Trump's Abject Failure for a First 100 Days

Well, the first 100 days of the new presidential administration are upon us and we are about to get a slew of "report cards" from various sources.  Most of us will probably need the next 100 days to sift through all of the reports and begin to understand the implications of actions taken to date; however, some of the initial ones are already scathing in their criticism.  Please see the following link from the website of The Center for American Progress:

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/general/news/2017/04/26/431299/100-ways-100-days-trump-hurt-americans/.

Take a look at the list of the 100 ways that Trump and his administration have weakened our national security and standing with the rest of the global community of nations, severely threatened the future health and welfare of our children, virtually insured the increased limitations on personal freedoms and liberties, made the White-house the private play pen for his pampered family members and his hand-picked group of rich friends and aristocratic cronies. thrown our current scientific, educational and, by association, military capability into disarray and insured that our national deficit will grow by an amount not achieved in any prior administration,

As one who is a direct descendant of family members who fought for our nation's creation and liberty during the American Revolutionary War, I am appalled  at the conduct of our president and the other members of his dysfunctional administration who have invested far more time tearing down policies and processes rather than augmenting, supporting positive direction and initiating positive reform.

All of our sons and daughters would do well to be very concerned for their future and all of us, their parents, must attend to the consul of Neil Postman, former NYU professor, who stated (and I paraphrase) Children are the message we send to a world we shall not live to see. It is up to us to make sure that that message is positive and life affirming.  In my estimation, Trump's first 100 days have been an abject failure in that regard!

In Praise of American Youth

There are many who decry the current state of American youth. They see these young people as self-absorbed, lacking in “social graces” and totally unaware or uncaring of the larger world around them. I do not see this attitude to be true or, in the least bit, representative of the youth I have been privileged to be associated with as an educator within my history classes. I have found them to be inquisitive, insightful and very caring. Nearly all are truly looking for their place in the world, for a fuller understanding of their talents and the “clues” that will give them insight as to how they might make a difference in the world. My “proof” for my comments is contained in the following YouTube file that was the top place submission for a class project during the fourth marking period of the 2010-2011 academic year. The students had been tasked with selecting a theme of history and the development of a multimedia presentation that would show the patterns and trends over time from 1945 to the present day. They were graded by their fellow students and by a select group of school faculty in addition to my assessment.
The top submission focused upon the impact of humans upon their environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqHBsN_noxQ
When the classes held project review sessions at the end of the project, it was revealed that the top submission took over 60 hours to create and the average time for all of the 10 separate group submissions was 30 hours. Personally, I was humbled by what had taken place. All of the submissions showed quality development, pride in individual accomplishment and deep caring for the world they lived within. From my personal experience, I believe the future looks very bright with the capabilities of youth on such positive display.