FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Jul 31

New World For Teachers in Parts of America?

by bcurry

Let’s just say that I’m a teacher in the great state of Florida, as an example.  Each and every day I enter the school, I’m faced with a slew of state rules and regulations as to what I can teach and which non-banned books my students can read.  By not adhering to these new requirements, I could be taken to court by parents with a complaint, suggesting that I’m now “grooming” my students — whatever that means?  Or I’d simply lose my job.

Let’s not talk about teaching sex education classes, especially given the severe restrictions imposed by the state with respect to any discussion of things like sexual orientation and gender identity.  Instead, I’m forced to tread very carefully in order to adhere to guidance on topics when considered “developmentally appropriate”, which in the context of the new law has yet to defined by the state’s Department of Education as to what it actually means.  This despite the fact that public opinion surveys show significant support for sexual education in the state.  According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), such support is particularly the result of reports which show that Florida has the third-highest rate of new HIV infections in the country and is ranked 23rd for teen pregnancies.

Unfortunately, there is also a teacher shortage in most schools, including the availability of substitute teachers.  According to the Florida Education Association, the state is already facing a dire teacher shortage, with 9,000 open teaching and staff positions unfilled as the new school year begins. The shortage is severe enough that Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed a law that allows military veterans to teach without the required teaching certificate or a four-year college degree.  Maybe, we should be saluting each other in the hallways?  After years of college and teaching courses, I’m beginning to feel a little overqualified.  On top of which, Florida’s new laws have made the profession less attractive for experienced teachers and new college graduates alike.

Oh, and now I may be expected to carry a gun.  After a gunman tragically killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018, a program was started to train school staff members to serve as armed guardians.  According to state officials, there are more than 1,300 such armed guardians in 45 school districts in Florida, out of 74 in the state.  As far as I know, studies on school employees carrying guns have been limited, and research so far has found little evidence that it is effective.  However, arming teachers is obviously an approach that aligns closely with an argument that has become a hall mark of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the gun lobby: “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”  I guess that a good guy in this case is a teacher.  I just hope that no one gets accidentally shot, especially one of our students or a colleague.

Needless-to-say, the vast majority of teachers are dissatisfied with the current situation.  In addition, a teacher’s current pay is nothing to brag about.  According to the Florida Education Association, as of 2022, Florida ranks in the bottom five nationally for teacher salaries and many of its education staff professionals are deemed to be earning poverty wages.  On top of which, there is little in the way of employment security given that most teaching contracts are only for one year and there are few provisions for tenure.  The so-called “culture wars” have led to teacher firings with qualified, experienced educators getting a “pink slip” every year.  It’s hard not to consider resigning given the lack of respect, overcrowded classrooms, poor pay and the constant villainizing of teachers by state officials and radicalized parent groups.

As a reference, I would refer one to the Web site of the Florida Education Association (Teacher and Staff Shortage | Florida Education Association (feaweb.org), and to excellent articles by Lori Rozsa of The Washington Post (July 31, 2022) entitled Florida teachers race to remake lessons as DeSantis laws take effect and by Serah Mervosh of The New York Times entitled Trained, armed and ready to teach.

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Jul 29

How ‘Denial Syndrome’ Plays Out In COVID- 19 And Climate Change Debates

by bcurry

Just what is ‘denial syndrome’?  Psychologists define denial as the psychological process by which a painful truth is pushed out of an individual’s consciousness.  We use denial as a defense mechanism, to protect ourselves from the force of a truth we imagine will be too shattering for us to cope with.  Some current issues such as climate change and the global pandemic have made us feel deeply insecure about the present and the future.  This is where denial comes into its own as a way out.  It’s a lot easier than thinking up a series of individual excuses — just simply deny the whole problem exists.  Unfortunately, despite the best scientific evidence and explanation, there are health-care professionals who claimed the pandemic was all a hoax and environmentalists who deny that climate change exists.  This has led to a barrage of misinformation being put out and the emergence of conspiracy theories.

