Bob, you are a gem. Thanks for this original reporting. Your point about people cheering when DeSantis was at his most cruel reminded me of a little book by Carol Bly, in which she wittily recalls turning into a Republican briefly during an injury, when she suffered from such great pain that she quite literally could care only about herself. The book seems positively quaint, but I think you'd really like it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/941161.
I like your closing, but it also captures how hardened our rhetoric about history has become. I agree with you that banning critical approaches to history is to be resisted at all costs. And I myself have used the term Native American Holocaust to capture the scale and the genocidal nature of many European-indigenous relations. But there is also some nuance in intertribal relations and in figures like Roger Williams and Jonathan Edwards, who sought to redress some of that colonial violence early on. James Welch captures much of this in Fools Crow. I guess I find it equally depressing to imagine Native American history being reduced to a political sound bite. There were some matriarchal nations, but tribes like the Blackfeet and Sioux were rigidly patriarchal, socialized their young men in what we might recognize as toxic masculinity, and socialized young women in ways that the woman you interviewed would reject. That is not the only story about those peoples, but it's the kind of thing that gets lost when genocide is the only story told. In truth, a lot of Native Americans, like Latino Americans, skew more conservative than liberal, are either Catholic or Protestant Christians, and own their fair share of firearms. I don't mean this in an adversarial way, but isn't there a fair chance that Chief Mahaska would have seen more of himself in a conservative leader like DeSantis than in someone like Joe Biden or even Nikki Haley?
Thanks Josh! You have given me so much to read! I have read Bly, and believe I heard her talk about that piece at Central. Yes, history and culture among Native Americans is diverse. I have some stories to share from when I lived on the Navajo and Zuni reservations. With respect to Mahaska, I see him as more of a consensus builder.
The use of tax dollars collected for public schools and handing them to private schools is straight up theft. Isn’t this ‘Taxation without Representation’? I ask because we have a say in how the money is spent via the elected local school board. A private school answers to no one and the Governor refuses to let our State Auditor review their spending. Our Attorney General would be the logical office to advise the Governor of the legality but so far, our Attorney General is backing a problematic candidate for President while simultaneously suing the current President. Now understand that I graduated High School in the mid sixties; perhaps the law has changed in the interim, but an ultimately a War was fought against the King and WE won.
The protester was fortunate to have a Robert Leonard present. A single protester who 'interrupts a speech will not get her story told (even if she points out hypocrisy or dangerous comments from Prez candidate. Speaking of hypocrisy and dishonesty, what do you and your readers think of this dramatic swing in Iowa over the past decade to becoming dark red and accepting of all the non Christian values exhibited by Trump.
Does it seem as if some of the cheering folks are not locals? I was told by someone who went to the Trump event at Central College in 2015 that the people who sat next to him were from Oklahoma and that he didn't recognize anyone there. He wondered if some were part of the show and perhaps paid. (I do think he maybe voted for Trump, however.) Cheering about getting rid of tenure is a weird thing. It's something academics kick around from time to time but isn't cost effective.
I don't know that many people in Osky, so hard to say. I was at the event at Central in 2015 and I only recognized a couple of people. Everyone I spoke with was from out of town.
Great job, Bob. As my dentist used to say after completing a major mouth project, "Perfect! Which in this office is just a little above average!"
One criticism though: ". . . .bussing immigration asylum seekers from the Texas border to Martha’s Vineyard. . . . trafficking humans. . ." has not only been good policy/politics for Texas by sharing the "wealth" with liberal cities but one can argue it is good for the "trafffickees" as well. Consider the Martha's Vineyard fly-in: they were descended upon by the community, provided with shelter in homes, financial support, language and administrative back-up, their children enrolled in uncrowded schools, etc. Some would call this "virtue-signaling" but I have no doubt it was genuine and heartfelt at the time.
The many tens of thousands who have followed to major northern cities have not received all the described benefits but they all went volitionally (I don't doubt for a moment that their radar on this is blinkered) and saw some benefit over remaining in south Texas' jammed facilities and schools.
And. . . . .agree Reynolds should have taken any/all "unaccompanied" children--our various state and charitable agencies could have handled them easily.
It’s not that there teaching it. It’s the maudlin white middle class guilt, the accusatory tone the the intententional scaring of white children. You should be ashamed of yourself and this woman is leftist white trash.
Bob, you are a gem. Thanks for this original reporting. Your point about people cheering when DeSantis was at his most cruel reminded me of a little book by Carol Bly, in which she wittily recalls turning into a Republican briefly during an injury, when she suffered from such great pain that she quite literally could care only about herself. The book seems positively quaint, but I think you'd really like it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/941161.
