and the school”.^[16]^[17] These fears encouraged conspiracy theories regarding papal intentions of subjugating the United States through a continuing influx of Catholics controlled by Irish bishops obedient to and personally selected by the Pope.

Since President Kennedy became one of our revered martyrs for democracy, the issue of Catholic influence over American politics has lost its potency, but the anti-immigration sentiment lives on in the rise of Donald Trump. The former President tapped into the latent fears of the citizens with toxic language like

When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/02/trumps-most-insulting-violent-language-is-often-reserved-immigrants/

But as Congress adjourned for the holidays, the pressing issue was the evidence that grounded the investigation by the House Oversight Committee into the crimes and misdemeanors needed for the impeachment of a President. There wasn’t any that the Republicans could articulate when cross-examined by Democrats. They argued that the inquiry was designed to uncover the evidence, but the judicial principle is that there would be enough evidence to proceed with the case, which is what a warrant requires.

It was comical to witness the feeble defense of the impeachment inquiry. The defensive language harkened back to that aberrant period in American politics when a political movement was based on the infamous words, “I know nothing.”

October 8, 2023 by wtucker

Elitism or Tolerance?

The research of William Marble is a fascinating explanation of why college graduates have migrated to the Democratic Party over the past two decades. According to Marble’s study of voter opinion polls, the white college-educated class has moved left toward toward progressive economics and cultural diversity. He suggests that the economic, political and cultural institutions have been controlled by the college elites, creating a reaction against these institutions from working class, non-college-educated voters [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/01/understanding-electorate-diploma-divide/]. His analysis would explain why Republicans have begun to campaign against the academic and bureaucratic “elites” in federal elections.

As a professor emeritus of a publicly funded diverse university, I want to suggest a more direct explanation of the “diploma divide” between college graduates and non-college graduates.

the increasing diversity of publicly funded post-secondary schools
the bias toward cultural tolerance in academic communities

Affirmative action has increased the diversity of publicly and privately funded universities. Increasingly diverse communities have the predictable effect of students understanding diverse racial and gender characteristics that formerly divided them. At my university students confessed to me they had never met a Black or Gay student until they arrived on campus. In spite of the university being majority white and heterosexual, the presence of students of color and differing sexuality gave students a chance to know students they formerly saw as categories, rather than friends and acquaintances. My more transparent students admitted as much.

In addition my university supported tolerance in their courses and public discourse to support the diversity of their student bodies. Both natural sciences and social sciences promoted tolerance based on the current research on racial and gender diversity. As a teacher of “Writing for Teachers” I noticed the development of students’ tolerance of diversity in their essays. Many of them would refer to changed attitudes based on the research they were exposed to in other classes. As a teacher educator I was pleased that my students were entering the teaching profession with a bias toward tolerance.

The combination of meeting students of differing race and gender identity and the academic confirmation of diversity led white students who came from the suburbs to develop more tolerance than students who remained in their own enclaves at home. It is not that academically trained students were inherently more sophisticated, but by attending a school with a diverse population and becoming informed about the equality of the races and gender preferences, white students became more tolerant than their peers who lacked these experiences.

It is no wonder the Republican Party campaigns agains the “academic elites” who differ from the non-college population in tolerance of diversity. Yet perhaps there is a “holier than thou” attitude in the college-educated, which further alienates the two classes of voters, and this reinforces the perception that college graduates are “elitists.”

Lately the monetary value of a college education has been questioned. Graduates find they do not have skills that employers are looking for, and therefore wonder if the considerable investment in a college education is worth the price. Perhaps one hidden value of a college education is an appreciation of students that differ in racial identity and gender preference. These lessons are not easily learned in the homogeneous communities student come from.

What can be done about the culture wars that might result from the “diploma divide”? There are other educational environments, such as the military, employment-related programs, and community service. Members of these communities meet diverse recruits and may grow in understanding of differences. The military has grown with the times and advocated the kind of tolerance that universities reinforce.

