Burn it down. Modern GOP Domestic Policy.

               Really, guys? You actually think this is a viable policy?

In the 2012 Presidential election the Affordable Care Act and President Obama's Domestic policies were front and center. Mitt Romney had his ass handed to him. It seemed that the American Electorate had rejected the GOP's regressive vision of The United States.One would think that there would be the realization that elections have consequences. Well, one would be wrong.

Due to extreme gerrymandering (Ohio is a prime example) many State Governments wound up with extremest legislatures.Also the US House maintained a slimmer Republican majority and grew to be more far right Tea Party dominated. That is what happens when you have ironclad safe seats. Just look at the House Districts in Ohio. There is a District that stretches along Lake Erie from Toledo to Cleveland. At time it appears to be about six inches wide along the Lake in places.

Anyway, these Republicans saw the election results differently than rational people. They represent the true Americans. The election was lost because Mitt was not a REAL conservative. It was stolen by a coalition of community activists, Union thugs, liberal mainstream media, minorities looking for freebies and socialist Democrats. Because Mitt was not conservative enough the true American Majority of American conservatives stayed home allowing the Kenyan to stage his coup.

Starting in January we saw a two pronged attack on modern America. States under the control of reactionary, theocratic activists went after voting rights and women's reproductive health. The US House went after anything supported by the President. They continued to feel voting no on everything was leadership. They also went after Obamacare. After all it is socialism and a sign of the end times. They also continued to fixate on non-existent scandals making Benghazi the new Beetlejuice along the way.

The House embarked on Broadway try outs of their political theatrical production called Repeal. After more than forty performances they decided to open on Broadway. Of course, as is the tradition, there were script tweaks and some new production numbers added.

The backers of the show decided not to replace the director, Speaker John Boehner, they just ignored him. Although it was unusual the script consultant, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is starring in a related production being staged in the Senate Theater.

Cruz, rewrote the script, giving himself a predominate off stage House Theater role.  The new plot line is rather than just stage Quixotic repeal votes let's hold the Nation hostage.  A Sopranos spin off. A decision was made to bypass the stage and go direct to a feature production.

Like most of the entertainment industry they are ignoring the last time a show like this opened in 1995. It was quickly cancelled amidst devastating reviews. With the popularity of sequels, TV shows moved to the big screen and reboots original ideas are not pandemic, so let's reboot.

Thus the GOP has decided to reboot the failed '95 shutdown franchise. They hope with a new director, producers, screenwriting team, bigger budget, promotion and cast this can be a game-changer.

This flick has decided to rely on a lot of improv in the script.  Every time the Director Boehner tried a new scenario he is bombarded by off script performances that alter the story arc. Now we have the action packed budget thriller, "Shut It Down" On opening it was savaged by friendly critics and even cast members. It also received glowing reviews from other critics and many cast members said how proud they were of their work. This blockbuster is doing good box office, in spite of ending with a cliff hanger. In a couple weeks we'll see the sequel, "Default". It has the same cast, crew and production team.

As the House blockbuster was opened, the Senate produced DVD extras with Ted Cruz. This acted as an extended trailer and a bridge between projects. Like the films the reviews were mixed but ratings were good on cable.

So let's sit back and hope the ending to these blockbusters actually make sense. A happy ending is so needed. It would be nice to see this reboot crash and burn. I see no emmys or Oscars coming for this. It won't play in Peoria.

Ted Cruz. A Clear And Present Danger. To the Republicans.

               Senator Ted Cruz delivered a twenty-one hour speech. A speech that everyone has been incorrectly calling a filibuster. It was simply a long exercise in self-aggrandizement that the Majority Leader allowed him to make. This was not Mister Smith Goes To Washington. This is about Senator Cruz building his brand, allied Conservative PACS raising money and both building mailing lists. As the old saying goes, when a Senator looks in the mirror he sees a President.

During the summer when D..C. is a soggy, humid mess and usually quiet politically, Cruz went on the offensive against the Affordable Care Act. He came up with the idea to tie funding the Federal Government to the defunding of the ACA. He did this knowing there was absolutely zero chance of success. The House had already passed a plethora of repeal bills that were DOA in the Senate. Cruz was aided and abetted by former Senator and head of the Heritage Foundation, Jim DeMint.  DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund Joined in also.

