Will Former GOP Officials Be Able To Persuade Republican Voters That Biden Is The Lesser Evil?

Tuesday, The Circus ran a piece on Kellyanne Conway in which she predicted that "hidden Trump voters" would be out in force on November 3rd to save the day for the Orange Menace. "As the person who coined the term, 'hidden undercover Trump voter in 2016,' there are even more of them and they’re even more committed now, and they’re going to surprise you as to who they are this time."

But are there hidden undercover Biden voters too? Republicans who have never voted for Democrats in their lives but who cannot, eyes wide open, vote for Trump again? Yesterday a couple hundred Republicans and Independents announced that they're voting for Biden. Christine Todd Whitman, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, noted that while Bixden is a "decent man, a steady man, Trump is trying to paint the world of Joe Biden as horrific-- but that’s Trump’s America now." According to Reuters reporter Tim Reid "She accused Trump of betraying conservative values by undermining the rule of law and national security, lying, dividing Americans along racial lines, and failing the country in his response to the coronavirus pandemic."

Michigan Democrats don't remember Governor Rick Snyder with anything but contempt, but Michigan Republicans still respect and admire the man who they elected governor in 2011 and 2015. Yesterday he kicked off this new effort with an appeal directly to Republicans in an OpEd, I am a Republican vote for Biden, for USA Today, painting Trump as a bully without a moral compass.

Forty-four years ago, I celebrated my 18th birthday at the 1976 Republican National Convention as part of Gerald Ford’s national youth group. At that convention, I had the honor to watch two great leaders in action-- Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. I have remained a lifelong Republican and proudly announced Michigan’s support for Mitt Romney in 2012 from the front row of the Republican convention in Tampa.

I will continue to support and stand up for Republican policies and values, and support Republican candidates, but I will not support Donald Trump for reelection.

Trump has not unified the nation

When elected to office, you do not represent only your supporters, you represent all of your constituents. That is your job. I was at the nation’s Capitol when Trump gave his inaugural address. I had hoped this first speech as president would be a message to unify a divided nation. Instead, I heard a speech directed at how he would help the people who supported him. And sadly, that is how President Trump continues to govern.

Furthermore, President Trump’s answer to people who oppose or disagree with them is to be verbally abusive. In other words, he is a bully.

A great leader treats people with respect even when they present different opinions. Without a variety of views and opinions, we would have no innovation or creativity in our nation. Being a bully and being strong are not the same thing. Being strong is standing up for your convictions. Being a bully is trying to intimidate those who are perceived to be weaker or a threat. As a proud nerd, I had to deal with bullies over many years; it is tragedy watching our world suffer from one.

In addition, President Trump lacks a moral compass. He ignores the truth.

Facts and science matter. Good decisions should be based on facts and supported by sound scientific theory whenever possible.

President Trump also has demonstrated that he does not fully appreciate public policy matters, including public health, the economy and foreign relations, nor does he seem to want to learn.

While we have had a strong economy during his term, it reminds me of the old expression that it is better to be lucky than smart. Some regulatory reforms have been helpful. But his tax reform was a failure. It didn’t have real long-term value, enriched large corporations and violated the basic principles of good tax reform to be simple, fair, and efficient. In the foreign policy area, there have been some good agreements, but overall, our nation is no longer respected as a leader on world affairs.

Not supporting Donald Trump for reelection is not the same thing as voting for Joe Biden.

Bringing back civility to the nation

I had the opportunity to interact with Mr. Biden when he served as vice president. My interactions were always constructive and respectful. He has shown the desire to heal a deeply divided nation; has demonstrated strong moral character and empathy; and he seems willing to listen to people who have different perspectives from his own.

For years, I mentioned in most of my speeches the need to bring back civility to our nation. We will not continue to be the greatest nation in the world if we can’t get along among ourselves. We have only become more divided over the past four years. We need a leader who believes in civility and bringing Americans closer together.

While I am endorsing Joe Biden for president, I am still a Republican who also will be publicly supporting Republican candidates at the local, state and federal level.

My weekly column signoff is-- “Remember, Relentless Positive Action (RPA) in your life will help you and others. So, I wish you RPA every day!” RPA is a philosophy of no credit, no blame, and solving problems in a relentless fashion. Never in our nation’s history have we needed RPA more. I hope you will join me and help others by using Relentless Positive Action to elect Joe Biden as America’s next president.

Retired Michigan Republicans congressmen Joe Schwarz and Dave Trott jumped right on board, each endorsing Biden.

Republican Governors Of Michigan, Florida And Missouri Have A Unified Message For The Voters Of Their States: "Screw Democracy And Screw You!"

Missouri Gov. Michael Parson hates gays and hates democracy

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder had signed and vetoed loads of bills on one of his last days in office. He signed a phony environmental cleanup bill that will actually make it harder to toughen standards for protecting drinking water from certain toxic chemicals. In line with other Republicans leaving office and crapping all over the governors' offices, Snyder signed a bill requiring Democratic Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer to justify new stricter regulations and as a capper he signed a law making it harder for groups to put proposals on the statewide ballot by limiting to 15% the number of proposition signatures from any congressional district. That's aimed to limit the power of voters in Detroit-- and a lesser extent in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint, Dearborn and Kalamazoo-- to get proposals onto the ballot. And Snyder isn't the only Republican trying to limit the ability of voters to go around the gerrymandered Republican legislatures to make laws.

Associated Press also ran a piece about the right-wing kook who took over as governor of Missouri when Eric Greitens was forced to resign. Lt. Gov. Michael Parson was an extreme right member of the legislature from 2005 until last year. Well known in the gay community as a homophobic fanatic, Parson is also a corrupt shitbag. And everyone in the state knows it since his former chief of staff revealed that he proposed legislation for lobbyists who paid him off. He has been accused numerous times of taking "gifts" from lobbyists who have business with the state. One state legislator who knows him well told me that Parson is the "embodiment of corruption... He's the most crooked politician in [Missouri]." A firm believer in austerity for the citizens of his state, the first things he did as Lt. Governor was to approve a $54,000 remodeling and renovation budget for his office, request a $125,000 increase to his $463,000 budget, which included $35,000 to reimburse himself for travel expenses. On top of that he demanded $10,000 for out-of-state travel and then an additional $25,000 to pay for a personal driver.