Take for example, the fact that several physicians in Canada have had their medical licences suspended by professional bodies for providing misinformation to patients about COVID vaccines, masking and available treatments.  Without any scientific evidence or studies, some have even made public assertions such as that COVID vaccines are more dangerous than the virus itself.  Some of these doctors taken to task by their regulator have challenged the discipline actions, arguing that they violate their right to free expression.  Earlier this month, the head the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), one of the biggest U.S. licensing bodies, commented on the free speech argument for doctors.  He stressed that if physicians want to keep their credentials, the concept of free speech does not extend to communicating misinformation, especially when such information can potentially harm their patients or pose a potential risk to public health.

When it comes to climate change, despite all of the scientific evidence that climatologists and other experts have gathered over decades, there are still some who would deny that it is an actual global issue.  Climate change science has been settled for decades, yet policymakers have yet to take sweeping action, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb to record highs.  There are some politicians who still believe that humans have nothing to do with what is happening to our climate.  The resulting inaction is driving some scientists to engage in civil disobedience.  A global campaign by Scientist Rebellion (SR) has begun.  SR is a climate network of scientists of all stripes and degrees aimed at partaking in non-violent civil disobedience and demanding climate action.  This past April, the group mobilized an estimated 1,000 scientists in 26 countries in protest.

Climate change denial is all around us.  Just today, I read a letter to the local newspaper by someone commenting on the recent U.K. heat wave which got a lot of attention for reaching a “record-breaking” 40 C in July.  The writer even had to go back as far as 1936 to note that London had reached 43.7 degrees centigrade during a two-day heat wave.  On top of which, he claims that so-called ‘eco-anxiety’ is rising because of the number of media stories that focus on extreme weather and blame it on climate change.  It certainly appeared to be the use of unsubstantiated arguments about biased reporting and ‘fake news’ as a denial tool.

Among conservative groups and political parties in both the U.S. and Canada, there are plenty of deniers to go around when it comes to these two issues.  Amazingly, they can produce their own experts and conspiracy theories in defence of their positions.  Why not just ignore the facts, much as former U.S. president Donald Trump did!  Incredibly, in the name of freedom of expression, some Republican politicians in the U.S., such as in Tennessee, have even gone further by introducing legislation to prohibit state medical boards from disciplining doctors who spread COVID falsehoods or prescribe unproven treatments.  Interestingly, with just 55 percent of its population double-vaccinated, Tennessee has suffered more than four times as many COVID deaths per 100,000 as the province of Ontario.

Whether personal or organizational, denial has real consequences.  No better examples are applicable to those related to climate change and the pandemic.

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Jul 27

Republicans Facing Several Major Serious Issues Within Party Before Mid-Terms

by bcurry

Well, I just learned from a Washington Post report that former President Trump’s actions are now being investigated by Justice Department prosecutors as part of an inquiry into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.  Recent testimony before the January 6th House committee also appears to suggest that there is enough evidence to conclude that the former president and some of his allies might have conspired to commit fraud and obstruction by misleading Americans about the outcome of the 2020 election and attempting to overturn the result.  The Republican Party establishment must be greatly disturbed by what is coming out of the committee’s public hearings, although many Republicans in Congress are still boohooing the hearings as a Democrat plot to malign Trump’s reputation.

However, Trump is not helping his case by his recent speeches where he continues to claim that the election was stolen.  What’s worst is the fact that a recent poll of Republican voters taken by the New York Times/Siena College showed that 49 percent said they would back Trump if he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.  This compared with just 6 percent who said they would vote for former Vice-President Mike Pence and 25 percent who supported Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.  The Trump vs. Pence public squabbles has caused many Republicans’ to have frustrations and reservations about a possible 2024 Trump campaign, suggesting that it could cause large numbers of Republican voters to defect from the party in a general election.  Donald Trump and his rowdy supporters won’t just go away!

