A Few Words Tell Volumes!

  

You are biased when you want one candidate to do better than the other in a political debate. Ninety minutes later you feel great, sad, or have mixed emotions. My assessment was different from what I had hoped for. But the bias remains. It’s like a boxing match, you start counting jabs and counter punches hoping that your favorite will land the knockout punch.

The debate between the vice presidential candidates last week was a highly hyped event. There had been one debate between presidential candidates. The media had told us this would be the last big event before the election. Forty-three million folks tuned in. For the most part, it was a sleeper. Unlike the presidential debate which was loaded with personal name-calling and personality-driven answers, the VP candidates were reasonably friendly and policy-driven.

It turns out that J.D. Vance’s friendliness was a deliberate strategy to throw genial Tim Walz off his game. It worked for the most part. There is no question that Vance won the style points. His elite school education and schmalz came through. He wasn’t the nasty grenade thrower he tends to be on the campaign trail.

Vance can make the most egregious mistruth seem true. He is good at it. He even admitted that he made up the story about Haitians eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio. It is such a good lie that it is a mainstay of the MEGA movement’s campaign rhetoric.

At one point in the debate, when he espoused a fairly obvious lie, one of the moderators fact-checked him. His response was telling: “Margaret, the rules were that you were not going to fact check …” Sometimes a few words tell volumes!

People are more likely to believe a giant lie than a little one. They wouldn’t tell a major untruth, so they don’t question the big one even if data proves it's wrong. It’s a classic political ploy used by authoritarians across the world. You can read about the idea in Mein Kampf.

Saul Alinsky, the radical activist of the ‘sixties published Rules for Radicals in 1971 that included “Ridicule is a man’s most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.” J.D. is good at it, almost as good at it as his dear leader. Oddly, these two reactionaries are experts in the methods of radicals.

Immigration is a major issue in this election. The MAGA movement seems to have the upper hand for now, to a great degree because of the misinformation they broadcast each day creating a fear among a segment of the population that white domination of the nation is ebbing. It is a continuing effort to divide us.

On Nelson Mandela’s first state visit to the U.S., President Clinton welcomed him by saying, “Every day, you teach the world that those who build triumph over those who tear down; that those who unite can actually prevail over those who would divide … We know, and you know, that diversity and progress can go hand-in-hand. Indeed, that they must do so if we are to give all our people the chance to fulfill their God-given potential.” We could learn from the work of Mr. Mandela! After years in prison for his views about apartheid, he revolutionized the culture of his country and brought it into the democratic world.

President Biden won the 2020 Electoral College vote and was inaugurated President. Former President Trump still litigates his loss at nearly every campaign stop or rally. Even his staunch surrogates admit Biden won but they won’t say that Trump lost.

In the VP debate, Tim Walz asked J.D. Vance directly if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance responded that he was focused on the future, not the past. To which Walz said that “That was a damning non-answer.”

Sometimes a few words tell volumes!

Most people don’t make their electoral choice based on the vice presidential debate or even on the vice presidential candidate. They make their choice based on the presidential candidates; policy is important, and character is more important. Support for the rule of law is important. Willingness to stand by the oath to support and defend the Constitution is a must.

Our vote will tell volumes about us!

 

Sometimes a few words tell volumes!

 

 

 

Shocking!

Truth be told, I’m somewhat of a political junkie. It began back in high school. Some of you may remember when we took Civics in our freshman year, U.S. History in our junior year, and something called Problems in American Democracy in our senior year, all three of which were required for graduation. Each required keeping up with the world, reading newspapers and news magazines, and preparing for the current events quiz every Friday. I’m sure they still teach history but I wonder about Civics.

We knew the Constitution, memorized parts of the Declaration of Independence, and could name our senators and local representatives, the governor, and other state officials. We learned how a Bill became a Law. We knew stuff.

I know a few folks who aren’t particularly interested in the day-to-day combat between political parties and special interest groups, but they remember stuff. I mention this because I was shocked three times this week: I found out everyone isn’t interested in the current campaign for president, some don’t know much about either candidate's position on major issues nor had they come face-to-face with basic civic practices in their lives. Shocking!

Alex Wagner is a talking head on MSNBC. Don’t let that bother you if you normally watch Fox News. She went to Michigan to interview a group of skilled union workers. I thought the questions were softballs, but the answers were grounders. The panel appeared to be in their young twenties to mid-thirties. But most young folks look eighteen to me, so I’m guessing. They were generally unaware of the candidate’s position on nearly every issue, or what the issues were in this close race.

