Carole Simpson

Government for The People, Not for Trump

Feb 18, 2020 | Education, Government, Something. To. Say.

Government for The People, Not for Trump

Hello Everybody.  I have something to say about Trump’s assault on our democratic form of government. I want to prove my case and in order to do that, I must put on my Civics professor hat.

      The Founders of our country established a government with three equal branches. The first is the legislative branch, the Congress made up of the House and Senate. As representatives of the people, the legislators make the laws and appropriate the money needed to pay for the government’s expenses.

       The second branch is the Executive Branch, made up of the President and his Cabinet and all the government apparatus and 5 million employees needed to enforce the laws that Congress passes.

       The third branch is the judicial branch which is made up of the federal court system and the Supreme Court. They interpret the laws based on what the Constitution says or implies.

       No branch is more important than the others. The system was designed to create a balance of powers.

       But we have a situation today, where for the first time in history, we have an executive, a president, who would be king of the United States. He is usurping the powers of the other branches. He wants to be the Supreme Power like his old pal, Russian President Putin.

        For example, Trump took 3.8 billion dollars, money Congress approved for the defense department, and is using it to his border wall. Congress wanted his tax returns and subpoenaed his staff to interview about White House scandals, and he just said “No.” He dismisses Congress as if it was nothing.  And recently he’s been intruding into the judicial branch claiming his good buddy, Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying and jury tampering, should not go to jail for 7 years as recommended by the courts. It’s expected his Justice Department will reduce the sentence.

       This is dangerous, folks. Trump is trying to take over all three branches of the government. And he’s got a lot of help. The Republicans and his executive branch cronies.  Lincoln said our government was created of the people, by the people, and for the people. Don’t let Donald Trump destroy it.

Generation Z Needs to Get Woke

May 24, 2019 | Education, Something. To. Say. | 0 comments

Generation Z Needs to Get Woke

Last fall on the first day of class, I asked my 60 freshmen journalism students in what year they were born. One young man shouted out, “2000.” Others nodded in agreement.  2000? I thought, oh my God. This is Generation Z, the vanguard of people born in the second millennium. They will the biggest generation ever.

       While my students were getting settled in their seats, I thought to myself, “They don’t know anything. They haven’t seen anything.”  Well, that’s not fair. They know about technology and social media, celebrities and sports, but they don’t know about America’s history, civics, and the economy… and the perilous times for our democracy. In that respect they are probably not much different from the President.

      Generation Z is made up of entitled children, who grew up with time outs and iPhones, iPads and Fortnite. They probably didn’t hear “no,” very often. And now they come barreling in, and I feel, they’re ill-prepared for the challenges the United States is facing.

     We older generations have a responsibility to help prepare these kids to tackle the problems ahead. We can’t rely on the schools to teach them everything. We can educate them.

     Take your children and grandchildren, as I have, and sit them down and tell them about the past and what the heck is going on today. If you don’t know, look it up. You should know, too. Generation Z is expected to be the smartest generation in history, but what good will that be if all they care about is me, myself and I.

     Until next time.