The 'Peace Summit' that never was
PLUS: 10 Commandments Texas-style and Newsom's trollery
I refrain from writing for a few weeks and what happens? After bombing Iran, President Donald Trump veered the other way and decided to become a peace broker in a different war. He called for a “summit” in Alaska between him and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin with the goal of ending the deadly armed conflict between Putin’s invading army and Ukraine.
Before leaving for the former Russian territory, Trump talked tough, insisting he would push for a ceasefire and warning of “severe consequences” if Putin would not agree to it. But the leader of the free world reverted to TACO mode (Trump Always Chickens Out).
When Putin refused to stop the bombing, Trump took to the podium in Anchorage and said little about the issues that divide them. Later, he acted as if a ceasefire wasn’t even necessary in order to achieve a peace agreement.
Think about the implications here. A madman ruler, who also happens to be an accused war criminal, insists he should be able to continue to bomb civilian targets (as recently as yesterday), kill people with reckless abandon, and kidnap thousands of Ukrainian babies while negotiating for “peace?”
Now Trump is talking about getting Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy together for another summit. I can’t imagine that happening while Putin continues to send missiles into high-rise apartment buildings in Kiev.
The whole spectacle was a national embarrassment. With American warplanes respectfully roaring overhead, a wanted war criminal was welcomed onto U.S. soil and strode with the applauding American president on a red carpet literally rolled out from Putin’s plane by kneeling soldiers of the United States Air Force. Decent people everywhere had to stifle their gag reflexes.
Finally, make no mistake about it. If indeed serious talks take place to stop the fighting between the warring nations, they will not be “peace talks.” They will be negotiations on the partitioning of Ukraine (with guarantees against Ukraine joining NATO) in a way that rewards a monster. Welcome to the new world order.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not rooting for Trump to fail. As Hillary Clinton said, in the very unlikely event that he succeeds in getting a peace treaty that results in Ukraine getting it seized territory back, then he should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
And meanwhile, Trump has succeeded in getting us to look at the shiny object. No one is talking about Epstein anymore.
Tough days to be a teacher
As a recovering high school English teacher and private school development officer, I still follow trends in education. And I have to say that currently few of them are very encouraging.
Here’s a doozy: while I was living in San Antonio earlier this year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom in the state. Under the new law, no other similar posters, such as codes of ethics from other religions, may be displayed.
The bill advanced by the Texas legislature was especially brazen considering that a similar law in Lousiana was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge last year.
It’s a clear violation of the establishment clause in the Constitution. Supporters of the law are technically correct that the phrase “separation of church and state” is nowhere to be found in the Constitution. Those words were written by Thomas Jefferson, who was not a framer of the Constitution because he was serving as ambassador to France at the time. Otherwise, you know he would have been in Philadelphia.
The Constitution does, however, explicitly prohibit the establishment of a state religion or the government practice of favoring one religion over another, and it is plain to me that posting the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom to the exclusion of similar documents of other faiths is a clear violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
While in Austin on a business trip more than 20 years ago, I walked along Congress Street to peek at the State Capitol where I stumbled onto this:
Like the recent classroom requirement, this public display of the Ten Commandments was challenged in court as unconstitutional, but unfortunately in 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the plaintiffs by a margin of 5-4. The new Texas law was also struck down yesterday (free link) as unconstitutional by a judge in that state, but expect an appeal to the SCOTUS.
Woke is not ‘OK’
In related news, have you ever considered teaching in Oklahoma? Good. Neither have I. But if you know of someone who is interested, let them know about a new law requiring select candidates for public school teaching job in the state to answer questions intended to screen out “woke indoctrinators” with left-wing views. Candidates from New York and California are the only ones who will have to take the test.
Per the Washington Post (free link):
The test’s 50 questions will cover topics about U.S. government, religion and gender, according to examples shared by the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters (R). Teachers unions have criticized the move as a political stunt that will discourage applicants as Oklahoma faces a teacher shortage.
A politician performing a political stunt? I can’t believe it. This is one of the problems with putting ambitious politicians in charge of public schools. Walters, who is also running for governor, proves the old adage that politicians do little but look toward the next election.
Plus, Walters has no idea how much diversity of thought there is in a state like New York. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul only won her 2022 election by 6.5 points — the closest margin since 1994. Look at how many counties went for Hochul’s Republican opponent, former Congressman Lee Zeldin:
One of my favorite readers of this column can confirm that once you get outside NYC and New York’s other cities, the political landscape changes considerably. A social studies teacher at Plattsburgh High School will probably have a very different worldview than one at the Bronx High School of Science. But never mind. New York is an attractive target for politicians and their supporters who’ve never spent much time there, and Walters know his audience.
In other news …
I agree with my colleague and fellow Wesleyan alum Paul Starobin above.
BTW I’ve encountered Trump supporters on X who think California Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to copy President Donald Trump and benefit from the president’s success as an internet troll. I’ve tried to explain to them that no, Newsom is mocking Trump by beating him at his own game by posting feigned rants in SHOUTY CAPS and using Trumpian language.
I’m not sure Newsom is the best candidate Dems could put forward to challenge whomever ends up in 2028 as the aspiring Trump successor in the GOP, but Newsom and his team are certainly good at this.
P.S. I apologize for not publishing for almost two months. I just haven’t felt up to it until now. I am very slowly making progress in my recovery from the broken hip I suffered in a fall on a North Carolina tennis court in January.
My goals is to publish every week. Wish me luck …
Glad you are feeling better. You have been missed; welcome back!
Good luck, Terry! I’ve missed your analyses… I find them well sourced and the topics a bit different from other political writers