"There is no separation of church and state"

That is a direct quote from Mark Robinson, Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina.  He considers “transgenderism,” and “homosexuality” as “filth.”  Here is a quote as reported in the New York Times.  “People talk about the separation of church and state.  I’m trying to find that phrase somewhere in our Constitution.  Trying to find it somewhere in our Declaration of Independence.  Trying to find it in the writings of any patriot anywhere and I cannot.  And I cannot because it does not exist.  There is no separation of church and state.”

Roughly 35% of North Carolina voters are Evangelicals.  Robinson has the full support of Trump.  Robinson made his reputation speaking at pro-gun rallies.  He calls the Parkland school shooting survivors who want gun control “spoiled, angry, know it all children.”

And to save you from looking it up, the very first two clauses of the very first Amendment of the Bill of Rights state that there shall be no establishment of religion and no prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  I would say that certainly implies “separation” even if that word is not specifically mentioned.  I would also say the word “idiot” is implied from Mr. Robinson’s remarks, although I couldn’t find it specifically mentioned.

Info for this post is from the New York Times, (March 19, 2024), p. A9.

News from the British Isles

No, it is not about the royal family.  I have never understood the American fascination with English royalty.  Didn’t we fight a revolution to get rid of that silliness?

What I wanted to call attention to is that no portion of Great Britain is led by a white male.  Michelle O’Neill became the first minister of Northern Ireland last month.  Humza Yousaf, the first minister of Scotland, is of Pakistani descent.  The Prime Minister of England is Rishi Sunak of Indian origin.  And as of this week the government of Wales is under the leadership of Vaughan Gething, who was born in Zambia.  He is 50 years old.

In late breaking news, the U.S. is facing an election between two really old white guys, one of whom is talking about a “bloodbath” if he loses.

Trump signs

This afternoon I returned from a two-day trip to Maryland’s eastern shore.  I had lunch yesterday in the Philadelphia suburb of Media, drove through a portion of Delaware, meandered through the rural Maryland towns of Sassafras, Galena, Locust Grove, and Kennedyville, spent some time in Chesterton, stayed in Grasonville, and had breakfast this morning Centreville.  

I didn’t see a Trump sign until I left the Turnpike at the Mahoning Interchange and drove home.

Racial voting gap grows

In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down major portions of the Voting Rights Act.  The majority said the Act was no longer needed; the days of discrimination were over.

A study by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank focused on voting rights, found that the gap in Black and White voters has grown by 11 percentage points in counties that were covered by the Act.  The Center, which relied on one billion voter files between 2023 and 2022, found that had the decision not occurred, the gap would have grown by 6%.

Since 2012 at least 62 elections for Senate, governor and president in states with counties covered by the VRA were decided by under 5%.  

We have got to change the Supreme Court.  We have got to elect enough Democrats to make those changes.

Information for this post was taken in part from Nick Corasaniti, “Racial Gap in Voter Turnout Is Wider,” New York Times, (Mar. 3, 2024), p. 19.

I will not be posting tomorrow.  I’ll be In Maryland on the Eastern Shore checking out Washington College and its environmental program. 

No longer a "progressive" Democrat

I’m still a Democrat, but I think people who want me to learn their pronouns are rude and tiresome.  If I am introduced to someone, I probably won’t remember his or her name ten minutes later.  Now you also want me to remember various pronouns?

And I don’t call people LatinX.  It sounds like they have been captured by Elon Musk’s media empire.  Spanish, like French, is a “gendered” language.  I’m old school on Spanish.

Why would Biden need to apologize about calling someone an “illegal alien”?  Yes, I’m familiar with the idea that a person can’t be “illegal.”  I’m also familiar with the idea that sovereignty means a nation is in control of its borders, and forgetting the “correct” label for people who jump the line is not the most important issue here.

Let’s focus on important stuff.  Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he is what we got.  Anyone who is having trouble deciding between Biden and Trump at this point in American history is somehow not thinking straight.  Trump needs to be crushed in the November election.  If Trump does win, pronouns, language issues, and “issues” of that ilk will seem minor indeed.  Let’s focus, people.

Social Justice/Social Order

Two Penn State profs, John Iceland and Eric Silver, along with co-author Elana Redstone, recently published Why We Disagree About Inequality.  

They note that individuals who are concerned with “social justice” worry about the plight of vulnerable individuals and want to free them from oppression.  “Social order” people put more emphasis on societal cohesion and stability.  Both groups may want a good society, but the emphasis differs on how to get there.  

The authors note that with polarization, each side sees the other as evil.  Social justice people think the social order people are selfish and uncaring, and their ideas will lead to a police state and repression.  Social order people think the social justice people are naive or unrealistic, and their ideas will lead to chaos and disorder.

The book discusses four issues in this framework:  racial inequality income inequality gender inequality, and immigration.

And no, I have not read it.  I read a review in the latest Penn State Alumni magazine.

Plant hardiness zone map change

The USDA divides the U.S.into zones of plant hardiness.  Obviously the southern part of Florida and Texas have far longer growing seasons than my part of Pennsylvania, which has longer growing seasons than Vermont.

My friend Tom, who makes his living farming, just sent me a note that the USDA has changed this area from Zone 6a to 6b.  Our lowest average temperature is now -5 to 0 degrees.  Our average lowest temperature had been between -5 and -10.  This year we did not have a temperature zero or below the entire winter.  

Of course, even if I could convince a Trump follower that climate change was real, she would say something like “We’ve always had climate change” and dismiss the whole idea of human agency.