Republic of Gilead: Betsy DeVos

Showing posts with label Betsy DeVos. Show all posts

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Commentary Tidbits

Roll to Disbelieve: The Gaze of Dead Children Follows Me Today

Rolling Stone: Betsy DeVos' Holy War

The Daily Banter: White Evangelicals Think They're Discriminated Against More Than Blacks, Jews, and Muslims

Human Rights Watch: ‘Gag Rule’ Huge Setback for Women

Sunday, March 5, 2017

The 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) took place on February 22-25 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The Trump administration left its mark on the event, with President Trump's rambling speech, Steven Bannon and Reince Priebus presenting a united front, and multiple Trump cabinet picks taking the stage. CPAC was also an opportunity for a pranksters to poke fun at Trump by posing as a Russian Trump fan and distributing Russian flags embossed with Trump's name, which attendees happily waved.

CPAC rhetoric is usually hair-raising and unapologetically right-ring, but this year's event was different, in that it reminded listeners how times have changed under the Trump administration. Quotes from Betsy DeVos, Kellyanne Conway, and Scott Pruitt are unsettling because they come from leaders in high positions of power who have the influence to shape policy for the worst.

First, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave a speech at 2017 CPAC in which she demonized the "educational establishment" and universities, an unsettling omen of education policies to come. In a speech transcript posted at the Washington Post, DeVos depicted the U.S. educational system as a failure, blaming the "educational establishment" for resisting reforms. She plugged school vouchers as a right for parents and a solution to real or imagined educational woes.

"But today, we know the system is failing too many kids. Why? Because our nation’s test scores have flatlined. Because 1.3 million children drop out of school every year. Because the previous administration spent seven billion of your dollars on “School Improvement Grants,” thinking they could demonstrate that money alone would solve the problem. Yet their own report, issued as they walked out the door, showed that it had zero impact on student outcomes and performance. They tested their model, and it failed, miserably.

This is not an indictment of teachers. We all know good public school teachers. My mom was one. Good teachers make a real difference. Good teachers deserve to be honored and compensated accordingly.

But the education establishment has been blocking the doorway to reforms, fixes and improvements for a generation.

This not a Left or Right issue. This is an American issue. We need education to work for every child.

Let me ask you: Do you believe parents should be able to choose the best school for their child regardless of their ZIP code or family income? Me too. And so does President Trump."

DeVos painted an ugly picture of higher education, claiming that college and university faculty order students what to do and how to think.

"The fight against the education establishment extends to you too. The faculty, from adjunct professors to deans, tell you what to do, what to say, and more ominously, what to think. They say that if you voted for Donald Trump, you’re a threat to the university community. But the real threat is silencing the First Amendment rights of people with whom you disagree."

DeVos triggered public outrage with her statement that, "I, however, pride myself on being ... perhaps the first person to tell Bernie Sanders to his face that there’s no such thing as a free lunch." Observers interpreted her statement as a insult to the National School Lunch Program, which provides low-cost and free lunches to children living in poverty.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway sat down with Mercedes Schlapp for a conversation at CPAC. According to a transcript posted at Fortune, Conway praised her independent mother (who allegedly never used the word "feminist") and claimed that Donald Trump is a champion of women. Trump's offensive comments about women, not to mention the numerous accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault made against him, did not enter the conversation.

"I was raised to be a very strong and independent woman without anybody ever saying the word feminist or having any political conversation ... We were taught to ... be free-thinking, independent, to look at your goals. And that old saying, you could never go home was never true in my community. We always felt like we could go home. And I -- I believe that Donald Trump is someone who is not fully understood for how compassionate and what a great boss he is to women. He has been ... promoting and elevating women in the Trump Corporation, in the Trump campaign, in the Trump Cabinet, certainly in the Trump White House. It's just a very natural affinity for him."

Conway also made ill-informed comments about feminism based on "man-basher" stereotypes. She contrasted this caricature of "classic" feminism with "conservative / individual feminism", which encourages women to make their own choices without complaining or reliance on the government. I don't know which was more offensive: her ignorant caricature of feminism, which takes many forms and has helped women make immense strides, or her promotion of a facile "individual feminism" which ignores social and structural inequalities that oppress women.

"So I don't know about calling yourself a feminist. I also, for me, its difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male and it certainly is very pro-abortion in this context. And I'm neither anti-male or pro- abortion, so. There's an individual feminism, if you will, that you make your own choices. Mercedes, I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances. And that's really clearly ... what conservatives, feminism, if you will, is all about. My mother didn't feel sorry for herself, she was left with no child support, no alimony at a very young age, with a child to raise, a high school education and she just figured it out. She didn't complain, she didn't rely upon government, she relied upon her own skill set, her own self confidence, her own drive in moxie and her own duty to me and her and she relied upon her family and her faith."

CPAC as a whole did not take environmental threats seriously, judging from the presence of organizations such as the CO2 Coalition and workshops with titles such as "Fake Climate News Camouflaging an Anti-Capitalist Agenda". For example, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt seemed eager to roll back environmental policies as part of "regulatory certainty", telling CPAC attendees about plans to cut back environmental regulations. During Pruitt's conversation with Gina Loudon, Loudon asked the audience if they wanted the EPA to disappear. "A show of hands, those of you who kind of hope that Administrator Pruitt will just sort of make the EPA go away," she asked. Hoots and applause rose from the audience. Pruitt argued that such animosity toward the EPA was justified, arguing that the Obama Administration EPA had seized too much power.

"Well, it's justified. I think as we look over the last several years, the agency that I'm tasked to lead at this point has been used by the previous administration to truly impact our country in ways that we never could have imagined eight years ago. Jobs have been impacted. The authority that the Washington D.C. [office] has, the assumption of power and the accumulation of power, they've taken advantage of that, and so, I think it's justified. I think people across this country look at the EPA much like they look at the IRS, and I hope to be able to change that."

