What Is Happening To America?         #211

By Hank Silverberg

I don't get it. After 40 years as a political reporter and five years teaching communications to college students, I can't seem to find the America I grew up in. It has almost disappeared. 

I confess I was raised in the 1960's and 70's when political turmoil was the norm, with inequality and war among the biggest catalysts. 

But back then, we were encouraged to read books, not burn them. Political parties often disagreed on the approach to our problems, but they all focused, if not always succeeding, on improving things for the general population. 

We looked to science and medicine as a way of fighting deadly diseases and making our lives longer and better.

Politicians who lied or broke the law usually got caught and paid a political price, if not always a criminal one.  

And when I chose Journalism as my career, it was a respected profession, not one of deceit, hidden agendas and opportunism.  

 What changed? 

Today we are dominated by the vitriol of politics, a 

("A House divided can not stand") 

step back away from racial equality, and a media that is consumed with trivia, opinion, and lacking any real substance.  

I will never understand why a political party still embraces its loyalty and ideology to a disgraced former president who lacked substance and ethics from the beginning of his rise to power and spewed hate and division until his last day in office and beyond.  

Even less comprehensible is his appeal to millions of people whom he mislead and betrayed to their detriment for five years, and is still doing so.  

Some on both the left and right will blame the media, but it's not that simple. 

Others will blame our education system while doing everything they can to destroy what good there is in it. 

And too many will come up with crazy conspiracy theories that blame people who are different from them just so they can feel better about themselves.  

I don't get it. Well, maybe I do. 

Shakespeare, though not very enlightened as an individual, did say it well through one of his characters, who ironically as one of history's villains, plotted a murder.    

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves..."

(Cassius to Brutus, Julius Caesar , Act 1, Scene 3)

Each of us does need to blame ourselves for the current state of America. We seem to have lost our sense of reality, and in doing so, lost our way to a better future. We have turned inward. 

We are too quick to blame other people for what is wrong with our lives. 

Take a few minutes this week to think what you as an individual can do to make things better for everyone.   

This is not a sermon, just a thought. 

Support Your Local School Board?

Do you think local and state school boards should be able to ban books? Despite what you may have seen in some places, most voters don't like the idea, and it crosses party lines. 

 A poll taken this past week by Data for Progress found that 71% of likely voters believe that local school boards should NOT have such authority. That includes 80% of the Democrats, 66% of the Independents and 64% of the Republicans questioned.   

This supports the argument made in many places that it's a small vocal minority that is driving the movement to ban books, and that it's not the will or desire of the vast majority. Here's a chart of the poll results.  

This should be a warning to state and local politicians that they risk the wrath of parents and the general public if they continue such attempts at censuring books, either in the school curriculum or school libraries.  Age appropriate restrictions already exist in almost all school districts. 

As a bit of a test, I went back to all the books either I, my wife or my grown children read in high school to see which of them had been banned on occasion over the last 50 years. I share this list only to prove a point. Most of these books are now considered classics. 

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  1984                                                      Of Mice and Men

Animal Farm                                         The Grapes of Wrath

Catch 22                                                To Kill a Mockingbird

Fahrenheit  451                                     The Harrod Experiment

                     The Adventures of  Huckleberry Finn  

 Brave New World                                  A Farewell to Arms                 The Great Gatsby                                Lord of the Flies                         The Crucible

The Entire Harry Potter Series. 

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There were many more classics banned over the last 50 years that I never got around to reading, like Slaughterhouse Five, The Catcher in the Rye, and Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, and that bothers me.  How many have you read? I probably missed a few more that were banned. But all of these books have clear messages that produce well-rounded and critical thinking students. 

In my school days most were banned for political content. There are many more contemporary books being attacked today because they contain sexual content or alternative lifestyles. But it comes down to the same thing. A small minority seems to take aim at them by finding something offensive to complain about. Do they not want our young people to learn to think for themselves?  Think this is not a big deal? Just last week a Pastor of a church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, held a book burning on church property.

(Book burning in Mount Juliet, Tn)

His target? The very popular Twilight series, which he said are full of spells, demons, shape- shifting and occultism, and the Harry Potter series which he called  "Witchcraft 100%". Last month the Tennessee State School Board voted to remove Maus,a graphic novel abut the Holocaust from the 8th grade reading list because of --get this--profanity and mouse nudity. After all, we don't want to talk about the horrors of genocide if it includes nudity or profanity. (sarcasm) 

Hate Crimes Up!

There has been a lot of discussion lately about an  increase in hate crime across the U.S. Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked dramatically in recent months. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism says hate crimes against Asians in the United States increased 339% in the last year, with New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles surpassing record numbers from 2020. 

