Back To School, Bob Woodward, And The Blood On His Hands
Wash them before tonight's dinner of Chicken Florentine, Bob.
Sorry for the late newsletter this week. School is officially back in session and I have not written anything at all since last week. It’s been a rollercoaster trying to get prepared, but now that school has started, I am feeling a bit better.
I wrote a few times that I was way more comfortable with full face-to-face rather than a hybrid model because even if kids didn’t go to school every day, teachers did and any exposure to the virus could cross over from one day’s kids to the next. What I also considered was how much it really affects your flow as a teacher to string together multiple day’s worth of work when you can’t see the kids every day. Sure, they have work to do at home, but reinforcing day after day is much more effective teaching.
Now that we’re a few days in, one thing I have heard from several hybrid teachers is that they didn’t fully grasp how this would look in their careers. Many are struggling to plan because there are too many uncontrolled variables that can affect the at-home learning style this model creates. Many also now have the same concerns I did months ago concerning the exposure to all the students.
In truth, as I said back then, the best model is probably full face-to-face with rolling localized closures. One school has an outbreak, they go virtual for two weeks while the rest stay open. It’s how things operate during flu season, but never on the scale that COVID-19 might create. It would keep as many kids in a positive learning environment as possible, though, and that should be the goal.
If Trump Has Blood On His Hands, So Does Bob Woodward
Journalist Bob Woodward released excerpts from his latest book yesterday, sending the media and Democrats into a frenzy over the revelation that President Donald Trump publicly downplayed the severity of the coronavirus while privately knowing how serious the problem could be.
The President defended himself by saying that his administration didn't want to start a panic, which is something that a lot of leaders tend to try to do. In order to show strength and to keep their citizens from panicking, they publicly downplay the severity of threats while privately working to solve the issue.
Barack Obama, in an interview with Woodward, was recorded as saying America could "absorb" a terror attack like we did the 9/11 attack. He was viciously attacked by the right for minimizing the attack and downplaying the threat of another terror attack on American soil. The same folks in the media and the Democratic Party who are attacking Trump now defended Obama's comments then.
In truth, Obama wasn't wrong. America recovered after the initial shock and became stronger. We didn't live in fear of the next terror attack. We kept our lives moving forward. Likewise, America is recovering from the COVID-19 crisis. Recovery is slow, but we're seeing good downward trends almost everywhere. But both men did what leaders do. They led with strength rather than fear and weakness.
The question of whether the Trump administration has done enough to combat the virus is a fair one, but to say he's done nothing is absurd. The very first action he took - cutting off travel to and from China - was widely criticized as xenophobic by the same people who now say he didn't do anything. While the Trump administration was forming a task force and working to figure the issue out, Democrats were encouraging citizens of New York, San Fransisco, and elsewhere to head out to Chinatown for dinner or a parade.
Was the Trump administration aggressive enough? Debatable. Could Trump have been a better leader? I believe so. The problem, though, is that if the blood of 200,000 dead is on Trump's hands based on this tape from six months ago, wouldn't the blood also be on Woodward's hands for sitting on that tape?
Woodward isn't doing the work that made him famous here. He isn't exposing the next Nixon or anything like that. He's selling a book. Those released excerpts were strategically picked to generate the most buzz, and now that's what everyone is talking about. He's selling something, and in order to do so, he appealed to everyone's biases. That's the story of the Woodward tapes here.
At one point, Woodward was the type of journalist younger journalists wanted to be when they grew up. Now, he's selling books by ginning him outrage and releasing them in peak election season for maximum sales. It will be a New York Times bestseller because political outrage sells. Young journalists still want to be him, but for all the wrong reasons.
And yet... it won't make a bit of difference come November.
Recipe Of The Week: Skillet Chicken Florentine
This is a favorite of mine, and it is also very keto for you carb-watchers out there. If you’re not keto, serve this with rice. If you are keto, cauliflower rice or some mushrooms on the side.
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
8 chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless)
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 package cream cheese
2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
In cast iron skillet, with a little oil, brown both sides of the chicken halves and, then turn the heat to low, remove the chicken, and brown the garlic.
Add the butter and whipping cream. When the butter is melted and mixed in with whipping cream, add the cream cheese and stir until melted in, then add parmesan. If the mixture is too thick, add more cream.
Take thawed spinach and lay out in bottom of skillet. Then add chicken on top. Spoon the cream mixture over the chicken, then add salt and pepper and more parmesan.
Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Final Thoughts…
I will be back on my schedule next week. I promise. Just struggled a bit this week with school. I’ll make up for it Friday morning with a bonus issue.