Author Archives: Dana Pico

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One does not “err” on the side of supporting religious freedom; one errs if he does not support religious freedom! Andy Beshear has made going to church a political as well as religious act

Should I dishonor the courage of my ancestors by blithely accepting the religious restrictions unconstitutionally placed on us by callous state Governors, over a disease from which 98% of people recover?

Richard Warren left his family, his wife and children, in England, as he boarded the Mayflower, to brave a sea voyage to a hostile and unknown continent, due to the religious oppression under King James I. “James was strict in enforcing conformity at first, inducing a sense of persecution amongst many Puritans . . . .” The voyage had its hazards, as the Mayflower’s sister-ship, Speedwell were greatly delayed in departure:

Carrying about 65 passengers, the Mayflower left London in mid-July 1620.[13] The ship then proceeded down the Thames to the south coast of England, where it anchored at Southampton, Hampshire. There she waited for the planned rendezvous on July 22 with the Speedwell, coming from Holland with members of the Leiden congregation.[8] Although both ships planned to depart for America by the end of July, a leak was discovered on the Speedwell, which had to be repaired.[14]

The ships set sail for America around August 5, but Speedwell sprang another leak shortly after, which necessitated the ships’ return to Dartmouth for repairs. They made a new start after the repairs, but more than 200 miles (320 km) beyond Land’s End at the southwestern tip of England, the Speedwell sprang a third leak. It was now early September, and they had no choice but to abandon Speedwell and make a determination on her passengers. This was a dire event, as vital funds had been wasted on the ship, which were considered very important to the future success of their settlement in America. Both ships returned to Plymouth, where twenty Speedwell passengers joined the now overcrowded Mayflower, while the others returned to Holland.[15]

They waited for seven more days until the wind picked up. William Bradford was especially worried: “We lie here waiting for as fair a wind as can blow… Our victuals will be half eaten up, I think, before we go from the coast of England; and, if our voyage last long, we shall not have a month’s victuals when we come in the country.”[16]:343 According to Bradford, Speedwell was refitted and seaworthy, having “made many voyages… to the great profit of her owners.” He suggested that Speedwell‘s master may have used “cunning and deceit” to abort the voyage by causing the leaks, fearing starvation and death in America.[17]:

Richard Warren, my first American ancestor, finally sent for his family in 1623, once the colony had become sufficiently safe and self-sustaining. He and his wife Elizabeth, my great(x9)-grandparents, risked their lives, with far, far greater chances of dying — half of the Mayflower settlers died within the first year — than COVID-19 has inflicted upon us, all for the freedom to worship God as they saw fit. Should I, twelve generations later, dishonor their courage, and the sacrifices of their friends and neighbors, by blithely accepting the religious restrictions unconstitutionally placed on us by callous state Governors, over a disease from which 98% of people recover?[1]One of my sisters tested positive for the virus a couple of months ago, but was mostly asymptomatic, and was again negative about ten days later.

I believe that it is wise to take precautions, and it is wise to take the vaccines when they become available.[2]Due to my age, 67, I am in Tier 1C, but while the local health department has me “on the list,” they have no idea when it will actually be available.

But taking precautions should be an individual decision, and the state should have no power, no authority, to suspend our constitutional rights to fight the disease.

I rarely missed Sunday Mass before the virus struck. But Governor Andy Beshear’s (D-KY) unconstitutional suspension of our First Amendment rights, by ordering churches closed, has had the effect of making me much more militant when it comes to our constitutional rights. The Bishop of Lexington, John Stowe, went right along with the Governor, and ordered the priests of the diocese to close their parish churches. When the churches were finally reopened, starting on Sunday, May 24, 2020, I was right there to attend Mass, and I have not missed Sunday Mass since. Governor Beshear has, at least for me, added the political element of resisting authority, to going to church.[3]Actually, the Governor so graciously allowed churches to reopen on May 20th, which was a Wednesday.

From The Hill article cited in my initial tweet:

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is defending the controversial statements he made regarding coronavirus restrictions late last year, saying he “was not surprised by the reaction.”

In a USA Today article published on Sunday, the 15th anniversary of his confirmation to the Supreme Court, Alito said the parts of his speech that drew controversy had been taken from his recent opinions, with some repeated verbatim.

“Virtually every substantive point in the Federalist Society speech was taken from one of my published opinions or an opinion I joined,” the justice, nominated by President George W. Bush, said in a statement to the newspaper.

During a speech to the Federalist Society in November, Alito said: “We have never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020.”

Alito at the time argued coronavirus restrictions had become a “constitutional stress test.” In particular, the justice bemoaned the effect that restrictions have had on religious events.

“I’m a judge, not a policymaker,” Alito told USA Today, adding that he was not criticizing policies, but pointing to the questions they raised.