By stoking the anger of the extreme right wing with the idea that a futile last stand against the ACA was viable he has significantly raised his profile. His lonely stand against political reality has elevated him to hero status amongst the Tea Party. Horatio at the gate. Custer. The Tejanos at the Alamo. He has attracted the usual extremist coterie of clowns. FreedomWorks, Sarah Palin and the extreme right radio land. 

These opposing groups are raising money hand over fist and collecting names to hit up for cash over and over. These people and groups feel extortion is a viable political strategy. They all feel the President and the Democrats will cave. These reactionaries know in their hearts if the GOP doesn't blink the Dems will. They will defund, even with a majority in the Senate and White House, they are at a political disadvantage. 

These so called patriots are under the delusion they are the majority in America. They believe this in spite of the decisive reelection of a Democratic President in a campaign the focused on "Obamacare". That loss only happened because Mitt wasn't a true conservative. That delusion is and has been rampant among the right. 

In a move guaranteed to endear these groups to Republican office holders they ran ads against the ACA. Unfortunately these were the types of ads usually reserved for Democrats. The message was any Rep who did not join this march of the lemmings over the cliff of sanity was basically a Dem in disguise and complicit in the socialist plot to ruin America. Well, the ads were successful.

In the House support to defund grew from forty or so to a majority passing the Continuing Resolution. Then the Republican bloodbath started. John McCain called the idea irrational. The WSJ compared the move to charging into bayonets. Ben Stein Not on board. Charles Krauthammer? Not on board. Karl Rove? Forget it. Multiple conservative voices are raised as voices of reason. This argument has propelled us into a societal and political Twilight Zone. They recognize a coming disaster when they see it. Some, like Peter King say correctly, nothing can be done about ACA  without the GOP having The House. Senate and White House.

So this is only a cynical plan for the far right to raise their profiles and funding. Basically they are commuting fraud on the true believers. Bait and switch. We can defund "Obamacare" if we stand together. We are the true majority, elections be damned. We need money to get the message out to these RINO's who will sell us out. They raise expectations then blame the "others" for the failure. So we'll need more money to oust these traitors. The House is too liberal. Even Fox News has been co-opted by the left.

This is not about the Affordable Care Act except as a hot button issue. This isn't about legitimate political differences. This about Ted Cruz. HE is willing to burn down Washington to achieve his goals. HE want's to be seen as a lonely, principled defender of America. He wants the Tea Party to see him as a hero. He wants them to remember him as the 2016 Primaries heat up. He wants the right to go to the mat and nominate him.. 

Cruz wants to prove a far right wing opportunist can win the nomination and the Presidency. He wants to validate that the Republicans have lost the White House because the candidate wasn't conservative enough. He is playing to the delusions of his base. He is throwing the party under the bus. I am afraid of what issues this man will take his all or nothing stand against in the next couple years in his quest. 

The only question is will the GOP let it happen. Can they marginalize the demon they've loosed? Will they even try or due to primary challenge fears will they all buy into this mass delusion?

Descent into madness. Ted Cruz, The Republicans and the ACA

               I believe Albert Einstein, a smart guy, once stated the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting a different result. The House of Representatives voted 41 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Each time they knew it would not pass the Senate. Or if by a miracle it did it would be vetoed before the ink on the bill dried. In spite of that they held 41 votes to repeal. Did they actually expect a different result or was it cynical political theater or a combination of both? And dies it really make a difference?

Along comes the junior Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz. By all reports, this is a smart guy. It does appear though he may suffer from the smart guy syndrome. "I'm the smartest guy in the room. I am sure I know better how a couple hundred year old institution should be run. It doesn't matter I've only been here less than a year but trust me. I know what we should do and how to do it. You experienced politicians take is wrong. I am right."

Since he is a smart guy he knows what buttons to push to inflame the Tea Party into a frenzy. OBAMACARE!! DEFUND!! Let's hold the country hostage. Trust me, the Dems will blink and defund the President's signature accomplishment. No problem. And is it a bad thing to shut down the Government? Naw. After a summer of beating this drum the Crazy Caucus of the House signed on. The fact that the Heritage Foundation is running ads, holding rallies in favor of defunding the ACA at all costs helped. Carrot and stick. Sarah Palin and other groups weighed in implying primary challenges on no votes. The prospect of an actual campaign scares incumbents to death.

