Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The Second Face of Fascism in AmeriKa

I showed you the other side and rather than add to a lengthy piece I thought I'd turn the other cheek for a change:

(logging of links and commentary as I looked at the Globe's home page before preparing additional posts for above later this morning)

Five reasons the #NeverTrump movement failed

We will be told that face is the personification of fascism for the next 6 months. 

All he's missing is the toothbrush mustache, right? 

1. Trump defined himself before others could

2. Republicans did not take Trump seriously until it was too late

3. Republicans failed to coordinate their opposition early in the race

4. No other candidate could co-opt Trump’s message

Now there is no doubt that his message of economic populism struck a nerve. Trump spoke directly to that anger and channelled it in a way no other Republican could. In the end, no other GOP candidate empathized with voters anxieties like Trump.

Left that in there for the obvious rea$ons since they give rise to, you know.

5. There was no real anti-Trump early in the primary

What does this mean for the general election?

A Clinton win says the conventional wisdom (hmmmm).

RIP, GOP

There is that face again, and the premise of the piece is a call for a party tonight even if the thing reads like a Clinton campaign strategy!

Indeed, the biggest near-term question for Republicans is: How bad will the damage be? How badly will Trump lose? How many seats will the GOP lose in the House and Senate? With Trump at its helm, it’s a party of nativism, xenophobia, crudeness, and misogyny. The Republican Party, as we’ve come to know it, has ceased to exist.

‘America first’ would be theme of presidency, Trump says

That's why they call him a Nazi.

Analysis Winners and losers from the Indiana primaries

This ought to be good!

Winners

Donald Trump: the single most amazing thing I have seen in my 18 years of covering politics.

Bernie Sanders: He won the young voters, white voters, liberals

Bobby Knight:

Who? 

Is that his vice presidential pick?

Losers

Ted Cruz: 

Blog editor smiles.

Hillary Clinton:

Blog editor smiles.

Mike Pence: The Indiana governor appeared to be dragged kicking and screaming to a Cruz endorsement last Friday. He made clear right from the start that he didn’t really want to do it; he praised Trump as much if not more than he lauded Cruz. Then he spent the weekend trying to clean up that mess, campaigning with Cruz in an attempt to sell the whole thing. No dice. Trump’s sweeping victory showed that at least in this race the Indiana governor didn’t have much juice. Pence has to hope Tuesday is rock bottom for him, politically speaking, in 2016; he faces a contested reelection race in November.

Blog editor smiles.

The Stop Trump effort: You can’t beat someone with no one. That’s the lesson the folks hoping to stop Trump have learned (or relearned) over the past six weeks or so. While there was — and is a not-insignificant group of Republicans who wanted to be for anyone other than Trump, Cruz was simply not an appealing enough alternative. Many Republicans are scared of what Trump might do as the GOP nominee, but they viscerally hate Cruz and simply could not bring themselves to be for him. Given that simple calculus, all of the efforts and money that went into stopping Trump never really had a chance at succeeding. That reality was driven home in a final, ringing way in Indiana on Tuesday.

Lovers of positive campaigns: Clinton versus Trump is going to be the nastiest general election in modern presidential history. Trump has already proven — over and over again — that he is willing to get personal in his attacks against Republicans. Can you imagine him dialing it back against Clinton, the Democrat that Republicans love most to hate? No chance.

Brace yourself: This is going to be an all-out brawl.

And thus I will be bowing out of the campaign and convention coverage for the next few months.

Editorial #NeverTrump movement must show it’s not bluffing

Rational options include cobbling together an independent candidacy, backing an existing third party contender, sitting out the election entirely, or backing presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. A contingent of pundits believes that an organized opposition to Trump within the GOP would just provide Trump an excuse if he loses in November, creating a “stabbed in the back” narrative and inviting more strife within the party. A definitive loss, on the other hand, would break the Trump fever for good. Possibly. But the fate of the GOP is less important than the fate of the country, and putting up every honorable obstacle to a Trump presidency should be the goal of the Never Trump movement from now on.

Further lessons on democracy:

The first participants: an eighth-grade civics class

Just don't try to go public with anything.

Kids just not learning anything....

"National tests show high school seniors slip in math and show no improvement in reading" The Washington Post News Service  April 28, 2016

US high school seniors have shown no improvement in reading achievement and their math performance has slipped since 2013, according to results of a test administered by the federal government last year.

‘‘These numbers are not going the way we want,’’ said William J. Bushaw, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, an independent panel established by Congress to oversee the National Assessment of Educational Progress policy. ‘‘We have to redouble our efforts to prepare our students.’’

The sobering news, released Wednesday, comes as the nation is celebrating its highestgraduation rate, raising questions about whether a diploma is a meaningful measure of achievement.

OH NO!

‘‘The governing board is pleased that graduation rates are increasing across the country, but at the same time not pleased that we’re not making the academic progress that we need to so there’s greater preparedness for post-secondary, for work, for military participation,’’ Bushaw said.

Also known as the Nation’s Report Card, the NAEP is widely regarded as the most consistent measure of US student achievement over time....

--more--"

Why Boston Latin’s problems are everyone’s problem

If only women ran things.

Neo-Nazi posters put up on Boston University campus

They can't harpoon the agent provocateurs.

Police balk as states expand gun rights

They don't want you to have a gun and yet they are armed to the teeth as a record is set for killings at the hands of police after the safest year for police on record.

Support continues for police body cameras

Not as much among the police, the very picture of a police state.

"Cynthia Tanner, a 54-year-old Darien woman, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for embezzling nearly $800,000 from a Connecticut veterans group. She was also ordered to pay the money back. Tanner was a bookkeeper at the National Veterans Service Fund in Darien. Authorities say Tanner used about $800,000 in veteran service fund money from 2009 to 2014 for expenses for her and family members. The nonprofit organization provides social services and medical assistance to Vietnam and Persian Gulf war veterans and their families. Tanner pleaded guilty in December to fraud and tax evasion. Tanner is free on bond but must report to prison on Aug. 30 (AP)."

I didn't want to leave out the war-profiteering.

Boston charter school educator named state’s teacher of year

Now you've seen both sides and there will be no further profiles.

UPDATES: 

Kasich to suspend campaign for president

Can Trump win the presidency?

Early polls show Trump running roughly six points behind Hillary Clinton, and he may go down in a historic blowout that leaves Democrats in control of the White House as well as one, or even both, houses of Congress.

Baker says he still won’t vote for Trump

Elizabeth Warren says she will, and who really cares who either one endorses?