It’s good to see a Supreme Court Justice who values the First Amendment, who at least partially understands that our freedom of religion is paramount. Sadly, the Justice seems to have gone along with some of the restrictions, as long as they have not been more onerous than those placed on other public events.

Governor Beshear had lifted his church closure order after a federal judge invalidated it, graciously ‘allowing’ churches to open again immediately, when he had planned to allow that starting on May 20, 2020. Sadly, Bishop Stowe did not allow his diocesan priests to open their parish churches until the date the Governor had previously selected. I have no doubt that the Governor would have ordered churches closed absent the previous ruling, in that he ‘asked’ all churches to to suspend all in-person gatherings at their churches for four Sundays, November 22nd through December 13th, a period which would have included Thanksgiving.

To me, the freedom of religion and the First Amendment in general are our most important liberties, the things which make the United States different from all other countries. Too many people, too many people! just blithely ignore our liberties, sheepishly nodding their heads when government tries to restrict our rights, because their reasons are oh-so-noble, oh-so-reasonable.

Well, I’m sorry, but there is no such thing as a ‘reasonable’ restriction on our rights. If they can be ‘reasonably’ restricted, then they aren’t rights anymore.

References

References
↑1 One of my sisters tested positive for the virus a couple of months ago, but was mostly asymptomatic, and was again negative about ten days later.
↑2 Due to my age, 67, I am in Tier 1C, but while the local health department has me “on the list,” they have no idea when it will actually be available.
↑3 Actually, the Governor so graciously allowed churches to reopen on May 20th, which was a Wednesday.
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Thank the Lord for fossil fuels!

During our first winter back in the Bluegrass State, we had only electric heat. When what the Weather Channel called Winter Storm Hunter hit, we lost sparktricity . . . for 4½ days. My wife went to stay with our daughter, in Lexington, but I had to stay on the farm to take care of the critters.

The coldest it got in the house was 38º F!

But it sure wasn’t pleasant. While the water was still on, there was no hot water. There was just enough warm water that first morning to take a quick, sort-of OK shower, but that was it.

Our house is an eastern Kentucky fixer-upper, and the kitchen was the first thing to be redone. Mrs Pico wanted a gas range, and that was planned all along. We knew our electric water heater was near the end of its service life, so we planned on replacing that with gas as well. Then, remembering the unheated house, we decided to add a gas fireplace as well. The fan won’t work without electricity, and while the range top will work, the oven will not.

So, will we lose power again?

It’s a little hard to see the county lines, in the red area, but that’s where we are, kind of in between the Berea and Jackson city names.

At any rate, what my, sadly, late, best friend used to call the Lexington Herald-Liberal is telling me that we’re due for another ice storm. The forecast is a bit iffy: we could get snow as well as freezing rain, probably light tomorrow morning but getting worst Wednesday afternoon.

Alas! Mrs Pico has to work Thursday and Friday, and as a hospital nurse there’s no ‘work from home’ for her. My F-150 does have four-wheel drive, but four-wheel drive works far better in snow than it does on ice; nothing works well on ice. The county has pretreated the road, and while we live in relatively flat river-bottom farmland, there are a couple of not-nice places on the way to the hospital.

At any rate, I have asked William Teach of The Pirate’s Cove to watch this site, in case I’m out of communication for a few days.

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Guilt by Association Trumps Freedom of Speech and the Right of Peaceable Assembly Kentucky State Police Captain "reassigned" after attending Capitol Kerfuffle, even though he broke no laws himself

It’s not just those who stormed and entered the Capitol building itself who are being punished; some of those who attended the rally but broke no laws are being hammered as well.

Kentucky State Police’s Top Recruiter Reassigned For Attending D.C. Trump Rally

By Eleanor Klibanoff | February 5, 2021

Kentucky State Police Captain Michael Webb, from the KSP website.

The Kentucky State Police trooper who was reassigned after attending the Jan. 6 Trump rally in Washington, D.C., was the agency’s top recruiter.Capt. Michael Webb was reassigned on Jan. 8 from his position in the recruitment branch to the Inspections and Evaluations Branch, his personnel file shows.

A week after the rally, KSP issued a statement saying one trooper, who was not named, had been temporarily reassigned after attending on personal time with his family. When asked about Capt. Michael Webb’s assignment status, an agency spokesperson pointed back to that statement.

“KSP is reviewing the employee’s participation. It is the right thing to do to protect our nation, democracy, agency and all KSP employees,” said acting KSP commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. in the statement. “This is the same review process our agency follows any time there is questionable activity involving any law enforcement personnel within our agency.”

Several people with ties to the agency who declined to be named confirmed Webb was reassigned for his attendance at the rally.