For the other youth who remain in their familiar communities, the experience of diversity may be missing in their education. The persistence of the racial and culture wars may be reinforced by young people staying at home in their own enclaves. The “diploma wars” will persist until positive experiences of meeting racially and gender diverse contemporaries is part of their culture. The point is not to recruit more voters to the ranks of the Democrats, but to neutralize the culture wars, so that diversity is no longer a significant issue in political campaigns.

October 2, 2023 by wtucker

Faith Stories

What is a “faith story”? An example comes from Christine Polak.

During the first 10 years that we lived in Wisconsin, Loren and our neighbor Carl would spend several weekends in the late summer and early fall cutting down trees, splitting the logs and stacking them neatly under both of our decks. We heated our homes with wood burning furnaces. Wood was plentiful and fuel oil was expensive. After 10 years, our income was higher and the price per gallon of fuel oil was lower, so Loren and I discontinued using the wood furnace.

Fast forward to Ballwin 20 years later. We had a large tree in our backyard with one dead branch that needed to be trimmed. After 10 years of consistently cutting down trees and more years trimming them, Loren had lots of experience. We were aware of the dangers involved but this was just a branch, not the entire tree, so I was not overly concerned.

I was concerned about him balancing on a ladder to cut the branch and wanted to be sure the ladder was secure, so I was at the base holding it in place. As Loren began to cut, I was looking up and lots of sawdust was raining down upon me, so I looked away. It was from this moment that I don’t recall all the details, only that I heard, “Run” and I did. The branch had snapped upward knocking Loren’s arm and the chain saw was propelled away from him. He was clinging to a branch and the ladder had toppled over. The chainsaw was still running when it landed in the place where I had been standing.

Loren did not tell did me to run, and even if he had I would not have heard him above the roar of the chainsaw. I am very thankful that the “voice” spoke to me and that I listened.

Why is this a “faith story”? First it inspires faith in the reader, as much as the writer. The effect is as important as the purpose.

Second, it portrays an extraordinary experience: The voice that Christine heard, telling her to “run.”

Third it implies a change in the writer: I am very thankful that the “voice” spoke to me and that I listened.

Finally, it is a compact story, offering only details that concern the experience of faith.

And yet . . . we should not insist on dramatic experiences for faith stories. They may be quiet and reflective. They may be something we learned, but somehow we were changed in the learning. They may be moments we observed, but that inspired us. If they are about faith and not too expansive, I call them “faith stories.”

The demands of “faith stories” are only that we engage the reader about the inspirations of life that result in faith. Yet faith stories can be transformative for the reader, as well as the writer.

October 2, 2023 by wtucker

Raising the Bar for School Funding

The proposed 1% increase in overall state funding should give schools a better chance in a period of enrollment decline. The State Board of Education should give serious consideration to this increase.

Missouri is part of a regional education desert, judging from the total per pupil spending increases over the past eighteen years. This is according to the most current data from the Reason Foundation, which tracks both total and per-pupil spending. The states in the vicinity of Missouri, excluding Illinois, are ranked in the bottom half of per pupil spending increases. The national average increase in school spending over the same period is 25%. Missouri has 6% [https://reason.org/commentary/k-12-education-spending-spotlight/gclid=CjwKCAjwu4WoBhBkEiwAojNdXg9j_ ScjjvZtPtSa8X8HwqWR8uJWvRinBcgq1U0A4vgOxB9ddmn8jRoCyqkQAvD_BwE]

Over the past twenty years Missouri has ranked 45 out of 100 states (adding the District of Columbia) in spending increases. Often these increases amount only to the decrease in total students, not a real increase in available funds. Fewer students automatically increases per pupil allocations.