CPAC reminds us of what our country has become, and could become, under the Trump administration. We have an Education Secretary with warped ideas about the education system, an EPA Administrator who seeks to roll back environmental regulations, and a non-feminist White House counsel who has the ear of a misogynist president. Do we need any more reminders of why staying informed and politically active is important in these times?

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Today's Orange Horrors, and Glimmers of Hope

This is how Stonewall looks like at #protecttranskids rally after Trump rescinded federal instructions for protections to trans students. pic.twitter.com/MpvPWJLPbq
— Samy Nemir Olivares (@Samynemir) February 23, 2017

Newsweek: Amnesty International Calls Out Trump's 'Poisonous' Rhetoric

The Advocate: Education Department's LGBT Employees Make Plea to DeVos

PRI: Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel ‘regrets’ Holocaust-related slur

CBS News: Amid growing calls for action, Trump addresses JCC threats, anti-Semitism

Washington Post: Anne Frank Center slams Trump: ‘Do not make us Jews settle for crumbs of condescension’

Washington Post: Thousands of emails detail EPA head’s close ties to fossil fuel industry

CNN: British MP on Trump: My daughter deserves better

Associated Press: Pence tries to reassure European leaders shaken by Trump

Reuters: Trump to reverse Obama-era environmental rules in executive orders: report

NBC News: DHS Outlines Crackdown on Illegal Immigration

Positive news stories continue to give us hope.

Fox 5 New York: New Yorkers rally at Stonewall for transgender rights

Reuters: Norway pledges $10 million to counter Trump's global anti-abortion move

Business Insider: Ginsburg says public reaction to Trump gives her 'hope'

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

News Tidbits

Christian Post: Public Decries Christian Men's Conference for Featuring Speakers Accused of Rape, Sexual Abuse Cover-Up

Washington Blade: Anti-LGBT legal organization designated a hate group

The Hill: Washington court rules against florist who refused flowers for gay wedding

ABC 33/40: Alabama: Briarwood Presbyterian Church seeks lawmakers’ approval to establish police force

Huffington Post: Creationist Ken Ham’s Giant ‘Noah’s Ark’ To Feature Dinosaurs vs. Giants Diorama

Gay Star News: New Mexico Senate votes to ban anti-LGBT conversion therapy

Pink News: Christian radio host Bryan Fischer says homosexuals are ‘literally’ Nazi stormtroopers

Washington Post: Influential conservative group: Trump, DeVos should dismantle Education Department and bring God into classrooms

The Independent: UK: Children at faith school 'ordered by teachers to ignore classmate because her parent is transgender'

Monday, February 20, 2017

Today's Orange Horrors, and Glimmers of Hope

'Not My President' protests break out across the country on Presidents' Day. https://t.co/O0pXTKDQ3y pic.twitter.com/80uBvzzUta
— ABC News (@ABC) February 20, 2017

PBS News Hour: Draft DHS guidelines seek to aggressively detain immigrants

The Hill: Trump signs repeal of transparency rule for oil companies

Politico: Panetta warns Trump's National Security Council is 'dysfunctional'

Associated Press: Religious freedom could top Sessions civil rights priorities

BBC News: Sweden to Trump: What happened last night?

Washington Post: DeVos: Critics want to ‘make my life a living hell’

UPI: Senate confirms McMahon to lead Small Business Administration

CNN: GOP Senate Intel Member: Exhaustive investigation into Trump-Russia connections needed following Flynn resignation

New York Times: Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser

New York Times: Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence

New York Times: Trump Chooses H.R. McMaster as National Security Adviser

Other events from the past week will lift your spirits!

Washington Post: Thousands of demonstrators across US say ‘Not My President’

The Independent: Thousands of protesters across the UK demonstrate against US President as MPs debate state visit

Boston Globe: Photos from Boston’s ‘Stand Up for Science’ rally

Huffington Post: The Resistance Calendar lists upcoming rallies across the country

Monday, February 13, 2017

Commentary Tidbits

The Conversation: Trump’s vow to ‘destroy’ Johnson Amendment could wreak havoc on charitable world

The Atlantic: These Conservative Christians Are Opposed to Trump—and Suffering the Consequences

Washington Post: A blueprint for resistance to Trump has emerged. Here’s what it looks like.

New York Times: Taboo Italian Thinker Is Enigma to Many, but Not to Bannon

HIV Plus: How Long Before the Muslim Ban Becomes a Brown Ban?

Huffington Post: Betsy DeVos Poses Immediate Danger To LGBT Students

Huffington Post: Frank Worthen, the ‘Father’ of Ex-gay Ministry Love in Action, Dies at Age 87

Santa Fe New Mexican: Conversion therapy created self-hatred, self-destruction

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Commentary Tidbits

Media Matters for America: One Type Of Terrorism Really Is Underreported: Right-Wing Terrorism

Huffington Post: Steve Bannon Believes The Apocalypse Is Coming And War Is Inevitable

Religion News Service: Politicize our charities and churches? No thanks.

Right Wing Watch: David Barton Is Organizing A WallBuilders ‘Teachers Conference’

Gizmodo: Science Teachers on Why Betsy DeVos Is a 'Monstrous Mistake'

Think Progress: The racist history of incarceration that Donald Trump is threatening to repeat

Salon: Most Americans don’t want “religious freedom” laws that allow anti-LGBT discrimination

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Today's Orange Horrors, and Glimmers of Hope

#Breaking: Anti-Trump protest on steps of JP Morgan in Lower Manhattan. They're worried about future of #DoddFrank regulations @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/BPpOaRZ6QX
— Ayana Harry PIX11 (@AyanaHarry) February 7, 2017