“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” — Commonly attributed to the French philosopher and writer Voltaire.
“I’m looking through you… where did you go? I thought I knew you… what did I know?” — “Rubber Soul,” the Beatles, 1965
Under normal circumstances, this would be a good time to bid adieu, best wishes and give thanks to Wayland Union Schools Superintendent Norman Taylor for 10 years of service to the local district before retiring earlier this month.
But these are not normal circumstances. “These are the times that try men’s souls,” as written by Thomas Paine in “The Crisis.”
I hear tell from a quality news source that since the now ex-superintendent stepped down, he is sporting a bumper sticker on his car supporting Donald Trump for president and he wears that unmistakable “Make America Great Again” red cap in public.
Make no mistake about it, as an American citizen, Mr. Taylor is entitled to his personal and political beliefs. Perhaps Voltaire said it best in the quote that opened this column.
However, Mr. Taylor also must understand that his very public endorsement of President Trump for re-election raises a lot of questions. It was good that he kept his opinions to himself while gainfully employed at the helm of the Wayland Union Schools, but it results in more than just a bit of a shock to the local citizens.
Many believe, perhaps wrongfully, that the chief executive officer of a public school system would be unabashed in his support for the institution of public education. Yet he supports a major political candidate whose Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, has spent an entire career attempting to dismantle public education on behalf of private, charter and religious schools.
Many astute observers of public education in the United States believe its greatest enemy over the past four decades has been the deliberate effort to privatize it and break the teachers’ unions. DeVos and Trump have made no secret they are on board with that movement.
I submit Trump is the most anti-intellectual, anti-science and incompetent leader in the public sector I’ve seen in my lifetime. And he has brought on board a huge gaggle of toadies to do his bidding in promoting himself while putting this country and the world at risk.
Mr. Trump may or may not have been a terrific corporate CEO before he was elected president. However, he has erased the last doubt about the wisdom of running the government like a business. Corporations are top-down, ant-democratic institutions that require fealty to the man or woman running the show. Dissent too often is not tolerated.
We have seen the disastrous results of the folly of electing a very skilled carnival barker, a con man who know how to push a lot of peoples’ buttons for the wrong reasons. It has revealed some very unpleasant realizations about too many people who live in these United States — that too many of us are racist, sexist, selfish and easily manipulated.
But I was surprised to learn that a public schools superintendent with a master’s degree could be so misled as to gleefully and publicly show his support for a presidential candidate who has been the captain of sinking ship, spinning out of control with a deadly virus, a devastated economy, a racial divide made worse and a do-nothing approach to the greatest crisis of them all — climate change, which gives us nasty hints every day.
Mr. Taylor has every right to believe what he apparently believes. He should not be surprised at the shocked reactions from constituents.
Mr. Taylor is entitled to his opinion and in Allegan County where the county’s demographics are similar to Western Iowa’s 4th Congressional District (prior to that Iowa 4 and 5) that sent Congressman Steve King to Washington 9 times until he was defeated in the most recent primary, Mr. Taylor is in the majority of voters in his district.
Anyone who doesn’t support the current President has reasons for their opinion. Mr. Taylor has his own reason(s) to support the President. Mr. Taylor resigned from his superintedent postion effective last month. Now he can share political opinions and the freedom to support any candidate he chooses because he’s nolonger an unelected public employee.
PS
I admire anyone who can last a decade or more as a public school superintendent in MI. Our state legislature’s insistence on test results being a determining factor in state aid to a district and 11th hour budget agreements has led to superintendents having to play big money version of 3 Card Monte guessing what the final state money would be.
Add that to having to prepare layoff notices for teachers just in case the state aid was lower than anticipated and the bum’s rush of interviewing teacher applicants 2 weeks or less before school starts when teachers who got notices jump to another district’s offer rather than waiting to be pushed and its understandable at 60, Mr. Taylor has decided to step away.
What is this BS. Sorry David young but you should be ashamed of yourself for attempting to ruining a great Superintendent based upon his political views. Find something better to do than ruin people’s names!
This Taylor person is a sellout; as Mr. Young writes in his editorial, no one in education is allowed to support trump without being verbally confronted. Any red hat is a trigger and people dumb enough to put them on their heads should be publicly shamed.
Achtung: this is not a fair or balanced comment-
“I hear tell” combined with unnamed sources sounds a lot like “I made this shit up but don’t want to admit it”.
Let’s get out the tar and pitchforks everyone! Someone (maybe?) doesn’t support who I demand! I will therefore bring this up and pretend that this is somehow relevant and worthy for discussion.
Have you considered a career as a lighthouse? The beam from that virtue signal could have saved the Titanic.
I love the lighthouse line!
Mr. Young is too into his own egotistical, maniacal opinion that only his opinions are the “right ones” and how dare anyone question his outstanding competence! He is a journalist after all and thinks the right way!
The reason a “carnival barker” was elected was because we unwashed, illiterate, hayseed were sick and tired of being sick and tired and having no say in Washington because the swamp dwellers (all Democrats and Establishment Republicans) feel they are beholden to no one and do what the hell they want.