Why does this matter? Because the United States is moving toward a teacher shortage in the next decade, and all states will be competing for the limited candidate pool of new teachers. I have explored the potential shortage of teachers in a separate blog “Who Wants to be a Teacher?” https://wtucker.edublogs.org/2023/07/15/who-wants-to-be-a-teacher/

The support for new teachers in salaries, benefits, mentoring and overall school funding will be crucial to attracting a new generation, a generation that will replace our aging teacher population. The per-pupil increase requested by education leaders lobbying Jefferson City is slightly over 1% of total funding. It will mostly adjust for the decrease in enrollment around the state.

The Reason Foundation ranked states for their over the past eighteen (2002 – 2018) years and Missouri came in 45th. The figures of the Foundation include the federal spending for each state so the overall rates are based on sources beyond the state allocations in spending. State governments provide an average of 46.7% of total spending on schools. The local schools generally provide half of school funding, so State funding is the only equalizer in public school funding.

So how much do the states in the Education desert of school funding show increases over the past eighteen years? Illinois is head and shoulders above all its rival states to the south and west with per pupil funding increases of 55% . New teachers will definitely be shopping there for jobs.

The other border states of Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky and Arkansas have double digit increases in per pupil spending over the last eighteen years. Missouri has an increase of 6%. So new teachers will see good trends in salary and benefits in all of Missouri’s competing border states, even though these states rank in the lower half of per pupil spending in the entire United States. The U.S. average increase over the same period is 26%. Missouri slumbers at number 45 of the states with it 6% increase. https://reason.org/commentary/k-12-education-spending-spotlight/gclid=CjwKCAjwu4WoBhBkEiwAojNdXg9j_ ScjjvZtPtSa8X8HwqWR8uJWvRinBcgq1U0A4vgOxB9ddmn8jRoCyqkQAvD_BwE

The amount of per pupil spending is among the most telling factors in the health and success of schools. This is most likely due to the greater number of teachers per school, as well as the considerable allocation to teachers’ salaries and benefits. The best teachers will naturally gravitate to the schools with higher per pupil expenses. This may not be a concern when there is a oversupply of teachers, but that is not what we can expect in the next decade [https://wtucker.edublogs.org/2023/07/15/who-wants-to-be-a-teacher/].

The Reason Foundation also studied the per cent of total public funding allocated to all schools, compared with members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, primarily in the nations of Western Europe

The United States allocates about 11.6% of public funding to education, below the international standard of 15%, and spends about 4.96% of its GDP on education, compared to the 5.59% average of other developed nations. ” So we have nothing to brag about. [https://reason.org/commentary/k-12-education-spending-spotlight/gclid=CjwKCAjwu4WoBhBkEiwAojNdXg9j_ ScjjvZtPtSa8X8HwqWR8uJWvRinBcgq1U0A4vgOxB9ddmn8jRoCyqkQAvD_BwE ]

The quality of teachers is considered by most experts to be the most important factor in school improvement. Missouri needs to make this state more attractive to the best teachers. That includes local graduates of Education programs, who could look for greener pastures, when they graduate. Just crossing the border into Illinois could turn into better salaries.

Missouri did make strides by raising its salary for starting teachers to $38,000, making it competitive among its neighboring states in the “desert.” This should give the state a fighting chance to recruit better teachers in the next generation.

School leaders are not asking for much in a 1% increase in state support. Any bill that supports increase funding for local schools should be approved.

September 24, 2023 by wtucker

A Competitive Spirituality

When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹²‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ (Matt 20:11-13)

The Parable of the Vineyard is about envy, because the workers hired first could not accept the apparent injustice of those hired last, receiving the same wage. I have always regarded those privileged workers, the ones hired earlier, as selfish capitalists who did not want to share their toys. Indeed Jesus said in this context that it was difficult for a rich man to enter the Reign of God.

But there are other kinds of wealth, some less obvious. In church circles there are always those most respected, who have what I lack, call it “spiritual prestige.” These are the prophets, the spiritually gifted, the ones who seem inherently grateful for whatever God has give them. They are Abel, resented by their brother Cain, the Prodigal Son, resented by his older brother, and the later workers in the Vineyard, resented by the full-timers.

