These are stories you don't want to miss and my hot takes on them...
Florida's Black History: Photos from the State Archives - Sun-Sentinel
Hot Take: Yes, it's Black History month, although technically in the politically correct age it's "African-American History Month" as President Trump declared on Wednesday. Now I waded into this photo gallery wondering if it was little more than click bait. My initial thought based on the headline was see there is one - here's evidence, look at these pictures!
Turns out it's a really nice gallery of historical images with brief explanations telling the stories behind them. It's really well done for those who're inclined. I still struggle with the virtues of Black History month. Unlike MLK Day which I think is appropriately recognized for proper context educationally, I bristle at anything that highlights racial division. We had the month designated originally in an effort to right wrongs where the education establishment failed to properly teach history that included the roles black Americans. These days, I wonder if we overcompensate. Black history is American history. Blacks, or African-Americans if you prefer aren't inferior and by taking a month and designating it as such that's ultimately the implication. How can we ever expect racial divides to mitigate to the extent they ever will if we don't stop segregating institutionally by race?
Trump Has Got Democrats Right Where He Wants Them Thomas Edsall, NY Times
Hot Take: In today's weekly updates on the direction of the country and Trump's approval - there's a compelling story I've been able to tell based on the latest data.
The country's optimism is on the rise and is already far better than the average of the Obama years
The President's approval rating just took the biggest jump in about six months and the positively viewed STOU isn't even factored into the numbers yet
People are just now on the precipice of seeing the impact of tax reform in their paychecks
The top three issues voters ID'd with from the State of the Union address were infrastructure, immigration and Military matters (showing the President has the upper hand in negotiations currently)
Joe Kennedy's response, along with the other four by Democrats, shows the general weakness of a core reform message. All they have is the anti-Trump message (which doesn't work so well if he's performing better in the eyes of Americans)
Thus - the premise of the NY Times story is right on point...And that's really saying something...
Until Monday...