The Loyal Opposition                                   #331      

By Hank Silverberg 

I have been watching with great sadness and a bit of anger as the current administration, acting very quickly, has begun to dismantle all the progress in our country has made over the last 50 years. It was clear during the election campaign, and since then many people who supported Donald Trump had no idea what he stood for and what he and his minions were planning to do once they took power.  Now we are all finding out the hard way. Democrats, pretty much shocked and disorganized since last November, have been slow to form a powerful opposition to Trump. They CAN and should reach out to people who voted for Trump who may now finally see how his "downsize the government" and "deport illegal immigrants" is affecting their everyday lives. But here's the problem. Many Trump supporters don't want to admit they made a mistake. Their attitude seems to be--wait--he's got a plan that in the end will "Make America Great Again". They are wrong. Look at the report card for the Trump administration so far:

Trump

                       Report

Card

Makes good use of his time:    A+

(He is moving very quickly with scattered brained ideas like huge tariffs that could send us into a depression in a year to six months.)

Works well with others:   F 

(He has alienated all of our allies in Europe, North America and Asia and pushed them into a trade war that will hurt American consumers the most. And he is going after anybody who he thinks is a threat to what he wants to do.)

Math 101:    F

(The tariff numbers simply don't add up, and there is no realization of that. Trump says "You're going to see billions of dollars, even trillions of dollars, coming into our country very soon in the form of tariffs," when in fact, the Yale Budget lab says the tariffs are expected to increase prices about 2.3% in the short run and cost the typical U. S. household about $3,800 a year.) 

Science 101:  F

(The cutbacks at NIH, bullied by DOGE, pose a serious threat to medical research on just about everything while the CDC cutbacks, particularly those people who monitor infectious diseases like measles and Covid-19, put the entire population at risk.)

History: F

(Trump is trying to rewrite history, first by misrepresenting our economic progress over the last 50 years which has been relatively good compared to the rest of the world, and secondly by erasing the accomplishment of  anyone who is not white.

 Among the heroes he has tried to erase:

The Tuskegee Airmen of WW2

The Navaho Code Talkers of WW2

Ira Hays, a Native American who was among those raising the flag on Iwo Jima

The 442 Infantry, the famed all-Japanese-American unit from WW2

The Buffalo Soldiers, the all-Black 10th Cavalry who helped tame the west and stormed up San Juan Hill next to Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders in the Spanish American War.  

The Pentagon even tried to bury baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson's notable Army career. 

The list is longer; these are just the lowlights.) 

Geography:  D

So far he has renamed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America ,even though it is international waters and outside United States jurisdiction. 

He knows where Canada is, but he thinks it's the 51st state.   

International Relations:   F 

Panama owns the canal, period 

Denmark owns Greenland, period

Canada is a sovereign nation, period 

He seems unaware that Russia started the war with Ukraine, and not the other way around.

English 101:   F

(It may now be the official language of the United States, but Trump himself is the worst public speaker ever to hold the presidency, and he mangles English every time he speaks. 

Overall Grade  (GPA .625):  F

Okay, I had some sarcasm with this. But if you look at each item and think about it, Donald Trump has done more harm to the United States in the three months he's been in office than any single person in U.S. history, except maybe Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee. (Trump has said Lee, a Confederate  who broke his oath to defend the U.S Constitution, was a "great General" as he fought to defeat the United States.) 

There is hope, though. This past weekend, in cities

across America, very large crowds gathered in protest of Trump's actions. They want him to keep his "Hands Off" many of the government agencies and programs that "provide for the general welfare" of the people of the United States as written in the Constitution. The protests, about 1,200 of them across the country, were large, organized, and peaceful in big cities and many small towns. But it's clear evidence that there is a strong "Loyal Opposition" of people who love this country and will not let it be destroyed by the misguided souls who are trying to unravel the United States of America.  

Let's hope a few Republican members of Congress have guts enough to join this movement. The protests should continue right into the midterm elections in 2026 when the Democrats can retake Congress and stop Trump. That's if he can be slowed down a bit by the courts and prevent the destruction of our election system. 

News You May Have Missed 

Cell Phone Use In Schools

Virginia school districts now have to come up with specific policies on how to control cell phone use in schools. The General Assembly finalized that this past week by approving an amendment to a bill banning cell phone use in Virginia schools and requiring such a policy.

The general theory is that students have been too busy searching the web, chatting, texting or watching Tik-Tok, that they don't pay attention in class and don't concentrate on their school work. That has a big impact on their grades. 

Teachers can tell you students are having trouble dealing with cell phone bans, and it's often described as "withdrawal" similar to narcotics. But some new research from the U.K. indicates that a year after the country banned cell phones at some schools, there has been no significant change in academic performance or the general well being of the students in schools where cell phones are banned. That's compared to those where they are not. In New Zealand, a similar survey found many students who felt stressed out and anxious when they couldn't contact their parents or caregivers during the day. And more importantly, they complained that the rules weren't even clear. For example, students were banned from cell phone use but the teachers were not. And the teachers often used their phones. 

Suggested solutions: 

Allowing students to use their phones at lunch break.

The Digital Wellness Lab has suggested emphasizing skill building on the smart phone rather than restrictions on their use.  

It will be interesting to see how American kids react to cellphone restrictions over the next few years.

As a college professor, I can tell you this has become an ever bigger problem than in K-12.  Our students are adults who are sometimes offended by being told what they can and can not do. 

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/this-is-what-happened-after-new-zealand-banned-phones-in-schools/ar-AA1BZecH?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=9f91dad0d6874e0ba4848a5bfab53a32&ei=43

Oxygen Under The Sea!

A startling discovery in the depths of the ocean may be a big deal for humanity's transition to green energy.  Scientists have discovered potato sized, polymetallic nodules 4,000 feet down that are scattered across an area between Hawaii and the east coast of Mexico known as the Clarion- Clipperton Zone. A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, reveals that these modules are capable of producing what's called "dark oxygen," even in the area that has no light. The area is called an abysmal plain and has a vibrant ecosystem filled with marine life. 

Finding these nodules can have a big impact on deep sea mining regulations. There could be trillions of these rocks that are filed with rich deposits of nickel, manganese, cooper, zinc and cobalt, all metals that are vital for the use in batteries needed to power green energy. They are  basically a battery in a rock. 

The rocks change the script on how life began on Earth, and also the potential that other planets or  moons in our solar system such as Enceladus and Europa might have something similar.        

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01480-8

Most Disgusting Quote of The Week!

This week it's not the dumbest quote, because this quote is more disgusting and reprehensible than any I have seen since I began writing this blog 331 weeks ago. 

It comes from Texas Republican Congressman, Keith Self. He said it during a bizarre hearing of a House subcommittee trying to decide whether a "censorship industrial complex" existed to silence right-wing views during the Biden administration.  Mind you, this is in the age of Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN where right-wing propaganda is put out on cable TV 24/7/365. The committee came in with the accusation that the Biden administration somehow shaped public opinion with its Disinformation Governance Board.

Government control of information in the United States at this moment is fiction, though it is the right and not the left, which at present, is pushing to control the press and what goes out to the public. 

Keith maybe a bit lost in his job because he used a direct quote from Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, saying:

"It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion."  

The political right and the Congressman seem to have a problem with free speech guaranteed by the 1st Amendment, unless that speech is controlled by them. It appears Congressman Keith has a warped view of free speech and a distorted understanding of history. 

(My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:  HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)                       

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796

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