I always thought I was Abel or the late worker in the vineyard, because I grew up in moderate poverty, living on scholarships at school and working hard for everything I owned. Poor me! I have realized there is ingratitude in this attitude, but envy? How can the less privileged be envious, when they are struggling for their own sustenance? Hmm, I see the point, I am always resentful of those who have more. My room mate in college said I had a “poor mouth,” a concept that defied reason, because, hey, I was poor!

But not by the standards of actual poverty. I never went hungry or was denied medical services or even prevented from extending my graduate education for a Ph.D.! How does that figure as “poverty”?

There is a more subtle poverty, the kind that only church-goers can claim. Because God also privileges some with spiritual gifts and status within God’s Reign. And, like a spiritual capitalist, I assumed I deserved to be one of those people. Even as I write this, I experience envy of those with greater status under the Reign of God. It almost destroyed me at a dark moment in my life. Without going into detail that I have shared elsewhere [https://wtucker.edublogs.org/2023/01/14/seven-stories-3-the-worst-year-fall-1985-summer-86/], I have always aspired to be spiritually “greater” than others. .

A more current example is my struggle with contemplation, a practice I have been taught would make me more spiritual, or at least advance me in the Reign of God. I have struggled to keep silent and meditative for six minutes–too long. I have been impatient with this practice. I couldn’t join the spiritually elite, so I got more and more frustrated as I tried to become contemplative over forty days. Forty days: that is how long Jesus stayed in the wilderness, battling temptation, how long the Israelites wandered in the wilderness before they could enter the Promised Land. It seemed to me I would qualify for a spiritual badge if I reached this goal.

It was no go. I could not do it the way I had been instructed. I did have a little success praying out loud and then meditating, but it still felt like a struggle. I was not up to the standards of those “more spiritual” than I. I still struggle to meditate, even with some verbal prayer mixed in.

I have been taught jealousy could be a “consuming sin, ” one that pervaded everything I do. Envy is different from jealousy, but a close cousin.I acted from motives to be greater in the Reign of God, contrary to everything Jesus taught. It consisted of patience, respect for others, and ultimately gratitude– the sense that I have more than enough. You can’t fake these attitudes, although I have tried.

I have also been taught that the first way to subdue a hidden sin is to expose it. So here I am. I hope the admission gives me humility and not pride that I have taken the first step toward becoming “more spiritual.” It is hard to break a lifetime of competitive spirituality.

Perhaps the first step is to acknowledge I have more than enough. Which I do. I have been paid my promised wage, and I should be content, without resenting the ones who came later, but received more.

I have all I need, both financially and spiritually. That should be enough, God helping me.

September 8, 2023 by wtucker

News Media: Whom Do You Trust?

The problem of “fake news” promoted by Donald Trump raises the question: How do you find the “real news? Whom can you trust? There are a variety of reports on the media we read, watch, and listen to.

I have already argued that even Donald Trump relies on some media for his information, but he never admits that he might be using biased sources [https://wtucker.edublogs.org/2023/09/04/the-fourth-estate/].

The League of Women Voters [https://my.lwv.org/california/torrance-area/article/how-reliable-your-news-source-understanding-media-bias-2022] publishes a list of media bias charts. The Adfontes Media Bias Chart and The Allsides Media Bias Chart are the foremost.

Because the Adfontes Media Bias Chart doesn’t easily convert to this format, I have chosen to use “Allsides” to consider media bias [https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart]. Sorry about the poor resolution.

Below is a politically organized bias chart to show one group of evaluators’ informed perspective. You can study their methods of evaluation on their website, but they are more reliable than partisan analysis. According to this analysis, former President Trump clearly favors one political wing when he evaluates media.

If you look to the far right of the chart, you will recognize some of the former President’s sources: Newsmax, the New York Post, and Fox News. On the left we can see some of the media he attacks: far left, the New York Times Opinion and moderately left, the New York Times News, CNN and the Washington Post. They print or broadcast what he calls “fake news.”