Trump is better than Obama, Bush I and Ii, and Clinton. The business world is thriving, despite COVID19, regulations are cut to make us more efficient, more people were earning and working than ever before, and the stupid treaties and agreements were all being looked at and changed where needed. BLM and Antifa are out of control in Democrat held cities. Is that what you want for America? Maybe Mr. Taylor is the smartest guy in the room?
As for schools, they need overhauling and stop teaching the politically correct crap and America is the worst country in the world. If that is true, why does everyone want to come here? The teachers unions need to understand the majority of America is sick of their whining and bellyaching. Suck it up buttercup, because things are a’changing. And Taylor knows it!
Don’t tread on me, you are so full of the koolaid sold by the Don the con that you are not thinking straight. The reason the “carnival barker” was elected was because of his “fixer” Cohen, who on Donnie’s behalf, paid pollsters to alter the electoral vote in his favor, talk about corruption. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/us/politics/cohen-polls-trump.html
Hillary garnered 3 MILLION more votes by the people than he did but because of the electoral college, who by the way can vote however they want regardless of what the people voted which sets them up to be swayed by the all mighty dollar! This man, who I will NOT recognize as my president only a person occupying the office, has pulled out of some of the most important agreements America had. Iran nuclear arms deal, we were able to monitor their plutonium production, not any more. Pulled funding of the EU. Pulled funding from WHO and NIH, DURING A PANDEMIC no less. Disassembled the pandemic task force that Obama had in place. Imposed ridiculous tariffs on China without negotiating first, I thought this was supposed to be his strong point.? In turn China simply stopped buying farm products which hurt our farmers which we then had to supplement them with millions of tax dollars, that really backfired! Without the respect and belief from the rest of the world that America will hold true to it’s deal/agreements nobody wants to negotiate with us now. This affects our ability to have military defense installations in key areas or offensive weapons to thwart Russia & China. We have gone backwards FAST in foreign affairs. I haven’t even gotten to domestic policies and I’m winded. Obama was the best President since Eisenhower and maybe the best ever.
Oh by the way, what is our national debt these days?
What a bunch of nasty silliness. Really. Get a grip.
Shamefully Un-American is the only way to describe this hit-piece. Reading it I began to wonder what Nazi publications and Hitlers rabid followers with access to printing presses did to his local political opponents in the 1930s; probably something eerily similar.
I do not know and have never met Mr. Taylor. The reason for possibly keeping his political beliefs secret until he was a retired private citizen is obviated by this smear. Like many of us, one could assume he would have done so to preserve his career and avoid conflict with random idiots who can’t help confronting people over hats or bumper stickers. Clearly if he had not done so while he was Superintendent, the fascist left wing mob led by Mr. Young would have slapped any number of labels on him and hung his career from a lamppost then and there.
Hopefully while he was the Superintendent, Wayland schools retained some semblance of rational thought and fact driven logic over emotional mob-driven nonsense.
If Mr. Taylor wears a MAGA hat while now in retirement, he should be left alone as a private citizen. If he wears this hat he simply makes it clear that he opposes left wing Marxist mobs rioting in the streets and tearing down statues of historical figures like Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. He opposes senile presidential candidates owned by China, Governors turned nursing home resident murderers, congresspeople that think a one year old getting shot in a stroller happens because the culprit is poor and just wants to sholift some bread.
In other words one does not need to think Trump is a great or even good guy to wear his brand in opposition to the mob of hysterical fools that seemingly wants to see America, its institutions, its flag, its Independence day, its rule of law and everything good about it destroyed for the sake of truly senseless, leftist feel-good policies.
One thing is for sure in Allegan County Mr. Young. The number of people surprised by Mr. Taylor’s alleged political beliefs is greatly outnumbered by the ones that aren’t…especially now.
Orange man bad David, orange man bad.
MacDougal,
Thank you for the ice water wake-up…… it was needed.
Oh David , are you still living off the rest of us hard working Americans who still love the flag? You come across as a anti fascist ,who can’t stand the thee! great country of the United States of America . Founded in 1776 not as your liberal stations and liberal teachers trying to confuse the true history of this great nation . You stand to keep defying the true facts of the following. Lowest unemployment for my Nordie’s greatest stock market gains in history retail sales during the coronavirus hit record numbers . David when people make money they spend money lower taxes equal greater wealth and prosperity for all I realize it’s a hard concept for you but you need to wake up and quit living off my dollar
David,
You most certainly crossed the line. Not even your AZ ally will come to your aide…………..
Cheers!!
Mr. Wilkens,
Mr. Young doesn’t need anyone to come to his aid. He is expressing his constitutionally given right to an opinion, just as Mr. Taylor is now expressing his through hat and bumper sticker.
In my opinion, what some readers are missing is that Mr. Taylor’s political affiliations are being judged after the fact. Not living in Wayland for the last four years, I haven’t paid close attention to details of the WUS operations, but never have I seen any reports that Mr. Taylor did his job in a way that followed state or federal political whims. It appears from afar that he acted neutrally where politics are concerned, and during his tenure withheld personal biases so as not to cast any leanings on the school district.