Now he's trying to repeal a voter-approved constitutional amendment to establish nonpartisan redistricting for the state legislature and is pushing for an opportunity to make it harder for Missouri citizens to get proposals onto the ballot. First let's look at Amendment 1-- the redistricting initiative that also deals with lobbying and campaign finance reform. The results were not at all ambiguous and horrified Parson.

The amendment requires a state demographer and a non-partisan commission to consider specific criteria in drawing legislative districts, including partisan fairness and competitiveness, contiguousness, and compactness. It also forbids the state Legislature from passing laws allowing for unlimited campaign contributions to candidates for the state legislature and establishes campaign contribution limits for legislative candidates and their committees for a single election cycle to $2,500 per person to a state Senate candidate and $2,000 per person to a state House candidate. The measure prohibits making or accepting contributions using a fake name, using the name of another person, or through another person to conceal the actual donor's identity. It also requires legislators and legislative employees to wait 2 years after the conclusion of the legislative session before they can become paid lobbyists. On top of that, it prohibits legislators and legislative employees from accepting gifts from lobbyists in excess of $5.

Amendment 1 almost sounds like a personal rebuke to Parson, who is now working to overturn it, something likely to help elect a Democratic governor of the state in 2020. He seems certain he knows better than the 62% of voters who passed it.

Beyond that, Parson said in an interview with The Associated Press, it may also be time to raise the bar for initiative petitions to appear on the ballot.

The Republican governor acknowledges that neither of those things may sound good to voters.

"Fundamentally, you think when the people vote you shouldn't be changing that vote," Parson told the AP. "But the reality of it is that is somewhat what your job is sometimes, if you know something's unconstitutional, if you know some of it's not right."

... An AP analysis found the formula is likely to increase Democrats' chances of winning elections and cut into Republicans' supermajorities in the state House and Senate. The measure doesn't change congressional redistricting, which is handled by state lawmakers. Repealing it would require a new measure to be placed before voters... Republican legislative leaders also have said they may consider changes to Amendment 1 during the session that starts Jan. 9.

Despite Republican legislative efforts to hold up the Florida ballot initiative that will allow ex-felons to vote, local election officials said last week they will begin adding voters to the rolls in January, including those who have served time for felonies. Amendment 4 automatically restores the right to vote for people with prior felony convictions-- except for murder or a sexual offense-- upon completion of their sentences, including prison, parole, and probation. Governor-elect Ron DeSantis and the Republican legislature have been trying to figure out a way to kill it.

It affects more than a million and a half Floridians and is expected to help Democrats even up the gerrymandered state legislative districts a bit. It's likely that in 2020 the new voters will help Democrats defeat Michael Waltz (FL-06), Ross Spano (FL-15), Vern Buchanan (FL-16) and Brian Mast (FL-18) and is likely to also jeopardize the 2020 reelection efforts of Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Ted Yoho (FL-03), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) and Bill Posey (FL-08). As for the 29 electoral votes Florida has in presidential elections...

Liberty Revisited by Nancy Ohanian

And Today’s Mass-Murdering Politico Award Goes To… Nick Lyon, Alleged Criminal Mastermind Behind Flint, Michigan’s Water Poisoning!

-by Noah

Way to go Nick Lyon! Who, you might ask, is Nick Lyon? Well, Nick isn’t a household name, at least not yet, but he is the head of Michigan’s "health” department." He has been charged by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette with involuntary manslaughter for his part in the city of Flint’s water being poisoned with brain-damaging lead. Lyon is the highest-ranking official in his state to be charged, so far.

What amounted to willful introduction of lead into the Flint water system has resulted in untold cases of permanent brain damage among the children of Flint, along with numerous cases of the dreaded Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia caused by excessive amounts of bacteria in the Flint River water. Twelve people have died, hence the involuntary manslaughter charge.

In the case of Legionnaires’ disease, you can get it by inhaling the vapor from your building’s cooling system, which is apparently what happened. The state is disputing that and it is harder to show a connection as direct as the lead issue. To prevent the lead problem, all the government officials had to do was treat the water to reduce the leaching of lead from pipe corrosion into the water. They chose not to when they decided to switch Flint’s water supply to the polluted Flint River and the lead from the pipes in the water system was free to flow into the homes, offices, and schools of Flint.

With such notoriety has Nick Lyon now has, I won’t be surprised if President Trump choose him for a high position in the EPA, or maybe a brand new Department of Clean Water Cabinet slot that will oversee drinking water for the entire country. Senor Trumpanzee is probably looking over his resume right now. After all, Trump has already inflicted the country with another Michigan disaster named Betsy DeVos. All Nicky will have to do is kneel before the prez and tell him what beautiful hair he has.

The charges against Lyon were announced Wednesday. Predictably, Michigan’s Governor, Rick Snyder was not charged, so, it looks like Nick Lyon is at the top of the list of those taking the fall. Such is justice in these United States. Others have also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, though, including former Flint Emergency Director Darnell Earley, former Flint water manager Howard Croft, and Liane Shekter-Smith and Stephen Busch of the ironically named Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. I have to add that the word ‘involuntary’ in the charge seems misused to me.

In a separate move, Dr. Eden Wells, Michigan’s chief medical officer, has been charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. Take a few seconds to absorb the poetic meaning of the name Dr. Eden Wells, as it applies to a case where a water supply was poisoned, not just on the watch of a person named Eden Wells, but a doctor, no less. The Michigan Department of Health & Human Services website describes her position as one that “serves Michigan citizens by providing professional leadership”. Dr. Eden Wells formerly worked for the state Bureau of Epidemiology where her responsibilities included “preparedness planning for potential bioterrorism and pandemic influenza events.” Talk about irony. If what happened in Flint wasn’t some sort of bioterrorism, I don’t know what is. It certainly was preventable.

