Anyone who believes the Trump administration's explanation vs Carney's about who is at fault for tariff negotiations breakdown must have their head in the ground. We have no credibility at this point.
Michael Nill, Ph.D
@mnill.bsky.social
Retired teacher and head of a PS - 12 school. Author of Nurturing Decent Human Beings: The Case for Moral Education in Our Schools. A refugee from X/Twitter. Not a fan of MAGA perspectives.
An exposition of how MAGA is transforming the way Americans understand discrimination, as seen through the eyes of an imagined knowledgeable MAGA operative.
MAGA’s Discrimination Makeover
An exposition of how MAGA is transforming the way Americans understand discrimination, as seen through the eyes of an imagined knowledgeable MAGA operative. It’s so good that Dumocrats think we are incompetent and stupid. Not that it’s good to be called stupid but it brings their guard down so they don’t notice how smart and treacherous we can be. Take discrimination as an example.
michaelnill.com
Explores in this final section what colleges can do to ward off politicized MAGA complaints, threats, and actions; deal with problematic internal issues; and regain public trust.
American Universities in Danger Part II: What Can Be Done (Section C)
In Section A of Part II of this blog, I discussed how colleges can best ward off direct attacks, threats, and governmental demands from the administration and forces of MAGA. In Section B, I turned to longer-range approaches colleges can take on their own initiative to reduce their vulnerabilities, address problems, and regain public trust. In that section, the focus was on clarifying for themselves and the public the deeper purposes and role higher education aspires to and on committing to some requirements in the humanities and social studies as a function of those purposes.
michaelnill.com
Explores what colleges can do to ward off the dangers from MAGA, refocus on the deeper purposes of education, deal with internal issues, and regain trust.
American Universities in Danger Part II: What Can be Done (Sections A and B)
In Part II, I explore how universities could potentially mitigate or overcome the challenges, risks, and dangers identified in Part I: the problematic reduction of the value of a college education to the financial gain of graduates, the deemphasis on the traditional deeper values and moral purposes of education, the declining trust in colleges, and the injurious and punitive threats and attacks from Trump and the forces of MAGA (
michaelnill.com
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, was not an asset to Democrats in the 2016 election; and I fear this will also be the case in the elections of 2026 and 2028.
There’s been a lot of talk in this race about what makes a "real man." A man does what’s right when no one is watching. He upholds his commitments to his family and neighbors. He doesn’t lie, cheat, & steal his way through life. Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves.
We either end the corruption, or the corruption will end us....
At this critical time, Democrats can't ignore rural and independent voters if they want to earn more trust and gain the support of more voters.
Small-Tent Democrats
A Short Take Post A recent article tells the story of the efforts of local rural Democratic candidates finding a lack of support and understanding from the National Democratic Party and from urban Democrats in general ( It was particularly frustrating and distressing for me to read this a few weeks after I published a post on the need for Democrats to wake up and recognize that (1) the growing unpopularity of Trump has not significantly increased the popularity of Democrats and (2) winning elections will require them to gain the votes of those not registered as Democrats in an environment in which many do not trust the Democrats to lead (
michaelnill.com
Explores factors putting universities at risk like declining trust, uncertainty about their value, and the injurious threats and attacks from MAGA/Trump.
American Universities in Danger Part I: What’s Happening and Why
Untitled, painting by Irenee Cohen (c) Has anything changed in the six years since I published Nurturing Decent Human Beings: The Case for Moral Education in Our Schools (michaelnill.com)? In that book I argued that we needed to get back to acknowledging and reinforcing the deeper, moral purposes of education that address our shared values and experiences as human beings.
michaelnill.com
This post explores why Democrats do not have the support and confidence of enough voters and how they can overcome this deficit.
Positioning Democrats to Earn the Support and Confidence of More Voters
I am not alone, of course, in finding the U.S. political news alarming, deeply distressing, and exhausting. Each day reveals more corruption, more bullying at home and abroad, more lies coming out of the MAGA universe. Demonization is regularly unleashed against journalists and public figures who question or oppose what is going on. Even those who served the US honorably in the military or as public servants are not exempt from being trashed.
michaelnill.com
And here we have it. Israel was the goad and Trump's advisors were not the adults we needed. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/u...