Anti-Asian hate crimes increased 339 percent nationwide last year, report says (msn.com)

That same report showed Black Americans remained the most targeted group across most cities, while in New York, the Jewish community reported the most hate crimes last year. 

What's fueling the hate? For Asians it may come as a result of the the pandemic, which first appeared in China in late 2019.  

Hate crimes against Blacks increased after the BLM protests last summer, while hate crimes against Jews went up dramatically after the three- week Gaza civil war last May.  

The hate crimes range from harassment to murder.  

What motivates the haters? 

Hate Crimes, Explained | Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org)

The Southern Poverty Law Center explains it this way:. 

• “Thrill-seeking” motivates 66% of hate crimes. These offenders are simply looking for excitement; over 90% don’t know their victims.
• 
  
• “Defensive” hate crimes (25%) are committed by perpetrators who rationalize their attacks by identifying some sort of threat to themselves, their identities, or their community.
• 
  
• In “retaliatory” attacks (8%), culprits are acting in response to a real or perceived hate crime either to themselves or to their country. Examples include crimes committed against Muslims after the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack.
• 
  
• “Mission” hate crimes (1%) are committed by offenders who make a career out of hate. They often write at length about their hate and have elaborate, pre-meditated plans of attack.

  Hate Crimes, Explained | Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org)

Of note: Hate speech, which is all over the internet and social media, is protected by the First Amendment. Even though it's despicable, it is not a crime. But often that hate speech incites violence or discrimination, and that IS a crime. 

The Invading Bear

No, I am not writing this time about the Big Russian Bear threatening Ukraine in this section. I am talking about "Hank the Tank," a 500-pound Black Bear who has been invading homes in  California. I am not fond of his nickname, but you gotta admire the creature for his boldness.

(CBC Sacramento/Bear League) 

It seems "Hank" is breaking into homes in the Lake Tahoe region. There have been at least 150 calls to various police agencies about the bear. Nobody seems to know what to do about him. This past week he broke a small window and squeezed into a home looking for food.  A Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman says the bear apparently has no fear of people, traffic or cars. The theory is that the long- term draught in the region has cut down on his main food supply, salmon, and has forced "Hank" to look elsewhere for his next meal. He has also not been so lucky with his second choice. Trees that produce other bear food, like berries, have been burned up in huge forest fires. Source number three is human garbage or someone's refrigerator.  

This is not just a California issue. The North American Bear Center says the creatures have been invading populated areas in many places looking for food. 

If they catch this huge bear, maybe they can ship him off to the Russian/Ukraine border to face off with Putin. 

Virginia AG Has Legal Trouble Already!

Virginia has a campaign fundraising law that is pretty straight forward. Statewide officials and members of the General Assembly are not allowed to raise ANY campaign money while the General Assembly is in session. There's no mystery, no loophole. It's pretty clear. The law is designed to prevent indirect bribes while decisions are being made on legislation. 

But Virginia's new Republican Attorney General, a guy who is supposed to know and defend the state's laws, is already in trouble for violating the rules, less than two months after he took office. 

Attorney General Jason Miyares apparently received more than $60 thousand from three donors

(Jason Miyares courtesy VaHouse.gov)

during the current legislative session, including $10 thousand from a very prominent law firm, which also should know better.   

Miyares returns money to donors after deposits during session | State and Regional News | richmond.com

Just days after the story was reported in the Richmond Times Dispatch, a spokesman for Miyares says the donations were an error and have been returned to the donors. But you have to wonder, is this really the lawyer we want defending our state in key legal issues when he can't even follow a very clear and simple law like this one?

You can be sure every political reporter in the state will be checking Miyares' campaign contributions once the session is over when you can expect to see that money slip right back into his campaign war chest.  

Since taking office in January, Miyares has dropped the state from a legal push to recognize the ERA ratification, and removed two perfectly qualified lawyers from their jobs representing state universities. He also reversed the state's position in a U.S. Supreme Court case, putting Virginia in support of that Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that is being closely watched.  

  

Dumbest Quote Of The Week !

I probably missed a few this week because there were so many people making so many dumb comments about what is happening in eastern Europe. I am dumbfounded by Republicans and pundits who seem to be supporting Russia's position on Ukraine. But I did pick out one for the dumbest quote of the week . 

It comes from J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican running for the U.S. Senate. 

"I think it is ridiculous that we are focused on this border win Ukraine. I got to be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other. " 

Clearly, Mr. Vance is not qualified to be a U.S. Senator if he doesn't understand a threat to the United States and much of the world from an expansionist Russia. Hey, J.D! You do know that Russia has nuclear weapons, right?? But here's the real crisis. Many Republicans already in office feel the same way. Ronald Reagan just rolled over in his grave.   

(Your comments and Suggestions are welcome) 

(Copies of  my latest book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:

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