The events that lead to the Flint tragedy have their origins in republican-style governance. Yes, the Flint River has been polluted for over 100 years but that is precisely why it was not considered a viable source for human consumption until Rick Snyder and his people came along. It was they who brought in the republican version of “Emergency Management”; a legal move where by a democratically elected local government can be replaced by a hand-picked team of cronies.

The law actually has its roots in a 1990 law called the Local Government Fiscal Responsibility Act, which was passed when Democratic Governor James Blanchard was in office. Under Governor Snyder’s direction, the law was “fine-tuned” into the now infamous Emergency Manager Law. It was one of Snyder’s very first moves upon taking office. Initially, Michigan voters rejected the new version of the law when it was put before them in a referendum in 2012, only to see a further “fine-tuning” which included a stipulation that the public could not repeal it. And you thought Wisconsin’s Scott Walker was the worst fascist governor in the Midwest.

This amped up, steroid version of the original law is now championed by republicans who see it as a nifty way to subvert democracy, when, in their warped, agenda-packed view, the people of a town or city can’t govern themselves, or they think they can do things better by making dictator moves. The side perks of running things with your own team naturally enter into the concept.

The professed ideas of self-governance, self-determination, self-reliance, and whatever else you want to call it, that republicans always mouth on about is mightily contradicted by the truths and greed of their “Emergency Management” “we know best”, “we will decide for you” approach to local government. It’s one thing to label democrats in such a way, but it’s a whole other thing to say you stand for one way and do another.

That Governor Snyder hasn’t also been charged with something in this case is a joke. The same can be said for all of the statehouse republicans that voted to ram through the aforementioned Emergency Management system that enabled this criminal fiasco. Flint had financial problems but at least their water was safe. Nick Lyon reportedly directly to Snyder. Are we supposed to believe Snyder had no idea what was going on with Flint’s water?

Snyder was called to Washington to testify before Congress but it was a classic insincere dog and pony show. Little has been done, even with a democratic president and EPA head; little that is except the distribution of water bottles and the supplying of some water filters that may or may not always work, depending on the concentration of lead in the water at a given place on a given day. At least, the Flint River is no longer being used as a water source for Flint. The state has switched them back to the Detroit River for their water.

Finally, last December, Congress approved at least $120 Million to fix Flint’s water situation. In March, the Trump administration cut that down to $100 Million. Don’t be shocked if further subtractions are made. After all, Senor Trumpanzee has a wall he wants to build.

Snyder, predictably, is defending his people, and, by proxy, himself, saying:

“Nick Lyon has been a strong leader at the Department of Health and Human Services for the past several years and remains completely committed to Flint’s recovery. Director Lyon and Dr. Eden Wells, like every other person who has been charged with a crime by Bill Schuette, are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Fair enough Rick. That is our system, even when you decided to remove the democratically elected local government of Flint. I guess you want things both ways. I especially love the part about him saying that Lyon is committed to Flint’s recovery from a disaster; a disaster that he could have prevented even after the installation of the governor’s Emergency Management team.

All in all, the Flint water catastrophe is yet another fine example of the Republican Party’s concept of healthcare and environmental protection, not to mention the protection impoverished Americans who just don’t matter to them. The attitude of Snyder and his people was: Let them drink lead. There’s no just penalty in our legal system for that.

If you want to see Governor Snyder doing his Sgt. Schultz “I know nothing. I don’t recall fest,” check this out. They don’t come much more contemptuous.

Republican Of The Year Nominee #3: Governors' Edition

2016 In Review: America Off The Rails, Part 7


You bet, Maine's Paulie No-Brains is a contender!

by Noah

It’s not easy to pick the primo nominees for Republican Of The Year. For this installment of America Off The Rails, I’ve decided to narrow the field to just republican governors. Still, so many choices, so little time! It’s daunting. Where does one start? How does one judge?

Do we go by racism? No. Too easy and too all-encompassing. It’s difficult to get far enough to be a republican candidate for anything if you haven’t at least exhibited some sort of racism to polish your republican credentials somewhere along the way. At this point, I don’t think they even accept your application unless you’ve shown that you might someday strike a match to burn a cross.

So, how do we decide? Environmental policy? Wage and labor issues? Voting rights? LGBTQ stance? Immigration? Misogyny? Demeanor? Obvious insanity? Do the knuckles touch the ground? Chances are any republican governor has nearly all if not all of these bases covered, really covered!

My solution to this dilemma is to just play a game of word association with myself. I’ll type out a name of a republikook governor, any one of whom is a nominee for Republican Of The Year in his own right, who “served” in 2016, and see what instantly pops into my mind -- what about that goon leaps to the forefront of my mind as soon as I picture his or her visage or think of their name?

So, here goes!


CHRIS CHRISTIE, New Jersey

[Click on any cartoon to enlarge]

Ewwwee, this is a bad start. I’m from NJ. This is personally embarrassing. He even grew up in the town next door to the one I’m from, and I don’t remember anything that bad -- bad as Chris Christie.

Nah, he’s bad, but he’s not the worst. He’s just a dumb loudmouth bully type who should have been punched hard in the face in the fifth grade and sent home crying pathetically to his mommy. Because no one did that, we all have to suffer years later. Wasn’t it hideous to watch him chasing Trump around, trying to affix his fat lips permanently to Trump’s fat ass? Damn. And that expression on poor, sad Mrs. Christie’s face, forced to stand onstage with hubby and Trumpie as she watched. She chose . . . poorly.


SCOTT WALKER, Wisconsin



Not bad, ROTY-wise. Definitely a possibility. Scotty, you’ve done the voter-suppression thing to the max. You’ve earned praise from fellow repugs as you brought your state’s Argentina of America tendencies to the forefront. You’re a fine example of how to install a fascist government. Because of that, republicans consider you presidential material. Scott, you are the envy of republicans everywhere.

Not bad at all, Scott. Good try, but no. You’re a loser. Sad. Let’s move on.


PAT McCRORY, North Carolina



Oh, if you’re a republican, he’s good. Great grades on voter suppression. Previous career as a defense lawyer for a company that ignored environmental laws and dumped huge amounts of coal ash into once pristine rivers.