Now hard as it is to believe there are still some political realists in the GOP. You know things are weird when Karl Rove is a voice of reason. There are conservative Republicans in the Senate who realize extortion is not a good move.Some actually remember what happened in '95. The GOP shut down the Government. They suffered major losses in the House, though still maintained a majority, and an embattled Democratic President was resoundingly reelected. Oops.

Now Ted Cruz is toying with a Presidential bid in 2016. Were I a cynic, I would think he is simply building a mailing list and raising cash for political groups that buy his rhetoric. I'm pretty sure he wants these groups on board should he tilt at windmills in a POTUS bid.

This Quixotic fight has exposed divisions in the Republican Party. It seems the Establishment has been turned on by their creation. When you embolden zealots and put them in positions of power you invite disaster. By their nature true believers are hard to control. Once you aim them at a target they go all tunnel vision and will not stop until their goals are reached. If they have to burn down the House to stop something they vehemently oppose, they'll turn a flame thrower on a fuel tanker to accomplish their objective. And then block the firetrucks.

Things are hostile between the factions we are seeing the acrimony leak out into the public arena. Senator Cruz has called the Senate GOP Caucus,"The Surrender Caucus" which will only endear him to them.  You have Senator John McCain saying this defund/shutdown plan isn't rational. Karl Rove said Cruz launched this strategy without telling the party. They only find out his plans when he goes public. Senator after Senator has called Cruz's plan ill advised which is the nice way to say bat shit crazy.

Former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) has gone after Cruz and his cohorts. "The political babble of a few has become has become the mainstream of Republican political thought." He goes on to say they're playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded revolver. Also you never take a hostage you can't shoot. Which it seems they have, Senator Gregg.

Senator Rand Paul has backed off recently after being gung-ho on the extortion plan. He says he supports it but it won't succeed. Last week Cruz said the same thing as he also told the House to stand firm. This set off a fire storm in the House as Members said, rightly so, Cruz was hanging them out to dry. That got the Senator from Texas's attention. He vowed a filibuster to delay action by the Senate. He is also calling for the Majority Leader to suspend rules to make it easier to delay action. That'll happen. So what he wants to do is filibusterer a Republican bill to prevent a Republican bill from being considered. The Surrender Caucus recognizes this is absurdity. There may not be the support there Senator Cruz is counting on.

For when the CR gets stripped of the defund language and is sent back to the House Cruz announced Plan B.  The House should pass small spending resolutions and attach ACA defunding to them one at a time. Starting with military spending. He wants to have this done over and over till the Senate caves and force a veto. So, Senator Cruz wants the House to hold the military hostage while we have troops in harm's way. Because it's the patriotic thing to do. Now, should they decline to participate in this scenario I expect to see a lot of Primary battles. The Heritage Foundation, Freedom works, Sarah Palin and others will use a sane vote as a cudgel to gin up the rabid base in an attempt to push the Party even further right. Purity tests will be the norm.

This civil war is being played down in public. Mostly. Chris Wallace received opposition research from Republicans to, wait for it, hammer Ted Cruz. So, I am stocking up on popcorn and sitting back. This is going to get interesting.

Cut the break-lines! Hit the gas!! There's a cliff ahead! GOP policy?

This is written early morning on the day the Continuing Resolution comes up for a vote in the House Of Representatives.

On Thursday the House voted to cut SNAP by 40 billion dollars over 10 years. The House ignored a veto threat from President Obama. Surprising no one the arguments were this is a burden on working middle class families A polite way to say those on SNAP are lazy and picking your pocket?. If the tax code didn't coddle the wealthiest the burden wouldn't be as great. Had the House not obstructed the recovery there would be less need for SNAP. Compassionate Christians that they are the House decided cutting food aid is a political winner. That is why is was separated from the Farm Bill. That way SNAP can be gutted while maintaining the massive farm subsidies for corporate farms which are collected by many House Members. It is good they take so much vacation time as they do incredible harm during the limited time they are in session.

