Remember how Rex Tillerson got fired from the White House this week?
Tillerson joins the growing pool of White House rejects. Also, Betsy DeVos embarrasses herself on TV and more in this week’s Trump-free Friday politics.
Thousands protest in National School Walkout
Only a month ago, 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, were shot to death. Though school shootings have become a regular, if horrible, event in American society, the reaction that followed was somehow different. Many of the students directly affected by the shooting were teenagers, some of whom are poised on the edge of adulthood. They often expressed their fear, sadness and anger with little reservation. They also engaged in peaceful protests and lobbying that helped push the Florida legislature to adopt gun control measures (though these changes remain controversial).
On Wednesday, many of these students participated in a nationwide school walkout. At 10:00 am, they left their classrooms by the hundred and thousands. Sometimes, their teachers and administrators accompanied them. Sometimes, those same adults seemed upset and confused about the protest.
It wasn’t universally adopted. Some students themselves expressed reservations about the motivations behind the protest. Some also questioned the particulars of gun control, mental health care, school security, and other factors that are connected to school shootings. Still, the nationwide protests Wednesday point out the emergence of many young adults as a new and potentially powerful force.
Betsy DeVos maybe doesn’t know how schools work
On Sunday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke with Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes. In an often tense interview, DeVos did not inspire much confidence in her abilities. She admitted that “I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming,” though she also maintained that her charter school-friendly policy was working just fine.
DeVos often emphasized the successes or failures of individuals in her interview. She claimed that, despite shaky evidence supporting her tactics, individual schools were probably doing fine. Meanwhile, she also claimed that disproportionate punishments for black children really “comes down to individual kids” despite abundant evidence to the contrary.
Overall, DeVos gave the impression that, despite holding her post for over a year, she had done little homework herself. During her confirmation hearings, it came to light that she had very little experience as an education or school administrator. Given that she’s now set to chair a federal commission on school gun violence, this 60 Minutes interview is all the more damaging to her integrity.
Rex Tillerson is out
The only real surprise is that it took this long. Do you think Rex Tillerson is surprised, too? Or, did he feel only a grim relief as he abruptly learned of his firing?
Tensions between the now-former Secretary of State and the president have reportedly been high for nearly all of Tillerson’s tenure. The two frequently clashed when it came to policy. Tillerson’s opinion that the U.S. should abide by the Iran nuclear agreement made for particular tension.
Tillerson will be replaced by current C.I.A. Director Mike Pompeo, who is set to agree more slavishly with the president. According to the president, “With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it’s going to be very well.”
The White House is also reportedly giving the boot to National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The three-star Army general is still in the job, but sources state that he’ll be replaced soon. However, no official comment has been made on the matter. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated on Twitter that “Contrary to reports [McMaster and the president] have a good working relationship and there are no changes at the NSC.”
However, Sanders does not have an especially good track record of telling the truth. Once again, time will tell.
Russia linked to U.K. poisonings
British Prime Minister Theresa May has ordered the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from the United Kingdom. The charge? Espionage.
Specifically, the diplomats have been linked to a chemical attack on a former Soviet double agent and his daughter. May claims that her Russian contacts were alarmingly dismissive about the use of a nerve agent in the attack. “[Russian officials] have treated the use of a military-grade nerve agent in Europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance,” she said.
Meetings between British and Russian officials will also cease, including a visit to the U.K. by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. U.K. officials, along with the royal family, will boycott the World Cup tournament, set to held in Russia this summer.
The double agent who was attacked is Sergei Skripal, 66. He was jailed in Russia in 2006 after officials there discovered he had been selling secrets to Britain for a decade. He was released in 2010. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found comatose on a park bench and remain in critical condition.
19 more people have been treated for exposure to the nerve agent. This is the first time that a nerve agent has been used offensively in Europe since World War II.
Other countries have supported Britain’s assertion that Russia was responsible for the attack, including the U.S., Germany and France. In a joint statement, the four nations said that “Our concerns are also heightened against the background of a pattern of earlier irresponsible Russian behaviour. We call on Russia to live up to its responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council to uphold international peace and security.”
Mueller issues another subpoena
On Thursday, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III reportedly subpoenaed the Trump Organization. The business is required to turn over documents to the investigation into election interference by Russian agents.
Some of these documents contain information related to links between the organization and Russia, according to sources cited by The New York Times. This is the first time that Mueller’s investigation has requested documents from a source directly related to the president’s businesses.
Many details remain unclear. It’s not sure how much the subpoena demands, or what documents exactly will be under consideration. Moreover, no one is sure why this move has come in the form of a subpoena, rather than a request from the investigation.
And, finally, your palate cleanser
Laura Ingalls Wilder is a complicated figure. American readers likely know of her through classroom assignments based on her works. Her earlier novels, including Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie, were written specifically for younger readers. Given their content, the books in the Little House on the Prairie series seem like they were tailor-made for a third grade social studies unit on the American West.
But, Wilder was writing fiction. Letters between Wilder and her daughter, writer Rose Wilder Lane, clearly show that the pair worked Laura’s experiences into a heavily fictionalized narrative. They moved events, recreated scenes and changed dialogue to make the story work and the Ingalls family look better.
What’s the truth of Wilder’s life, then? If you’re curious, you may want to check out Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, published just last year. This exhaustive biography of Wilder, written by Caroline Fraser, is about the closest we’ll get to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s reality.
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It all makes sense, when you think about it. The first book in the series, Little House in the Big Woods, uses scenes from when Laura was only five years old. Even accounting for the difference of a few years, a five year old’s memories can’t be enough for a whole book. Wilder herself admitted as much in her own autobiography, Pioneer Girl.
Still, that shouldn’t take too much enjoyment away from the reading of the novels. But, if you’re ready to move beyond the elementary school series, both Prairie Fires and Pioneer Girl are worth checking out.