For more than a week now, I have intended to write a deep dive into the right-wing Moms for Liberty group that held their “Joyful Warriors National Summit” in Philadelphia last week, only to have one thing or another that seemed more important push it off another day.
I am grateful to Heather Cox Richardson for posting about Moms for Liberty. I recently had to defend an LGBTQIA book ("Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe) when it was challenged by them. As a high school librarian I want to ensure that all of my students feel welcome, represented, respected and valued by the library. I live in Vancouver, WA and was surprised when the challenge came about. My school happened to be the only one in the district and in fact in any of the neighboring districts in SW Washington that had "Gender Queer" so I had to defend it by myself. I received over 35 hateful emails sent personally to me asking me to remove it. My superintendent received an email asking that I be fired, arrested and made to make a public apology. I was called a pervert, a pedophile, and a groomer. I was grateful that the district protocol in place was followed and I was able to retain the book in my library. The challenge committee they formed voted 10 to 2 with one abstention to keep it. One thing to note, the book increased in popularity over this action at my library and 2 other schools decided to add it to their high school library collections. In addition one important thing I realized as I read the hateful emails that I received was that this was the kind of hate that my LGBTQIA students and staff receive on a regular basis. This experience increased my empathy for them. I have always supported all of my students, but this helped me better understand what they go through. Although I didn't want this to happen, I feel that it has shown me just how critical it is to ensure that my collection meets the needs of my entire community.
Brava to you, Kate! It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up to this hate and I appreciate and respect that you stood up for your LGBTQIA students. Thank you.
In Fremont, CA, in the 2022 election, a woman billing herself as a candidate from Moms for Liberty (I find it difficult to write that appellation), ran for a seat on one of the school boards. She got trounced. I expect the group will try again in the next election, and the same result.
If you want to call attention to a book, ban it. I'm willing to bet that the bulk of the hateful emails you received were not about the book at all, but sent simply as a way to intimidate you. I have a friend who is a school librarian in VA, who has gone through similar attacks. Unfortunately, his school administration was not as supportive as yours, and books were removed, without following the school district's policies for adding/removing books. However, the town library has made a point of making some, if not all, the books banned from the school library available to students and parents.
Steve, intimidation is a common weapon used to control people and stifle learning, along with inquiry, curiosity and respect for others. In sum, intimidation is part of the far-right's goal to kill democracy and the freedom of human beings here and everywhere. Thank you, Steve Abbott, for calling it to our attention.
Thank you Fern for pointing that out. So much of the population does not understand the mechanics of controlling a group of people. It is first and foremost fear, which in my definition is the absence of love. Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.
It is difficult to understand the mentality of the mass of citizens who is so caught up in the hatred. But arguing will not help. And turning the other cheek will only go so far.
Thank you, Gina, for pointing to the importance of instilling fear as part of intimidating people, key to anti-democracy propaganda.
As to the MAGAs, their spirit differs from how they are frequently categorized. David French's, Opinion, 'The Rage and Joy of MAGA America', which appeared in The NY Times days ago, goes a long way in capturing the feelings of many MAGAs, and why it seems impossible to reach them.
'I live in Tennessee outside Nashville, a very deep-red part of America. According to a New York Times tool that calculates the political composition of a community, only 15 percent of my neighbors are Democrats. I’ve been living here in the heart of MAGA country since Donald Trump came down the escalator. This is the world of my friends, my neighbors and many members of my family. That is perhaps why, when I’m asked what things are like now, eight years into the Trump era, I have a ready answer: Everything is normal until, suddenly, it’s not. And unless we can understand what’s normal and what’s not, we can’t truly understand why Trumpism endures.' (NY Times)
I plan to refer to this article again in a future post. In the meantime, I think that you and other subscribers will understand MAGAs better after reading it, A gifted link is below.
Fern, Thank you for this link. I did read it once today but saving it to read again.
The psychology of the human mind is often baffling. It is good to contemplate in order to develop a greater understanding of why we do what we do and think the way we think.
Right now instead of considering evolution I am thinking more of regression. Seems as if some humans are trying disparately to hang on to some prior place in our development of reasoning.