KSP’s statement said the trooper attended the rally but did not enter the U.S. Capitol, where rioters stormed the building while a joint session of Congress met to certify the election of President Joe Biden. Five people died, including a woman shot and killed by Capitol police and a Capitol police officer beaten by the mob. Documents and lecterns were stolen and dozens have been charged, including at least nine from Kentucky. Former President Donald Trump was impeached, for a second time, over his role in inciting the riot.

Note that: Captain Webb attended the rally, but even the Kentucky State Police say he did not enter the Capitol. He was, therefore, exercising his freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, but he’s being punished anyway.

Further down:

Brian Higgins, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former police chief of Bergen County, New Jersey, said law enforcement agencies are grappling with how to proceed.

He said officers have a right to participate in the political process, but any actions an officer takes, even off-duty, reflects on the agency.

“Law enforcement has really been under the microscope,” he said. “So if there was ever a time for a police officer to be cautious in his or her actions, now’s the time, because everybody’s watching.”

Let’s tell the truth here: had he been attending a #BlackLivesMatter rally while off-duty, one which turned violent and destructive but he was not a participant in the vandalism, nothing would have happened to him.

But Professor Higgins told the truth in one regard: “everybody’s watching.” The left are using every means at their disposal to find out who has political positions with which they disagree, and try to get back at them. As we noted yesterday, the left get upset even when Trump supporters do something nice for them.

Vida Johnson, a professor at Georgetown Law School and expert on white supremacy in policing, said it would be a mistake for law enforcement agencies to dismiss the rally at the Capitol as routine political activism. Even before the rally turned violent, she said, the goal was to challenge the validity of legally cast ballots and stop Congress from certifying the election. Many attendees wore white supremacist or Nazi regalia and carried Confederate flags.

You know that, when you cite someone as an “expert on white supremacy in policing,” you are telling us that she is hugely biased against the police. She stated that “many attendees” wore or carried symbols the left find offensive, but there is no indication, anywhere in the article, that Captain Webb “wore white supremacist or Nazi regalia” or “carried (a) Confederate flag.” There are no claims that he wore his KSP uniform or identified himself as a KSP officer. Apparently guilt by association trumps freedom of speech and the right of peaceable assembly.

The left claimed that President Trump was a horrible, horrible fascist, but it is the left who are censoring people and stomping on their rights.

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He’s out of office now, but #TrumpDerangementSyndrome still rules the minds of so many

Me, snowblowing the front sidewalk in Jim Thorpe, PA, December 29, 2012. Click to enlarge.

When I lived in the Keystone State, my neighbor, Pete, and I used to clear the snow from sidewalks down the entire block. Why? Well, the home to my right was unoccupied for a couple years, and the next two down were occupied by people far more elderly than me. (I was 63 when we moved away.; Pete was in his fifties.)

If it was only a couple of inches of snow, I’d shovel. More than that, and I’d use the snowblower.

I do not know for whom my block neighbors voted. President Trump carried Carbon County in both elections, 65.13% to 31.05% in 2016, and 65.37% to 33.34% in 2020, so the odds are that they voted the right way, but I have no way of knowing for certain. All that I knew, at the time, was that the snow needed to be removed, even though I’m an evil reich-wing conservative, and President Trump was in office my last winter there!.

“Journalist” Virginia Hefferman, however, had a problem with supporters of President Trump being kind to her. Hat tip to William Teach for the article.

Column: What can you do about the Trumpites next door?

By Virginia Heffernan | February 5, 2021 | 3:00 AM PST

Virginia Heffernan

Oh, heck no. The Trumpites next door to our pandemic getaway, who seem as devoted to the ex-president as you can get without being Q fans, just plowed our driveway without being asked and did a great job.

How am I going to resist demands for unity in the face of this act of aggressive niceness?

Of course, on some level, I realize I owe them thanks — and, man, it really looks like the guy back-dragged the driveway like a pro — but how much thanks?

These neighbors are staunch partisans of blue lives, and there aren’t a lot of anything other than white lives in neighborhood.

This is also kind of weird. Back in the city, people don’t sweep other people’s walkways for nothing.

Well, maybe that’s the problem: perhaps Miss Heffernan is so used to the discourtesies of city life, that she just can’t comprehend that life in a small town or rural area is different. One of the verses in Rocky Top goes:

I’ve had years of cramped-up city life
Trapped like a duck in a pen
All I know is it’s a pity life
Can’t be simple again.

When Pete and I took care of our neighbors’ sidewalks, we weren’t asking for money. We just did it because it needed to be done, and we were in better shape than some of the other people living there.

Maybe it’s like what Eddie Murphy discovered in that old “Saturday Night Live” sketch “White Like Me.” He goes undercover in white makeup and finds that when white people are among their own, they pop free champagne and live the high life. As Murphy puts it: “Slowly I began to realize that when white people are alone, they give things to each other. For free.”