How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran
nytimes.com
This survey provides some useful information, but its headlines about how Americans view the morals of fellow citizens are not justified by the data. Moreover, the survey's design implies that morality primarily consists of behaviors marked by controversy and societal division.
A Flawed Global Survey of Morals
A recent Pew Research survey of moral and ethical views in 25 countries garnered many headlines about the US being the only country surveyed where people indicated that the majority of their compatriots (53%) had bad morals or ethics. An unsettling result for Americans; but because of the poll’s lack of clarity, it is impossible to determine what this really indicates.
michaelnill.com
Never say never, but just killing a leader is unlikely to bring desirable change whether it's Kamenei in Iran or El Mencho cartel boss in Mexico.
An Atlantic writer wrongly equates social justice research in the Humanities with wokeism, which he says leads to advocacy versus the search for truth and new knowledge.
Throwing Fuel on the Bonfire of the Humanities
As a teacher and sometime scholar of the Humanities and a recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), I found myself interested and agitated by Tyler Harper’s article in The Atlantic that questions the current state of funding for research in the Humanities because of the philosophy of its biggest funder ( He offers several controversial and inadequately-argued perspectives.
michaelnill.com
The Democratic Party is the only viable oppositional force to MAGA, but it must articulate a fresh vision to earn the trust and support of more voters.
A Vision for Democrats in a Time of Crisis
Let’s face it. The only available oppositional force that can stop MAGA at this time and in the foreseeable future is the Democratic Party. Nothing suggests we can depend on Republican politicians losing their fear of offending MAGA leader Trump. Two things jump out for attention. First, the Administration’s drive for power, its quest to demonize and silence any opposition, and its authoritarianism are putting into question the survival of our foundational systems and principles.
michaelnill.com
Extremely or very confident Donald Trump acts ethically in office White evangelicals 40% US adult avg. 21% Unaffiliated 10% Black Protestants 7% https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/02/09/white-evangelicals-remain-among-trumps-strongest-supporters-but-theyre-less-supportive-than-a-year-ago/
I joined forces with @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social. We explain deep connections between senior administration officials' smearing Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and ICE protestors as "domestic terrorists" and how this fits into the draconian NSPM-7. Important for more people to wake up to this.
The Smearing of Alex Pretti and NSPM-7
How administration officials' labelling Alex Pretti and Renee Good as "domestic terrorists" fits in with NSPM-7.
justsecurity.org
In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.
The MAGA attack on empathy undermines human decency and the golden rule. It is designed to alleviate any guilt or moral responsibility arising from assaults on groups deigned unworthy of moral treatment.
The MAGA Attack on Empathy
In several previous blogs, I analyzed how morality easily gets derailed because we frequently act as though it only pertains to behavior toward those who are in our particular community or group, or more generally those who think, act, or look like us. This tribal outlook has sadly been a continuing force throughout history virtually everywhere; but it is not a legitimate view of morality, which in its essence is universal and pertains to all human beings as such.
michaelnill.com
After a lapse of 2 years, I feel compelled to re-establish my blog on the moral dimension in education, society, and politics. “Silence is complicity” is one big reason among others. In this post, I explain.
My Website and Blog: A New Chapter Begins
Icon, painting by Irene Cohen (c) About two years ago I scrapped my website and stopped writing my blog that was focused on the moral dimension in education, society, and politics. At the time, there were a number of reasons for that decision, which in retrospect was probably too hasty and ill-advised. To begin with, as I saw the increasing threats both here and abroad to democracy and public morality, I confess I began to lose faith in the value of assessing such matters through my writing, especially since I seemed only able to talk about dangers and failures while being essentially clueless about realistic steps to achieve solutions.
michaelnill.com
Perhaps Trump does have a master plan: to take over Latin America and Canada, let Russia take over Europe and Ukraine, and let Chinaa hava all of Asia, including Taiwan.
The New York Times investigated 346 people who donated at least $250,000 to Trump and found that more than half of them (197) have received pardons, jobs, government contracts, special treatment, or favors.
Hundreds of Big Post-Election Donors Have Benefited From Trump’s Return to Office
Well into his second term, the president and his allies have continued aggressively raising money. Many donors have interests before his administration, The Times found.
nytimes.com
So glad I’m retired from the classroom to have to deal with these “lessons” being imparted by the #PedoPresident. @mlipsitt.bsky.social
John Barber@jonrob718.bsky.social · 10mo ago