In addition, it has been reported that online fundraising has slowed across much of the Republican Party in recent months, an unusual pullback of small donors that has set off a mad rush among Republican political operatives to understand why — and reverse the sudden decline before it damages the party’s chances this fall.  Exacerbating the fundraising problems for Republicans is that Trump continues to be the party’s dominant fundraiser.  Indeed, pro-Trump super PACs had amassed more than $100 million by last summer.  Yet virtually none of the tens of millions of dollars he raised has gone toward defeating Democrats.  The money has instead funded his political team and retribution agenda against Republicans who have crossed him.  Of course, money alone does not win political races, but any lack of funds can hamper party campaigns.

Then there has been the recent decision by the primarily conservative Supreme Court in overturning Roe v. Wade that has set off an array of attacks by women’s groups over the withdrawal of abortion services and the banning of abortion practices in Republican governed states.  Take this issue into consideration and the potential attack by Republicans on LGBTQ+ issues, including same sex marriages, there is a growing movement against what are being depicted as extremist right-wing policies.  The Democrats may be able to use the far right Republican platforms in their mid-term campaign to galvanize their rank and file and to secure the support of frustrated interest groups.  Much will depend on how Congressional Republicans handle certain initiatives in the coming months, including that which would protect the legitimacy of same sex marriages.

At the state level, there is little doubt that in those governed by Republicans there are still enough conservative votes to win the day and maintain their power.  However, at the federal level, the Republicans definitely appear to be in trouble, especially if Donald Trump is capable of riling up his base.  It will be interesting to see if the Republicans can resolve their evident split within the party before the mid-terms and most certainly in time for the next presidential election.  To the distress of the Republican establishment, Donald Trump and his allies are continuing to schedule events and are raising money for initiatives intended to make the former president a central player in the midterm elections, and possibly to set the stage for another run for the White House. 

One would love to be a fly on the wall at behind-the-scene discussions among leading Republican strategists.  I’m certain that they have a lot of serious issues to talk about!

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Jul 21

Incredible Scenes of Democratic Representatives in Congress Being Arrested During Protests

by bcurry

Earlier this past week during an abortion rights protest over the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, at least 17 Democratic lawmakers were among the 35 people arrested by the Capitol Police for blocking traffic outside the courthouse.  The arrest of lawmakers in this manner is something almost unheard of in Canada.  Canadian legislators tend to be somewhat docile when outside the House of Commons in Ottawa.  The most that Members of Parliament (MP) will do is to attend peaceful protests on the front lawn of Parliament’s centre block, sometimes to speak in support of some cause or another.  I can’t remember the last time that an MP was arrested as part of any protest in Ottawa.  However, back in March 2018, two federal politicians, including Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Kennedy Stewart, were arrested at a protest against Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain federally approved pipeline expansion in Burnaby, British Columbia.

On the other hand, in Washington, such incidences among House Representatives appear to have happened in other cases.  Indeed, it was reported that Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., was arrested last month outside the Supreme Court for protesting.  In July 2021, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested at the Hart Senate Office Building for protesting in favor of voting rights legislation.

Protests are protected by the First Amendment of the American Constitution, but like in Canada, there is still the need for protesters to abide by laws.  In the most recent incident, the U.S. Capitol Police tweeted about the situation: “Demonstrators are starting to block First Street, NE. It is against the law to block traffic, so officers are going to give our standard three warnings before they start making arrests.”  In light of the minor violation, those arrested were later released at the scene, with police telling the ABC News they were likely to face a $US50 ($72.48 Canadian) fine.  Among those arrested was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, who became the youngest woman elected to the House of Representatives, and has rocketed to political notoriety.  The arrests of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and the other Democrats resulted in coverage by a large number of news media outlets and extensively by social media sources.  There is little doubt that this type of media coverage involving lawmakers gives a protest a good deal of press, good and bad.

