People at the local or grassroots level seem to be raising all sorts of issues with the idea of opening up schools unhesitatingly. It is so rich to see the Republican Party of all things wanting everyone to roll over and accept our nation's monopolistic, bureaucratic, one-size-fits-all (basically) public school system.
The Republicans are suddenly against choice and local autonomy? I thought the just-cited traits were hallmarks of conservative or Republican thinking. So now the party does a complete reversal.
Schools would not be completely "normal" even if they are compelled via government threats to open in fall. Such would be all the provisions and restrictions, schools would become like prisons, if they were not already like that.
Our executive branch of government has revealed a philosophy all along of just wanting people to resume normal life all around. Republican governors have been cowed in a pathetic manner to push the party line coming from their masters in Washington D.C. With the result being, of course, spikes of illnesses and of course deaths.
Would anyone dispute my assertion that the re-opening of schools in fall would be about the worst thing for exacerbating matters? Will teachers have to accept becoming like collateral damage? I normally detest teachers unions, probably more than I have detested anything in my life, but if they push back on this one, then kudos to them. Will the wisdom behind grassroots thinking and assertiveness win out over the hovering hand of big government power coming out of Washington D.C.?
I have used the term "executive branch" in place of a personal reference to Trump, because once the name is dropped, you lose the attention of a swath of people out here in rural western Minnesota, home of the pickups with the "Hillary for prison" bumper stickers and the like. Make a skeptical comment about their "fearless leader" and you instantly lose the attention of lots of people. This includes people who I have considered long-time friends or at least pleasant acquaintances out here on the prairie.
Our slim population numbers mean we're so much happier if we can just get along. If we can just discuss some political differences without the immediate pigeon-holing of someone as a "Trump hater" or having "Trump derangement syndrome." The cult of personality is astounding, unprecedented.
Who among us really ought to care about Donald Trump on a personal level? Number one, we have no chance of ever actually forming a personal relationship with him, and secondarily, so what if his political fortunes fall? He's not in it to "have a job," is he? Although, he and his family would be happy reaping enormous riches as a result of occupying the office. His supporters shrug and say "he's a businessman" as if no line could be crossed in this regard.
Trump loses an election, fine, he's left to enjoy the rest of his life with presumably no financial adversity at all. So why worry about it? Why worry about his fate if we all can assume the man will live surrounded by comfort and opulence the rest of his life?
Fact of life out here
It appears we must sink or swim with the Republican Party out here because they have a lock on power. Jay McNamar broke through for the Democrats for a time, and even though he appeared to represent us in a classy fashion, was voted out of office. Our current representative along with our state senator echo the choruses of what so much of the Republican Party trumpets now. There has been a shift in our local churches toward that stance as well.
And leading the way is Trump, all the way from his office on the East Coast and with an agenda which anyone can see is intertwined with his narrowest personal interests. You can't persuade your typical Republicans about this because they'll just say "he's a businessman." Their attitude is antithetical to what Democrats believe which is that government exists to transcend the business world and to even keep an eye on it. "He's a businessman" is stated with a shrug as if ethical questions are automatically off the table.
Trump-ites have been proud to say "he's not a politician." We have a track record of four years to observe now, to see if the non-politician stuff really flies as being in our interests. Yes, Joe Biden has been in "the jungle" of D.C. for a long time. Therefore he understands the give and take of it all, how you must understand your adversaries as well as your allies, and to even work with the former to a degree. The ideal is for people in government to work together where possible. And it's needed more than ever on the pandemic, where Trump and his pathetic coterie around him have now struck out miserably.
These are all narrow self-interested people who keep an eye on their right wing money sources, and apply the whip to their lap dogs in the conservative media. So the conservative media, which for a long time has trumpeted "choice" in education and deference to local and parental issues, is pushing all of that aside. They are picking up the lexicon of the centralized argument, the idea that local school districts must respond to the crack of the whip from Washington D.C. These are conservatives! Let's pinch ourselves, maybe we're dreaming.