Since returning from recess the House has held two symbolic votes to repeal the ACA. This brings the total to 41.Today, Friday the 20th day of September they plan vote 42. They're ready to hit on 20. Any gambler that plays Blackjack will tell you that's a loser.

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH-08), is between a rock and a hard place. As a politician he knows the chances of defunding or repealing the ACA. He has allowed more than forty meaningless votes to repeal to placate the reactionary, rabid right members of his Caucus. These votes let them go home and rail to the base they are stymied in repeal by the Socialist Senate and the Muslim Kenyan will veto it anyway. It's a fundraising tool and a way to ensure there will be no attack from the right come primary season

Egged on by a few Senators who are positioning themselves for a Presidential bid in 2016 more than 80 House Members demanded that a vote on the Continuing Resolution have a provision to defund the ACA. The leadership in the House and inside the beltway knew this is a loser. The idea the Democratic Senate and a Democratic President would sign on to this is, to say it kindly, fucking crazy.

The Democrats in the Senate have the votes to strip the defunding language, pass the CR and send it back to the House.At the moment Boehner and Cantor seem to have no plan B. The Caucus sees plan B as a shut down of the Federal Government. Always a good move.

So, why now?

On October first, enrollment in the State Insurance Exchanges starts. Much of the law kicks in in 2014. This is seen as the last chance to stop it. The right realizes time is running out. Under time constraints and pressure bad decisions are routinely made. The decisions are even worse when they are ideologically driven. You are willing to do anything when God is on your side.

The political pressure being brought from the reactionary right is intense. The most far right leaning groups are being vocal. During the recess these groups ran ads on Republican Districts as a reminder of possible consequences. We've seen Sarah Palin weigh in and imply there would be Primary Challenges on those who vote no on defunding.

These groups include The Club For Growth, Heritage Action the action arm of the Heritage Foundation and FreedomWorks to name a few. Heritage Action held rallies in several cities across America in an attempt to gin up the base. The assorted groups are pouring money into ads and outreach to whip the fringe into a frenzy. The ire is directed at Republicans who aren't vocal about wanting to be a lemming.

These groups and the Rabid Right Members of the House see the previous votes as what they are, A sham. The push now is to do anything to stop the implementation of the ACA. Since many see the Government as the problem shutting it down is actually a good thing to them.The action is directed at those who fail the purity tests. Those who have caved to keep the Nation working. Some see any cooperation as heresy. So any GOP member that exhibits any political sanity will be metaphorically burned at the stake.

They do realize the future of the Republican Party is at stake. The far right see this as an opportunity. A chance to purge the Party of non believers. They see this as the last best chance to reshape the GOP into the reactionary force they actually believe America craves. This is their Fort Sumter against the Establishment GOP who they view as sell outs and no better than the Democrats.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Minority leader of the Senate, is facing a Primary challenge from the right. He is taking flack from The Heritage Foundation and others for not coming out for defunding.

Senator Ted Cruz(R-TX) mentioned there weren't the votes in the Senate to defund. He did this after months of declaring this as a goal and a glorious last stand for freedom. He called on the House to stand firm.  He was immediately slammed by House Members as surrendering without a fight. The House doe not want to go all Kamikaze all alone. They want the Senate GOP to crash and burn also.

Many of these people see the shutdown in '95 as a moral victory. Usual Right Wing revisionism as far as history is concerned. The truth is there were huge losses in the House in '96. A Democratic President was convincingly reelected. Speaker Gingrich was replaced in a Palace Coup. Yeah, it all worked out so very well.

You know there is division and things are bad when Karl Rove is a voice of reason. He and others are saying this is a massive mistake. They say the best thing to do is take the Senate then repeal. In the poisonous atmosphere on the Hill these pleas for reason are falling on deaf ears.

The very policy of extortion as political strategy has led them here to the abyss. The previous impasses resulted in limited compromise. This disappointed the the far right who were willing to disobey a Constitutional mandate to protect the full faith and credit of The United States.  They have decided no more compromise of any kind. They will burn down the country to get there way.

The most likely scenario is when the CR with the defunding  passes the House today the Senate will face a filibuster. That will cause a minor delay until the more sane GOP Senators jump ship and vote for cloture. The defunding language will be stripped and the resolution will be sent back to the House. Boehner and Cantor will have a choice. Shut the Government down until the voters storm the chamber with torches, pitchforks, tat and feathers. Or, more likely, pass it using a coalition of still sane Republicans and Democrats.

