Thank you for screenshotting a webpage I refuse to click on. I'm a career teacher, retired. I have three kids who teach. Damn these fascists, led by a sociopath.
Thank you, Jess, for laying out this Orwellian nightmare. It is beyond amazing that these Republicans who give voice to supporting the constitution so blatantly violate it at every turn.
Gotta love your tenacity and fighting spirit in this time when too many good people choose to cower in silence! Another of my heroes, Paul Krugman, had a similarly terrific posting on Substack today: "Oppose, Oppose, Oppose--And Do It Loudly!" Highly recommend--we have to make some noise and keep it up!!!
Oh how I would love to attend the Network for Public Education Nation Conference. My husband and I taught for a combined total of 75 years. My granddaughter is in her second year of teaching. However, I stay close to home these days as my husband is not well. I will go to the website to study the agenda and speakers. I did a Substack piece on Linda McMahon. She is dangerous, a real threat to public education and has made millions on public displays of violence. She is a former professional wrestling performer. She claimed she had some background in education, which was a lie. She'll fit right in.
Their vision of Christianity is perverted; they need the masses ignorant and filled with hatred. That is the only way they can maintain control. My first exposure to this perverted viewpoint came in the late 60s with radio broadcasts of the John Birch Society in the heartland of the country. It has been around in one form or another until it became cloaked in today’s Christian Nationalist movement-which is neither Christian or anywhere close to a majority of the people. They thrive on ignorance and hatred.
They’ve planned this for years. Hitting us daily with a new deluge of EOs, memorandums and such. Designed to overwhelm and spread the attacks across many fronts. The law is our last measure in which to attack. But supposing the courts rule against them, what happens if they challenge rulings and go on with their “business as usual” approach? The oath they swore to protect and defend is meaningless to them. We may have to hope the rank and file of the military will have the oath at heart because it is surely not present in the top echelons.
Yes. There were all kinds of back deals and promises made to get this passed. I have seen that Tennessee is a laboratory for Project 2025. Public education is so important. Are you aware when WWII started, it exposed how illiterate many people were? Those men ended up in the infantry. My dad and father-in-law both were in college when the war started. Both served as combat engineers.
Jess,great deconstruction of the ongoing effort to cleanse schools of what Josef Goebbels called “Pagan idolatries” , or the truth about bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia.Fanaticism always needs victim groups. You are unmasking the gaslighting via Republican language and we need more of it.
Thank you, Jess! Public schools are so critical for our country. They have been subjected to a slow bleeding of funding over the last 20-30 years here in North Carolina. We've lost many wonderful teachers to other states because of salary freezes and the loss of extra pay for an advanced degree. Our loss is South Carolina and Virginia's gain. It is a crime against our children.
Today's article in the NYT by David Brooks is right-on about "stupidity" meaning a lack of foresight about what effect one's actions will have. The current administration has the most shortsighted approach I've ever seen in a major country's "leaders."
I haven't seen and can't see NYT articles, but I don't believe that stupidity is the major factor controlling the Musk regime's actions. They are very, very deliberate, and at least some people are anticipating very well the chaos that will result, which is precisely their plan: demoralize and confuse, then step in to take control. And ignore judges.
Religious enthusiasm produces the most cruel disorders. Various Christian sects engendered a spirit of persecution that proved to be the poison of human society and the source of the most inveterate factions in every government. Hume
Interesting time! To be alive. First Question to myself. What’s the right thing to believe and why. Let’s prioritize, as an adult with years of experiences, why or why not do this? If I do it and talk about my thinking will it drive wedges between people. Why is that? Are modern people unable to have conversations about important topics in an unemotional manner. Is that, a superfluous question? Why this , why that.
Jess, you have so eloquently described the current situation. I am a very strong opponent of public funding for religious, private schools. They are rarely superior to public schools. They are often not inclusive and often do not have the same standards for teachers. I am sure there are exceptions to my blanket statements. .If parents want that kind of education for their children, then they should be able to afford it. Certainly parents have a choice of where they send their kids to school, or home school, but I don’t want my tax dollars paying for it. Our public education system is to open to ALL children and that is where our tax dollars belong! We should not be short changing our free and public education for those who want a religious education.
