Toward Reunification, One More Time (updated 13jun21)

George Rebane

[This commentary appeared here in the 5jun21 op-ed pages of The Union.  The response in the newspaper’s online edition comment stream was as predicted (by publisher Don Rogers among others), and I expand on this in the addendum below.]

In my last two Other Voices columns – ‘Farewell Unity’ (2apr21), ‘Where exactly are we going?’ (19apr21) - I apparently miscommunicated the outlined steps to reunify our politically polarized land.  Liberal readers misunderstood that I was inviting our neighbors of the Left to abandon their desiderata for a fundamentally transformed America, and simply adopt those that we of the Right embrace.  Nowhere did I make such a proposal.

My main point was and still is that we should not start on the road to reunification with the much ballyhooed, premature, and therefore misguided search for ‘common ground’.  As it continues to be demonstrated by calls from both sides, that approach has been a futile undertaking over the last few years.  I offered a three-step sequence toward reunification that must start with an heroic effort to meld elements of our distinct ideas for a future America into a compromised list of shared attributes for governance and social policies.

If we can successfully come up with such a collection of ideas, then that list of mutually acceptable and shared attributes will naturally give us the basis for a common ground from which to attempt the concluding step.  The recommended sequence is concluded by both sides joining in the effort to forge a unified format for America’s future, concurrently with the process by which such an envisioned America shall come to pass.  By this I mean that the outlined structure and the process to achieve it, must necessarily be put in place through, say, a productive give-and-take convention of the parties, so that both sides see the same end and also the means to achieve it as a feasible political enterprise to take place in the out years.

The nearby diagram attempts to convey this graphically.  In its examination, it’s important not to get hung up on the descriptions of each side’s currently desired America.  They are included here only to illustrate that it is these disputed objectives, as perceived by the other, that are the underlying causes for our polarization.  If such a reunification process is actually attempted by our Democrats and Republicans, then each will bring to the table their own descriptions of their desired America which will serve as a starting point.  Finally, even this approach does not guarantee success.  Nevertheless, if we cannot agree to work for a common America, then a Great Divide, achieved peacefully or through violence, is in our future.

[Addendum]  A quick perusal of The Union's comment stream to this commentary reveals that the most recent tranche of liberal readers replicate the cognitive deficits exhibited by the readers of my two preceding columns that introduced a more productive process toward possible reunification than the one that starts with finding common ground which has been fruitlessly bandied around by politicians and in the national press.

Again, our liberals show they have no understanding of the direction Biden’s policies and the congressional Democrats are taking the country.  They vehemently deny that it is toward socialism, and some in turn accuse Republicans of promoting fascism as our future.  None of these worthies give a hint that they understand the definitions of either ideology.

I need to point out that predictably Steven Frisch, the local Left’s leading intellectual light, also made his appearance.  And a very disappointing effort it was.  He had no idea what to make of my column, instead he took the opportunity for what he thought would be another personal detraction that would confirm his followers’ rejection of my recommended approach.  His words –

Thought I would leave this little post by George from over at his blog here for people to consider as they think about his system for finding a "Unified Format for America's Future"...."Over the last week or so, the evil party has done everything it could to divide us further and pander to their ultra-left faction and black constituents by hammering the centenary of the Tulsa massacre over every possible channel and at every possible event. After dredging up the terrible details of that riot of the whites, these were repeated ad nauseum over the days as it awakened and drew predictable expressions of rage from the Left and black leaders. Does anyone think that this kind "racial catharsis" has left us more united? " --yep, George Rebane.

He was quoting from my intro to ‘Sandbox – 2jun21’ in which I took Biden and the country’s lamestream media to task for their obvious use of the Tulsa Massacre to further divide America.  And Frisch, again displaying his extremely limited knowledge of national dialogues, thinks that I am somehow again a misguided lonely and deranged voice in the wilderness.  He has no idea of the number of columnists and conservative academics who measured Biden to a similar standard.  My own opinion was closely matched by black academic Jason Riley of the Manhattan Institute from whose linked column I used his “racial catharsis” to characterize the reporting on the Tulsa centenary.