I am sure Boehner also knows he will face a mutiny that will likely cost him his position as Speaker. To avoid this he may try damage control by doing it over with the Spending Limit. That too is doomed to failure.

In the coming days we will see who the real patriots are. Claiming yourself as one as you work to attempt to stage a coup isn't the way. Good people will stand up and get us past this extortion. Only to do it again. Perhaps next time with one of the inmates running the asylum.

American Exceptionalism. How the Right is destroying it.

              Our numbering system uses Arabic Numerals. Algebra is an Arabic word, as is algorithm. 2/3 of the named stars have Arabic names. Why?

From 800 C.E. til around 1100 C.E. the Islamic Caliphate was centered in the great city of Baghdad. This city was the crossroads of civilization after the collapse of the classical Roman Empire and the decline of the Eastern Empire. It brought together China, Persia, North Africa and Europe in an intellectual stew.

The collapse of Rome left Europe in disarray. With the lack of traditional nation states far too much power was ceded to the Church. They controlled education. The tomes that were salvaged from Rome were transcribed by monks. In Europe the Catholic Church was the gatekeeper of education and existent knowledge for all practical purposes.

With their dogmatic views the conditions in Europe were not conducive to unfettered research.The major advancements in Europe were related to the construction of Cathedrals and other religious edifices. Architecture, engineering and related mathematics.

Baghdad however saw the mixing of ideas and cultures. The classical knowledge and ideas from the Greco-Roman era. Ideas and knowledge from India and China. Muslims, Jews and Christians mingled freely exchanging insights.

The result was an explosion of scientific knowledge and preservation of the earlier scientific gains threatened by the collapse of Rome.

Astronomy flourished hence the Arabic star names. Mathematics was expanded. Algebra and the adoption of the Arabic numerals.Those replaced the use of the cumbersome Roman numerals eventually in the West. The use of zero as a mathematical concept was refined.

Books from all over the world were translated into Arabic. Knowledge was saved, shared and preserved for the future.

Science, arts and literature flourished for around three hundred years then stopped.

Why?

The rise of Islamic fundamental thought where knowledge was seen as the work of evil put an end to the intellectual dominance of the Caliphate. It showed scientific thought and discovery can not exist in an atmosphere of fundamental rejection of human knowledge as evil and ungodly. This fundamentalism effectively killed progress and innovation in the Arab world. A thousand years later it still hasn't recovered. Who knows what advancements were sacrificed on the alter of a point of view that sees everything in religious terms.

Now we hear a lot about American Exceptionalism from conservatives. The irony is they may be killing what they are extolling.

American exceptionalism isn't a myth. The explosive emergence of The United States onto the world stage was fostered and fueled by intellectual freedom. A refusal to take "I can't understand this" as a limit to progress. Americans have always sought answers.

Freed from religious hegemony and the resulting intellectual shackles by the Enlightenment, America was born. The men who founded this great nation were steeped in the intellectual, philosophical and scientific revolutionary thought of their time. Secular Humanism was replacing Dogmatic Religion as the driving force in human advancement.

When faced by a problem in science answers were sought and the default position of "Known only to God" was rejected and a solution was found.

Americans took European ideas and made them distinctly ours. From the founding of this nation Americans rose to the front of the wave of modern science. We blazed the paths that severed our bonds to the Earth as we learned to fly. We took the British Industrial Revolution and showed the world what it could be.

Americans in the 19th and 20th Centuries took scientific advancement in stride seeing it as a birthright.
Science and technology made the United States the Arsenal Of Democracy during the Second World War. It enabled the defeat of the Nazis and the Japanese Empire in years rather than decades.

The American dominance in science is seen in the Nobel prizes accumulated. There are a lot of elements that have uniquely American names. We opened up the Solar System. Americans expanded the size and scope of the Universe. We've explored the building blocks of reality. Only Americans have walked on another celestial body.

Science gave us hope for the future. History taught us about our past. Intellectual freedom made us what we are today. Both disciplines were seen to be neutral as fact based education should be.
So why do modern conservatives feel that science and history is a la carte? Pick and choose what's true. One from column A and one from column B?

