Thursday, January 07, 2021

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE DC INSURRECTION, THE PANDEMIC, AND THE DEVOS RESIGNATION

If everyone has started to concentrate on everyday life again after yesterday's insurrection in DC when Donald Trump supporters attempted to reenact the War of 1812's Burning of Washington, remember that COVID-19 rages on in NY and around the country.

The Robert Moore report from Britain's ITV is outstanding reporting from inside the capitol building during the riot and it is frightening. Listening to the interviews, I realize it is totally futile to try to convince some of these MAGAs of anything. It explains some of what goes on in the comments here. Some are living in an alternate reality.

For those looking for a little positive outcome from yesterday's insurrection against Congress, Betsy DeVos has used Trump's role as her reason to resign.

From the Washington Post:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation Thursday, citing the president's role in the riot on Capitol Hill

“There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” she wrote in a letter to President Trump. 

She possibly doesn't want to stick around for any 25th Amendment action where she would have to decide if Trump was unfit for office. For  the record, I believe going out to vandalize and storm buildings is a stupid, selfish, and illegal move, no matter what the cause is, and it's particularly idiotic during a pandemic.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues its deadly attack on us. Here are the numbers from NY today. The scariest is of course the fatalities. For NY, it was 197 deaths yesterday. Governor Cuomo does concede he is very worried about the new variant. However, he is not worried enough to close the school buildings and switch to remote learning. Nationally, we have now lost 359,849 people.

Finally tonight, for the first time in my life, I think I actually enjoyed a Wall Street Journal editorial. They are calling on Trump to resign. 

Resign, 25th Amendment, impeachment, conviction in the Senate and removal from office? Take your pick. 

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

China is preparing for war on a global scale. The virus came from their lab. China owns Biden and China is going to strike us very soon. Their spying and tampering had the results it wanted. Some of this will become apparent on or before Jan. 20th.

Anonymous said...

The rioting, crime, violence, and destruction has been going on for months in different cities around the US. It is disingenuous for anyone to pretend what happened in DC is anything new. For months, the same type of people that were: looting, vandalizing, destroying, killing, burning buildings, etc. were considered peaceful protestors. Numerous politicians in DC, the State and local politicians, the media, social media, tech companies, etc. chose not to acknowledge the violence and insurrections in their own states. Now, it is a big deal? So, are we to learn that home invasion is only a big deal when it is you home? I do not believe for a minute that anyone is truly shocked or surprised by what happened in DC.

History has taught over and over again that when one overlooks and dismisses the smaller acts of violence, acts of vandalism and the blatant disregard for human life, this snowball of death and destruction will only grow.

It would be most prudent and wise if everyone in the US, regardless of politics or any other form of identify, work at having more respect for each other and denounce the crime, violence and acts of vandalism still happening in cities all around the US.

Shelley said...