Former charismatic Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who was PM from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984, once exclaimed to the house speaker that opposition MPs were nobodies once they were “50 yards from Parliament Hill”.  Of course, that was before social media and daily digital news.  Most recently, several opposition Conservative MPs, including leadership contender Pierre Poilievre, met with the illegal Trucker Convoy which had occupied the streets in front of Parliament for over three weeks in February of this year.  The New York Times wrote that the Conservatives, the only other party to form a government in Canada, were readying for a fight and saw the truckers and their followers not as outcasts but as political currency that can bring in votes — and money.  With his photo-op, Poilievre was depicted as the protesters’ political champion at the time, although as the illegal occupation continued Conservative support was condemned by many Canadians, and most certainly by those living in Ottawa at the time.  No other party MPs met with the protesters, viewing the occupation as being unlawful, eventually being removed by the police and leading to the arrests of dozens of protesters.  The social and economic impact of the occupation ultimately led to the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act to facilitate the removal of occupying vehicles from streets within the Parliamentary precinct in Ottawa.

In general, Canadian legislators tend to avoid participation in protests, many of which occur in the capital on a daily basis.  Even members of the left-wing NDP are normally careful not to participate in protests outside of the legislature, particularly those involving extremists.  The one big difference in Canada is the more apolitical system used for appointing federal justices, including those appointed to the Supreme Court.  With the highly politicized recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court — comprised of four conservative-leaning justices who were appointed during the Trump administration — it is not surprising that protests have erupted outside the Supreme Court.  What’s surprising is the participation by members of Congress in such protests and their subsequent arrests by Capitol Police!  This is something that is unheard of in Canada — perhaps somewhat regrettably in certain cases.  However, time will tell for our “nobodies”.

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Jul 18

Potential for Insurgency Grows Everyday in U.S. and Canada

by bcurry

Two recent events in the U.S. and in Canada have clearly illustrated the growth of insurgent groups: the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and the three week occupation by a Trucker Convoy in Ottawa, Canada, in February of this year.  In both cases, various groups, including radical right extremists, proclaimed openly their intention to overthrow the current governments and forcibly replace them with another regime of some sort.  What these two events clearly illustrated is that these groups have become well organized, funded and are led openly by radicalized leaders.  What is even more clearly evident is that the insurgents are still operating despite many of their leaders and members having been arrested and imprisoned following the above two events.

What is common between the American and Canadian movements is that they are continuing to recruit, especially among ex-military and police veterans.  Several veterans played a significant role in Canada, attempting to garner support and credibility among the public for their causes.  In addition, these individuals bring training and military/law enforcement experience to the movements, as well as contributing intelligence for a movement.  The next inevitable stage is one that leads to the formulation of an armed quasi-militia capable of carrying out a few isolated attacks.  Weapons and explosives were seized in the Capitol attack and at the unlawful Coutts, Alberta, border blockade, with subsequent charges being laid in each case.  Four persons arrested with weapons in Alberta were tied to Canada’s Diagolon far-right extremist militia group, well known to the authorities.  In January 2021, a 22-year-old Canadian man crossed the border into Detroit where the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “tactical terrorism response team” found an assault rifle and two other guns, plus extremist white-supremacy material on his cellphone.  Connections among American and Canadian white-supremacy groups have been well documented, a number of whom are hoping to promote race and civil wars.

These movements are allowed to grow until you have more open insurgency, when you start to have a series of consistent attacks, and it becomes impossible to ignore.  What is clearly evident is that potential insurgencies tend to be much more decentralized, often fought by multiple groups.  There is not one overall governing group within both countries.  Leadership can most often extend to more local community levels, making recruitment a lot easier and training and planning a lot more difficult for authorities to monitor.  Cases of violent activity are deemed to be isolated cases by local authorities and even ignored, often by law enforcement.  However, when one adds up such events involving threatening protests, one cannot help but conclude that they represent a much larger campaign, organized and funded by extremists.