The only reason I can see that makes any sense is the unholy marriage between social conservatives and what once was fringe Evangelical churches. There has been a disturbing growth in the literalist, Fundamentalist, Evangelical Christian worldview.

Due to opportunistic political decisions made in the 70's, 80's and 90's the Christian Right and the willfully ignorant have gained positions of power. They control school boards. They are in State Legislatures and Congress. Think Tanks are pushing anti-science and history agendas. PAC's, Churches and other organizations back up these policies with money. There are people seen as so-called experts extolling these views in the media as rational positions. They are aided by cynical outlets promoting a reactionary agenda.
I realize many hold these positions as a matter of true belief. Zealots are extremely resistant to differing points of view. Many reject it as blasphemy.

Others hold these views as a bedrock political position and compromise is seen as weakness.
Many though have adopted these beliefs as simple political expediency. Simply taking money and support to hold power.

Combined, these movements are deadly to America's future.
Most of a persons core beliefs are formed in childhood. This is how America's future is threatened.
Since our manufacturing base has been decimated by shortsighted corporate and Government policies our economic future rests on technological advances and innovation. This is not possible without a scientifically literate population. Policies that are being adopted preclude that future.

How?

It's a cascading effect. When a cornerstone of scientific thought is denied, other scientific truths must also be denied.

The two most reviled scientific principles are Climate Change and evolution.

Evolution. Where to start?

Intelligent design is being touted as a legitimate scientific alternative. This is simply creationism dressed up in a gown and mortarboard to avoid church/state issues.

First off, Intelligent Design does not hold up to the basic scientific process.

The rap against evolution is it's "only" a theory. Well, so is gravity and I don't see them jumping off tall buildings to test it. The basic premise of Intelligent Design is not measurable in a lab or the field like the well
tested theory of Evolution.

Evolution is the bedrock of modern biology and medicine. You want to see evolution? Antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Intelligent Design does not explain our sharing a majority of our genome with the great apes. It also doesn't explain shared genes with lifeforms that aren't mammals.As a scientific position Intelligent Design is a nice fairy tale.

There is a school of thought in Creationism that because something wasn't witnessed it didn't happen. This applies to evolution and the creation of the Universe. That is as ludicrous as it sounds.

Creationism also has spawned the "Young Earth" movement. This embraces the idea Earth and the Universe is only 6,000 years old. This rejects multiple sciences.

Astronomy has determined the age of the universe by measuring the Doppler shift in light from distant objects.This is applied physics. This is explained by young earthers like this. We know the speed of light here. Since we haven't visited other stars to measure we don't know the speed of light for that star. Thus, it invalidates the idea the Universe is around 15 billion years old. A variation on if you did not witness it it didn't happen.

Geology is rejected along the same lines when pegging the Earth's age as 4.5 billion years old. We can't know for sure decay rates have always been constant.
Since we didn't witness how fossils are made we can't know their age. Thus Adam rode a Dinosaur like Alley Oop.

So, basically all science and history is rejected if it contradicts the idea that anything is more than six thousand years old. The Bible as text book.

If all this accumulated scientific knowledge is flawed the technology the world runs on couldn't exist.
As this view spreads into our educational system America will slide into irrelevancy. Discovery and innovation will move to more enlightened environments. As will the intellectually curious.Say good bye to a proud tradition of discovery.

The right is so worried about creeping Sharia Law(which doesn't exist) they are blind to their own imposition of religious law here. One is reviled. One is revered.

Without innovation we are doomed as a civilized nation. Teaching Creationism is tantamount to intellectual child abuse.

We are about to recreate the fall of the Caliphate into superstition and divine law.

To survive we must reclaim American thought from extremists that wish to enforce Bronze Age views as all that's needed. There are those in power who call science lies from the pits of Hell. We need to reestablish the founders faith in rationalism or just hand off our future to whomever will take it.

If we fail, this great experiment is a failure.

We can't allow that.

The future is now. We need to save it.

Let's base 21st Century Education on a Roman Era Text.That'll work.

               Some days I feel so old before my time.

