In the opening salvo of the fact-free Presidency, Donald Trump said to his fellow Americans and the people of the world that America’s schools are “flush with cash but… leave[] our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge” while America’s military has suffered a “very sad depletion.”
Deprived of all knowledge? I’m in Watertown judging Speech Fiesta, one of the greatest high school speech and debate contests on the planet. I have yet to hear a student make a contest speech here who sounds “deprived of all knowledge.” While some need to work on their enunciation, these young speakers are are flush with knowledge and an eagerness to share it.
As for all you teachers and administrators rolling in the dough—yes, please, take a moment to clean up the coffee you just spit across your old desks—well, there are many metrics by which we can refute Trump’s statement about our spending on schools and soldiers. Let’s keep it simple:
- The United States spends 5.5% of its economic output on education. 58 countries (U.K., France, Israel, Finland, Bolivia, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Cuba…) spend a greater share of their national wealth educating their children than we do.
- The United States spends 3.3% of its GDP on its military. Four countries (Israel, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia) spend a larger share of their national wealth in preparation for killing people and breaking things. We spend more money on our military than the next ten biggest military-spending countries combined.
Trump must have misheard Eisenhower warning us of the dangers of the vast educational-industrial complex. Prepare for four more years of vast mishearings and absurd misstatements from the White House.
Drumpf’s first order of business was to issue an executive order about the ACA. I thought white power Barbies hated executive orders. Or was it just those Dems issued?
Thanks Cory for calling out the absurdities of the first fact free president. Don the Con only knows one thing and that is how to be a salesman. He is constantly selling things, whether it be his foreign made Trump branded products or his real estate holdings.
It is no different with the sales pitch for his presidency. He has campaigned on the fact that the US is a disaster and this inauguration speech continued to play this tune. Like the Pied Piper his tune of gloom was used to draw in his followers and play to his base.
The problem is the time has now come for him to deliver on all of his impossible promises. 25 million new jobs? Bringing millions of obsolete manufacturing jobs back to America? Eliminating terrorism? Kicking out 13 million people from this country? Repealing Obamacare immediately without leaving existing enrollees without healthcare? The list seems endless.
Since we know the reality is that he will be unable to accomplish a tenth of what he has promised for results, he will step up his false and misleading propaganda. The economy will suddenly be described by him as robust and growing with unexpected strength. Our military, which he often derides, will suddenly be the envy of the world (even though it is and has been the envy of the world for decades). He will hold up every company that adds jobs or brings jobs here as if he alone was its savior. Remember, when he said only he can save this country.
This will continue to be the Don the Con show every day. It is about the show, the sizzle, not the steak. Obama lacked the freedom to lie and exaggerate without his moral compass pulling him back. Trump’s compass only points at himself and his ego and self interest.
But get ready for the greatest show on earth. And just wait for the fireworks as he blames his own failures on everyone but himself.
PS And when Trump’s failures become more and more evident during his presidency, there is no bigger distraction for the country than starting a war to rally the country to the presidency. Trump will use every trick in the book and some that aren’t even in anyone’s book yet.
The DFP quartermaster doesn’t seem to be issuing enough Big Boy Pants™ for Cory’s Outrage Brigade®. :-)
Congratulations and thank you Cory for spending this Inauguration Day doing something much more productive and meaningful than wringing your hands while watching the Twitter-meister be sworn into office. I went about my duties sporting a symbolic black armband … not that it was significant, but I felt a tiny bit better. At least it was a statement.
Coyote, the pants were ordered from the Trump collection and they are on back order from Trump’s Malaysian factories. I assume production will be moved stateside now that Trump has promised to bring his jobs back to America.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/20/fact-checking-president-trumps-inaugural-address/?postshare=4551484946700131&tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.0042e89b1ecd
@Dave: “Trump is a minority president, in terms of the popular vote.”
