Donald
Trump recently gave a speech to the American Legion about the plans he has in
mind for the children of America, and if he got his way it would affect every
single one of them. But it would also break the law.
Trump,
playing to an audience with obvious military ties, brought up the idea of
enforcing patriotism on children as part of the school curriculum.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signaled Thursday plans to seek nationwide changes to school curricula with the goal of “promoting American pride and patriotism in America’s schools.”
“In a Trump administration, I plan to work directly with the American Legion to uphold our common values and to help ensure they are taught to America’s children,” Trump said, speaking at the American Legion’s annual convention in Cincinnati.
While
the candidate argued that “We want our kids to learn the incredible
achievements of America’s history, its institutions and its heroes,” doing so
from the presidency would, in fact, break the law.
Military
Times,
in their coverage of Trump’s remarks, points this fact out:
The comments suggested a federal government intervention in the programs of locally run schools, which is prohibited under federal law.
The comment is also ironic, as Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is opposed to Common Core because it supposedly imposes a top-down federal program in schools.
In reality, the Common Core seeks to raise educational standards by
rewarding local schools for improvements in their curriculum devised in the way
they see fit, not as a top-down federal mandate.
It
is also unclear what brand of patriotism Trump would decide to enforce on
American children.
Throughout the campaign, he has advocated the idea that in
his view certain races and faiths – particularly the Latino race and Muslim religion
– are inferior and not worthy of Constitutional protections, when the actual
Constitution makes no such distinctions.
How could someone with that view
seriously define patriotism for American children in all 50 states?
Author Oliver Willis
was one of the first political bloggers in the world (since 2000), and was
among the first bloggers to interview President Obama at the White House. I am
on Twitter @owillis and
write at OliverWillis.com