When I went to school science was celebrated. We had put humans on the Moon. Vaccines were on the way to making deadly diseases a thing of the past.Our understanding of the Universe and our place in it was expanding. New ideas were becoming reality. Computer science was evolving. We were learning our origins. Amazing discoveries and inventions were everywhere.

Science was respected. Research was funded. Actual science was taught in schools. We led the world in education. We led the world in scientific innovation.

History was history. It was taught. The teachers used the current research. They felt no pressure to make things up to serve a political and religious agenda.

Teachers were respected and not branded as union thugs bent on indoctrination.

That was then. This is now.

Ohio. Again.

Since 2010 the reactionary Republicans who seized power in Ohio have been busy.Union busting, voter suppression, charter schools and abortion. With the cascading crazy it is easy to miss something. I was appalled earlier when I discovered Ohio passed a law requiring the teaching of the "Original Founding Documents". Here we go.

The law requires the teaching of the original texts of The Declaration Of Independence, The Northwest Ordinance, The US and State Constitutions.

This legislation will highlight those documents of freedom and enumerated rights so that the next generation can carry the torch of liberty that these documents represent." This was from Chris Long, the head of the Ohio Christian Coalition.

Part of the law requires supplemental readings to place the documents in their historical context. If this material is actually written by accredited, mainstream historians, they may not like the results.

The context is the Enlightenment and the rise of rationalism. The rise of secular humanism. The rejection of religion as basis for law and as a test to hold office. The prohibition of the establishment of a State Religion.
I am going to try to find some of these readings. There is no way to factually ignore these influences on the well educated men who founded this nation.

The Ohio Christian Coalition I feel sees this as a chance to push the myth America was founded as a "Christian" nation, otherwise they would not be on board with praise.
State Representative John Adams (R-Sidney) said of the law, "If the founding fathers documents would be adhered to and taught. we wouldn't be in the particular situation we're in at the Federal level with the expansion of government."

That, to me, sounds like the desire to teach history in a way that conforms to a rigid ideological view not supported by current accepted norms. It appears, that like in medicine, election to the Ohio Legislature makes you a prominent scholar. Thus you may over ride scholarship with indoctrination and a political agenda.

Many saw this as a back door to teaching Christian revisionist history.
So the Springboro Ohio School Board decided to offer a continuing education course devised by David Barton. A person with no history credentials and the author of a book on Jefferson pulled due to massive errors.

The course was to be taught by volunteers and promoted Barton's unfounded views of America as a Christian theocracy. Following outcry it was canceled. This of course raised the hackles of the reactionary right in Southwestern Ohio a bastion of right wing crazy.

Springboro also tried to add creationism to it's science teaching. That too was shelved following outcry. The school board is again looking at it.

Simply put we can not survive as a nation if we permit teaching to be pushed into presenting ignorant beliefs to be taught as fact. Knowledge is not ala carte. Facts are facts and it doesn't matter that you disagree.
If we are to compete in this world we can't allow science be defined by religious zealots who don't believe in it. The purpose of history is to teach us who we are and why we are.

Ohio wants to out crazy Texas. We are getting there.

Why is it always Texas. And Ohio. GOP on parade.