Edit: I removed the word ….’NOT’ rarely superior to public schools. My sentence now matches my POV more accurately. Sorry for the confusion my poor editing may have caused.
Interesting to me is your screenshot about Biden Bookban Hoax of 1/15/25. Unless my mind is gone, tRUmp was not installed then, and that was in Biden’s term. That’s even worse to me regarding the timing of the US Department of Education. My heartbreak includes Ds who are rolling over by not speaking or acting. It gives me a feeling of such aloneness that those elected that I presumed to be allies, just don’t care.
Every time you post, I stop scrolling and read. It is VITAL that your message is heard, shared and shouted from rooftops. I'm someone who was educated at a Christian private school that was really a cult, hiding in plain sight. It appeared to be an elite boarding school, but it was really an institution of paranoia that brainwashed, abused and terrorized its residents for decades. The fact that the government is trying to promote religious schools (which will have very little to no oversight) is beyond scary!
(PS: If you're curious about my story - check out my upcoming memoir called "Born and Razed: Surviving the Cult was Only Half the Battle". Launching Feb 19)
I read you today on Bluesky but normally see your articles on my Substack app. I don’t really know that much about Bluesky yet and find it fairly clumsy, but I’m getting there.
I’m still here, still reading,thinking all the time in introspection. I can’t conclude that I am, or anyone is here because of a long long string of convenient accidents, without abandoning my senses, not to mention the associated odds of probability. It is extremely interesting and, to many, many, but clearly not enough, people, actual truth is NOT, first! I can’t conclude only so far, pray to my creator, (yes I’m still clinging to mathematical probability), as well as experiential faith, rather than convenience driven fantasy!
Thank you for screenshotting a webpage I refuse to click on. I'm a career teacher, retired. I have three kids who teach. Damn these fascists, led by a sociopath.
Thank you, Jess, for laying out this Orwellian nightmare. It is beyond amazing that these Republicans who give voice to supporting the constitution so blatantly violate it at every turn.
Gotta love your tenacity and fighting spirit in this time when too many good people choose to cower in silence! Another of my heroes, Paul Krugman, had a similarly terrific posting on Substack today: "Oppose, Oppose, Oppose--And Do It Loudly!" Highly recommend--we have to make some noise and keep it up!!!
Also add some humour.
Just make fun of the guy and his gang loudly. And often!
Oh, absolutely. That's the one thing that Trump can't stand--being made fun of!
Do you mean Stu…Stu Pidaso?
Thank you for what you do. It will take all of us to stop what we can - the current situation IS Orwellian.
Oh how I would love to attend the Network for Public Education Nation Conference. My husband and I taught for a combined total of 75 years. My granddaughter is in her second year of teaching. However, I stay close to home these days as my husband is not well. I will go to the website to study the agenda and speakers. I did a Substack piece on Linda McMahon. She is dangerous, a real threat to public education and has made millions on public displays of violence. She is a former professional wrestling performer. She claimed she had some background in education, which was a lie. She'll fit right in.
Their vision of Christianity is perverted; they need the masses ignorant and filled with hatred. That is the only way they can maintain control. My first exposure to this perverted viewpoint came in the late 60s with radio broadcasts of the John Birch Society in the heartland of the country. It has been around in one form or another until it became cloaked in today’s Christian Nationalist movement-which is neither Christian or anywhere close to a majority of the people. They thrive on ignorance and hatred.
They’ve planned this for years. Hitting us daily with a new deluge of EOs, memorandums and such. Designed to overwhelm and spread the attacks across many fronts. The law is our last measure in which to attack. But supposing the courts rule against them, what happens if they challenge rulings and go on with their “business as usual” approach? The oath they swore to protect and defend is meaningless to them. We may have to hope the rank and file of the military will have the oath at heart because it is surely not present in the top echelons.
Their vision of Christianity is rank heresy.
Late yesterday, Governor Lee in Tennessee got his voucher wet dream passed. Can’t express how angry this makes me. I hope it gets tied up in court.
I hope so too. Tennessee was able to knock back vouchers last year
Yes. There were all kinds of back deals and promises made to get this passed. I have seen that Tennessee is a laboratory for Project 2025. Public education is so important. Are you aware when WWII started, it exposed how illiterate many people were? Those men ended up in the infantry. My dad and father-in-law both were in college when the war started. Both served as combat engineers.