I am reminded of the play by Tennessee Williams, "Summer and Smoke." I think of these people, such as Moms for Liberty, and how words spoken in the play relate to them. John, a medical student, has Alma in the garden, trying to "put the make on her," yet she refuses. In exasperation, he tells her: "You know what your problem is? You're so full of what's right, you don't know what's good." Laurence Harvey played John and Geraldine Page Alma in the movie.
“Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.”
Fear is what (“so called”) Christians have used throughout millennia to control the masses. There’s a lot of recorded history of this as well as the heinous methods they used to instill that fear.
I bet anything the book spiked in sales on Amazon. Kids are way smarter than these idiotic book banners who don't understand that the best way to get a kid to read a book is to tell them they can't....
A play was banned in the high school in a small rural Oregon town 13 years ago because the religious community did not agree with some of the words used in the play ( and that it was set in a bar in Paris where there was drinking and cigarette smoking”. It was put on at the local college in a much bigger auditorium which was filled all three ( or maybe 4) nights! This was the yearly play that mostly just the parents of the kids and their friends came to because it wasn’t a musical.
Yes and so they use fear. That is how they get them to cooperate. And, sadly they then also teach them how to control people to get what they want. Is it any wonder so many of the children have a warped sense of love and how to treat others ( and others belongings as well)
In my district the high school libraries have a digital partnership with the public library so that all our students have access to all of those resources and can use them at school. One of the digital ebooks they carry is "Gender Queer". Had the book been banned from my library, it still would have been available to students while seated in my library via this digital access. LOL!!
I would think quite a few of these books that fascists want to ban have been in school libraries for years. It's amazing to me how many people respond to hate over that which they don't understand or is different from them. Empathy is key. Without it, one is just filled with everything ugly. Thank you, Kate Burton, for being one of the good guys.
Look at who is the librarian in any school.... and then look at which books have been included or quietly gotten rid of. You might want to look at who the biology teachers are too. I was a little surprised when my daughter came back from at “TAG” camp at Univ of Oregon and said that she took a great course that she didn’t know about..... Evolution! She had already taken AP Biology at her high school and she has a very good memory!
I live in Vancouver, WA and parents of students at my high school asked that we take evolution out of the biology curriculum. Here is a link including some of the landmark cases re teaching evolution in public schools. I sent this list to the district office where they'd been considering eliminating evolution. After I sent this, they quickly changed their minds about it. https://ncse.ngo/ten-major-court-cases-about-evolution-and-creationism
Thank you Kate. That took courage too. I read so often of the anger, hate, rudeness and disrespect from these factions. Their common actions . They want to deny reality and make difference bad through taunting, bullying, shaming, accusing, spewing hatred.
Yet they are the only ones doing it!
Such blatant self incriminations ...and too few see it.
As a former high librarian, I had a few complaints which I managed to ward off, and nothing like this. Our English dept. got in trouble a couple times; both were for revenge. One was because a student was disciplined and interestingly enough the author was visiting at the same time of the objection. The other had to do with suing the principal for harassment, etc. He got one of his buddies on the faculty to have his son object to books in the drama class. The books were in the library at the teacher's request and she always made it clear that students should not choose play excerpts that they found offensive. I was called over to talk to the curriculum coordinator who was out to get them for reasons of her own. The irony of this was that this person was a devote Christian who was supporting the principal who was doing things in real time, but was objecting to words in books about subjects you could read in any newspaper. The books stayed, btw, and the principal moved on despite being absolved by our board who were afraid of being sued by him. Now I thank my lucky stars I am not still working and kudos to librarians like Kate who stand up and most especially to her district for standing up for her. Yesterday the Oregonian had an article about the author of Jarhead, written about 20 years ago and he found a board in Michigan had banned his book. The review committee voted to keep it, but the board had too many of these people who should never be on school boards on it. So, the key here is that all elections matter and people should vote in them all and be aware of agendas like those of Moms for Liberty. Always have these names that disguise their real purpose. Also had an article about them put out by a local group.
As a retired school librarian, I can think of only 1 or 2 books that were challenged in my 28 years in this job, and neither were removed from the library, nor was there intimidation via nasty remarks or death threats. Currently, I am horrified at what school librarians are dealing with. We can't emphasize enough that all elections matter.