                    Just when it seems to stop, the Republican party uncorks a whole new vintage of crazy. Some of us on the left want to simplify things by making it a regional issue. It seems to be the easy way out. Thus we in the old Union States can maintain our illusion of moral superiority.Sorry but we drooped that baton a long time ago. The problems with the crazy is not regional, it's not the Old Confederacy(Though they have their moments), it's a GOP in control issue.
States that were once moderate have been seized by the reactionary right. You see them gutting the social services and cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations. Going after unions. Religion is being pushed into education curriculum.  History is being distorted to popularize the notion the United States was founded as a Christian Theocracy.
Then there's abortion. Women are being systematically stripped of their rights and access to health care and the decisions are being made for them. Conservative Christian beliefs disguised as concern for safety.
Then there's the idea if you can't win an election with ideas in the public arena you better keep those who reject your policies from voting. American Democratic ideals on display. I would guess we have abdicated all rights to bitch about any other Nation's electoral process.
So let's look in this basket full of crazy.
Texas. Senator Ted Cruz. Again. Why is it always Texas?
This latest chapter in the Ted Cruz run for the Presidency playbook was opened in a speech at The Heritage Foundation. Those two words warn us the reasonable quotient will be questionable. It was at the Jesse Helms lecture Series. My question is why does that even exist? And why would would any person spend actual money to attend?
Senator Cruz tells us that he made his first political donation to Jesse Helms at the age of ten. Ten dollars.
Now I love politics and have for a long time but at ten I would have used that money to buy comic books, scifi paperbacks and pulps. Even at ten i doubt Jesse Helms would have appealed to me. And that's when I was really young and stupid.
A refresher on who old Jesse was.
He was the longest serving Senator from North Carolina. He was an avowed segregationist. He opposed abortion. Jesse tried to stop Federal funded AIDS research since he said every case of AIDS starts with sodomy and was God's punishment on Homosexuals.Needless to say Jesse opposed Gay rights.
Helms repeatedly introduced a Constitutional Amendment to ban abortion. He introduced bills conferring human rights at conception. He can be called the father of the person hood movement. He tried to reinstate school prayer.
Helms filibustered the renewal of the Voting Rights Act and aligned with Strom Thurmond in opposing civil rights legislation. He also supported South Africa's embrace of apartheid.
Looking back at Senator Helms career you see positions that were extreme in the 70's and 80's. He was simply ahead of his time. Those positions are spouted by the reactionary right all the time now and no one blinks an eye. He was the last gasp of the blatant racist Southern Senator. They are less overt now.
At the Jesse Helms lecture Series Senator Cruz extolled the virtues of Ole Jesse.
He said we need a hundred Senator Helms in the Senate.
As an ardent admirer Senator Cruz is pulling pages from Helms' racist playbook.
Like Helms, Cruz despises gays. He says Gay marriage will silence Christians and expose them to being charged with hate crimes for expressing their views.
Like Jesse, Ted wants to cut SNAP and ban abortion.
Like Jesse, Ted is vocal about Republicans who disagree with him calling them members of "The Surrender Caucus".
Ted may be smoother but he holds Jesse Helms and his reactionary, racist views close. I don't think Ted realizes that as a Cuban he would not make it through Jesse's front door.
A question. Canada, what did we do to piss you off enough to give us Cruz? While I'm at it, the same query to Australia, re: Rupert Murdoch.
Now, my home State of Ohio.
Toni Morrison, an award winning author and Ohio Native found the head of The State Board Of Education wanting to ban one of her novels. Because it's pornographic
"The Bluest Eye", set in Loraine, Ohio is on the Common Core 11th Grade reading list. Why does Debe Terhar call this novel porno? It contains a rape scene. She doesn't want her grandchildren or anyone's to read it. I am not a fan of book banning. For any reason.  I was opposed to some on the Left wanting to ban Twain for his racial language. That ignores he was very progressive for his time and upbringing. It ignores all historical context that makes his work such a wonder. It ignored his prose being among the best in the English language. There is never a reason to ban literature. Period.
Ms. Terhar, a hand picked appointee of Governor Kasich, also put up a post on Facebook comparing President Obama to Adolph Hitler after Sandy Hook. The reason? The tyranny of reasonable firearms regulation. Way to stay classy.
Ohio. Again.
JobsOhio, a public/private mutant that recommends tax breaks for business is sending a company HQ to Kentucky. Why? They sell romantic enhancements to women. So this is not a proper company for Ohio to support. But companies distributing Viagra and penis pumps are OK.
The City of Cincinnati, which once prohibited the sale of Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler, is pissed. See this company wants to relocate their Headquarters from the suburbs to Downtown Cincy. So the Kasich Administration, while touting their conservative credentials are taking flack from the most conservative city in Ohio. Over sex toys for women. Oops.
Missouri had their nullification of Federal gun laws vetoed. So much for nullification. That worked out so well in the 1860's. It would have put Federal officials at risk of arrest for enforcement of Federal Firearms laws. Had this stood, Missouri would have done a de facto secession. I'm pretty sure we settled this absurdity with the loss of 6000,000 lives during the Civil War. The GOP again rejects the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution. We can expect this to pop up again in Missouri and other States under the sway of the wacko right.
So, let's keep this insanity in mind when it's time to vote.
If you don't vote, don't bitch.