Screw those kayakers! Screw the fishermen! Screw the fish! Screw the water birds. And once in office, he kept right on defending the polluters.

He’s true to what he is: a total jackass! Oh and let’s not forget that bathroom bill, the one that messed up his reelection.

McCrory really has that republican obsession with urination down. But is he as good as --


MIKE PENCE, Indiana



In July, I posted ("With The Selection Of Mike Pence For VP, Republicans Have Now Checked All The Hate Boxes") how you put the finishing touch on the Trump ticket with your virulent homophobia. I mentioned how republicans were mighty concerned about Trump being a little weak in that area. But you, Mike Pence, you are the man! You came to the rescue and joined the ticket. Dare I say, your presence put Trump over the top?

But it wasn’t just that. Your KKK index is through the roof. Your brand of fake Christianity is second to none. That little “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” was pure inspiration to fellow sociopaths like McCrory. When it comes to being pro-discrimination, you, sir, are an asshole among assholes. No wonder Comrade Trump picked you! Good thing, too, because you are so bonkers even Indiana was sick of your act.


SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas



Sammy! You’ve done well! You’ve turned your state into a laboratory for republican-tax-policy wet dreams. You killed regulations in Kansas. You rejected those wicked federal Medicaid subsidies that would have given Kansas citizens better and cheaper healthcare. You privatized Medicaid. You’ve created Conservative Utopia!

You famously said:

My focus is to create a red-state model that allows the Republican ticket to say, "See, we've got a different way, and it works."

You’ve done it better than anybody! You’ve slashed taxes like nobody’s business. Mitch McConnell adores you and says what you’ve done in your state is what he wants to do for the whole country!

And now your state is now bankrupt beyond any sane person’s nightmares. Congratulations! Mission accomplished! A couple of F-5 tornados would barely be noticed now! Well done!

It gets even better for you. Rumor has it that Comrade Trump wants to make you his secretary of agriculture. You’re on the way up. Fuck that little girl Dorothy. Screw her pooch! The Wicked Witch’s got nothin’ on you!


PAUL LePAGE, Maine



Paulie No-Brains, I hear you are one of 17 siblings! My god, are they like you? Are they out running loose? Are they all tragically multiplying and polluting the human gene pool forever and ever? Why haven’t your parents been arrested for crimes against humanity?

Even Politico, a news organization founded by Reagan and Bush types, has recently had to publicly wonder if you’re playing with a full deck.

But really, what republican anywhere is playing with a full deck? And oh, the irony when you said:

We need Mainers to understand our government is corrupt . . . The Maine people have to demand better from our elected officials.

And you’ve sure got that 19th-century racist thing going when you say things like:

The traffickers. These aren’t people who take drugs. These are guys by the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty. These type of guys that come from Connecticut and New York. They come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave.

Ah, the old fear of miscegenation and dilution of white bloodlines! Sounds just like republican role model David Duke! Frankly, it also seems like a state that would elect you and even reelect you could actually use the introduction of some new genetic material. Just sayin’.

Yeah, you’re stone crazy, Paul LePage! But, ya haven’t poisoned or killed anybody, yet. You try. You’re a lot of talk, but you're up against a guy who is a real republican action figure --


RICK SNYDER, Michigan



We have a winner! Ricky, baby, you’ve really got the fascism thing down! You got a bill passed that even allows you to remove local governing bodies, just like you were running Bolivia!

Fortune Magazine recently even gave you position #1 as worst leader in the world! Too bad we haven’t landed on Mars yet, or that too would be within your grasp!

Like all republicans, you dream of a day when you can deprive all but the rich of healthcare and watch people die. But what really sets you apart? Well, that whole “Let them drink lead” concept you and your crew came up with clinches it. This is a masterstroke. No one else thought of that!

Sure, any republican would love to cut someone’s chemo treatments short and send them on their way to the funeral home. Any psycho like Paul “Crazy Eyes” Ryan would love to deprive a less-than-wealthy American of the chance to have a brain tumor removed. But you, Rick Snyder, are special! “Let them drink lead”! You poisoned the people you swore to serve! Lead in the drinking water, that’s genius! I can see your next campaign bumper sticker:

“GAS LEAKS FOR ALL!”

Or how about:

“EVERY TOWN A BHOPAL!”

It’s even better that so many of your victims in Flint are minorities! You thought of everything! And it doesn’t necessarily kill them, it may just make them suffer for their whole lives! Brilliant! Lead poisoning is the republican gift that keeps on giving. It lasts a lifetime!

You are a god, Rick Snyder! You win, hands down! Bin Laden would love to shake your hand!

2016 IN REVIEW: AMERICA OFF THE RAILS

Here it is, Noah's completed Year in Review for 2016:

Part 1, "Profiles in Cowardice: The Electoral College" (12/23/2016)
Part 2, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #1: Newt Gingrich" (12/27/2016)
Part 3, "The Trumpf Inauguration Committee Finds The Perfect Inauguration Entertainment At Last!" (12/29/2016)
Part 4, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #2: R-R-Reince Priebus" (1/2/2017)
Part 5, "Comrade Trump: The World’s Worst Cabinet Maker, Believe Me -- Meet The New Russian Oligarchs! (1)" (1/4/2017)
Part 6, "Comrade Trump: The World’s Worst Cabinet Maker, Believe Me -- Meet The New Russian Oligarchs! (2)" (1/5/2017)
Part 7, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #3: Governors' Edition" (1/9/2017)
Part 8, "Trump -- The Art And Acts Of The Emboldened: The Rise In Hate Crimes Under The Influence Of Comrade T" (1/10/2017)
Part 9, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #4: It's A Sad Thing When Cousins Marry Edition" (1/11/2017)
Part 10, "Republican Person Of The Year Nominee #5 -- And Winner!" (1/12/2017)
Part 11, "Comrade Trump: Inauguration Entertainment Update!" (1/15/2017)
Part 12, "A DWT Exclusive: We Have The First Draft Of Comrade Trump's Inauguration Speech!" (1/16/2017)