Kate, you are truly on the front line of this battle royal. Thank you for fighting this trench warfare. It must be frightening and all consuming. Please know that the vast majority of millions of Americans support equal rights and smart education. We are proud of folks like you who want to live in the 21st century. The book banners are the dinosaurs.
Kate, sadly, these well meaning "pro-life" persons are only Pro-life for some of us and only if we are like them in all our choices...."blind guides?"
How are they going to respond to their own child who may hide personal struggles with sexuality for fear of being rejected? They are trying to create a world that does not exist.
I , as a Christian , would like for them to point out where and when Jesus rejected anyone who who came to Him....or treated others with disrespect for who they were.
I don't think they're as much well-meaning as they are lacking in empathy for those who are different. They seem to see those differences as evidence of our not belonging to the human community. And above all, they seem to be afraid. Their fear may be rooted in their ignorance or denial of something they actually feel ashamed of in themselves. I hold their religious leaders culpable, as well, since they seem to be encouraging this kind of belief, that it's okay to "other" people who aren't like them. Religion is often used to justify some of the most heinous behaviors toward others. Unfortunately religion often also encourages absolutist thinking, which is totally inaccurate, but allows people to not think for themselves.
I believe most reactions to race, religion, etc is fear. Black and white thinking. No grey area. You are (or think) different than me... one of us is wrong... IT"S NOT ME!. So they must prove their point. Their actions come from a place of weakness, not strength. It's what they have been taught and they were never taught to think for themselves.
I would respectfully disagree only with the term ‘well-meaning’.
Only because it is an anodyne phrase. People who consider other people fools or idiots, corrupt or morally wrong, and who then take action to protect their own idea of society from the rest of us are all well-intentioned.
Protect me from well-intentioned people. Protect all of us from the well-intentioned.
I’m not a mom( just of a four-legged🐾) or social media user but wanted to share. This is a closed Facebook group ,for obvious reason. The founder of this group is a respected, retired educator in my FL county where Moms For ( Not) Liberty was founded. Looks like they are approaching 10k members !
I just applied to join. Thanks for including the link in your comment. I also posted a link on my Facebook page so friends could consider joining. We need to stop Moms for Liberty.
I just did a "join" request as well. Delighted to support any group against these fascistic women. (I keep thinking of that scene in Field of Dreams where Amy Madigan's character yells something at a mother in a parent meeting, referring to her as a "Nazi cow". :D )
HCR’s Letter today, taking the prism of Moms for Liberty as the far-right’s weaponry against democracy, against learning and books; against equality and respect for others ended with ‘…the Republican marriage of elites to street fighters will crumble, leaving room for the country to rebuild the relationship between citizens and the government. '
That is talking to the people; that’s telling The American Story today through Letters to an American. Thank you Heather Cox Richardson.
What you have done is pure COURAGE. It is what integrity is all about. Doing what is right in the face of hostile opposition. All this ignorant hatred is a disease that has infected too many, what we need is a vaccine of love and understanding. But they are anti vaccine also.
Moms for Liberty. We can all rest assured that if a group has liberty or freedom in its name said group is working hard to take those very things from us.
Yes, they've made no attempt to hide the hypocrisy of their mission. This newsletter scared me to death until I read the last paragraph. It reminded me that in this country democracy has worked with the right people in charge. Joe Biden might not have the charisma of FDR, but he has doggedly worked hard to elevate the rights of every marginalized US citizen at war against the wealthy zealots, the religious hypocrites, and the plain old stupids....
He also surrounded himself with smart passionate honest public servants as appointees. TFG, a criminal himself, just looked for people who would join in the criminality. Took a page from Putin, eh?
I agree and like your name for this. Moms For Klanned Karenhood. That is a good name and description for these insane idiots. I suppose they honor the Hitler salute too.
But what do I do with all t he great women named Karen who keep me on my toes over at That's Another Fine Mess? Not to mention the lady who is the light in my life.
Hmmm, i was once sweet on a lady named Karen too. Rename the whole thing to ''KKK Carens '' for the moms for liberty fascist women. Wish i could find me a good Karen. i have been alone for 7 years now after my wife of 40 years up and left for no reason.
There is always a "reason". But it might not have been about you. Sometimes we just head in different directions. That's been my experience (more than once).