What the Fact Checkers (and Davey) won’t tell you. Hillary would’ve been a “minority president” (Hubby Bill was too … twice) if elected since she didn’t reach an absolute majority either. The PV doesn’t matter, never has so give it up. Put your Big Boy Pants™ on when they are delivered by Cory’s Slo-Mo Express® and deal with it.
I’m tired of being told our military sucks. I wouldn’t trade it for anybody else’s military. And I think that spending more than the next 10 countries combined is too much to spend beating plowshares to swords. We could cut our military spending by 75% and I still wouldn’t trade our military for anybody else’s. Let’s get to cutting.
The funny thing about GOPs is that they ignore the fact we already outspend all of our potential adversaries militarily. GOPs always want to spend more on the military, but they want to pay for it with IOUs instead of tax money. The GOP Party has been the fact-free party for a long time.
Cory, South Dakota has some of the best schools in this nation and many times Teachers make do with much less that elsewhere. Their focus is always on the Student. I was a student of WHS and I have relations that are teachers in SD’s Public School System. They take pride in providing the best education they can. While I can say that, it isn’t true everywhere, and in some of those places there is more funding available. So what Trump Is saying is true.
As far as the Military is concerned, I have heard from my veteran associates that the current military members are more concerned with making physical appearance and fitness standards, than they are about doing the jobs they are expected to perform in war. That is not a knock on those soldiers, but about the priorities of the leadership above them all the way to the President of the United States. I came in during Reagan’s build up. We were expected to meet standards, but the job came first. The military wanted the best and brightest they could get. The Air Force specifically were looking for recruits with post secondary education. Before I retired and even when I left active duty, there was a shift from getting the job done to becoming more compliant. That’s a leadership failing.
Yes it costs a lot to have the best Military in the world. But over half of the funding for the military is for people programs and maintaining the military infrastructure. Could the military be more efficient and less costly, sure it could. But then some State might not get it’s part of a big contract. Eisenhower warned of the Military Industrial Complex, but he also acknowledged the need of it in that same speech. His warning was to be vigilant. He did not say it should be torn down.
I would love to see a remedy of the fraud, waste, and abuse in the military. I can tell you from my time in active duty that we would often have shortages of ammo…..yet billions of dollars are going to building vehicles that are not needed or even wanted. Bleck, and the ridiculousness of money spent on uniform changes is ridiculous (in the Army and the Navy; the Marines have it locked down well)
BTW Cory it was about 40 years ago I was part of the Speech Fiesta .
Joe if you wanted to talk about uniform expense issues be an instructor in Air Training Command sometime. I paid a lot out of pocket for uniforms.
Mike, I was thinking more along the lines of the overall general expense of all the R&D of new uniforms, implementing uniform changes, et cetera being footed by the tax payer; not the expense paid by gi joe. As far as being a drill or a TI, those unfortunate souls have to embrace a whole nother level of suck.
Mike, Trump’s statement was that our schools are flush with cash but deprive our kids of knowledge. Cory showed that we don’t actually spend all that much on education compared to other countries. And I think most of our schools in this country do an excellent job for our students.
You then say that teachers in SD make do with less and do a good job, which I agree with btw. But then you say that Trump’s statement is correct because some places have more money, but don’t so as well as SD.
Trump doesn’t qualify his statement like you do, restricting it to some schools perform poorly despite them spending piles of money. Trump makes one of his dumb generalizations about our schools in general being “flush with cash” and depriving students of knowledge. Our schools certainly don’t deserve to be portrayed as depriving students of knowledge or that they are flush with cash.
Your willingness to let Trump off the hook for his exaggerations and outright falsehoods with regard to schools is ridiculous especially when you acknowledge that schools in SD get along with less and do a good job in spite of their lack of funding. Do we have work to do on our educational system? Always! But I’m not going to let you and Trump just make crap up.
Furthermore, its Trump and his ilk that have talked about abolishing the federal education department as if education wasn’t a national priority that deserves federal attention.