There will be those who will claim that alluding to insurgency movements is no more than another form of fearmongering.  However, such arguments cannot explain away that certain groups believe that democracies are backsliding.  There’s a clear sense that they firmly believe that governments are not that legitimate.  These are angry people who are unhappy with governments and open to being exploited by insurgent groups.  Unfortunately, some more ‘populist’ politicians, ala Donald Trump, have taken advantage of the situation for political gain.  Some observers claim that this is what is happening inside the Republican Party in the U.S. and among certain leadership hopefuls within the national Conservative Party and in the Peoples Party in Canada.  Unfortunately, appearing publicly alongside or among members of extremist groups can only give more legitimacy to such movements in the eyes of the public at large.

One thing is for certain, democratically elected governments can no longer give a blind eye to the growth of insurgency movements in either country.  Recent events have shown that such movements are openly promoting deliberate and organized attacks on our democratic institutions.  If citizens and their elected officials don’t recognize the potential danger to our democracy, than they are playing a very dangerous game.  We can no longer ignore the growth of these movements, both locally and nationally.  To do so, is to invite even more future violent and unlawful attacks.

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Jul 11

Pandemic Illustrated Serious Concerns About Capacity of Canadian Health Care System

by bcurry

Increasingly, because of the impact of the pandemic, Canadians have been questioning the capacity of its health care system to meet their current and future needs.  Recently, staffing issues and staff absenteeism due to COVID have caused several emergency and operating units to shut down across the country, especially in more rural areas.  In addition, due to burnout and retirements, more and more medical professionals are leaving the profession.  Replacing them has become a greater concern, especially in the field of family physicians.

Nevertheless, Canadians still believe that they have better access to health care, live longer than Americans and rarely go bankrupt because of medical bills.  Canada’s mortality rate from Covid-19 is a third of the U.S. rate, a reflection of Canada’s more widespread use of health restrictions and its collectivist approach to universal health care.  Where it falls down is in what is referred to as ‘surge capacity’ where hospitals are capable of handling a sudden or longer-term surge of patients.  Even in normal times, Canada has fewer hospital beds per person than almost any other developed country, particularly when it comes to the number of available intensive care unit (ICU) beds.  For example, it is reported that on average, the U.S. has one ICU bed for roughly very 4,100 citizens.  In the largest province of Ontario that ratio is one to 6,000.

Then there are the issues surrounding the number of nurses and doctors available to serve Canadian patients.  While Canadian nursing schools are seeing a surge in interest amid the pandemic, experts warn it may not be enough to alleviate the shortage of people working in the profession.  In a 2009 report, the Canadian Nurses Association predicted that Canada could see a shortage of 60,000 full-time nurses by 2022.  The Association wants to see more financial assistance to nursing students and more clinical placements available for students to get hands-on experience in hospitals or other health-care settings.  Better compensation and working conditions are also on the table.  As for doctors, fewer graduates are choosing family medicine as a discipline, despite family-doctor shortages across the country.  This is despite the fact that the total number of medical school graduates applying for residency positions in Canada has risen over the past 10 years.  Access to family doctors and primary care is a problem for a large portion of the country.  According to a 2019 Statistics Canada report, 4.6 million Canadians over the age of 12 did not have a regular family doctor.  With an aging workforce and an increase in the numbers of retiring physicians, the primary care situation has even become worst.

The pandemic exacerbated already serious problems within the Canadian health care system.  Fortunately, the consequences of the pandemic for the system have stimulated a much needed national conversation on inadequate health care capacity, staffing shortages and under funding.  Part of the problem rests with the overseeing associations that regulate and control access to medical licenses across Canada.  For years, there have been systemic barriers to both qualified domestic and foreign trained medical students/practitioners to find residency positions in Canada.  While it is understandable that such bodies as colleges of physicians and surgeons want to ensure the highest of standards within the profession, there have been at times failures to really consider the impact of restrictive practices on the overall health care system.  The pandemic further demonstrated that among the biggest bottlenecks in the system is the staffing required by acute care, particularly in the emergency departments and ICUs.

