Sat AMThoughts

I was listening to the radio this week, several times, on my drive to class(es). That's unusual because I usually drive without any noise, sometimes a CD, but usually nothing.  I had Karen's car and the radio was tuned to an FM station; which one, I don't know, but it was one of those "classic rock" stations.  I heard a few songs before turning off, well, the noise.  I ended up chuckling.  Oh, several of the songs I really enjoyed, but I was laughing at the singing.  It was, in almost every one of the five or six songs, just terrible.  I won't mention the singers/groups; the last time I took aim at some lousy singers/groups, I received  a lot of grief, people upset at my characterization/evaluation.  But, these singers couldn't sing very well.  I focused not on the instruments, but the voices and, in almost every instance, they were comical.  This coming from me, who can't carry a tune at all, not even in the shower.  And, as I noted, I liked some of the songs.

I wonder if those arguing against the Electoral College overriding the popular vote in this year's Presidential election would also argue against courts, esp the federal courts, who override/declare unconstitutional laws passed by voters in various states.  After all, if the popular vote is all that matters, shouldn't it matter all of the time?

I still can't get my head around "the inauguration of Don Trump."  I must be living a bad dream.  I certainly would have felt as bad, if not worse, had it been "the inauguration of Hillary Clinton."  But I think the political reality of a Clinton inauguration would have been easier on me--no, she would have been a lousy President; I'm glad she lost.  I do not want Trump to be President and his inauguration seems like a clown show.

A lot of folks are touting his Cabinet appointments.  One I don't care for is Betsy De Vos at Education.  First, I am not a big fan of the federal Dept of Ed. We already have 50 depts of ed, one in each of the states.  Second, the wasteful spending and mandates of the Dept of Ed are, if I may use the word, deplorable.  Remember Ronald Reagan campaigned on eliminating it, a boondoogle prize awarded to the NEA by Jimmy Carter for its support in '76.  But Reagan was convinced, likely by Bill Bennett, that in the hands of the Republicans, the DoE would be a force for good.  Well, my 46 years in education lead me to believe it hasn't been that; that it has been a big detriment.  I'm pretty sure De Vos won't move to eliminate the DoE, either.  I have grave concerns about her views of the Common Core.  She may or may not still support it; she has been a supporter, than an opponent.  I don't know if she just blows with the wind on her public pronouncements or not.  I am pretty sure, though, that one of the foundations she finances, at least a good portion of it, is a strong supporter of the Common Core.  I think her stance on charter schools is also misguided, that in viewing them, she wears blinders.  In this appointment, Trump strikes out, at least to me he does.  But, then again, I don't expect much of him.  He shouldn't be President.

"Why in the world would any young person want to be a teacher today?"  I've heard that, or several variations of it, probably half a dozen times, maybe more, over the past weeks.  And none of the questioners, and it's really a statement and not a question, not a single one, was a teacher.  I suppose there is among some, still a streak of altruism, that teaching is a noble profession.  And of course, in its pristine state, it most certainly is.  But I think many teachers, often through their unions, have sold their souls, some willingly and others unknowingly by not paying attention, by being simple bobble heads for the latest trendy educational fads (always based on studies, of course; but why do the studies of today run contrary to the studies of a couple of years ago?)  If I have to explain the answer to that, well, it's probably too late.