So yes, given this level of ignorance amplified vitriol, there is no indication that any rational approach to reunification will be accepted by the Left.

[13jun21 update]  The comment stream to this piece in the online Union has grown considerably, it now numbers above 150.  What I need to point out here is that no leftwing Union reader has yet to understand and critique the 3-step process to unification that I detail.  Almost all the comments are regurgitations of baseless ad hominems against me and RR.  The sad reflection on the hopelessness of starting a productive national dialogue on ANY issue is that the vituperations don’t even provide any specifics to substantiate their naked assessments and name-calling.  The apologetics to support contentions on this website are voluminous and rich with citations.  The Left’s demonstrated intellectual capacity appears not able to undertake a reasoned debate on any of it.  As a group, they are innocent of even the most basic definitions required to understand and engage.  This is USA in 2021.

Comments

[The Estonian Fox]

George,

Don't forget, your banner-line says "...events from the last great century of man".

You forgot to tell us WHEN that century begins, or began. We might be 60 or 70 years into it, so downhill has started, with off-the-rails in 2050.

[George Rebane]

EFox 1050am - The reference is to this the 21st century. Apologies, didn't mean to ambiguate.

[MikeL]

George, I really enjoy your insights on matters of politics and policy. Have you heard on the newest of new math... the pathway to equatable math? Apparently all of the math that I and other were subjected to is racist.
I apologize for asking about this here. I didn’t know where to ask about this?

Perhaps Mr Goodnight can weigh in on this also.

[Barry Pruett]

“In the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.” From the leftist’s instruction manual. 1984.

[George Rebane]

MikeL 527am – Thanks for the kind words and the question which really illustrates the gulf that exists intellectually and socially between our polarized populations. ‘Equitable Math’ is a particularly evil plank in the Left’s platform of anti-American policies. Its progressive cast has nothing to do with math per se, other than assuring that students subjected to it can neither understand nor use it in the realworld. To really grasp the devastation that equitable math is designed to cause in the nation’s schools, I recommend going to equitablemath.org. This website is a resource for teachers preparing to teach this subject, and I recommend anyone reading it have supplies ready to deal with purgative bouts of nausea.

The material presented can be used to destroy effective pedagogy of any subject, not only math. Paying close attention to the guidance given, totally exposes the explicitly anti-American (identity racism, anti-capitalist, anti-western) virulence of today’s radical left, and leaves no doubt as to the Marxist goals that today’s Democratic Party promotes and which their ignorant grassroots deny. I will post a longer commentary on this in the fullness of time.

‘A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction – Resources and guidance to support Black, Latinx, and Multilingual students to thrive in grades 6-8’
https://equitablemath.org/

I particularly recommend reading in detail the included Glossary of Terms and “Framing/Principles” to confirm that this kind of education, delivered nationwide, does everything it can to produce a citizenry that will perennially reject any kind of coming together or assimilation in a unified and unique American society.
https://equitablemath.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/A-Pathway-to-Equitable-Math-Instruction-Toolkit-Glossary-Final.pdf

[Bill Tozer]

Daily Quotes go here today. I found the 3rd quote by Neil Patel on top topic.

Insight: “An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public.” —Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838)

Upright: “BLM has been co-opted, and when I say co-opted, I mean teachers unions who show up to these woke BLM marches. … So if we’re talking about propaganda, we need to be looking at the teachers unions, and the sick mess that they’re putting out there that’s keeping our children out of schools these past couple of years, keeping the masks on our children. We need to unmask the illiteracy machine … with our education system.” —Rashard Turner

Observations: “As a society, we are growing increasingly self-interested. Citizenship brings responsibility beyond self-interest. … The social and cultural segregation in our country is directly contributing to the coarseness of our national culture and politics. We no longer just disagree in America; we vilify those who don’t share our views. … When you have little interaction with those who don’t share your background or beliefs, it’s easy to view them as caricatures. It becomes easier to demonize or marginalize them. This results in the sort of fissures we have in America today and the normalization of summary political violence; we’ve all seen it. Left to fester, these dynamics lead to the downfall of societies.” —Neil Patel