It's been my experience more than once also. The first time the reason was obvious, adultry by my first wife. The second time, the reason is still a mystery, at least to me it is...
Yeah, it was a cute name flip. But I agree. I have known several women named Karen and all of them were quite nice - nicer than most, actually. How did a common first name become such a nasty reference?
IMHO, just an easy meme…Kens or Karens….not unlike calling all tissues Kleenex or photocopies Xerox’d. Agree, too, that all of the real Karens I know are wonderful folks….hmmm…don’t know any Kens come to think of it….
I know one. My former screenwriting partner. A fantastic wood sculptor and allaround Good Guy. Good enough he probably makes up for all the ones who aren't.
A very nice cashier where I frequently shop had her name badge turned around when I first met her. I overheard someone ask her why. “If you were named Karen, you’d do the same.” As she held my ID, I commented that everyone named Karen who feels abused by this could form a line behind those of us named John who have dealt with this kind of stupidity for a lot longer. She smiled, and turned her badge around. Solidarity, sister!
My given name is "Karen" and I try to find the humor where it's present (I admit that it's my nature to be silly and find humor nearly everywhere, so it's easy for me to do), and when it's hostile, I joke that now I know how guys named "Dick" have felt all these years. :D
Bottom line: best policy is to not take it personally, if that's a thing you can do.
If you don't fit the stereotype, it's not directed towards you.
As a teacher, I’ve come to believe we can best help our children & families by subsidizing parental education classes. I propose paying parents to attend biweekly classes on parenting. There are some great models out there like the Nurturing Parenting program, from which to build off of. Often, the session starts with a meal, the instructors & families break bread together, helping to form community. Parents talk in small groups with instructors & learn parenting strategies & see how universal so many of our parenting struggles are. During this time the program provides enriching childcare. We have to make it easy & enticing for families to take on this extra responsibility but I’ve seen the effectiveness of programs like this. If we can scale up & make parent education ubiquitous, we can improve the lives of entire families & change communities.
Parenting program - https://assessingparenting.com/about/nurturing_parenting. Our local Department of Social Services uses this program and parents can be required to participate as part of a court order. Parents are not paid but food & childcare is provided. I’d like to see this program serve as a foundation for a larger scale program, which does pay parents and caregiver for attending.
Dr. Richardson's concluding paragraph seems a little optimistic tto me after listening to Rachel Maddow's "Ultra" blog about how close the country came to being taken over by fascists in the late 1930s and early 1940s. If it weren't for the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor and thereby making their Axis allies our enemies and souring the American people on fascism, the fascists like Father Coughlin and Charles Lindberg might have eventually won. The term "America First" originated in this era, not from Trump or other current pod-people Republicans. The Christian Nationalists still might win this time around -- especially if their violent threats continue to cow government officials and others. And, though a World War helped save our democracy last time around, I don't think another World War is as viable solution this time!
Agreed! I feel like this is getting not nearly enough attention, and while I have no idea how its impact will strike, I think it is being underestimated.
Yeah, but not enough action. Even the scientists have underestimated the rate/scope of impact they discerned decades ago & they “pulled their punches” in alerting the public/gov’t/etc., not wanting to overly alarm people. Greta was right & her Gandhi-like protest a few years back stirred the pot but, alas, not quite enough (she’s still on it, tho’ & was recently arrested for her efforts). In a nod to the heat waves, if we don’t act now & aggressively, humans are toast.
You nailed it, sir. The Climate Crisis is the equivalent of an alien invasion. Everyone will be affected. The difference is that in the movies of yesteryear, most of humanity teams up to fight the "Martians" or whatever it is.
I fear that the destruction of food supplies and the shortage and pollution of drinking water will cause us to spiral into a competitive chaos. The movies of today are dystopian and the world descends into self destruction.
Bill, sadly the “common enemy”—our alien invasion—is US, so is hard to battle within our own cultures/views/needs/power structure. We are quickly running out of time—too late to avoid a lot of pain/destruction/disruption already—but I don’t think we are going to be able to “techno” our way out of this in a big way unless we undertake massive world-wide (with prosperous countries, who are generally those who contribute the most to climate change, doing the heavy lifting) action. Folks don’t want disruption to their lifestyles, but that is what it will take to change the trajectory of this global unfolding disaster. My dear grandmother, born in 1898, often said she was born in the most amazing time…from riding in horse drawn buckboards to seeing a man land on the moon…she would be so distraught to see what is unfolding in her grand & great-grandchildren’s lives.
