June 18: thank you for being brave enough to say that out loud.
June 19: seems like every year there is a debate as to whether Florida schools will observe Juneteenth or not. Feels like they have to make the decision afresh every June 18. 🙄
June 20: yep, they're too busy regretting observing Juneteenth and deciding to re-decide that decision next June 18.
I live in a county where the keyboard commandos are maga and mean, also someone is posting all over everywhere who is running for county commissioner’s office promoting herself, I’m wondering if it’s allowed? She’s a MFL school board book banner 🥺
Thank you for the important updates. I wonder why the Floriduh Supreme Court told the voters to go eat crap when it comes to Gerrymandering? I see these corrupt judges on every ballot and if they were appointed by DeSantis I vote to have them removed. I wish there was a corrupt judges recall effort since these FL SC judges are as corrupt as the trump Robert's Court.
Ads for Byron Donalds keep popping up on my YouTube feeds. (I don't watch network television or have any social media accounts.) If what he says is popular, I would have to conclude that the entire state flunked social studies. I asked ChatGPT what the USA's Founding Fathers meant by "freedom." The response below is lengthy. But I presume that it is simply a review for educated Americans:
The Founding Fathers did not all mean exactly the same thing by "freedom." Figures like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton sometimes disagreed sharply. But several core ideas recur in their writings. 1. Freedom meant liberty from arbitrary government power. The American Revolution was largely a reaction against what colonists saw as arbitrary rule by the British Crown and Parliament. To them, freedom meant not being subject to a ruler's unchecked will. This idea appears in the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention: government should be limited by laws and divided into branches so that no one person or faction could dominate. For many Founders, freedom did not mean doing whatever one wishes. It meant living under laws made through legitimate, representative government. 2. Freedom meant protection of natural rights. The Declaration of Independence famously states that people possess unalienable rights: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This reflects the influence of John Locke, who argued that individuals possess natural rights that governments exist to protect, not create. Jefferson wrote that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." Thus, freedom required: Consent to government, Protection of rights, The ability to replace oppressive governments 3. Freedom meant self-government and civic virtue. Many Founders believed liberty could survive only if citizens were virtuous and engaged. Madison worried about factions, while Washington warned against excessive partisanship in his farewell address. To them, freedom required: Participation in public life, Respect for the rule of law, Personal responsibility. This republican concept of liberty came partly from classical Rome and thinkers like Montesquieu. 4. Freedom had limits—and contradictions. The Founders' concept of freedom was not universally applied. Many who championed liberty also tolerated or participated in slavery. For example: Jefferson owned enslaved people. Washington owned enslaved people during much of his life. The Constitution originally accommodated slavery through compromises such as the Three-Fifths Compromise. Women generally lacked political rights, and Native Americans were often excluded from the political community. As a result, historians often distinguish between: The ideals of freedom articulated by the Founders and the limited application of those ideals in practice. Different kinds of freedom: Modern scholars sometimes describe two strands of liberty among the Founders: Negative liberty: freedom from government interference. Republican liberty: freedom from domination or arbitrary power, sustained through self-government. The Founders generally embraced both. In summary, when the Founding Fathers spoke of "freedom," they usually meant a condition in which individuals possess natural rights and live under a government of laws and consent rather than arbitrary power—not unlimited personal autonomy in the modern sense. Their understanding of freedom was deeply influential, but also incomplete and unevenly applied.
Donalds and Moody are both vulnerable in this political climate. We can do this!!
Just got around to reading this.
June 16: with you on the cannoli.
June 18: thank you for being brave enough to say that out loud.
June 19: seems like every year there is a debate as to whether Florida schools will observe Juneteenth or not. Feels like they have to make the decision afresh every June 18. 🙄
June 20: yep, they're too busy regretting observing Juneteenth and deciding to re-decide that decision next June 18.
I live in a county where the keyboard commandos are maga and mean, also someone is posting all over everywhere who is running for county commissioner’s office promoting herself, I’m wondering if it’s allowed? She’s a MFL school board book banner 🥺
Thank you for the important updates. I wonder why the Floriduh Supreme Court told the voters to go eat crap when it comes to Gerrymandering? I see these corrupt judges on every ballot and if they were appointed by DeSantis I vote to have them removed. I wish there was a corrupt judges recall effort since these FL SC judges are as corrupt as the trump Robert's Court.
Miss Mingo, this just in. We all know Byron Donalds is dumb as a rock, but this is beyond the pale. https://nextdoor.com/p/Dg7S_Sp-rPBW?utm_source=share&extras=MTgyNzk1NDc%3D&share_platform=10&utm_campaign=1781469265905&share_action_id=e77071da-f742-4445-b007-b73635f2713c
Ads for Byron Donalds keep popping up on my YouTube feeds. (I don't watch network television or have any social media accounts.) If what he says is popular, I would have to conclude that the entire state flunked social studies. I asked ChatGPT what the USA's Founding Fathers meant by "freedom." The response below is lengthy. But I presume that it is simply a review for educated Americans:
The Founding Fathers did not all mean exactly the same thing by "freedom." Figures like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton sometimes disagreed sharply. But several core ideas recur in their writings. 1. Freedom meant liberty from arbitrary government power. The American Revolution was largely a reaction against what colonists saw as arbitrary rule by the British Crown and Parliament. To them, freedom meant not being subject to a ruler's unchecked will. This idea appears in the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention: government should be limited by laws and divided into branches so that no one person or faction could dominate. For many Founders, freedom did not mean doing whatever one wishes. It meant living under laws made through legitimate, representative government. 2. Freedom meant protection of natural rights. The Declaration of Independence famously states that people possess unalienable rights: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This reflects the influence of John Locke, who argued that individuals possess natural rights that governments exist to protect, not create. Jefferson wrote that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." Thus, freedom required: Consent to government, Protection of rights, The ability to replace oppressive governments 3. Freedom meant self-government and civic virtue. Many Founders believed liberty could survive only if citizens were virtuous and engaged. Madison worried about factions, while Washington warned against excessive partisanship in his farewell address. To them, freedom required: Participation in public life, Respect for the rule of law, Personal responsibility. This republican concept of liberty came partly from classical Rome and thinkers like Montesquieu. 4. Freedom had limits—and contradictions. The Founders' concept of freedom was not universally applied. Many who championed liberty also tolerated or participated in slavery. For example: Jefferson owned enslaved people. Washington owned enslaved people during much of his life. The Constitution originally accommodated slavery through compromises such as the Three-Fifths Compromise. Women generally lacked political rights, and Native Americans were often excluded from the political community. As a result, historians often distinguish between: The ideals of freedom articulated by the Founders and the limited application of those ideals in practice. Different kinds of freedom: Modern scholars sometimes describe two strands of liberty among the Founders: Negative liberty: freedom from government interference. Republican liberty: freedom from domination or arbitrary power, sustained through self-government. The Founders generally embraced both. In summary, when the Founding Fathers spoke of "freedom," they usually meant a condition in which individuals possess natural rights and live under a government of laws and consent rather than arbitrary power—not unlimited personal autonomy in the modern sense. Their understanding of freedom was deeply influential, but also incomplete and unevenly applied.