I love the columnists at the Washington Post, even George Will, but I understand that is a liberal diet (excluding Will). Because the St. Louis Post Dispatch runs some conservative columns, I find I can read conservatives David Drucker and Jonathan Goldberg of The Dispatch with no rise in the blood pressure.

I have little experience with the media at the center. Why is that? Do they lack the edge I prefer in Opinion broadcasting? The only large-market news media I see there are the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. Perhaps a little vanilla for some tastes, athough the Journal moves back and forth along the center line. I see it reprinted in the Post-Dispatch, a pretty left-leaning daily newspaper with a marginal circulation, yet fair-minded about opinions.

I’ll plead guilty to reading the New York Times (News and Opinion) and watching NBC, CNN and CBS. Often I watch MSNBC and read The Atlantic and The New Yorker (especially in the Post Dispatch), so my plate is full of liberal main courses and desserts. I know these latter outlets are rich in liberal perspectives, so Mr. Trump would disapprove. I try to remember the perspective I’m reading and look for corroboration in another source. Based on his out-loud comments, I doubt the former President grazes outside the Far Right on this chart. Corroboration is not a practice to which he has ever pled guilty.

When I look at the media on the far right, I think of eating kale. I will if I have to, but since I am an adult, I don’t have to. Except, once in a while I wonder, and will sample how the other half lives,

So whom do you trust? Any outlet around the center line is probably safe, and the outer columns have stories you better investigate more thoroughly, if you care about bias. What I do not appreciate is

People who quote the outer two categories without any qualifications
People who will not concede any opinions based on middle left or middle right (“CBS news is part of a left wing conspiracy.”)
People who insist that the middle must not be at all biased. They all are. About that Trump was right.
People who don’t try to listen with an open mind.

My personal opinion (no source) is that many adults have given up finding the neighborhood of truth, so they either

choose one source and swear it is the only truth possible
avoid reading anything except the sports page and the comics. (Hmm, better watch out for “Doonesberry”)
get all their information from some guy at the bar, at the gym, or at church

I can’t tell you which of these three is the worst, but none of them involve serious thinking. If you went to college, you were not taught to think this way. Maybe even if you went to high school.

Trust is something people earn, and so with the media. You keep your crap detector going until you get comfortable with a source. Then you welcome it into the family. Still, you don’t get cozy with it when the stakes are high.

Like when you vote.

September 7, 2023 by wtucker

Messianic Declarations

The “Pastors for Trump” in the ReAwaken America Tour rallied in LasVegas, NV [a few weeks ago]to respond to the indictment and the mugshot of Donald Trump in Atlanta, GA. The speakers at the rally included Michael Flynn ( former National Security Advisor), Roger Stone (one-time adviser to Donald Trump), Julie Green (self-proclaimed prophet), Lara Trump ( wife of Eric Trump), and Rev. John Bennett (Assemblies of God), who called the “[91] charges against Trump proof that Satan was using the ‘deep state’ to attack God’s chosen leader.” [ Brian Kaylor, https://publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/an-indicted-faith?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2FAn%2520Indicted%2520Faith&utm_medium=reader2]

The insistent protest that Donald Trump is a representative of God has begun to take on apocalyptic dimensions. It elevates the Presidential campaign to the anointing a messiah to lead America. The participation of church leaders in “Pastors for Trump” has interpreted the legal indictments of the former President as an insult to God and to loyal Christian nationalists.

This ReAwaken America Tour has claimed to know the will of God and made Donald Trump into a messiah just as Jesus warned us in his forecast of the times of persecution. I am not one to proclaim we are living in those times, but if we wanted evidence of it, we need only look at the language of prophets and pastors associating with Christ in the “ReAwaken America” Tour.

Below I juxtapose the warnings of Jesus’ warnings in the Gospel of Mark with some of the statements of speakers at the rally “Pastors for Trump.”