Trump literally is willing to sacrifice lives and allow unspeakable suffering so the U.S. can sort of move ahead with a modicum of normality. He sees such a fervent hope for normality, he hopes the modicum will make him a hero. For this is what he wants: to be cloaked in glory almost like someone with quasi-divine qualities. Or literally divine qualities, which I'm sure many people have pondered who are led along on a leash by the egotistical "evangelical" leaders/performers.
Stop and think about how so many of the charismatic evangelical performers are from the states of the old Confederacy. Is this a culture with which you really want to have affinity? I fear the loyal flock doesn't want to think about it that much. I'll repeat that many of these people now root for Trump the same way they root for their favorite professional wrestler. Maybe it has come to that.
I checked the website for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Morris to see if there was a picture of Donald Trump on their home page. There is not. So, maybe there is hope after all.
Leaping what?
Oh, but here's an item on the web from "Bluestem Prairie" about our State Representative Jeff Backer, successor to Jay McNamar. And the item has the headline "Jeff Backer hates liberal homosexual money, solicits socially conservative campaign cash." Well, enjoy your cash, Mr. Backer, it comes from places that are in league with your ilk, like the conservative-leaning churches of the Morris area. Backer called McNamar "Metro Jay." The article continued: "Not just Metro Jay, but - leaping lesbians! - apparently a metrosexual funded by gay money because he voted to make marriage equality the 'law of the land.' "
"Leaping lesbians?" The flippance and disrespect are stunning.
These people project a sense of really knowing the issues on people's minds out here! Meanwhile the house is on fire with the pandemic spikes around the country, because Republican officeholders were scared to even consider contradicting their "fearless leader" on anything. The "fearless leader" tweets, and he could instantly bring down any naysayer. Never mind that local grassroots judgment has historically been a pillar of Republican/conservative thinking.
Are we acceding to an actual dictator? The fears are real. Day by day the absurdity of the Trump presidency comes forward on terms ever more stark and foreboding.
We here in humble West Central Minnesota had better realize there are times we must partner with metro interests, because we'll never be able to outdo them. Besides, we the people are all in this together, aren't we? Or is the suggested metro/rural conflict simply a necessity because that's how so many of us are programmed to think now? "Us vs. them." It's always "us vs. them." So it's the ELCA Lutherans against the rest of the world.
Addendum: The following was shared with me by a friend on the question of whether/how schools should open: "I’m really curious about how the start of school will be resolved. If they do open 'normally,' what happens if a teacher contracts COVID? Does he or she have to then quarantine for 2 weeks? What about the kids in his/her class(es)? Would a sub come into that environment? What if the teacher in question is a middle school/high school teacher who has 4 or 5 classes of 20+ kids each per day – do all the students then have to be tested? If so, who pays for that? If one of the students in one of the classes is diagnosed – then what? Lots of questions that are difficult to answer."
Addendum #2: Yes we're rural Minnesota so the following local story ought to prompt smiles among the old fans of a TV show mentioned here: "A funny 'Mayberry incident' the other day: apparently some cows got loose from their fenced-in area on UMM property, and strolled east. They trampled the newly seeded lawn in front of the DAC, then got wind of the water in the 'catch basin' ('holding pond?'), whatever that rock-fringed pool is called that’s in front of the new bus garage. So, the herd wandered down to the water to bathe, hooving up the newly planted grass at that facility. I wish I’d heard about that when it happened – would’ve been a great photo op."
My podcast message for 7/15
My "Morris Mojo" podcast has some additional thoughts as we ponder the kind of life we all will have come fall. Here's the permalink:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Fall-inches-closer-egpn0g
Below: Photo of the new and improved East Side Park in Morris. Suppose we could say this should have been done long ago. Many Prairie Pioneer Days memories here. The new configuration looks nice as the old slab of hot pavement is gone, but when will be the first time a performance will be held there? Even without the pandemic, one would have to wonder. Could we get some sort of music ensemble committed to playing weekly there? Maybe a group of high school kids, would be a delight.
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