#

Betsy DeVos-- The End Of American Public Education

It's all over, suckers

I've been in a state of denial since November 9 but Trump's appointment of Betsy DeVos yesterday snapped me right out of it. Sure, Trump hired an actual neo-Nazi as virtual co-Chief of Staff. And no matter how many times the clueless shills on Morning Joe try to assure everyone that Trump won't be governing the way he ran his vile campaign and that everything is back to normal and he'll have a fine cabinet, it just ain't so. The only thing I've heard positive about yesterday's announcement about Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary is that her appointment will clarify the battle lines. DeVos is another extremist billionaire whose life's work has been to destroy public education. Originally a huge Common Core advocate, her real goal is always to destroy teachers unions and voucherize and profitize education. (Incidentally, her brother is Erik Prince, founder of the worst of the American-based mercenary firms, Blackwater, privatizing war.) Annette Taddeo, former Democratic Party chair of Miami-Dade County, and currently a candidate for Florida Democratic Party chair now, was dismayed by Trump's appointment yesterday. "In Florida with Governor Scott's massive cuts to public education," she told us, "I thought we had reached rock bottom, but it seems there is a new bottom with Trumps nomination of DeVos."

The first person I called was my old friend Bertis Downs, probably best known as REM's manager, but also as a dedicated public school education activist in Georgia and a board member of the Network for Public Education. "So," he morosely quipped on the phone just after the news broke, "I guess now our American public schools will all be more like AmWay, I mean what could possibly go wrong!?" He sobered up fast:

But seriously, people don’t want the false cures pushed by corporate reformers and they prove that time and again, in statewide votes like the recent ones in Massachusetts, Washington state and Georgia. This is one of the rare issues that crosses party lines: parents and communities, regardless of their politics or parties, support their local schools and want to see them succeed. Republicans who support public schools-- and there are lots of them-- that is who needs to speak up and out about this appointment. If not, we really could be seeing the abandonment of our nation’s historic commitment to educating everybody-- public education as the great equalizer and perpetual engine of opportunity. People are wise enough to know that "choice" doesn’t educate kids-- teachers do and parents do-- schools do. And to the extent that the federal government has a role, it is to supplement and encourage our public schools, and the equality of opportunity within them-- not to destroy them by putting them into the hands of politicians and their cronies.

Bertis asked me to reach out to Carol Burris, head of the Network for Public Education and New York's 2013 New York State High School Principal of the Year. She told me that the DeVos pick makes one thing clear-- it shows Trump's commitment to the privatization of public schools as I wrote about here. DeVos wants all children to have vouchers, and she opposes regulations and oversight. Betsy DeVos spent over 1 million dollar to successfully block the effort of the Michigan legislature to clean up the mess of for-profit, unregulated charters in the state. The majority of Americans do not want what DeVos is selling. They do not want the Chilean education system of right wing dictator, Augusto Pinochet. They want community schools where they, not moneymakers, have voice. I have no doubt that the pushback on charters, vouchers and privatization will be enormous. The veil over so-called ed reform is now off."

"Trump," she had written for the Washington Post just last Sunday, "had little to say about education during the campaign, but that does not mean that he and those who surround him do not have a plan. There are clear indications that President Obama’s Race to the Top will be replaced with something that could be called 'Race to the Bank,' as the movement to privatize education seems certain to accelerate under an administration run by Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence." And the first concrete conformation was the appointment of DeVos.

Trump’s disdain for public schools is apparent. The Trump/Pence website uses the adjective “government” instead of  “public” when referring to community schools. It claims that school choice is “the civil rights issue of our time.”

Donald Trump Jr. used the convention as an opportunity to denigrate public schools by comparing them to “Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers.” Trump Jr.’s rhetoric belongs to a long-standing, right-wing belief that public education is a socialist institution and that schools should be run by the private sector.

Let’s stop for a moment and think about the “government” that runs public schools. It is not, as the slogan implies, a Washington cabal. Except in those cases where mayors have grabbed control, public schools are governed by locally elected school boards. The origin of the school board dates to 1647, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony required every town to establish a public school. Committees of school governance sprang up, becoming autonomous, local governing boards as early as the 1820s.

Nearly all school board members serve without pay. Most are dedicated, locally elected community servants who must abide by strict laws regarding conflict of interest-- laws from which many corporate charter boards are exempt. Yet school boards are viewed as an impediment by billionaires, like Reed Hastings of Netflix, who argued that school boards should be replaced with corporate boards through charter expansion.

The elimination of democratically governed schools is the true agenda of those who embrace choice. The talk of “civil rights” is smoke and mirrors to distract.

The plan on the Trump-Pence website promotes redirecting $20 billion in federal funds from local school districts and instead having those dollars follow the child to the school of their choice-- private, charter or public. States that have laws promoting vouchers and charters would be “favored” in the distribution of grants. Like Obama’s Race the Top, the competition for federal funds that states could enter by promising to follow Obama-preferred reforms, a Trump plan could use financial incentives to impose a federal vision on states.

The idea is not novel. Market-based reformers have referred to this for years as “Pell Grants for kids,” or portability of funding.

Portability, vouchers and charter schools have been hallmarks of Pence’s education policy as governor of Indiana. Unlike the Trump-Pence website, which frames choice as a “civil rights” initiative, Governor Pence did not limit vouchers to low-income families. He expanded it to middle-income families and removed the cap on the number of students who can apply.

It was promised that vouchers would result in savings, which then would be redistributed to public schools. What resulted, however, was an unfunded mandate. The voucher program produced huge school spending deficits for the state-- a $53 million funding hole during the 2015-16 school year alone. That deficit continues to grow.

The “money follows the student” policy has not only hurt Indiana’s public urban schools, it has also devastated community public schools in rural areas-- 63 districts in the Small and Rural Schools Association of Indiana have seen funding reduced, resulting in the possible shutdown of some, even after services to kids are cut to the bone.

In contrast, charters have thrived in Indiana with Pence’s initiatives of taxpayer-funded, low-interest loan, and per-pupil funding for nonacademic expenses. For-profit, not-for-profit and virtual schools are allowed. Scams, cheating scandals and political payback have thrived, as well. Former Indiana education commissioner Tony Bennett was forced to resign as the commissioner of Florida after it was discovered that he had manipulated school rating standards to save an Indiana charter school operated by a big Republican donor who gave generously to Bennett’s campaign.

