Tuesday's Most Active Threads

For the second day in a row, a thread about a weather-related delayed opening in Montgomery County Public Schools was the most active thread. This one was titled, "School delayed and no sports or activities for 3 days straight just for cold weather?!?" and, of course, posted in the "Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)" forum. Due to the cold and icy conditions in Montgomery County, the school system has delayed opening by 2 hours for both today and tomorrow. This has upset a number of posters, including the original poster of this thread, who writes, "So many musicals, concerts, after-school clubs, school events, sports just cancelled...". Several of those responding complain that, in the past, schools didn't close simply because it was cold outside and they don't see a need for these delayed openings. Other posters, in contrast, insist that MCPS has always closed or delayed opening due to cold weather. There just hasn't been such cold weather for the past couple of years. Several posters also argue that the delayed openings are justified due to safety reasons. A trend that I've noted before continues in this thread. That is, posters who clearly oppose the delay for their own personal reasons argue against it because it will be harmful for others, such as the poor and less privileged. This seems a bit disingenuous. Once again, the biggest opposition to the delay comes from working parents for whom the delay interferes with their job schedule. Some of these posters believe that the school system is going beyond simply being inconsiderate to working parents and actively trying to make life miserable for them. As one poster writes, "MCPS administrators despise working parents." Another poster quickly weighed in to say that it is not only administrators, but the Board of Education as well. Other posters argued that it was actually the teachers' union, the Montgomery County Education Association, that is calling the shots. Teachers were accused of being drunk and hungover and, therefore, unwilling to get to school on time. I will once again ask why parents who seem to have so little respect for teachers always seem to be the ones who are the most adamant that their children should be in the care of teachers. If you disrespect teachers so much, why aren't you homeschooling? Why are you entrusting the education of your kids to those you claim to be lazy drunks? As it turns out, some of the original poster's concerns may not have been justified. It appears that unclear wording on the MCPS website may have led some to believe that afternoon activities were cancelled when, in fact, they were not.

Yesterday's next most active thread was posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Washington Bishop Appeals to Trump’s Humanity", the thread is about remarks by Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, at the inaugural prayer service held at the Washington National Cathedral. With cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump, Vice President J. D. Vance, and their families in attendance, Budde spoke directly to Trump saying, "Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now." She went on to describe the fears of "gay, lesbian, and transgender children", those who "pick our crops", and "work the night shift in hospitals." She added, "They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors." Trump appeared uncomfortable hearing this message and later responded on his Truth Social network saying that Budde was "nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart." He said the service was "very boring and uninspiring". Contrary to Trump's post, many posters in this thread found Budde to be very inspiring. As one poster wrote, "That is what you call courage, integrity, and faith." For their part, MAGA posters were appalled. Budde was accused of grandstanding, being a "Disrespectful clown", and being out of touch. Her words were described as "radical woke garbage." MAGAs are at their worst when asked to observe simple human decency. Being asked to show mercy is treated as a terrible insult. More than anything, Budde highlighted divergent views of Christianity. Her version is based on compassion, caring for others, and kindness. These are all values that her church believes that Jesus exhibited. The Trump version of Christianity is self-serving, used to justify one's own actions, and rather than being based on serving others, used to restrict others’ freedoms. Budde espouses a Christianity that is based on serving. Trump's version of Christianity is based on being served. One other view that was repeatedly voiced in this thread is that while the Bishop was correct in her remarks, this was ultimately a futile gesture. It is unlikely her statement will change Trump or any of his cult members for the better. Rather, the incident will only feed their normal resentment upon which they thrive.

Next was the Usha Vance fashion thread. But since I've discussed that thread already, I'll go on to the next most active thread which was titled, "Trump pardons roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. This thread is about the pardons and sentence commutations issued by cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 January 6 convicts and commuted the sentences of six others. Predictably, reaction to Trump's move is divided along political lines. Many posters are very opposed, noting that a number of those pardoned had attacked police officers. MAGA posters, on the other hand, are overjoyed. The January 6th insurrection attempt has become part of the "separate realities" in which MAGAs and non-MAGAs frequently live these days. For non-MAGAs, January 6 was an attempt to prevent the democratically elected presidential candidate from taking office. It was a violent effort that resulted in the injury of several police officers, the death of one due to a heart attack, and the suicides of other officers which have been declared "line of duty" deaths due to their connection to January 6. Those charged and imprisoned are viewed as violent criminals who deserve their punishment. To MAGAs, however, January 6 was a peaceful event, those attacking the police were just "tourists", and those in prison are political prisoners or "hostages". Trump's pardons were far broader than had been expected. Just days earlier, Vice President J. D. Vance said that those who had attacked the police should not be pardoned. Presumably these pardons were a surprise to him therefore. For that matter, Trump might also be surprised that he pardoned those who violently attacked police officers. When questioned about this by a reporter, Trump first appeared confused, then avoided directly answering the question. Given that Trump signed over 200 executive orders in addition to the pardons, it is unlikely that he read much of what he was signing. He probably has no idea about the details of what he put to his pen. At any rate, the pardons caused one of the first rifts between Trump and police organizations. While Trump has enthusiastically supported police in normal circumstances, pardoning those who harmed police officers resulted in condemnation by the Fraternal Order of Police, the country's largest police union. Separately, the District of Columbia's police union also criticized the action. A number of Republican Senators also distanced themselves from the pardons, with some offering criticism of the move.

The last thread that I will discuss today was posted in the "Jobs and Careers" forum and titled, "RTO EO is up". The original poster is noting that the executive order that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump had promised regarding a return to office by federal workers had been posted on the White House website. In addition, the original poster posted the entire text of the EO, which was very brief. As posters soon noted, the EO refers to "remote work". In the federal government, "remote work" refers to jobs that are permanently conducted remotely. Such employees don't have offices to which to return. What most of us think of as "remote work" is called "telework" by the federal government. Telework, in contrast, is not mentioned at all in the EO. This leaves those responding very confused. By a strict reading of the EO, remote workers should return to their duty stations which are, in fact, their remote places of work. In that case, the EO is completely ineffectual. One school of thought is that the EO was drafted by someone unfamiliar with the federal government and, therefore, it inadvertently was rendered meaningless. Another school of thought is that the measure was meant to be symbolic and, therefore, the EO was cleverly drafted so as not to have any real impact. So whether by intention or accident, both of these schools of thought agree that the EO will not really do anything. Others argue that the technicalities don't really matter. They argue that managers who want to force employees back to the office will use the EO as justification. The biggest takeaway from this thread is that federal employees largely just don't know what to expect. Other posters repeatedly advise others to wait for guidance from their departments. As that guidance began being relayed to the thread, it appeared that those who predicted that not much would change were correct. Multiple posters who telework reported that they have been told that their schedules will not change. Early in the thread, several posters gloated over the idea of federal workers being forced back to their offices. As it became apparent that this probably would not happen, or at least not as a result of this EO, those posters largely fell silent.