Well, one thing about Miss Heffernan’s paragraph is correct: the people for whom we cleaned the sidewalks were all white. Jim Thorpe is 95.7% non-Hispanic white, with another 2.35% Hispanic white. But had any of my neighbors been black, I wouldn’t have somehow just skipped doing their sidewalks and driveways.

Miss Heffernan continues with a few paragraphs about how ‘nice’ Hezbollah are to the people they like, and even how ‘polite’ the Nazis were to people they liked in Occupied France.

So when I accept generosity from my pandemic neighbors, acknowledging the legitimate kindness with a wave or a plate of cookies, am I also sealing us in as fellow travelers who are very polis to each other but not so much to “them”?

Loving your neighbor is evidently much easier when your neighborhood is full of people just like you.

Donald Trump lives on, living rent free in the heads of the left

Really? Her statement assumes that we wouldn’t be polite to neighbors who weren’t just like us.

The other side of my duplex had a sort of checkered history. In 2010, it was bought by a young lesbian couple from Philadelphia, as a vacation home. People who know me know that I strongly believe the Biblical law concerning homosexuality, but, shockingly enough, I didn’t picket their house, I didn’t give them the stink-eye when I saw them, didn’t treat them anything other than politely.[1]On July 4, 2010, I needed to paint the fence between our two yards, something which involved me going into their back yard. When I knocked on the door, to ask permission, with white paint obvious on … Continue reading

What do we do about the Trumpites around us? Like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who spoke eloquently this week about her terrifying experience during the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Americans are expected to forgive and forget before we’ve even stitched up our wounds. Or gotten our vaccines against the pandemic that former President Trump utterly failed to mitigate.

Did she mean the “terrifying experience” about which Miss Ocasio-Cortez lied? The one in which she was in an entirely different building?

My neighbors supported a man who showed near-murderous contempt for the majority of Americans. They kept him in business with their support.

But the plowing.

On Jan. 6, after the insurrection, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) issued an aw-shucks plea for all Americans to love their neighbors. The United States, he said, “isn’t Hatfields and McCoys, this blood feud forever.” And, he added, “You can’t hate someone who shovels your driveway.”

At the time, I seethed; the Capitol had just been desecrated. But maybe my neighbor heard Sasse and was determined to make a bid for reconciliation.

Well, who knows if her neighbors heard what Senator Sasse said? It seems that Miss Heffernan heard it, but really, really, really wants to ignore it.

So here’s my response to my plowed driveway, for now. Politely, but not profusely, I’ll acknowledge the Sassian move. With a wave and a thanks, a minimal start on building back trust. I’m not ready to knock on the door with a covered dish yet.

I also can’t give my neighbors absolution; it’s not mine to give. Free driveway work, as nice as it is, is just not the same currency as justice and truth. To pretend it is would be to lie, and they probably aren’t looking for absolution anyway.

Bitter much? Miss Heffernan’s article was published on February 5th, after President Trump lost his bid for re-election, and after he left office, yet she is still tremendously pissed off that her neighbors supported, and presumably voted for, Mr Trump, so bitter than she cannot just accept a neighborly act as being, well, neighborly!

But I can offer a standing invitation to make amends. Not with a snowplow but by recognizing the truth about the Trump administration and, more important, by working for justice for all those whom the administration harmed. Only when we work shoulder to shoulder to repair the damage of the last four years will we even begin to dig out of this storm.

So, she is considering ‘thanking’ her neighbors by lecturing to them that they were oh-so-wrong to have supported President Trump, and she thinks that will somehow get them to see everything her way, and move into sweetness and light?

It never seems to occur to her that her Trump-supporting neighbors might see the next four years as what will lead to damage, not the previous four.

Her neighbors do something nice for her, and her proposed response is to piss on their legs, but then politely tell them that it’s just raining. Her neighbors just did something nice for her, and she thinks she should take them some nice brownies . . . made with Ex-lax.

Conservatives have called it #TrumpDerangementSyndrome, and Miss Heffernan certainly seems to have it. Donald Trump is gone now, out of office, and unlikely to ever return; even if he wants to run again in 2024, he’ll be 78 years old.

But Mr Trump lives on, living rent free in the heads of the left. The Democrats have gone ahead and impeached a President who is already out of office, and pushing ahead even while knowing that there will not be enough votes to convict him. The Democrats are calling him the first twice-impeached President; it won’t be long before he will be the first twice acquitted President.

