Dig if you will the picture

The story sounds oddly familiar. A hard fought and even sometimes vicious campaign for president with accusations of fraud and outside influence. The sitting president’s party loses the election and originally accepts the loss only to later reverse course. In order to pry power from his hands, foreign troops invade from both the North and the South to enforce the democratic election of his opponent. The “duly elected” president is sworn in, not at the Capitol, but at an embassy in another country fearing for his safety in the country that he now heads.

This is not an alternative history of the United States but rather the true story last week of the west African country of The Gambia. This scenario, similar to one hinted at by some domestic, right wingers for how Obama would try to keep power, seems to be working itself out peacefully and most of the Senegalese troops have returned to their own country.  What happened in the U.S. would be just as strange if we tried to explain it to aliens and not living it ourselves.

It went like this.  On Friday, the guy who can’t handle a twitter account much less the nuclear codes(Obama’s words) sat down to tea with the founder of ISIS(Trump’s words).  Later, the two liars(Obama & Trump’s words) got into a car together and rode down to the Capitol for the inauguration. With his right hand raised and the other on not one but two bibles, the guy who “pumps himself up by putting other people down” was sworn in as the guy who tried to send your grandmother in front of a death panel with his healthcare law watched.  In America we call this a peaceful transfer of power and it’s something that makes our hearts swell with pride.

Cool story bro, then what happened?

Next, the President began a speech to a crowd somewhere between 250,000 and 1.5 eleventy billions in which he thanked the outgoing president for his graciousness.  Evidently forgetting that he had actually won or potentially just stuck in campaign mode, President Trump (I just typed that for the first time) then began to rip into everyone around him for enriching themselves at the expense of everyday citizens.  In what the Lefties immediately named the “Carnage Speech”, Trump painted a vision of America that was inspirational only to doomsday cultists and James Cameron.

Down the street some protesters, turned rioters, broke windows at some businesses and then washed down their Starbucks with some pepper spray delivered by the local constabulary.  They shouted things like “Dump Trump” and “we want organic pepper spray” in what passes for a modern version of civil disobedience and application of democratic ideals.  Around the nation, civics teachers wept.

Saturday brought a different group to the capital.  With numbers around ½ million and either much larger or much smaller than the inauguration crowds, women from around the country came to have their voices heard.  In a showing of sisterhood and solidarity not seen since the 1970s, women (and a few men) filled D.C. to the point that the couldn’t even march.  Most found inspiration while others back home clutched their pearls as Madonna gyrated and dropped the F-bomb.  Then Facebook broke.

This past weekend showed our best and our worst and both how strong we are and how far we have to go.  As we all pray for healing in our divided country let us also not forget the men and women of The Gambia.  In a country where just over half of the population is literate and nearly 2% are infected with HIV/AIDS, political squabbles often turn to real violence.  But for the grace of God…

Finding My Joy

When I was younger I can remember thinking to myself that if I only had three things in life I would be happy. My list was simple: a wife, a house, and a job.  I wasn’t concerned much with the order that I got those things I just knew that I needed them. Anyone that knows my wife knows that I am a proud member of the “Married Up Club”.  Anyone who has seen the house I live in now and the one I grew up in can see that they are similar in size with the only major difference being lawn maintenance (sorry Pops).  What I don’t have though is a job.  I have something much more… I have a calling.

I grew up around people with jobs. People who spent hour upon hour in dyeing & finishing or the warp room producing some of the finest denim the world has seen. Folks that would bend over miles of woven fabric under UV lights looking for slubs and other minor imperfections. Hard working, salt of the earth people who perpetually kept their noses to the grindstone so that they could support their families and provide a future for their children.  With a little embarrassment I have realized that I am the first member of my family, in a line that stretches back over 100 years, that has never drawn a paycheck from a cotton mill.  I know what a job is and thanks be to God I don’t have one.  What I do is teach.

I often joke with my students that I teach for free and I get paid to go to meetings. Honestly, in the last 12 years I haven’t worked a single day and I’m proud of it. What I have done is impart knowledge and occasionally wisdom to the most confused subset of our population. Along the way I’ve cried for their losses and victories, placed flowers on their tombstones, and occasionally kept them from killing each other. I’ve even been able to convince some of them that an education is the key to their future and alarmingly a few have decided to become educators themselves. Oh yeah, and I loved them. And I told them that I love them. They are my kids.

If it ain’t broke…

The public education system is not broken. It isn’t perfect but that certainly doesn’t mean that it isn’t working. Can it be better? Of course, but tell me what human institution couldn’t use a little tweaking.  The people that I work with are the education system and they certainly aren’t broken. They have dedicated their lives to making other people’s lives better and when politicians claim that they are failing in their calling it brings a cold fury on me that I struggle to contain.  Education has become a political football kicked around between our two major parties in an attempt to score points with voters to the detriment of teachers and the children that they love.

I have a simple litmus test that I use to gauge every action of my teaching day and every thought about education policy; does it help kids? That’s the business I’m in and if that thought doesn’t guide your decisions about education I have little time and no tolerance for your ideas.  I heard a preacher once say that sitting in a church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car. Sitting in a student’s desk for 12 years does not make you an education expert either.  Who are the education experts? Teachers.

Only six states spent less on education per pupil than North Carolina but our students’ scores were 23rd on national tests.  That’s one heck of a return on investment for a failing system.  When adjusted for inflation, North Carolina is spending less per pupil than before the Great Recession and I can’t overlook how our General Assembly bragged about increased spending on education.  That would be like me explaining to EJ that I have increased spending on her birthday candles over the last ten years.  Sure you are 12 now but 9 candles will have to do.