Political futures: “With Republicans restored to the House next year and Sen. Mitch McConnell on the cusp of regaining power, why on earth would Democrats want to scrap the filibuster? They will need it against McConnell and House Republicans. Unfortunately, Democrats cannot be honest. They must instead, with help from friends in the press, go through the ritualistic and stylized dance of defeat that signals to the base they care and are fighters while privately knowing defeat was always the only outcome. Democrats will inevitably have hell to pay from their base as Republicans did. The difference between them and Republicans is Trump was actually far closer to mainstream America than the far left. That gives the GOP one more advantage moving forward, even if the press and Democrats cannot admit it.” —Erick Erickson

Re: The ruling class: “The Biden administration has recently called for a 90-day intelligence community review into the origins of the pandemic, which is welcome news for those of us who have called COVID-19 a ‘Chinese Chernobyl’ demanding serious geopolitical accountability since day one — but sad news for those who may have presumed a modicum of intellectual honesty from our political elites. American politics is currently in the throes of a populist moment. That populist moment is characterized by widespread distrust of elites and a perceived ever-widening chasm between the ruling class’s prerogatives and the wishes of the American people at large. As we finally begin to emerge from COVID-19, that chasm will only grow wider. The ruling class has finally sullied itself one time too many.” —Josh Hammer

The bottom line: “The butchers of Beijing got away with the Tiananmen Square massacre. They got away with seizing Hong Kong. Almost immediately after communist China violated the treaty it made over Hong Kong’s sovereignty, it was ‘back to business as usual.’ The world shrugs as communist China suppresses free speech, oppresses religious liberty and commits genocide against ethnic minorities. But as I have repeatedly argued, trade with communist China has not changed communist China. It has changed us.” —Gary Bauer

For the record: “January 6th was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol. … President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day. But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.” —Mike Pence

Re: The Left: “One of the most disturbing developments of the past few months has been the Biden administration’s wholehearted embrace of the radical left’s all-encompassing assault on American culture and values. Under the Biden administration, patriotic education has been replaced with political indoctrination.” —Mike Pence

And last… “Just saw a guy riding a bike on a major road [with] lots of cars — without a helmet but … with a mask. People have lost all sense of risk analysis.” —Tom Elliott

[scenes]

re: equitablemath and it's brethren.

What I find amusing is the tiny figleaf of why it is suppose to be better even for the smarter children. 'THEY WON'T USE CALCULUS IN THE REAL WORLD SO WHY TEACH IT?'.

Harrison Bergeron always comes to mind of course, and I suppose there's the tiny hope that chaining a well-behaved and intelligent person to a hood rat will make the latter more well accomplished (at some cost to the former of course), but the main thing people forget is that merely learning a difficult real-world discipline has it's own value. That's still the primary value of Latin, a history of Philosophy, or even real-deal Geology, not some sort of vocational training.

Watching the Death Dance being enacted on our school systems is one thing you can't blame on Communists though, at least as a central guiding principle. The Soviets were never this ridiculous, quite the opposite. Even with some of the Marxist-lite verbiage, what we are seeing is something new and evil in it's own way.

[Gregory]

Equitable math is nothing new... Equitable math is nothing new... it's the latest distillation of the "whole" or New-new math promote Equitable Math" is just the latest distillation and trendy packaging of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) recommendations. Same as "whole math", New-New Math (New Math was actually not bad, but bad implementations with average to worse teachers flailng was what Tom Lehrer was singing about). Common Core Math "standards" even had links to NCTM pages.

www.nctm.org

https://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Standards_and_Positions/PtAExecutiveSummary.pdf

The late Jaime (Stand and Deliver) Escalante famously said the NCTM Standards looked like they were written by P.E. teachers, and that says it well.

looky here: https://equitablemath.org/#about

Look at all the impressive sounding bureaucracies that are saluting the EquityMath flag! Notice at the bottom of the page: "We also wish to thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their generous financial support of this project."

The Gates Foundation have misspent billions ruining education by listening to the "experts".