It is easier to replace the President of the US than the President of the UFT. The former, a sick man who exhibits the classic behaviors of narcissistic injury is not likely to resign, can challenge the 25h amendment on dozens of grounds that constitutional scholars have been debating since it was added to the constitution, one such is the fact that the amendment fails to make clear who the "principal officers of the executive departments” are. We can't assume that this phrase excludes or includes members who have been approved by the Senate, so we don't know if the Education Secretary is a principal member. What can be fairly certain of is that Trump and his lawyers would challenge and with only a 12 days left in his term, drag tis out and into the Biden administration. Not good. In any event, Mulgrew is not sick, not crazy and he hasn't incite a riot that stormed Tweed. Hell, he won't even call a safety strike when his members are dying in PD meetings during a pandemic. Moreover, Mulgrew's hammerlock on the Presidency of our union is much stronger than Trump's on the US Presidency. And besides, the ATR pool is shrinking fast, excessing has been minimized, more teachers have been hired, none fired. No layoffs, no furloughs, not salaries frozen. And while we have to wait for our Retro, we are going to get it. Yes, without interest. And while we got our Fixed TDA chopped down to 7%, that 7% is an unbelievably high rate, a benefit unmatched anywhere, private or public. We have health care, free. A dental plan. Who gets free healthcare and dental plan? Will the Google Union, now organizing bargain for benefits better than ours? OK, they will get stock option. But speaking of stocks has anybody noticed the markets are at all time highs? Say, our pensions and TDAs are in the Black, again. Remember, the market has to go up by at least 7% a year to fund our pensions and TDAs or the NYC taxpayers, those that haven't fled to the suburbs or other states will be on the hook. So, things are looking up if your Mulgrew, President of union that provides bread and butter whilst conceding little actually. APPR? Who cares? How teachers are removed from classrooms each year? Not many. And tenure? Yeah it takes and extra year, but nearly everyone gets it. Oh, and did I mention the BLUE WAVE! Yeah Mike Mulgrew has been mentioning it in his talks with members. Saying how much we need it because the City and the Sate are broke. We got a Blue Wave. So cheer up union members the new year will be better for teachers. And pay dues because the Union helped get that Blue Wave over the hills in far away Georgia. The pandemic? Oh yeah that. Um, well, can't beat them all. But I'm gonna retire. So good luck teachers. When I retire I'll pay dues and vote for Mike because he takes care of retirees like James. Did you know that the legal support you get as a retiree is amazing. Yes, and lots of other retirement benefits are pretty amazing too. So good luck to all you teachers and don't fret about Mulgrew. He ain't going nowhere.

Anonymous said...

Hear is a thought about the DC insurrection.

Four people died during the Capitol riots and each and everyone death is tragic in itself.

More than 100 DOE employees died because of the COVID malfeasance of De Blasio, Carranza and Mulgrew during the delayed closing of schools last March. This is a much greater tragedy.

In comparison, the triumvirate of De Blasio, Carranza and Mulgrew is more than 25 times as deadly as the deranged Donald J. Trump with his delusions of a stolen election.

The delusions of competency of this triumvirate will likely continue after January 20th and lead to more deaths as result of Covid.

Anonymous said...

The guy that filmed the Capitol shooting from the closest angle, just so happens to be a prominent, violent BLM activist, and anti-Trumper.

CNN brought him on TV and never asked him what he was doing there. What was he doing there?

Anonymous said...

Doesn't look like 2021 is off to a good start. I can't explain my disgust at those inhuman monsters that attacked the Capitol. I have very little pride in America right now and it's embarrassing to be American right now. I'm calling it the Divided States of America. What drives me most crazy is these rioters have the audacity to chant USA and fly the US flag. Since when did the US flag become a symbol of Trump. If I fly the US flag I want it to mean I support America, not Trump. Another is how there were little kids out there on the lawn watching all of this go down being brainwashed by their fascist parents. Lastly, is Trump's commendation of them in his video. The one thing I agree is with Trump's slogan "No more bullshit." Exactly, no more bullshit, get him out of the Whitehouse yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on retirement. It's a big life change, but is very good.
But please, you must believe that another union president could provide excellent benefits and also address the very real problems that teachers face everyday. We have term limits on mayor, city council and US president, why aren't there limits on union positions?
Some time ago, outside the DOE, I worked for a very good head supervisor. He was great with personnel, budgets, everything inside the building and he was promoted. But the trees on the grounds were overgrown with vines. The grass was mowed, but the trees looked unkempt. The next supervisor was different, and good, and took care of the trees.
What I'm saying is, no-one can complete all aspects of any job near flawlessly. Isn't it time to concentrate on the day to day lived experiences of teachers?

Anonymous said...

We need to make America healthy again. MAHA

With the rising death toll due to COVID and the epidemic of social unrest,the USA
is in a very sick place right now.

Anon2323 said...

1. HUge trump supporter, wish Trump let his congressmen speak for him, plenty to go over about this election. Shame how it went down, anyone who thinks antifa was not apart of that is wrong, def does not give trump supporters any right to do what they did.
2. Mayor should be investigated, fire more. Amazing they did not have it secured at all. I wouldn't care if they had cops at the steps with guns, fenced off, and actually had planning instead of the cops letting people in.
3. LIberal media is a shame, downplaying months of chaos, looting, rioting, burning buildings, precincts, wendys etc.
4. Facebook censoring him as TRump has message for people? If big tech can censor the president, you see where this is going? Zuckerberg and Dorsey in it with the left, not fair.