Two nations, Chile and Sweden, fully implemented school choice. Both countries were influenced by the school privatization and choice theory of Milton and Rose Friedman, which is embraced by the incoming administration.

Chile’s choice system, imposed by dictator Augusto Pinochet, created a subsidized private school system in which schools could be run for profit. Chileans choose among elite private schools; public schools; and voucher schools, which are government-subsidized privates; and corporate schools, which are similar to American charters. Nearly all upper- and middle-class children attend private, corporate or voucher schools, leaving only the poor behind in the public schools. By 2011, Chile ranked 64 out of 65 in segregation across social classes in its schools and colleges.

The post-Pinochet government is banning for-profit schools, tuition and test-in criteria to try to fix the deep inequality caused by privatization, but progress is slow. Putting a public school system back together when it has been systematically disassembled is no easy task.

In the late 1990s, Sweden also embarked on a course of privatization as the driver of school reform. By 2011, the country went into “PISA shock” because Sweden was the only OECD nation to see its scores decline every time PISA was given since the international test began in 2000. Sam Abrams’s book Education and the Commercial Mindset describes Swedish scandals and bankruptcies, grade inflation due to school marketing, higher costs, and increased segregation by social class caused by privatization. As in the case of Chile, only the neediest children were left in some of Sweden’s municipal schools.

Both nations show us the outcome of choice. Americans need to consider some tough questions, before embracing its allure.

Do we want our schools to be governed by our neighbors whom we elect to school boards, or do we want our children’s education governed by corporations that have no real accountability to the families they serve?

Do we to want to build our communities, or fracture them, as neighborhood kids get on different buses to attend voucher schools, or are forced to go to charters because their community public school is now the place that only those without options go?

Do we believe in a community of learners in which kids learn from and with others of different backgrounds, or do we want American schools to become further segregated by race, income and religion?

The most shocking instances of charter school scandal and fraud consistently appear in states that have embraced the choice “market” philosophy. Are we willing to watch our tax dollars wasted, as scam artists and profiteers cash in?

When it comes to improving education, we have been engaged in work avoidance for too long. Rather than putting our efforts into creating better, safer and more diverse neighborhoods with excellent schools, we have pretended that the marketplace offers the only solution. We gave up the dream. And the privatizers and billionaires who dismiss democracy as an annoyance cynically jumped in.

True community public schools cannot survive school choice. There are only two paths. Will we choose the path chosen by a Chilean dictator, or will we rebuild and nurture a system with deep roots in American tradition and idealism?

OK, let's boil this down to a short version: redirecting federal funds toward school vouchers and privatization will lead to wealthy investors turning schools into profit centers for themselves, sort of like the catastrophe of private prisons, but a million times more destructive to what's left of America. Overly dramatic? We'll see. As for the DeVos family... it doesn't get any worse than these crackpot religious fanatics.

The DeVos family has thrown millions of dollars behind the causes and politicians they support. That means financing Senate races across the country involving vulnerable Republicans who support their issues; funding crisis pregnancy centers that lie to patients about abortion and other health concerns; fighting against marriage equality; and lining up support for so-called religious liberties measures.

...“Over the course of 2015, no family in conservative politics donated more hard dollars to political campaigns than the DeVoses,” reported Swan and Neidig [of The Hill]. Richard DeVos, the family’s billionaire patriarch, built his fortune as a co-founder of direct-selling franchise Amway; he is also the owner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic team. “An analysis by The Hill shows that members of the DeVos family donated $964,000 in hard dollars to Senate and House campaigns and to Republican Party committees at both the state and national level. This spending easily surpasses the $97,000 in hard dollars from the Koch family and $72,000 from the Coorses-- two other major conservative donor families.”

The DeVoses’ commitment to the Republican Party runs deep. Among their numerous political ties, Richard DeVos acted as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in the 1980s; Betsy DeVos, who is married to Richard’s son Dick DeVos, was the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and finance chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee; and her husband Dick took on a self-funded failed gubernatorial bid in Michigan in 2006 that cost the family more than $35 million.

...Much of the DeVos family’s donations have gone toward helping to fund the politicians and the conservative organizations behind anti-choice and other conservative measures in their home state of Michigan. “With donations to state legislators and Gov. Rick Snyder, the DeVos family-- via the Michigan Family Forum and Michigan Right to Life, which they help to fund-- were able to pass Michigan’s ‘rape insurance’ law, requiring women to buy a separate insurance rider for abortion to be covered, even in cases of rape and incest,” explained NARAL Pro-Choice America in a 2015 memo, referring to the 2013 Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act.

Michigan's preeminent progressive blog, ElectaBlog, has plenty of experience covering all things DeVos. Yesterday, right after the announcement, Mitchell Robinsion, an associate professor and chair of music education at Michigan State University, made it clear that while if "Trump's plan to turn the US into a giant flea market, selling off the bits and pieces of a once great nation for parts to the highest bidders" is going to be successful, he's found in DeVos a real pro in the game. Betsy DeVos was the absolute worst possible choice for Secretary of Education, so it’s no surprise that Trump chose her for this cabinet post... DeVos," wrote Robinson, "has been busy dreaming up new ways to capitalize on the billions of taxpayer dollars currently being wasted on children, teachers, and schools, and helping her puppet in the Michigan governor’s residence with his plan to destroy the state’s schools."

Remember, Michigan is the state where the Governor poisoned the water in one of the city’s largest cities, and more than 400 days later has still refused to replace a single water pipe. And the state whose lawyers recently claimed-- and I swear I’m not making this up-- that the state’s children had no “fundamental right to literacy.”

This is Betsy DeVos’ and Rick Snyder’s dream for how a state should govern-- that a state and its elected officials have no responsibility to provide clean drinking water or a quality education for its children. It’s a dystopian vision of the future that absolves a state’s leaders and institutions from providing, maintaining, repairing, and supporting its schools, roads, water systems, and infrastructure, or protecting its most vulnerable citizens from the permanent damage caused by a poisoned water supply.