It is a delicate tightrope that some administrators must walk during their careers. I, myself, felt the need to curb my political leanings for 29 years as library director. It could be an uncomfortable position for me if I remained in Wayland with my anti-Trump bumper stickers now. Would anyone from the pubic question my past job performance based on my political bent now?
The bottom line here, again in my opinion, is that, as American citizens, each of us has a right to his or her opinions and affiliations. Some of us choose to appear neutral when those opinions might color the trajectory of our careers, and then let our “freak flags” fly once freed from that constraint.
Mr. Young and Mr. Taylor are free citizens as far as political affiliations are concerned. Each has expressed himself in the way best suited to him – a biased column or a biased bumper sticker and hat.
Let freedom ring.
Mr. David Young,
I have recently become aware of your online “news paper” and have to admit that I have enjoyed being able to keep up with the happenings in our community especially since the sad demise of the Globe. That being said I do not in any way shape or form appreciate or respect when you or anybody else goes off on a wild tangent like this trying to knock down a respected high profile member of the community. I think… no, I know that there is more than enough venom, hate, deceit, lies and down right pure rotten Bull Crap in our world right now with out you having to lower yourself into the totally black depths of afore mentioned substance that the majority of our leaders, both national and state seem to enjoy wallering in. I ask that you and any body else who feels the need to contribute to this venue in any way to consider our community and the values that we want to uphold in our community to consider what you put fourth for all to read. Yes I am truly and completely fed up with what is going on around me right now and surely don’t want or need to get any more of the afore mentioned substance shoved in my face. Thank you for what you do here but please let’s try our best to keep it civil. For all of our sake and sanity.
Really Mr David so sorry u don’t agree, but as far as it m concerned Trump is pro life show me one thing that mr Biden is for. anything besides defunding police BLM which every life matters is what I believe for, for you to put because he his for Trump I thought this country was free speech!! Everyone is entitled to their own opinions!!
Allow me to begin with this: I have not and will not ever vote for Donald Trump. There are a myriad of reasons for this.
That said, to make a public school official sound subversive and suspect for supporting a sitting President of the United States is, at best, irresponsibly dismissive and, at worst, shows the type of “think my way” small-mindedness that is ripping this nation apart.
We would likely agree on many, if not all, of your observations and concerns about President Trump. But in the same way that you have concerns about the right, others do about leftist ideology that is increasingly veering away from leadership based on science and world history to instead promote issues and topics that amount to little more than ‘beliefs’.
For example, the Michigan Education Association — the union for teachers across the state — singularly promotes voting only for candidates who are Democrats, mailing out voting guides and campaign material for only one party. This occurs regardless of what opposing candidates may think or believe. So if one were to vary from the uniformity of the education union, does this make them — stupid? Is diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, etc. only valued if there is no diversity of thought or opinion?
Painting those who believe in and support Trump as ignorant, uneducated, or just plain stupid misses the mark. Both sides have their fair share of people who vote based solely on the messages they wish to hear, and both parties have highly-educated, intelligent and capable citizens in their camps of support.
The caution for you, Mr. Young, is to avoid becoming that which you lament: One who seems incapable of seeing the reasoned, measured arguments of why people do support the President — even if he is a lying, manipulative, mentally ill, narcissistic megalomaniac. Those who crow about his ineffectiveness while ignoring his achievement of campaign promises have a cognitive dissonance that, apart from the aforementioned character of the man, can be distilled to a single word: Disagreement.
Mr. Young, I respectfully ask that you join those of us who are attempting to listen, understand, and go beyond the rhetoric of the extremes in building bridges between the sides, and trust that your fellow Americans also want what’s best for this nation, even if you may disagree with them — including the opinions of a good man like Mr. Norm Taylor.
As a serving Army officer, I never got involved in politics; tradition dictated that course of action. Upon retirement my late father, also a retired Army Officer, gifted me a paid membership in the Republican Party. I always identified with the Grand Old Party but kept it to myself as tradition and to some extent the law dictated. I applaud Mr. Taylor for his professionalism; keeping his political views to himself is tribute to his professionalism, it appears the editor of this esteemed publication feels betrayed by Mr. Taylor who fails the current cancel culture loyalty test.
Mr Young
The people here are a touch kinder to you than those that follow you on FB…
I do believe you have accomplished your objective in stirring the pot. Which itself is a healthy thing in times like these.
I also believe most are missing the underlying message you were trying to make. But alas, trying to explain it now is just a wasted effort….
One has to approach comments on a public figure who has reached a standard higher than those before him very carefully.
Next time use a smaller spoon……
Say it ain’t so, Norm. Please say it ain’t so.
Said, bumper sticker has been on the vehicle for a while. Long before he retired as superintendent.
And here I figured he was a mind-numbed robot like most public school administrators and teachers! I have new-found respect for him. Congratulations Mr. Taylor, and enjoy your retirement.
Look at the photo accompanying this article – Norm Taylor is wearing an American flag pin!
Guess that about wraps up the controversy, he loves and supports his country and supports a president that agrees with him instead of someone like Biden and Democrats who have lost their minds and hate America. Don’t believe me, watch the news every night with BLM and Antifa attacking police and citizens, burning and looting buildings and businesses with no condemnation by Democrats. Disgusting!