References

References
↑1 On July 4, 2010, I needed to paint the fence between our two yards, something which involved me going into their back yard. When I knocked on the door, to ask permission, with white paint obvious on me, one of them answered, herself holding a roller with red paint. She said, “Well, you have white, I have red, maybe we can go paint Jen blue.” I knew she was joking, as they were but half my age, but I was so surprised that I mumbled something that essentially said no.
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A Futile and Stupid Gesture

One of the great lines from the movie Animal House was Eric “Otter” Stratton’s, after all of the fraternity Delta Tau Chi members had been expelled, and their draft boards notified that they were all now 1-A and eligible for conscription, “I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.”

And so we come to my alma mater, the University of Kentucky, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. ΣΑΕ was already in trouble with the University for violating COVID-19 protocols and, Heaven forfend! drinking alcohol.

Double Secret Probation . . . .

From the Kentucky Kernel:

Fraternity suspension linked to burglary investigation, parties

Natalie Parks | January 31, 2021 | Updated: February 1, 2021

Documents from Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s student conduct hearing reveal new details in the fraternity’s suspension, including members’ involvement in a burglary case and violations of COVID-19 protocol that the hearing committee said showed “an extreme disregard for human life.”

SAE’s student organization status was revoked in December following a student conduct hearing and appeals process.

According to an initial incident report, fraternity members broke into a Lexington house in September and were confronted by police. In emails obtained by the Kernel through an open records request, University of Kentucky administrators called the incident “pretty severe.”

UK police said the conflict began over a rental dispute. The house involved was owned by the mother of an SAE member and rented by a redacted individual.

“SAE members claimed that [redacted] told the landlord that they were SAE so that they could rent the house, and upon finding this out, SAE members told the landlord. [Redacted] claimed that SAE was upset that they attempted to rent the house when SAE’s lease was in limbo,” said the incident report, submitted to the acting director of the Office of Student Conduct on Sept. 25, 2020.

The report describes the following conflict as a “large physical altercation involving UK [redacted].”

At 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 25, 30 – 40 SAE members entered the house by breaking a window and knocking down a door while “allegedly armed with golf clubs and other dangerous instruments.” Blood would be found inside, and various items damaged.

8 – 10 residents were inside and cornered by SAE members.

“SAE members broke a TV, threw beer bottles, and cornered [redacted] in the house, making threats and pushing/shoving,” the report reads. When Lexington police arrived, SAE members fled to another house where they barricaded themselves inside and refused to open the door.

My younger daughter, an Army veteran and IT professional, told me about this one, so I just had to share it!

Looks like it’s time to watch Animal House again!

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Remember the actions of the teachers’ unions the next time they try to play the “we care about your children” card as they are seeking more money. We might as well consider the entire education year lost

It looks like The Wall Street Journal has caught up with us:

The Tragedy of the Schools

Many parents are losing faith in their closed public schools—and are looking for alternatives.

By Daniel Henninger | February 3, 2021 | 5:46 PM EST

Among its multiple alterations, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-21 may be undermining the role of public schools in the United States, in place since the middle of the 19th century. It is a reassessment that is long overdue.

A relevant anecdote is Ronald Reagan’s famous explanation that he didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him. Across the country the past year, that has been the experience of parents with children in many of the nation’s public systems—abandoned by schools they’ve supported with their tax dollars.

In Chicago, the nation’s third-largest system is on the brink of a strike, despite pleas from the city’s progressive mayor, Lori Lightfoot, for the teachers to return. Unions are resisting opening in Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Washington. Michael Mulgrew, head of the teachers union in New York City, says the schools may not open “until September.”

San Francisco’s Board of Education has enough time on its hands to vote 6-1 to cancel the names of 44 Americans from their public schools. On Wednesday, the city sued its own school board for failing to get the schools open.

Though teaching modes vary by state, what data exist suggests in-person teaching at public schools is below 25%, while it’s about 60% at private schools, which have largely reopened.

At the start of the pandemic, the closures were understandable. They no longer are, with even the oh-so-careful Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying there is scant evidence of significant virus transmission among grade-school-age children.

There’s more at the original.

A lady named Phyllis tweeted:

The employees of Kroger, Meijer and WalMart all had ‘essential’ jobs to which to go, and if they refused, they’d lose their jobs. Losing jobs due to refusing to work is not the kind of thing which makes you eligible for unemployment. I would guess that the vast majority of the people who worked at those stores worked there because they needed to work.

The public school teachers? They never missed a single paycheck, and as long as they could teach ‘remotely,’ why not? After all, who cares if ‘remote learning’ does not produce good results? The teachers get to avoid unruly classrooms, and many of them get to teach from their own homes. No commute, no nasty winter weather, just a nice, toasty computer session, perhaps with the fireplace going.

The private and parochial schools fought to reopen, sometimes having to sue authoritarian state decrees, because the parents wanted them open, and the schools have to stay open to stay open; private schools don’t have the government pot of money to remain open, and they need the tuition.