And if anyone says to you at that time, “Look, here is the messiah!” or “Look, there he is!”–do not believe it. [Mark 13:21]

Julie Green, prophet: “One of the things that the Lord kept bringing up to me is: you need to pray for my son. You need to pray for Trump.”

False messiahs and false prophets will appear [Mark 13:22]

Lara Trump, wife of Eric: “We know the one in charge up above. And I can tell you he has his hand on Donald Trump, that no weapon formed against him shall prosper, that yea though he walk through the shadow of death he will fear no evil, because God is with him and God is part of this race . . . It is good vs, evil and the good shall win”

Lara Trump: “That mugshot is the most famous mugshot in the history of the world.”

and produce signs and omens, [Mark 13:22]

Donald Trump (January 23, 2016):I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters

to lead astray, if possible, the elect. [ Mark 13:22]

Rv John Bennett: “The ungodly are attacking President Trump for trying to protect us. They’re attacking our freedom.”

But be alert; I have already told you everything. [Mark 13:23.]

“To see just how disingenuous MAGA leaders really are in their abuse of faith, look no further than ‘Pastors for Trump,’ A typical prayer call from this ‘ReAwaken America’ spinoff features only a couple of minutes of actual prayer, with more pro-Trump politicians speaking than actual pastors –the exact opposite you would expect from an authentically faithful event,” Rev. Nathan Empsall, an Episcopal priest who leads the advocacy group “Faithful America”[ Reported by Brian Kaylor, “Public Witness”].

I am probably guilty of the same apocalyptic language as the MAGA followers who spiritualize the career of the former President. The spiritual invocations of “ReAwaken America,” a campaign led by convicted perjurer and Trump-pardoned Michael Flynn, has begun to haunt me. Flynn has gathered followers among Christians, who have portrayed Trump as “messiah,” without using that exact word. The spiritual language of this rally raises my anxiety, as I remember Jesus’ words, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

Donald Trump, himself, has seldom spiritualized his identity, since he would rather see himself as a secular hero, but he welcomes Christians who want to elevate him to messiah status. So he is carried on a wave of the “Re-Awakening.”

What confounds me is the fervor of Christians as the indictments roll in, as the threatening mugshot is publicized, as the former President threatens the legitimacy of a democracy to which all citizens owe their allegiance. It feels like a terrible nightmare, featuring the power of a prophesied false messiah.

It makes me hope for a Awakening of sober Christians, who see that Donald Trump is a threat to the truth, the stability, the better angels of America.

Who are the really woke Christians in the ReAwakening of America?

September 3, 2023 by wtucker

What is leadership?

What is leadership? Former President Mike Pence showed why his party can not initiate a constructive contribution to federal legislation. He also showed why his party is fanatically wedded to its most high profile, indicted politician: Donald Trump. Sheer stubbornness.

To be honest with you, Nikki — you’re my friend, but consensus is the opposite of leadership,” Mr. Pence said, criticizing Ms. Haley for saying there needed to be congressional consensus between Republicans and Democrats before the federal government could play a role in restricting abortion. “It’s not a states-only issue. It’s a moral issue.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/us/abortion-pence-haley-debate.html

Nice sound bite, unless you consider how a democratic (or republican) government works: by consensus. Inflexible leadership is the deterrent to governing. It proposes a high-minded position, then expects the rest of the government to follow. That doesn’t work in any bi-partisan body. It’s all about compromise, as the esteemed legislator Henry Clay would say about the legislator:

[F] from the nature of the government and its operations, and from those with whom he is dealing, it is necessary upon his part, in order to secure what he wants, to grant something to the other side, he should be reconciled to the concession which he has made in consequence of the concession which he is to receive, if there is no great principle involved, such as a violation of the Constitution of the United States. Henry Clay 1850 Compromise Speech Washington, D.C. – February 6, 1850

For thirty years Henry Clay kept the United States from Civil War by proposing compromises regarding how slavery should be treated in new territories as they became part of the United States. Finally in 1852 “The Great Compromiser” died and within a decade the United States was in Civil War. Eulogizing Clay, his successor in compromise, Abraham Lincoln, said,