So, if you want to know what our new federal education policy is going to look like under Secretary DeVos, what has happened in Michigan under Gov. Snyder-- and bankrolled and supported by the DeVos family-- provides perhaps the best example of what to expect…

Snyder’s “skunk works” plan was a furtive, secretive, and unconstitutional effort to turn Michigan’s schools into a virtual bonanza for profiteers. As originally reported by Chad Livengood, here’s what Snyder–and DeVos–were doing:

The education reform advisory team has dubbed itself a “skunk works” project working outside of the government bureaucracy and education establishment with a goal of creating a “value school” that costs $5,000 per child annually to operate, according to meeting minutes and reports obtained by the Detroit News.…Records show the group has strived to remain secretive, even adopting the “skunk works” alias, which dates to defense contractor Lockheed Martin’s secret development of fighter planes during World War II….In January, participants were instructed in a memo to use “alternative” email accounts.

The idea behind the “skunk works” plan was to radically increase the use of technology (i.e., virtual charters, online classes) to dramatically reduce the number of teachers needed, and to decouple tax dollars from schools by providing every student in the state with an “education debit card” that could be used for a wide range of educational experiences (i.e., music lessons, art classes, sports teams).

The ultimate goal here was to create a new “value school” model in the state, delivering schooling at a per-student cost of roughly $5000, over $2000 less than the average reimbursement provided by the state for each child enrolled in a district’s schools-- with “edupreneurs” pocketing the balance. For Snyder and DeVos, the purpose of education is not to help develop a more informed and educated citizenry, or to help children to become more fully human by providing a comprehensive, high quality curriculum, including music, art, and physical education in addition to the rest of the disciplines. The purpose of education under Snyder and DeVos is to turn the state’s once excellent system of public schools into an educational WalMart, boasting “low, low prices” in place of quality instruction.

...Betsy DeVos’ mission is no less than the total destruction of public education. Her apparent support for charters is merely a head fake to the right to distract us from for her ultimate goal of “decoupling” state and federal dollars from supporting schools of any type.

Under Secretary of Education DeVos we will see the emergence of a two-tiered educational system:

One, a system of elite private and religious schools for well-to-do, mostly White parents with the means to afford expensive tuition payments, staffed by qualified, certified teachers, with a rich curriculum based on face-to-face instruction in clean, safe, well-maintained schools…

The other, a parallel system of “fly by night” virtual and online “schools” that open and close seemingly at random, and for-profit charters operated by scam artists like Northern Michigan’s Dr. Steve Ingersoll, with little to no state or federal regulation or oversight, and a bare bones, “back to the basics” curriculum delivered by unqualified and uncertified “teachers.”

I’m guessing that the leadership at Teach for America is practically salivating today.

For the rest of us, welcome to the Hunger Games of public education.

Is there a public response to this kind of catastrophic decision? The Senate will have to confirm or reject the nomination. I'm sure they're trying to work it out among themselves,although Republicans seem quite enthusiastic. We contacted Madison congressman Mark Pocan, a strong advocate for a healthy and vibrant public education system as a means to give children of all backgrounds an opportunity to achieve their potential. He looked at Trump's announcement yesterday with what appeared to me to be a combination of alarm and revision. "Maybe the only thing worse than taking money away from public schools," he told us, "is being a rich GOP donor who wants to take money away from your public schools. Betsy DeVos has funded efforts across the country and in my state of Wisconsin to elect politicians who will take funds from public schools and give them to private ones. Her record on education is about as wrong as you can get."

Is The Michigan GOP Collapsing Around Their Heads? And Just In Time For The Elections

Every 4 years the Republican Party establishment declares Michigan is in play. Except it never is. George W. Bush lost the state both times-- with 46.1% in 2000 and four years later, as an incumbent, with 47.8%. In 2008 McCain lost with 41% and then in 2012, hometown hero, Mitt Romney, crashed and burned with 44.7%. But Trump has boasted he would turn around the GOP's 3 decade long losing streak. A new poll released by the Detroit News indicates otherwise. Trump is viewed favorably by only 27.3% of Michigan voters, unfavorably by 59.5%. Hillary isn't looked at especially well either-- 30.5% favorle, 57.2% unfavorable-- but in head-to-head match-ups she beats Trump 43-38.5% (and with Gary Johnson taking 11.5%, she wins with 36.8% against Trump's 32.7%). It's worth noting that Bernie's favorables among Michiganders in the poll is 42.8%, the only candidate with higher favorables than unfavorables. In a head-to-head matchup between Trump and Bernie, Bernie does MUCH better than Hillary's 4.5 point lead; Bernie beats Trump by 19 points-- 51.7% to 33%.

The Republican Party brand is in the toilet in Michigan and although Trump may be making it worse, he didn't wreck the party himself. Governor Rick Snyder did. Snyder poisoned Flint with his anti-democracy jihad in Flint. Luckily for the NRCC, the DCCC isn't making a serious effort in Michigan this year-- running a lame/loser candidate, Lon Johnson in the open 1st district, refusing to back grassroots progressive Paul Clements against Fred Upton in the vulnerable 6th district and only seriously looking at one seat, MI-07, where they are backing Gretchen Driskell against teabagger incumbent Tim Walberg. They don't have candidates in the 11th, the open 10th, the 8th, the 4th, the 3rd, or the 2nd. (But Pelosi wants you to contribute money to the DCCC and lies to you that they have a plan to take back Congress because... Trump. Not without plausible candidates they can't.

Anyway, yesterday, the Detroit News reported that the author of the Michigan GOP's current woes, Governor Snyder, has decided to not endorse Trump. Maybe Trump asked him to not endorse him. He told the Detroit News editorial board that he's too busy working for Michigan to weigh in on the presidential race.

The Republican governor’s neutrality in the presidential race is in contrast to his lieutenant governor, Brian Calley, who recently urged fellow Republicans to unite behind Trump’s candidacy to keep Democrat Hillary Clinton out of the White House.

Snyder said he’s more focused on helping Republicans this fall retain the majority in the Michigan House of Representatives.