I like your closing, but it also captures how hardened our rhetoric about history has become. I agree with you that banning critical approaches to history is to be resisted at all costs. And I myself have used the term Native American Holocaust to capture the scale and the genocidal nature of many European-indigenous relations. But there is also some nuance in intertribal relations and in figures like Roger Williams and Jonathan Edwards, who sought to redress some of that colonial violence early on. James Welch captures much of this in Fools Crow. I guess I find it equally depressing to imagine Native American history being reduced to a political sound bite. There were some matriarchal nations, but tribes like the Blackfeet and Sioux were rigidly patriarchal, socialized their young men in what we might recognize as toxic masculinity, and socialized young women in ways that the woman you interviewed would reject. That is not the only story about those peoples, but it's the kind of thing that gets lost when genocide is the only story told. In truth, a lot of Native Americans, like Latino Americans, skew more conservative than liberal, are either Catholic or Protestant Christians, and own their fair share of firearms. I don't mean this in an adversarial way, but isn't there a fair chance that Chief Mahaska would have seen more of himself in a conservative leader like DeSantis than in someone like Joe Biden or even Nikki Haley?
Thanks Josh! You have given me so much to read! I have read Bly, and believe I heard her talk about that piece at Central. Yes, history and culture among Native Americans is diverse. I have some stories to share from when I lived on the Navajo and Zuni reservations. With respect to Mahaska, I see him as more of a consensus builder.
Thank you for your coverage.
When people stoop that low to be elected to an office, I always wonder where they would draw the behavioral line when in that office.
Well written, as usual! Thanks for filling us in on what the woman was asking about.
Great column..let 'er rip! Only a month left ..thanks for all you do!
The use of tax dollars collected for public schools and handing them to private schools is straight up theft. Isn’t this ‘Taxation without Representation’? I ask because we have a say in how the money is spent via the elected local school board. A private school answers to no one and the Governor refuses to let our State Auditor review their spending. Our Attorney General would be the logical office to advise the Governor of the legality but so far, our Attorney General is backing a problematic candidate for President while simultaneously suing the current President. Now understand that I graduated High School in the mid sixties; perhaps the law has changed in the interim, but an ultimately a War was fought against the King and WE won.
Well said, Chris.
The protester was fortunate to have a Robert Leonard present. A single protester who 'interrupts a speech will not get her story told (even if she points out hypocrisy or dangerous comments from Prez candidate. Speaking of hypocrisy and dishonesty, what do you and your readers think of this dramatic swing in Iowa over the past decade to becoming dark red and accepting of all the non Christian values exhibited by Trump.
Thanks, Ralph. I wish I could explain the shift in Iowa...
Does it seem as if some of the cheering folks are not locals? I was told by someone who went to the Trump event at Central College in 2015 that the people who sat next to him were from Oklahoma and that he didn't recognize anyone there. He wondered if some were part of the show and perhaps paid. (I do think he maybe voted for Trump, however.) Cheering about getting rid of tenure is a weird thing. It's something academics kick around from time to time but isn't cost effective.
If they would build walls within the coffee shop, they probably would bus in a few paid supporters.
I don't know that many people in Osky, so hard to say. I was at the event at Central in 2015 and I only recognized a couple of people. Everyone I spoke with was from out of town.
If only Chief Mahaska could speak now...
Great job, Bob. As my dentist used to say after completing a major mouth project, "Perfect! Which in this office is just a little above average!"
One criticism though: ". . . .bussing immigration asylum seekers from the Texas border to Martha’s Vineyard. . . . trafficking humans. . ." has not only been good policy/politics for Texas by sharing the "wealth" with liberal cities but one can argue it is good for the "trafffickees" as well. Consider the Martha's Vineyard fly-in: they were descended upon by the community, provided with shelter in homes, financial support, language and administrative back-up, their children enrolled in uncrowded schools, etc. Some would call this "virtue-signaling" but I have no doubt it was genuine and heartfelt at the time.
The many tens of thousands who have followed to major northern cities have not received all the described benefits but they all went volitionally (I don't doubt for a moment that their radar on this is blinkered) and saw some benefit over remaining in south Texas' jammed facilities and schools.
And. . . . .agree Reynolds should have taken any/all "unaccompanied" children--our various state and charitable agencies could have handled them easily.
Keep up the good work and Merry Christmas!
It’s not that there teaching it. It’s the maudlin white middle class guilt, the accusatory tone the the intententional scaring of white children. You should be ashamed of yourself and this woman is leftist white trash.