Sometimes...

...I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits.  That is what today feels like.  I don't know how to respond to some of the things I've read and heard, but not read, today.

Is it true four blacks from Chicago kidnapped a "special needs" man, tied him up, and tortured him, all the while spewing anti-Trump epithets and recording it on Face Book?  There was nothing about it in my newspaper this AM.  I heard it on the radio and found some things online.  It's a heinous crime.  Now, is it a "hate crime," too?  I am not a fan of "hate crimes" or, rather, prosecution of crimes as such.  The Chicago police have not identified it as one, taking a "wait-and-see" stance.  I think that's a smart thing to do, even if the evidence at hand strongly suggests "hate crime."  What is more revealing and disconcerting is the little I've heard about it.  There was a clip on the radio of some CNN analyst telling us not to jump to conclusions.  Hey, wait a minute!  That's all we do or, at least, all a lot of people do.  Didn't the President and his DOJ "jump to conclusions," long before facts were in in quite a few instances?  Ferguson?  Trayvon Martin?  Henry Louis Gates?  The list is pretty substantial.  Why can we "jump to conclusions" some times, but "wait and see" other times?

Speaking of the President, or rather, one who wrote about him, an op-ed piece today seemed to be completely out of touch with reality.  It claimed, "...Obama has run an administration of uncommon integrity."  Who is this author?  I suppose some folks believe this.  Those targeted by Obama's IRS, DOJ, NSA, FBI, etc. might hesitate, at least a little.  Does "uncommon integrity" include blatant lies? "You can keep your health insurance and it won't cost you a dime more."  Someone as brilliant as Obama couldn't have really believed this, could he?  That would make, well, less than "brilliant."  So, then, isn't it a lie?  And we could keep going......

While I'm at it, let's get on Trump, too.  I'm not a big fan of his appointments so far.  Someone, in response to my thoughts on that, "There's a good Establishment and a bad Establishment."  I suppose that's right.  But how to tell the difference?  Let's pick on his choice for Sec of Ed.  If Trump vowed to "drain the swamp," this is a funny way to do it.  OK, she's not Washington Establishment, but can anyone argue she isn't "Establishment?"  She's spent a fortune, a whole lot more than most of you and certainly I will make in our/my lifetime(s) advocating a special interest in education, one that a majority of Americans oppose, that is, charter schools.  Now, you or others might favor "school choice," "vouchers," and even charter schools.  Hey, I am on the fence about some of them.  I didn't send one of my kids to the school he was "supposed to" attend--and I'm glad I didn't; we "chose" his school.  I'm still doing that, too.  But the charter school bill in Michigan, for one, has allowed public funds to go to, well, almost for-profit schools whose record of achievement is not at all noticeably better than public schools.  Oh, there are some good charter schools; there are some good public schools as well.  But, first of all, let's not at all compare charters with public schools or for that matter private/parochial schools with the publics.  They don't play the same game.  I certainly don't want to get rid of private schools--I opted to attend one to go to college.  But let's not use test scores, silly test scores, to make comparisons.  As I said, these various schools play different games.  And targeting teachers' unions isn't the answer; that's a knee-jerk reaction for simple minds.  I've tendered some answers to the problems with education here in the past, but there's no likelihood of any of them going anywhere.

I think I surprised someone the other day in a discussion about affirmative action.  I'm pretty sure what was expected from my mouth, but that's not what came out.  As one who, at least once in a matter that was important at the time, has been adversely affected by affirmative action, I have my antipathies toward it.  Yet, I also see the need for it, a real need.  I'm aware of the residue it leaves, but what alternative(s) is (are) there in many cases?  I'm not smart enough to think of alternatives.