Agent Orange doesn’t need intelligence because he’s a smart guy; he uses his gut instinct – like a true apex predator – he’s melded his guts and brain into one all-knowing improvisational genius McGyver-like Marvel Comic set of super powers… and because of this intimate personal experience, he knows that America’s children don’t need intelligence either.
Really though, I wish I had debate opportunities in high school. Where I grew up, sadly, it just wasn’t a thing. It would have been so good for me that early on.
OK lets see, what about the american constitution being left out? What about the first seven presidents before George Washington being left out? what about the american native being left out? What about the elite and bankers controlling all foreign running america being left out? What about the IRS, Social Security, Northern Trust Corporation, and every Insurance company being owned by the BAR Association London England operating upon our shores under a 1946 treaty agreement. Yes the schools are deprived of the truth, operated just like the face news mainstream media.
Just took a quick tour to find info on Mike Boswell claim at 2017-01-20 at 23:19
“Cory, South Dakota has some of the best schools in this nation and many times Teachers make do with much less that elsewhere.”
I found a quick one at:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-schools/5335/
South Dakota is 41, in the bottom ten on a list of 51.
The criteria are:
School-System Quality – Total Points: 80
Presence of State’s Public Schools Within the “Top 700 Best U.S. Schools”: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
Note: The number of schools in the top 700 was adjusted by the number of schools for each state in the US News & World Report sample.
Remote-Learning Opportunities from Online Public Schools: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
Dropout Rate: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
High School Graduation Rate for Low-Income Students: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
“Bookworms” Ranking: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
Percentage of Licensed/Certified Public K–12 Teachers: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
Math Test Scores: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
Reading Test Scores: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
Percentage of High School Graduates Who Completed an Advanced Placement (AP) Exam: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
Average SAT Score: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
Average ACT Score: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
Percentage of High School Graduates Who Completed the ACT and/or SAT: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
Note: For this metric, the percentage sum may be larger than 100 percent because some students completed both standardized tests. However, no data specifying the number of students who did so are available.
School-System Safety – Total Points: 20
School Safety: Double Weight (~6.67 Points)
Note: This metric measures the percentage of public school students in grades 9 to 12 who reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property.
Disciplinary-Incidents Rate per 100,000 Students: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
Bullying-Incidents Rate: Double Weight (~6.67 Points)
Youth Incarceration Rate per 100,000 Population under Age 21: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
In comparison to the rest of the world that was measured, at least. The US overall ranking is 14th.
This is at:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading
My hypothesis on Mike Boswell’s assumption that South Dakota is a great place to gain knowledge is because he is a segregationist. The people who do poorly at school are not people to Boswell. Boswell only counts his fellow humans that are his equals not the “less than.”
Trump just mixed up his sentences. He meant to say that America’s military is flush with cash while America’s schools have suffered a very sad depletion of resources leaving too many of our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge.
There I fixed it for him.
Punkin head cannot write any more than 140 characters into any claim or action. Take Obamacare for instance, he apparently wrote some scribbles down last night or did he? Maybe he was just doodling. The reason he is pissed about American schools is because in those schools, kids actually learn some things. When he went to reform school, they taught him how to be an ass, top of his class on that. Seems like he is convinced that America needs to be number 4 or even lower to keep on par with his beloved Russia education system.
2011 Medicaid cuts will be even more severe in 2017 as republicans march to send gramps and grams to the living rooms of South Dakota families. http://housedocs.house.gov/energycommerce/med_2011/SDAL.Noem.pdf When do you think we should complain to NOem and the rest of the crooks and liars? I wonder what the cracker barrel legislators are going to say about that? Or are they too busy trying to cover up their sex antics in Pierre?
American schools and military? The guy is unstable.
@cah: “Trump must have misheard Eisenhower warning us of the dangers of the vast educational-industrial complex.”