Simply put, we need to build up the people who are in the trenches everyday with our most precious resource and not belittle or politicize their impact.  We need to settle on one effective curriculum and teach it with the proper support and stop testing our kids to death.  We need to fund education as if our future truly depended upon it and on this day especially we need to remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education.

As a Biblical character, you know you’ve made it when even folks who’ve never read the Bible know who you are and such is the fame of King Solomon.  In his most famous judgment, Solomon was required to choose which of two women was the actual mother of a newborn baby. His solution, according to scripture of course, was to cut the baby in half. This revealed the identity of the true mother as she would do anything, even giving up her own child, before she would see it come to harm. I would love to see what the wise king could do with the current state of affairs within North Carolina politics.

According to information from the North Carolina State Board of Elections website, North Carolina has 6,760,450 registered voters.  It doesn’t say how many of them are active voters and it also doesn’t indicate how many are currently alive but it does provide some food for thought.  When broken down by party, Democrats make up 39.3% of the electorate in North Carolina while registered Republicans check in with 30.3%. Following closely behind are independents or as they are know in political party parlance, unaffiliated, with 29.8% of registered N.C. voters.

Given those numbers it is obvious that Republicans have punched far above their weight in every election since 2008.  The 2010 election saw N.C. mirror the country in a lurch back towards a more conservative bent and the N.C. GOP has capitalized on those victories.  With super majorities in both the State House and Senate, Republican leadership seems both drunk with power and desperate to hold onto it.

Bills placing extreme limitations on abortion (or reproductive rights if you prefer) and HB2 represent a social agenda far more conservative than most North Carolinians prefer.  I’m not arguing a position on these laws, necessarily, but merely pointing out that according to polling they don’t represent the wishes of the majority of North Carolinians.  Conversely, elected Democrats have lined up solidly in opposition to these extreme measures and like any army hopelessly outnumbered have resorted to the political equivalent of guerilla warfare.

The latest political imbroglio for North Carolina comes in the form of the Legislative special session where Republicans attempted to shift powers within state based apparently on the November election:  From the governor to the General Assembly, away from the Board of Education to the incoming superintendent, and the piece de resistance in the form of a complete overhaul of the Board of Elections.  Reclaiming “legislative oversight” pursuant to the state constitution many Republicans claimed while Democrats screamed “power grab”.

Cue the scenes which have become all too familiar to middle of the road North Carolinians.  Clamoring protests by the NAACP and other liberal groups and sweet grandmothers being arrested by Capitol police all while Dallas Woodhouse screeches in the background about the Christmas Massacre of 1976.  God bless us everyone, indeed.

With politically gerrymandered districts protecting many Republican officials it is unlikely that even the continual stream of negative court rulings will slow the tide of their conservative agenda.  Meanwhile, Democrats hold slim hope that Gov. Cooper will spend more time governing than fighting rearguard actions against the state legislature.  In his inaugural address Cooper said he refused “to spend the next four years engaging in political brinksmanship.”  Sorry Roy but that’s what you signed up for.

Sadly, if our elected leaders were presented with the opportunity to split the baby it appears that each would be more than willing to take a half.

Helping the refs

My oldest daughter happened to be entering the living room the other day as I screamed for a penalty to be called in favor of my beloved Manchester United. Anyone who has ever seen me coach a soccer game knows that finding passion isn’t a problem for me nor is attempting to assist the referees in making a decision. At home, watching soccer, I’m even more vociferous and helpful.

“Which team is Manchester United?”, EJ asked as I wiped my spittle from the television screen.  My first thought was how much Palmer was going to enjoy not having to split her inheritance with her sister but then it hit me.  Switch shirts.  Would I feel the same if the play had happened in the exact same way except on the other end of the field?

In my classroom, one of my main teaching tools is to encourage students to defend the position opposite of the one they hold. I’ve had Hispanic students push for border walls, evangelicals defend gay marriage, and boys still in camouflage from their morning deer hunt speak in favor of gun control. I’m not trying to make these students change sides;  I’m trying to make them see that there is another side.

Take your medicine

If I was captain of the debate team I would take my own medicine and explain why the Russian hacking (or should I say alleged hacking) of the U.S. electoral system isn’t a big deal.  Turns out that at least in this instance I’m not able to do what I ask of my students. I can’t seem to turn this situation in my head in any way to where it isn’t a big deal.

I know that Team Hillary did a poor job in some swing states where she felt victory was all but assured and therefore ignored them. I know that the emails released were not doctored in any way but were in fact the exact words of Democratic operatives. It is not my intention to question any of the facts about Hillary’s poorly run and ill fated campaign.  My point is that if the shirts had been switched and the same thing had happened to the Trump campaign I doubt he would be urging America to “move on.”

If I remember correctly the President-elect questioned the efficacy of the electoral process consistently up until election day so leaked emails potentially hacked by a foreign power should be of grave concern to him.  The question to ask is why Donald Trump is unconcerned with potential meddling by foreign powers even up to the point of casting aspersions on the intelligence community.

The answer, in my opinion, is that it is not that he is unconcerned with hacking but instead is more concerned about the perceived legitimacy of his election and therefore his presidency.  We’ve all seen how difficult it has been for an African born, Muslim to be considered a legitimate president and he won the popular vote and electoral college. Twice.  

Ironically, while I was writing this piece Manchester United beat West Ham 2-0 after the Hammers had a player red carded in the 14th minute and were forced to play the rest of the game with 10 men.  If the shirts had been switched I might be in the hospital right now and Heather would be keeping vigil bedside while searching Amazon for a new T.V.