Laura Loomer predicted this in 2018 watch the clip, of course she was banned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-KEMz6Zx1w

Anonymous said...

UFT and Randi have posted how happy they are seeing Devos go. Randi said...Good riddance." Ok, now tell me how things were better between 2008-2016 and how things will improve in the future. i'm waiting.

Anonymous said...

None of this is true. We are a country at constant war since the 1940s. We have international military bases, 100s of them. We sell weapons to terrorists. We train them, and provide them intelligence. None of this is true of China.

Anonymous said...

Off to a good start.
BREAKING: Sen. Joe Manchin (http://D-W.Va.) says "absolutely not" to a round of $2,000 stimulus checks

Biden promised to approve $2K checks if Georgia Dems won their Senate races. Pelosi and Schumer also on board

Anonymous said...


The email that was sent by the Chancellor to all DOE employees is filled with garbage.
The police allowed the trespassers to peacefully depart or didn't resist? Tell that to the police officer who, it has been announced, gave his life to defend the Senators and members of the House of Representatives!

You are a piece of shit who sickens me, Chancellor.

Anonymous said...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/01/08/biden-stimulus-plan/%3foutputType=amp

Anonymous said...

1253, his emails are only based on anti white rhetoric. That is why he was silent the last 10 months. We can now see if anything improves with dem leadership.

Anonymous said...

James, can you give me a list of education differences between Trump/devos and obama/duncan?

James Eterno said...

Obama was a complete disaster on education. The only thing worse about DeVos was giving federal money to private schools.

Anonymous said...

hey, they were "mostly peaceful protests!"...until wednesday.
cant make it up.
remember orwell gave us a warning. not a goal.
but wutevs...
take a knee or something.

TeachNY said...

Yup. To me, this is equally bad as the looting and rioting that went on in the spring. The attacks on police as well.

Anonymous said...

China tweeting about genocide, slaves and forcing women into operations...fine.

Trump tweets...bad

Anonymous said...

ayatollah-ok on twitter
trump-banned

waitingforsupport said...

Happy new year
2021 has started out with a continuation of a virus parasites and inhumane hateful people.
Pointless
Clueless
Inhumane
God bless America

Anonymous said...

Louis Farrakhan, Richard Spencer, OJ Simpson and the Ayatollah can still tweet but POTUS cannot. The NY Post was suspended as well for posting an accurate story. Nah, no double standard.

Anonymous said...

Trump is banned from Twitter permanently.

But you know who's still here?

-Iran's mullahs
-The CCP
-Terrorists

Anonymous said...

I agree with w4s, they should stop rioting in portland.

Anonymous said...

Khamenei called for genocide in this tweet. It’s still up. His account is still up

Khamenei.ir
@khamenei_ir
· Jun 3, 2018
Our stance against Israel is the same stance we have always taken. #Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible and it will happen.

Anonymous said...

As long as Biden and Harris continue to kiss Wall Street ass like good corporate democrats so my investments do well and they don’t raise my taxes, they can tear down all the statues, fire all the cops and pander to those who want to convince other people’s little boys they’re really little girls and vice versa as much as they want. Oh yeah.... I also hope Biden keeps his promise to keep schools open but if he doesn’t, I’ll take solace in my stock portfolio...adding Chinese companies to it on Monday. Go Beijing Biden! Fuck the American worker. It’s all about the American investor for another presidential term. Buy stocks and celebrate while the idiots fight over gender and statues and which side is more violent. Mama likes her money and the old democrat establishment is just as good for that as those republicans. Even AOC has caved to them and is being attacked from the left now. Get on board the investor gravy train instead of bitching about the doe or woke bullshit. While their distracted by woke-ism nonsense, I’m cashing in big time.