Eisenhower did just that in his farewell address. Although the military-industrial complex warning is the one that everyone remembers, there was also a second warning.
“Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.”
As for Trump’s comments on education, he was referencing the dire situation found in many of the nation’s largest school districts. Districts like Chicago’s that is mired in $1B+ debt that was (ironically) once headed by Arne Duncan, Obama’s Education Secretary
How conveniently liberals leave out the first part of speech on the Military Industrial complex.
“A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.
Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. ”
Again Eisenhower speaks of the need for the MIC and that we must be vigilant of it.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp
Exactly Mr. Boswell, bring back the draft! The sooner the better. “Now come on all you big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again. Got himself in a terrible scrape, battling the women in all of the states.” Borrowed from Country Joe and the Fish.
The ladies are on the move fellers, all over the world. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4142956/Thousands-women-march-London-against-Donald-Trump.html
Jerry, the women of this country will be the ones that save this country, most of the men are to stupid…can’t see the forest because of all of those damn trees.
I think I am more than ready for them to do just that, but not in South Dakota. NOem is really just another idiot of a man in all that things that resemble thought and action.
Canadians, British, our allies, have been denied entry into spooky land. Our military just got spooked out by….women. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/20/womens-march-canada-protesters-denied-entry-us What an embarrassment. The women marching all over the world know one thing, they now consider us unworthy to lead. Women know these things, that is how they find the strong men in their lives to father their children. They see us now as paper tigers..meow meow. This is not going to end well.
Love it, the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. is massive and dwarfs the size of trump’s inaugural.
As for Trump’s comments on education, he was referencing the dire situation found in many of the nation’s largest school districts. Districts like Chicago’s that is mired in $1B+ debt that was (ironically) once headed by Arne Duncan, Obama’s Education Secretary
DeVos has done so much better in Michigan where she pushed charter schools and then they failed so badly in Detroit she wanted to abolish the whole district.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/12/08/a-sobering-look-at-what-betsy-devos-did-to-education-in-michigan-and-what-she-might-do-as-secretary-of-education/?utm_term=.87112d007c51
http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/detroit/2017/01/16/can-betsy-devos-be-blamed-for-the-state-of-detroits-schools-what-you-need-to-know/
Arne Duncan, Obama’s Education Secretary, was a big proponent of charter schools as well. In fact three days before he resigned in Dec 2015, he ok’d a grant of $249 million to the charter school industry.
Duncan prolly did charter schools the right way, even if there is no way to pass a charter school as being constitutional.
Coyote, unable to defend President Trump’s blatant absurdity, first resorts to petty insults, calling us pussies. This is going to be a rough four years for you, isn’t it, Coyote?
When he turns to Chicago, he has to put words in the President’s mouth, as will be the case throughout the Trump Administration, since we have a President who cannot extend an argument past 140 characters and a “Believe me!” Chicago in debt? Doesn’t sound flush with cash to me. Grant to charter schools? Gee, that sounds like a Betsy DeVos trick, blowing money on profiteers instead of focusing on accountable public schools.
Duncan and Obama got some education policy wrong, too. That doesn’t change the utter non-factuality of Trump’s inaugural claims about education and our military. “flush with cash”? “Deprived of all knowledge”? Absolutely irresponsible claims from the President of the United States.
@cah: Since the SGitR doesn’t understand the phrase “Big Boy Pants” he has to resort to his W C Fields impression of “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bs” schtick to bolster his argument that is sinking faster than a boat without a hull.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SGitR
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/big-boy+pants
(Boswell: Fiesta? You? Holy cow! You should come judge next year! I’ll get Coach Walker to put us on a finals panel together! It’ll be great!)
Don, President Trump is spending his Inaugural weekend dashing any hopes of credibility. I see no rebuttal to that fact here. Your distractions are moving from irrelevant to incomprehensible. I anticipate a similar strategy from the Spicer press room, to be followed soon thereafter by the Pence-Ryan coup.