Our country is prosperous and powerful; but could it have been quite all it has been, and is, and is to be, without Henry Clay? Such a man the times have demanded, and such, in the providence of God was given us. But he is gone. Let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that, in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security.https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/henry-clay-the-great-compromiser

Today compromisers are considered weak and ineffectual, especially by the Republican Party. It has adopted the dictatorial style of Donald Trump, who believes he won the 2020 election. Never deterred by judicial decisions, Trump has insisted he won the 2020 Presidential Election, since hours after the polls closed on November 3, 2020. During the interval from then to today, the President has had ample opportunity to give a concession speech, as all defeated Presidential nominees have in our nation’s history, but he cannot compromise over a defeat, even with all available evidence to the contrary.

And what of the 69% of Republicans who still believe the election of 2020 was stolen? They, too, have failed to compromise, even when the facts are against them. And 74% continue to insist that the former President is innocent of all charges, despite his accumulating indictments on a variety of charges.

The stance of arguing from a weak foundation of evidence has been modeled by the former President and imitated by those who admire him. Compromise with their initial judgment on the issue is unthinkable. They can not see any merit in the opposing view of the case. They are paralyzed by their own stubbornness.

When a jury hears testimony on both sides of a case, they are under oath to follow the evidence and put aside their prejudices. If they become hung, failing to reach consensus, they are enjoined by the judge to persist until they find agreement. If they continue to be unresolved, they fail to carry out their duty as a jury, and they are dismissed.

Based on this procedure, it appears that at least two-thirds of Republicans would be incapable of serving on a jury. They would defy the facts of the case in favor of their initial view of the suspect. To do otherwise they would have to compromise. To this segment of the population, “compromise” is a dirty word.

The same for the Republican candidate Mike Pence. For him the decision on abortion could only be a ban prior to six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. In the Republican Primary debate, Nikki Haley proposed a federal law banning abortion after sixteen weeks, arguing that was the only way a consensus could be achieved in the present Senate. That is what aroused Pence to say, ” . . . consensus is the opposite of leadership.”

This is the attitude of a failed leader in a three-branch government, where the President cannot govern by fiat. As noble as it might sound, it is the opposite of governing, it is dictating, a style Donald Trump admires. And it is increasingly the style of government favored by a two-thirds majority of the Republican Party.

It is not a style of leadership, it is utter stubbornness, a trait Mr, Trump has honed to a point. The failure of the Republican Party to repudiate the former President, and the failure of two-thirds of voting Republicans to accept the defeat of the former President is pure stubbornness and an aversion to the process of governing in a democracy. It is indeed a moral issue, as Mr. Pence argues, because compromise is the ultimate moral principle of governing in this country.

August 14, 2023 by wtucker

The Bucks Stopped Here

We had the remarkable sight of four bucks in our backyard Sunday night. It is not that unusual to see does in small clusters wandering through our yard, but bucks, much less a buck-cluster are rare. One of the group appeared to have a seven-point rack. Never saw that much antler.

They did not appear at all shy. Some looked directly at us as we trained binoculars on them from behind our glass doors. They just went back to browsing and munching our lawn. Some grazed directly under our bird feeders, but, to my relief, did not attack the feeders. I did not want to tap the glass door to scare them away.

The large buck was not at all interested in the spectators. He did nuzzle and even groom the smaller bucks, but was otherwise oblivious to us and anything non-edible in our yard. You get a sense of the size of his rack, as he leaves the yard in the picture below.

I was less in awe than grateful to witness such a rare sight in our yard. The bucks made it clear that we were on their property, and they owned the grass and trees as much or more than we did. They hung around for the better part of an hour, and when they left, they ambled leisurely, in no hurry to vacate the premises.

I am honored to share with these amazing creatures. They are welcome anytime.

Just leave my bird feeders alone.

August 8, 2023 by wtucker

Should the People Vote on Abortion Rights?