But Phyllis got it wrong: it has nothing to do with the “courage” of various employees. Rather, it has to do with the selfishness of the teachers’ unions. Already blessed with 180-day work years, rather than the 240 — and often more — that most people have, they find that they like not having to get out of bed earlier, not having to drive to work. A Keurig and they can easily skip the stop at Turkey Hill for a morning cup of coffee, and, depending on their set-up, can even stay in their pajama bottoms and slippers. Great, huh?

Just remember what they’re doing the next time teachers try to play the “we care about your children” card as they are seeking more money.

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President Biden acts like he cares about working Americans, but that’s all it is: an act.

This is the kind of thing that pisses me off about Joe Biden being President. Looking at the January unemployment numbers, he said:

The unemployment numbers are from data collected in the middle of the month, normally before the 20th, meaning before he signed the executive order that threw 11,000 people out of work on the Keystone XL Pipeline!

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Schadenfreude! Hard left feminist decries surge in homeschooling, but the surge is caused by leftist teachers’ unions trying to keep public schools closed

Feminist Jill Filipovic McCormick is not a fan of home schooling:

Right-wing groups love to push homeschooling because it helps keep kids away from material that might challenge their conservative worldview, and it keeps women out of work and in the home. It’s a pretty transparent set of motivations, not good for women or children.

This is a pet issue of mine and some day I’ll write about it at length, but the whole conversation about homeschooling would go very differently if we believed children had a right to a high-quality education — or if we believed children had rights at all, separate from parents.

Please do note that my tweet talks about what motivates right-wing groups to push homeschooling — it does not say that parents who homeschool have a single set of motivations (they certainly do not). Plz work on reading comprehension before you teach your kids.

…and just observing how many people on the right are big mad at the idea that “children should have rights.

The previous four paragraphs are the rest of the Twitter thread Mrs McCormick posted; it’s simply easier for the reader for me to copy and paste them; no changes to her text have been made.

Twitchy noted many objections made to Mrs MCormick’s tweets, which you can read if you follow this link.

I had made a few reply tweets to her:

Yet the teachers’ unions, which are 75% female, want to keep the public schools closed to in-person classes, forcing primarily women to stay at home to care for their children. The teachers still get paid, but many of the other public school employees are out of work.

It’s been women’s careers which have been more negatively impacted by the virus, yet it’s the heavily female, politically liberal teachers’ unions which have been most resistant to resuming in-person classes.

Here’s How the Pandemic Is Affecting Women’s Careers: Women have been disproportionately hit by job losses and many of those who are working say they may have to step back.

And, of course, parents who can somehow afford it have shown a tendency to pull students from the closed-to-in-person instruction public schools in favor of private, frequently religious, private schools

Public Schools Will Struggle Even More as Parents Move Kids to Private Ones During the Pandemic.

Then there’s the President attempting to force acceptance of ‘transgenderism’ on the public schools. Why would it surprise anyone that some parents might not accept that, and choose to abandon the public schools?

Now, I was going to let it go at that, until I opened The Philadelphia Inquirer’s website this morning, and found this gem:

Philly teachers union says it’s ‘not safe’ to reopen schools. It wants the city to intervene.

by Kristen A. Graham and Maddie Hanna | February 4, 2021 | 9:20 AM EST

The city teachers union says it doesn’t have confidence buildings are safe for reopening, setting up a showdown with the Philadelphia School District over a planned Monday return for some teachers.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan (David Maialetti/ The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan said Wednesday night he has called on the city to assign a neutral third party who will examine evidence presented by both sides and decide whether buildings are in suitable shape for a return.

That’s a move open to Jordan based on a memorandum of understanding signed by the union and district in the fall, requiring the involvement of the Mayor’s Office of Labor and a “world-renowned physician” to weigh in swiftly on reopening disputes. If the outside expert determines the district is not in compliance with safety standards, they will direct the school system to fix the problems.

After weeks of back and forth and meetings with district officials Monday and Tuesday, Jordan said he still had deep concerns over ventilation, especially in schools where window fans are still being installed to improve air flow, and other safety issues.

There’s more at the original, but it all boils down to one thing: no matter what the school district does, it will never be enough. Here in the Bluegrass State, the Fayette County schools remain closed for other “reasons,” even though the Commonwealth has begun COVID-19 vaccinations prioritizing teachers.

The Inquirer article noted that the Philadelphia public schools have been closed to in-person instruction since last March; that’s eleven months! And if the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers gets its way, the schools will be closed to in-person instruction for a full year.