Jess,great deconstruction of the ongoing effort to cleanse schools of what Josef Goebbels called “Pagan idolatries” , or the truth about bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia.Fanaticism always needs victim groups. You are unmasking the gaslighting via Republican language and we need more of it.
Thank you, Jess! Public schools are so critical for our country. They have been subjected to a slow bleeding of funding over the last 20-30 years here in North Carolina. We've lost many wonderful teachers to other states because of salary freezes and the loss of extra pay for an advanced degree. Our loss is South Carolina and Virginia's gain. It is a crime against our children.
Today's article in the NYT by David Brooks is right-on about "stupidity" meaning a lack of foresight about what effect one's actions will have. The current administration has the most shortsighted approach I've ever seen in a major country's "leaders."
I haven't seen and can't see NYT articles, but I don't believe that stupidity is the major factor controlling the Musk regime's actions. They are very, very deliberate, and at least some people are anticipating very well the chaos that will result, which is precisely their plan: demoralize and confuse, then step in to take control. And ignore judges.
Gee. David Brooks is finally seeing the light?
Religious enthusiasm produces the most cruel disorders. Various Christian sects engendered a spirit of persecution that proved to be the poison of human society and the source of the most inveterate factions in every government. Hume
What was it Voltaire wrote? Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities?
OMG I can’t believe this level of ignorance and hatred.
Interesting time! To be alive. First Question to myself. What’s the right thing to believe and why. Let’s prioritize, as an adult with years of experiences, why or why not do this? If I do it and talk about my thinking will it drive wedges between people. Why is that? Are modern people unable to have conversations about important topics in an unemotional manner. Is that, a superfluous question? Why this , why that.
Jess, you have so eloquently described the current situation. I am a very strong opponent of public funding for religious, private schools. They are rarely superior to public schools. They are often not inclusive and often do not have the same standards for teachers. I am sure there are exceptions to my blanket statements. .If parents want that kind of education for their children, then they should be able to afford it. Certainly parents have a choice of where they send their kids to school, or home school, but I don’t want my tax dollars paying for it. Our public education system is to open to ALL children and that is where our tax dollars belong! We should not be short changing our free and public education for those who want a religious education.
Edit: I removed the word ….’NOT’ rarely superior to public schools. My sentence now matches my POV more accurately. Sorry for the confusion my poor editing may have caused.
Interesting to me is your screenshot about Biden Bookban Hoax of 1/15/25. Unless my mind is gone, tRUmp was not installed then, and that was in Biden’s term. That’s even worse to me regarding the timing of the US Department of Education. My heartbreak includes Ds who are rolling over by not speaking or acting. It gives me a feeling of such aloneness that those elected that I presumed to be allies, just don’t care.
Ohhhh, I need to fix that. I put in the wrong date. Thank you.
Every time you post, I stop scrolling and read. It is VITAL that your message is heard, shared and shouted from rooftops. I'm someone who was educated at a Christian private school that was really a cult, hiding in plain sight. It appeared to be an elite boarding school, but it was really an institution of paranoia that brainwashed, abused and terrorized its residents for decades. The fact that the government is trying to promote religious schools (which will have very little to no oversight) is beyond scary!
(PS: If you're curious about my story - check out my upcoming memoir called "Born and Razed: Surviving the Cult was Only Half the Battle". Launching Feb 19)
I will read that and I appreciate you
I want the maximum of readers to see you. Are you still on Substack?
On Substack?
I read you today on Bluesky but normally see your articles on my Substack app. I don’t really know that much about Bluesky yet and find it fairly clumsy, but I’m getting there.
Forgive me, I jumped to conclusions too fast. You are showing up on both. I live in rural America too and can relate to so much of what you write.
Ummm, you are reading Jess on Substack ...
I’m still here, still reading,thinking all the time in introspection. I can’t conclude that I am, or anyone is here because of a long long string of convenient accidents, without abandoning my senses, not to mention the associated odds of probability. It is extremely interesting and, to many, many, but clearly not enough, people, actual truth is NOT, first! I can’t conclude only so far, pray to my creator, (yes I’m still clinging to mathematical probability), as well as experiential faith, rather than convenience driven fantasy!