From the start the Pro-Life movement has been anti-democratic. The striking down of Roe vs. Wade was accomplished by a Supreme Court appointed by a Senate Majority, which did not represent the majority of U.S. voters. Poll after poll has shown that the majority of voters opposed the absolute form of anti-abortion law, the criminalizing of all abortions, including those resulting from rape and incest. The Supreme Court marshaled its 6-3 majority to overrule the majority of U.S. citizens.

On Tuesday, August 8, the State of Ohio put an initiative on the August ballot, for which a tiny minority of citizens will vote, to raise the percentage required to pass a Constitutional amendment to 60% of citizens casting their vote. As the New York Times reported, this August ballot comes after “Early this year, Ohio legislators ended the practice of regularly holding elections in August, pointing to the high costs and low turnout.” (August 8, 2023).

But the legislature decided it could afford one more August vote, because a vote on an abortion rights amendment to the state constitution was coming up in November. The threshold for passing a constitutional amendment in Ohio is currently a majority.

“This is 100 percent about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican who’s also running for U.S. Senate, said. “The left wants to jam it in there this coming November.” In other words a majority vote should not be allowed to express the will of the voters.

An abortion rights amendment is also proposed for the fall ballot in Missouri, but the cost evaluation of the amendment has blocked it so far. Attorney General Andrew Bailey argued that the amendment would cost the state billions of dollars in unborn tax payers, but he was over-ridden by the Missouri Supreme Court, supporting the State Auditor Brian Fitzpatrick who put the cost to the state at $51, 000.

Next two Republican lawmakers filed against Fitzpatrick, saying that his estimate is “inaccurate and in a way that is both misleading to voters and obvious and curable by the auditor.” This is apparently re-litigating the same lawsuit brought by the attorney general, but it delays the attempts of supporters of the abortion rights proposal from gathering signatures to put the proposal on the ballot.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri complained, “This is another attempt by power-obsessed politicians to prevent Missourians from voting on reproductive rights. The bogus lawsuit parrots the already court-rejected claims of the attorney general.”

The constitutional amendment in question would outlaw penalties for both patients and physicians participating in reproductive-related care. Normally a petition can get on the ballot in an average of 56 days, but this petition has already taken 150 days. These nuisance lawsuits apparently attempt to prevent this petition from getting enough signatures to appear on the ballot.

Why would pro-choice advocates in a deeply Red state such as Missouri be so desperate to prevent a vote on the rights of pregnant women and their physicians? Because when the most recent poll asked potential Missouri voters if “you think it should be possible for a woman to legally obtain an abortion in the state of Missouri… in the first 8 weeks of pregnancy,” 58 percent of respondents said they agree, and 32 percent said they disagree. Ten percent said they were not sure.” (https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/politics/2022/08/26/missouri-poll-abortion-exceptions-incest-rape-gun-background-checks-popular/7888170001/).

The majority of voters appear to support reproductive rights within eight weeks of pregnancy, but that majority should not be permitted to vote on such an amendment, according to the litigants against the ballot proposal. The idea that voters should be allowed to express their will on the issue of abortion could be squashed in Missouri because of the time required to get the signatures to support the petition.

Voters of good faith may disagree on whether or on what terms abortion should be legalized, but voters have not been allowed to express the will of the people so far in Ohio and Missouri. Whether these proposals make the fall ballot in either state remains to be seen. One thing is evident–Pro-life legislators are desperately afraid of a democratic ruling on the topic of abortion rights.

There is a moral issue and a democratic issue on the legalizing of abortion. Moral convictions ought to be respected regardless of the numerous positions taken by people of good faith. But so should the will of voters be respected. The unscrupulous tactics of some Pro-life legislators is not justified by their moral convictions.

Voters should be allowed to express their beliefs at the polls on the legal rights of mothers and their physicians. Supreme Court rulings have consequences. So should the ballot decisions in every state, regardless of the convictions of a minority.

neologophilia

Another excellent Edublogs.org weblog

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