“When I look at the upcoming election in November, my biggest issue is hopefully re-electing the House, because I think that’s important,” Snyder told The News. “We’ve had a great partnership there, and I think it’d be great to continue that.”

...A Republican-led House committee on Wednesday advanced House Speaker Kevin Cotter’s proposed constitutional amendment that would change civil service rules and make it easier to fire state workers, including environmental department employees blamed for the Flint water crisis.

Democrats have accused Republicans led by Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, of trying to capitalize on anger over the Flint crisis to weaken longstanding employment protections for state workers, but Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel on Wednesday accused one Democrat who voted against the proposal of siding with “deep pocketed, Big-Labor contributors.”

Yes, that's how seriously Michigan Republicans are taking their dilemma. Luckily for them, Snyder's term isn't over until 2018.

Too Rich And Powerful To Jail?

Ken, Gaius, Noah and I have, over the years, written a good number of posts about coal baron/murderer Donald Blankenship, mostly asking why he isn't in prison or when will he be in prison. It's taken a long, long time but yesterday he was finally sentenced to a year in prison-- but not for murder. He's too rich for that. The wrist slap is for "conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards."

The sentencing, in Federal District Court here, came six years and one day after an explosion tore through Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine, killing 29 people. Although Mr. Blankenship was not accused of direct responsibility for the accident, the deadliest in American coal mining in about 40 years, the disaster prompted the federal inquiry that led to Mr. Blankenship’s indictment.

In addition to the year in jail, Mr. Blankenship was fined $250,000 and is subject to a year of supervised release.

“My main point is wanting to express sorrow to the families and everyone for what happened,” Mr. Blankenship said in court before the sentencing. But he added later: “I am not guilty of a crime.”

The Justice Department had urged Judge Irene C. Berger, the daughter of a coal miner, to sentence Mr. Blankenship to a year in prison, the maximum penalty. Mr. Blankenship’s defense lawyers, who are planning an appeal, recommended that he be fined and placed on probation.

It was virtually unthinkable not long ago that Mr. Blankenship, whose company was central to West Virginia’s coal industry, would ever stand before a judge for sentencing in this state. When a federal jury convicted Mr. Blankenship of a misdemeanor charge in December, the United States attorney said it was the first time such a high-ranking corporate executive had been found guilty of a workplace safety crime. (Jurors, however, dealt a substantial defeat to the Justice Department and acquitted Mr. Blankenship of three felony counts.)

In a lengthy, intricate trial last fall, prosecutors here described Mr. Blankenship, who was Massey’s chief executive at the time of the explosion, as a leader with a stubborn focus on the company’s financial standing. His demands, they argued, contributed to an unspoken conspiracy that company employees were to ignore safety standards and practices if they threatened profits.

Mr. Blankenship’s lawyers, who did not call any witnesses as part of the defense, argued that Mr. Blankenship had been appropriately committed to safety, and that Massey was far from a criminal enterprise.

However limited the Justice Department’s success was in the Blankenship case, the verdict was a landmark. But it is not yet clear whether the government will be able to replicate its success in future cases, partly because of Mr. Blankenship’s unusually deep involvement in Massey’s operations.

Is it even clear whether the government wants to replicate its success in future cases? It sure wouldn't under a Republican Justice Department. Blankenship has paid off Republican politicians to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars-- not even counting the millions he plowed into West Virginia politics, virtually buying up the entire political system of the state-- or at least the Republican end of it.

Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, has long had a lot of influence in West Virginia. The top executive of the company that owns the mine where 25 miners died this week looms large in state affairs both because of Massey 's economic importance and because of his own penchant for political bluster. But in 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Blankenship might be wielding too much influence, after he spent $3 million of his own money to get a judge elected to a West Virginia court that was ruling on a Massey-related case.

As detailed in an ABC News investigation, Blankenship vacationed on the Riviera with one West Virginia Supreme Court Justice and underwrote an ad campaign supporting the election of another while a $50 million judgment against Massey Energy was before the court. Blankenship's apparently successful multi-million-dollar attempt to change the composition of the court became the basis of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision-- and the source of a slew of controversial television ads.

The video of Bernie below was aimed at Wall Street banksters, but every word of what he said would apply to characters like Blankenship as easily as it would to Hillary financier Lloyd Blankfein. And what about child rapist Denny Hastert? He claims he doesn't deserve prison. But we don't have the death penalty. We'll find out what the sentence is on April 27. His lawyers said Hastert "apologizes for his misconduct that occurred decades ago" and is "overwhelmed by the guilt" but still won't admit he was raping underage boys nor even discuss how many he raped and whether or not he was still doing it while he was Speaker of the House. (Spoiler: he was, as we reported at the time.) Hastert thinks the shame of having his official portrait removed from the House was punishment enough. How embarrassing for the poor thing!

Disgracefully, the Justice Department still hasn't filed any charges against Rick Snyder for his role as ringleader in the worst crime committed in the history of Flint, Michigan. The citizens of the city just did it themselves though, a racketeering lawsuit filed yesterday

The lawsuit accuses Snyder and others of hatching a "wrongful scheme" to reduce Flint's indebtedness by stopping the impoverished city from buying treated Lake Huron water from Detroit, instead of "invoking time tested, well-honed federal bankruptcy protections for restructuring the debts of municipalities."

...Along with Snyder, the suit names as defendants the state of Michigan; the departments of Environmental Quality and Health and Human Services; and a number of state officials, along with emergency managers whom Snyder appointed to oversee the city. Also named are the city of Flint, two of its utility officials and three consulting companies that advised them.

Through their actions, "unthinkable harm has been inflicted on the residents of Flint," the suit said.

It was filed by law firms in Southfield and New York, which said in a news release that they represented more than 400 people.

In a separate class-action lawsuit in federal court in Ann Arbor, attorneys representing the governor and other officials are claiming governmental immunity. The response, filed Monday, said the judge doesn't have jurisdiction and should dismiss the case.

"There are meaningful exceptions (to immunity) that apply to this situation, and their willingness to try to deprive people of their day in court is really breathtaking," said Michael Pitt, an attorney for Flint residents.