With an aging population and people living longer due to the marvels of modern medicine and treatments, the discussion about the capacity of our health care system to meet the needs of Canadians has to take place now and not later.  Groups representing all facets of the system, from medical practitioners to patients, have to be allowed to provide their input to governments.  While the pandemic created several serious drawbacks for the overall system, the subsequent reactions of governments and health care providers demonstrated that collectively we can meet these future challenges as a nation.  Despite evident challenges, Canadians generally continue to be proud of their health care system, its workforce and its universal coverage.  However, as always, there is room for improvements.

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Jul 5

Throughout History, People Have Explored the Meaning of Politics

by bcurry

Politics is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “the activities associated with the governance of a country or area.”  In the 1800s, Otto von Bismarck, a German leader, was quoted as saying that: “Politics is the art of the possible.”  Other notables have commented on the art of politics, including the Chinese leader Moa Zedong who stipulated that “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.”  Abraham Lincoln suggested that “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”  Emma Goldman, a Russian anarchist in the early 1900s, was quoted as sarcastically saying that if politics could change anything, they would make it illegal.  For those who are new to the so-called discipline of political science, there are plenty of reference materials dealing with the question of politics.  For the grand total of $13.95 on Amazon, one can get a paperback entitled The Art of the Possible: An Everyday Guide to Politics by Edward Keenan and illustrated by Julie McLaughlin, that even 10 to 14 year olds can read and hopefully understand.  For aspiring politicians, there are most likely various versions of “politics for dummies.”

At various times in American and Canadian history, there have been periods where people questioned our system of governance.  Life may have been somewhat simpler when we had theocracies, trusting in the guidance of a higher power, as interpreted by the clergy.  However, with the separation of church and state, one now has to rely almost entirely on the collective wisdom of politicians and their political platforms.  The problem emerges when the people begin to loose faith in the political system and the trust in government is on the decline.  One can safely say that we are now in one such period.  We have to ask ourselves what brings us together and what divides us?  I would have thought that the pandemic would have brought us together in collectively battling this global disease.  Instead, especially in the U.S., the measures brought about by governments to minimize the associated deaths and illnesses, including vaccine mandates, appear to have polarized the population even more.  We remain seriously divided on several of the other major current issues, including climate change, abortion, gun control, capital punishment, to name but a few.

As a democracy, debate is essential to develop policies in order to effectively and efficiently tackle the issues of the day, often seeking middle ground on those issues.  However, for some reason, politics today has become so polarized as to hinder the normal and reasoned discussions that should take place.  Instead, there appears to be a growing wave of anger and dissatisfaction among a segment of the populace, leading to what has become known as “populism” in both the U.S. and Canada.  Donald Trump took advantage of this apparent rage and its accompanying attraction to extremism and reducing the role of government. 

In politics, reasonable debate has to be encouraged.  By reasonable, I mean that opposite sides have to introduce indisputable facts, with clear rationale and no dogma attached.  This continues to be difficult in an era when “expertise” and “science” is increasingly under attack, as clearly shown during the pandemic.  In addition, arguments simply based on religious beliefs should not be used as the sole basis for a position, unless one believes we are living in a theocracy. 

Yes, politics can be the art of the possible when all parties work together in collaboration and with common goals to tackle some of the most important questions of our time.  Simply adhering to one’s party lines is not going to get us anywhere fast.  Simply relying on past political beliefs and jurisprudence is not going to help us achieve what we need to achieve in the Twenty-First Century.  Significant change is needed, but difficult to reach if one continues to arrive at political stalemates.  Yes, I believe that all voices have to be heard as part of any democratic society.  Our rights only extend to that place where they don’t infringe on the rights of others.  This is why we have statutory protections and the rule of law.  The fundamental principles of our political system rely on the people continuously defending our democracies to the fullest extent, not by violence but by the ballot.

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