One or two on the panel remembered something about a group of people storming the Capitol a few years ago: it wasn't something they thought about. They weren't aware that the infrastructure bill provided the basic funding for their jobs. They were not engaged in the complexities of governance in a democratic nation. They seemed to lack a basic understanding of the requirement or mandate for them to pay attention to what was going on around them. The lack of information and the lack of interest in the nation were appalling and cause for concern for the future of the country. It's not their fault.

A recent study by the Bill of Rights Institute[i] found that only 22% of eighth graders scored proficient or better in Civics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. It reported that most elementary school children receive less than twenty minutes of civic study each week. I’m sure that it varies a lot by school district.

The Institute noted that schools reflect our priorities and we have demanded so many other priorities that the schools don’t have time to spend on Civics. So it’s not really the school’s fault or the teacher’s fault, but our fault.

If we believe that citizens should be well versed in how the government works, in how a democracy works, and about the important issues of the day, then we need to let the school systems know that it is a priority. Some states have noticed the lack of civic training in the schools and have passed laws to require more thorough instruction in Civics. But it is not an easy row to hoe.

Several decades ago, I taught junior high school and senior high school Social Studies: Civics, U.S. History, World History, and Government. We went beyond basic facts. We discussed the effects of events and the value of various political positions.

Forty-one states require that Civics and/or history be taught in their schools. That should be a good thing. But there are too many obstacles to the process. A recent article indicates that “30 percent of principals said the idea that Civics is too political or controversial was a ‘challenging’ or ‘very challenging’ barrier.”[ii]

There is a resurgence of requirements for teaching Civics with specific guidelines attached. In Florida for example, a new curriculum, designed in great part by professors from Hillsdale College emphasizes memorization as early as the first grade and a different approach to historical facts. A course designed for and attended by thousands of teachers “features video lectures that contradict what mainstream historians tend to teach about the founding. The lectures state that the founding fathers were influenced by Christianity more than the secular Enlightenment and its ideas, such as Montesquieu’s theory of the separation of powers.”[iii]

It obscures the fact that Jefferson, Washington, and other Founders lived at the height of the Age of Reason and were influenced by its thought leaders. At least at the senior level of high school students should be able to discuss Locke’s ideas of government by the people or maybe even Voltaire’s concepts about reason as a force for good government. Florida’s efforts to create a curriculum of alternate facts aren’t helpful.

There was a fine line between indoctrination and education that is easily crossed in Social Studies classes. Yes, we want students to know and appreciate the Founding Documents and the thinking that brought them about, but to also understand their dichotomies and how those ancient documents give direction to the current needs of society. Students should discuss and form convictions about our history and form of government. They need to know that many of those who designed our way of life were slave owners. They need to understand that Manifest Destiny involved taking land from native inhabitants who had lived on it for centuries. We have a rich heritage that is balanced by some bad deeds that make the melting pot that makes us great. But if students can’t discuss these things, they will not learn them and they will not be ready for leadership.

Yes, we want students to know about the Civil War and the Gettysburg Address, but they should also understand that slavery is the nation’s original sin. Yes, we want students to know about the evils of the Third Reich’s attempt to take over Europe, but to also understand the horrors of the Holocaust and why it should never be allowed to happen again.

Learning facts alone doesn’t prepare someone to be an active and contributing citizen. That takes discussion, analysis, postulation, decision-making, and aspiration. Without that, people will follow faulty leaders, choose the simple over the demanding, and settle for comfort rather than the hard work of preserving a democratic republic.

 

Shocking!

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[i] David Bobb, Do They Even Teach Civics Anymore? Bill of Rights Institute, printed in the Sacramento Bee, September 25, 2024

The Institute is financed by the Koch Brothers Charity Foundation and is associated with Hillsdale College. I find little that the Koch Brothers support that I agree with and little that comes out of Hillsdale College that is in the best interest of the country.  On this issue, however, I give them a pass.

[ii] Sarah Schwartz, Civics is Getting Harder to Teach, Education Week magazine, September 6, 2024

[iii] Dana Goldstein, For Republican Governors, Civics is the Latest Battleground, New York Times, September 30,2023.