We might as well face facts: we have lost an entire educational year! From The Washington Post:

It’s time to admit it: Remote education is a failure

Opinion by Helaine Olen, Columnist | December 2, 2020 | 11:32 AM EST

Whenever someone expressed concerns about the quality of remote education back in the early days of covid-19, they were all but shamed into silence. No, the spring did not go well, but that was done on the fly, with next to no preparation. No, it’s not an ideal solution, but staying with in-person instruction is out of the question. There is a learning curve, we were told. We’ll get this thing right with time.

Here’s how that worked out: In Houston, the number of students with failing grades is exploding. In St. Paul, Minn., a high school student is almost as likely to be on track to fail a class as pass it. In the junior high and high schools of Fairfax County — one of the wealthiest counties in the United States — 1 out of 10 students flunked at least two classes, and the number was almost double that for those with disabilities. Enrollment is falling in closed school districts from coast to coast and many points in between. Some children are exiting for private schools, or private pods. Others are simply MIA.

In the vast majority of cases, remote learning is a poor substitute for in-person education — no matter what efforts are made, no matter how many teacher trainings are offered.

It’s not simply a matter of subpar or nonexistent Internet or computer access, something that impacts students from more than 4 million households. Small children, as it turns out, will not sit in front of a computer to listen to a teacher or complete an assignment without supervision. That means millions of parents — for the most part, moms — got conscripted as unpaid teacher’s assistants. And while older children don’t need parents next to them in order to do their work, they often won’t do it regardless.

There’s more at the original, and yes, it is an opinion columnist who wrote it, but Helaine Olen included a lot of linked information, which is why I chose to use it.

We have frequently noted the efforts of private schools to open, despite the orders of state Governors. And private school enrollment has reversed a decades-long decline and showing increased enrollment. The number of students being homeschooled has shot up as well, though some officious bureaucrats are trying to stop that.[1]Full disclosure: My daughters attended parochial schools for part of their education.

I will admit to some schadenfreude here: it is the actions of the public school teachers and their unions which are helping to increase both private and parochial school enrollments and homeschooling, the very thing Mrs McCormick hates. It isn’t we evil reich-wing conservatives forcing and keeping the public schools closed; it’s the actions of the primarily liberal and Democratic public school teachers and their unions.

References

References
↑1 Full disclosure: My daughters attended parochial schools for part of their education.
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The General Assembly overrides Governor Beshear’s vetoes, so he goes to court to try to override the legislature

In mid-January, I submitted an OpEd to the Lexington Herald-Leader, one which the editors chose not to print suggesting that Governor Andy Beshear ought to sign Senate Bill 1, which the General Assembly passed, and which the Governor threatened to veto. In it, I wrote:

In the political dispute between Governor Andy Beshear (D-KY) and the Republican majority in the General Assembly, the legislature has taken up, and approved, bills to restrict the emergency powers of the Governor under KRS 39A. The Governor’s declaration of an emergency, and the executive orders which followed, were initially generally approved, as the extent and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic was both worrisome, and unknown.

However, the public were told, and sold on, the notion that this was a problem that could be greatly reduced by fourteen days of action. Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, writing in The New York Times, said:

Health experts have not been overreacting. Models from Imperial College London and others suggest that up to 2.2 million Americans could die within a year without sufficient efforts to “flatten the curve.”

At the same time, it is right to worry about how Covid-19 will wreck the economy. Projections already suggest that the American economy could contract by more than 15 percent in the second quarter and that the unemployment rate could surpass 20 percent.

But the economy cannot be fixed without solving the pandemic. Only after the virus is contained can we reopen restaurants, bars, gyms and stores; allow people to travel, attend conferences and visit museums; and persuade them to buy cars and houses.

The window to win this war is about seven to 14 days.

If the United States intervenes immediately on the scale that China did, our death toll could be under 100,000. Within three to four months we might be able to begin a return to more normal lives.

Published on March 23, 2020, three to four months would have been late June to late July. Despite actions taken by the vast majority of our nation’s governors, including Governor Beshear, Dr. Emanuel’s now-seemingly-rosy prediction fell flat on its face.

Kentucky State Police put notices on and recorded license plates of unoccupied cars at Maryville Baptist Church on Easter morning. April 12, 2020. Photo by
Scott Utterback, The Louisville Courier- Journal.

Governor Beshear’s actions became controversial fairly quickly. While the Governor first recommended that schools and churches close, of their own volition, on March 19th he made it an order. This included April 12th, which was Easter Sunday. When a few churches refused to be closed to in-person services on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, Kentucky State Police troopers recorded license plates and VIN numbers of worshipers in two church parking lots, an ugly scene which attracted nationwide attention.

Resistance started mounting in the Bluegrass State, and leaders of the General Assembly began asking the Governor to be included in his decision-taking, but Mr. Beshear declined. The Herald-Leader reported:

Beshear was asked at Friday’s (July 10, 2020) news conference on COVID-19 why he has not included the legislature in coming up with his orders. He said many state lawmakers refuse to wear masks and noted that 26 legislators in Mississippi have tested positive for the virus.