I disagree with George ... these aren't rampaging Marxists trying to ruin America... while on the Progressive side of things out of naivete, they actually think girls and POC learn differently than white boys (or Asian girls and boys), and if they only tailor the lessons right, all will get to high school and beyond being able to "do math" at equitable levels.

[Gregory]

Sorry for the mess of copy/paste. Trying a'gin:

"Equitable Math" is just the latest distillation and trendy packaging of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) recommendations. Same as "whole math", New-New Math (New Math was actually not bad, but bad implementations with average to worse teachers flailng was what Tom Lehrer was singing about). Common Core Math "standards" even had links to NCTM pages.

The late Jaime (Stand and Deliver) Escalante famously said the NCTM Standards looked like they were written by P.E. teachers, and that says it well.

looky here: https://equitablemath.org/#about

Look at all the impressive sounding bureaucracies that are saluting the EquityMath flag! Notice at the bottom of the page: "We also wish to thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their generous financial support of this project."

The Gates Foundation have misspent billions ruining education by listening to the "experts".

I disagree with George ... these aren't rampaging Marxists trying to ruin America... while on the Progressive side of things out of naivete, they actually think girls and POC learn differently than white boys, and if they only tailor the lessons right, all will get to high school and beyond being able to "do math" at equitable levels.

[Gregory]

toes 1254pm good one!

“Just saw a guy riding a bike on a major road [with] lots of cars — without a helmet but … with a mask. People have lost all sense of risk analysis.” —Tom Elliott

I Bay Area start up I joined in the mid 'oughts had as a manager of software development a woman who did't have a background in computer science but lectured those of us who did about "the tenants (sic) of Software Engineering". She was also Left of the Left, chain smoked unfiltered Camels and ate only organic foods.

Yes, she thought the magic of organic would cancel out her really filthy tobacco habit.

Magical thinking at its worst.

[George Rebane]

re Gregory 154pm - Concurring with Gregory on our disagreements. I do not think equitable math is just the "latest distillation" of NCTM recommendation, far from it. Reading the link I provided, equitable math is significantly different than ANY math education we have witnessed before - especially in its espousal of identity politics, racism, and collectivism. In the latter case it is also Marxist, whether the know-nothing teachers have heard of Marx or not. However, the developers and purveyors of equitable math, starting with the Democrat Party, are indeed "rampaging Marxists". The America they are working to bring about is very definitely the "ruining" of the America I and mine are fighting to preserve. Thanks for bringing attention to our different viewpoints.

[Gregory]

"What we have now is nostalgia math. It is the mathematics that we have always had, that is good for the most part for the relatively high socioeconomic anglo male, and that we have a great deal of research that has been done showing that women, for example, and minority groups do not learn the same way. They have the capability, certainly, of learning, but they don't. The teaching strategies that you use with them are different from those that we have been able to use in the past when ... we weren't expected to graduate a lot of people, and most of those who did graduate and go on to college were the anglo males...

All of the research that has been done with gender differences or ethnic differences has been--males for example learn better deductively in a competitive environment, when--the kind of thing that we have done in the past. Where we have found with gender differences, for example, that women have a tendency to learn better in a collaborative effort when they are doing inductive
reasoning."

-Jack Price, professor at CSU Fullerton
President of the NCTM 1994-6

It's the same stuff, George. A concentrate.

[Walt]

The Georgia GOP has laid down the butt kicking.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/06/07/georgia-gop-censures-secretary-of-state-brad-raffensperger-for-dereliction-of-his-constitutional-duty/
"A Resolution to Censure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger

WHEREAS, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger failed to perform his duties in accordance with the laws and Constitution of the state of Georgia, and Republican Party values, including but not limited to:

Entering into the Compromise Settlement Agreement and Release, which changed Georgia’s absentee voting procedures outside the Constitutionally prescribed format set forth in Georgia law.
Undermining the security of our elections by allowing mass mailings of absentee applications by his office and third parties which created opportunities for fraud and overwhelmed election offices; rendering accurate signature matching nearly impossible; allowing ballot drop boxes without proper chain of custody; and ignoring sworn affidavits and evidence of voter fraud; and
WHEARAS, the fecklessness and failures of Secretary Raffensperger were enabled by the actions and inactions by others such as Lt. Governor Duncan, who denied that there was election fraud and punished Georgia Republican State Senators who asked for election audits; Attorney General Carr, who allowed his office to file an amicus brief opposing the lawsuit asking for inspection of the Fulton County absentee ballots; and legislative leaders who failed to fully address known election issues prior to the runoff; all have, either by their direct action or inaction, significantly eroded confidence in our state’s election system.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Georgia Republican Party Convention censures Secretary Raffensperger for dereliction of his Constitutional duty; and calls on Governor Kemp and all elected officials to repair the damage that has been done and commit themselves to securing Georgia’s elections."

[George Rebane]

Gregory 406pm - A "concentrate" indeed. Just like Stalinism was a concentrate of Swedish socialism.

[Gregory]

Not really, George. Just more of the same pedagogy that drove the Math Wars of the 1990's.

[Don Bessee]

The hamas loving mutha mullha cuddling 0 says this about the most pro israel president ever -

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-reacts-rise-antisemitism-trump-fanned-flames#

;-)

[Don Bessee]

The handwriting is on the wall for all to see -

Seventy-eight percent of senior Capitol Hill aides believe Republicans will regain the House in 2022, up 12 percent from April, according to a poll released Monday.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/06/07/poll-overwhelming-majority-capitol-hill-aides-believe-republicans-retake-house-majority/

;-)

[Don Bessee]

How can you work with crazy? -

MSNBC's Wallace agrees with Clyburn that not passing Dem voting bill will be like 'fall of the Roman empire'
'I had been hoping for the appropriate historical parallel. I thank you very much just now for providing it'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-nicolle-wallace-jim-clyburn-voting-bill-fall-roman-empire

;-)

[Don Bessee]

The socialist dems only have their own interests none for working Americans. The times of demanding slavish loyalty from minorities are over and they can not turn the tide having gone full socialist woken. They dont remember that minority citizens are hard working patriots. -

Javier Villalobos' victory Saturday in Mexican American-majority McAllen, Texas, comes as some Latino Democrats say their party has been ignoring Mexican Americans in Texas, New Mexico and California as the Republican Party makes dents in areas once solidly blue.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mayoral-loss-hispanic-heavy-texas-005406960.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink

;-)

[Gregory]

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/yet-another-media-tale-trump-tear

[scenes]

Oooh, I like the cut of this man's jib.

https://www.rt.com/usa/526149-medical-journal-whiteness-malignant/

Abstract:

"Whiteness is a condition one first acquires and then one has—a malignant, parasitic-like condition to which “white” people have a particular susceptibility. The condition is foundational, generating characteristic ways of being in one’s body, in one’s mind, and in one’s world. Parasitic Whiteness renders its hosts’ appetites voracious, insatiable, and perverse. These deformed appetites particularly target nonwhite peoples. Once established, these appetites are nearly impossible to eliminate. Effective treatment consists of a combination of psychic and social-historical interventions. Such interventions can reasonably aim only to reshape Whiteness’s infiltrated appetites—to reduce their intensity, redistribute their aims, and occasionally turn those aims toward the work of reparation. When remembered and represented, the ravages wreaked by the chronic condition can function either as warning (“never again”) or as temptation (“great again”). Memorialization alone, therefore, is no guarantee against regression. There is not yet a permanent cure."

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00030651211008507?journalCode=apaa&

If anyone has a link to a full copy, I'd like it. It's too new for sci-hub.

I'm thinking that we could organize an annual Flagellant Crawl up Broad St. Make a day of it. At the end of the parade there'll be a big party at the Foundry with protest songs, struggle sessions, and free snacks.

[scenes]

re: the paper referenced above. A response on Twitter, temporary winner of the internet .

""Permanent cure" sounds better in the original German."

[fish]

Posted by: scenes | 10 June 2021 at 07:11 AM

I'm thinking that we could organize an annual Flagellant Crawl up Broad St. Make a day of it. At the end of the parade there'll be a big party at the Foundry with protest songs, struggle sessions, and free snacks.

Which of the regulars gets to be the inaugural Grand Marshall?