Under the state constitution, the Governor has the power to call the state legislature into a special session, but the General Assembly does not have the ability to call itself back into session. When the Kentucky Supreme Court prohibited all state lower courts from acting on suits to stop the Governor’s orders, in July, then finally ruled in November that his executive orders were legal, Republican leaders knew that it was only legislative action which could get them involved.

Republicans significantly increased their already large majorities in both chambers of the legislature, and several bills were pre-filed to limit the Governor’s power. Mr. Beshear promised to veto the bills even before they were passed, but the General Assembly passed them anyway, by large margins. The Governor has promised to challenge the bills’ legality in court if his vetoes are overridden.

Senate Bill 1 does not prevent the Governor from taking action during an emergency; what it does do is limit his executive orders to thirty days unless an extension is approved by the General Assembly. It further specifies that no emergency orders can suspend rights under the United States Constitution.

There is no reason the legislature cannot be consulted; the Governor simply chose not to do so, thus drawing lines in the sand and angering legislators. There may not be much that he can do to repair that fractured relationship, but signing Senate Bill 1, and agreeing to work with the General Assembly might be the best he could do.

If he vetoes it, his veto will be overridden anyway. The sensible thing to do is sign it.

Of course, the Governor did not sign Senate Bill 1, or any of the other legislation the General Assembly sent him, vetoing six bills, and allowing a seventh to become law without his signature. And, as predicted, the General Assembly overrode his vetoes:

GOP swiftly overrides Beshear vetoes. He immediately challenges COVID laws in court.

By Daniel Desrochers and Jack Brammer | February 2, 2021 | 5:56 PM EST | Updated February 2, 2021 | 6:50 PM

Kentucky Republicans asserted their control in Frankfort Tuesday, overwhelmingly voting to override vetoes issued by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of bills that limit his powers during the coronavirus pandemic and other emergencies.

The action by lawmakers upon returning to the Capitol after a three-week break set the stage for a court battle, which Beshear initiated immediately.

In announcing his lawsuit against House Bill 1, Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2, Beshear accused lawmakers of surrendering to COVID-19.

“Today, the General Assembly attempted to surrender to COVID-19 and accept the casualties. As your governor, I cannot let this happen,” Beshear said. “I have filed this action to continue to fight for the protection of all Kentuckians.”

The action fulfilled a promise he made Monday to fight the laws in court, setting up another battle in which the judicial branch will determine whether Beshear has the power to place restrictions on gatherings and businesses to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The Governor’s lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Circuit Court; Franklin is the county in which the state capital of Frankfort is located. The Governor asked for:

a temporary restraining order, a temporary injunction and a permanent injunction against the Defendants, Robert W. Osborne, Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Bertram Robert Stivers, II, President of the Kentucky Senate, and Daniel J. Cameron, the Kentucky Attorney General.

The Governor is trying to run out the clock on COVID-19. Had he included the legislature in 2020, it might not have come down to this.

Regardless of the outcome of this filing, the loser will appeal to the state Court of Appeals, and then to the state Supreme Court. That isn’t a very good history:

On July 17th, the Kentucky Supreme Court halted all lower state court efforts to enjoin Governor Andy Beshear’s (D-KY) executive orders to fight COVID-19. Then, three weeks later, the Court set September 17th to hear oral arguments on those cases, which meant that Mr Beshear’s executive orders would continue in force, without any recourse to the state courts to challenge them, for two months before the state Supreme Court would even allow arguments against them.

Those oral arguments were heard, but it wasn’t until November 12th that the state Supreme Court issued its ruling. That’s 118 days, or 3½ months, that the state Supreme Court left the Governor’s orders in force without any actual legal ruling.

Sadly, when that court did rule, it ruled in favor of the Governor.

Under Senate Bill 1, Governor Beshear can still issue executive orders for up to thirty days, without the approval of the General Assembly to extend them, so the Governor’s latest executive order, extending the mandatory mask order until March 1st. The Governor cannot extend that order now, under Senate Bill 1, without the approval of the legislature. But if he gets his way on an injunction, he could extend the order, and, if we get the same 118 days from the state Supreme Court, that would take until June 27th before there was a ruling by the officially non-partisan but practically Democrat controlled state Supreme Court.

All of this could have been avoided if the Governor had included the General Assembly in his decisions, if he had not acted unilaterally and specifically chosen to ignore the legislature.

Translation: Governor Beshear believed that the legislature would not go along with his draconian decrees.

I will admit it: I have little faith that the state Supreme Court will uphold the legislature and the rights of Kentuckians.