I recall my mother talking about a gathering with relatives in which they passed around the headphones of a "crystal radio", the first broadcast she ever heard. We now carry Star-Trek like "Tricorder" computers in our pockets that I'm sure many educated people would have argued was impossible in my youth. In the mid 1970s I was at a party with an IBM division manager shortly after microprocessors came on the market, and suggested that if production scale reduced the price enough, we could put logic circuits in all manner of appliances like toasters and washing machines. He said witheringly, "You could, but why would you want to?"
More importantly, medicine is saving many lives in ways that were impossible when I was born. But we are also seem to be losing our sense of local community. We don't need conformity, which can become tyranny, but we desperately need to cultivate solidarity. Democracy and a innovative, resilient, compassionate society depends on it. It seems to me that all our commercial options and diversions distract us from prioritizing.
2nd attempt to reply…lost my first composition to the ether when trying to post—maybe it will turn up?
Humans are so amazingly intelligent and curious. As you say, the discoveries on so many levels that have brought health and prosperity to the world in general, if not to all its inhabitants. We are looking inward to the micro level of editing our genes and outward to the macro level to contemplate the mysteries of the cosmos. Unfortunately we are too clever by half and don’t seem as wise as we need to be.
May I recommend a trilogy of slim volumes by John Feffer set in the not too distant future and rang eerily true (plausible) to me. They are Splinterlands, Frostlands and Songlands https://tomdispatch.com/books/splinterlands/
Not for the faint of heart & this is earth-based, no aliens or external threats to galvanize us against a common enemy…just what humankind has wrought upon itself. As I have said many times, the only reason I want to live forever is find out how it all turns out.
" the only reason I want to live forever is find out how it all turns out."
Yes, it a pain to leave the show just when it's getting "interesting", though would we dare stay for the end? It would likely be surprising, and who knows in what direction? In any case it looks like a rough ride. Your books have intriguing titles.
And yes, a great difference between just clever and wise. Wisdom is very hard to pin down but I think it is real and seems to be an art as well as a science. I think it involves, probably among some other things, keenly perceiving with adequate context, and an ability to sense what matters most. I don't think we talk about wisdom nearly enough.
TV kind of blurs the boundary between real and fantasy, commercial messages deliberately so. The unreal can seem real and the unreal seem real. I think that our governments immigrant family separation policy (and hundreds of families have yet to be restored) is a major crime against humanity if you think about facts, but remains a side issue in "the news". The US outsized COVID death toll, well over a million deaths and grieving families, another, and that was a literal attack by a predatory, "heartless", foreign enemy in which focused, "we're all in this together" leadership would clearly have saved many lives. There is too little focus upon what is "tempest in a teapot", what is important, but ancillary, and what is crucial survival and a life worth living.
Trump should have been arrested for crimes against humanity. He clearly, obviously and with self admitted selfish political aims KILLED hundreds of thousands of Americans. It was murder. But we'll get him for stealing documents and giving treasonous speeches.
But still...where is the outrage? "Maybe we could look into injecting people with bleach...?"
Showed up for debates and political events KNOWING he was a super spreader? Isn't that a little like having AIDS and not telling a sex partner?
And yes, using family separations as a deterrent of immigration? The party of "family values" is lower than rotten pond scum.
I recall a Trump administration attorney arguing in court that captive immigrant children did not need blankets or soap, and, as modern "Republicans" are wont to do, trying to twist the law to deny human rights, not protect them.
What kind of government does such things? Remember when "Watergate" was a big deal, even to Republicans? We have ignored and "moved on" so much corruption, fraud, and cruelty we seem to have become at least partially inured to it. Jan 6th was a turning point, and it seems is not just being swept under the rug, but "Republicans" are anything but abashed, and continue mischief unabated.
Also, modern "Republicans" bellowing about values is like charitable deeds of cigarette companies (I recall some years back one such company extensively crowing about all of the donations to the common weal; but Business Week noted that they were spending more on advertising their good works than on performing them. Ans that when their "values" are not just flat out self-serving. It seems to me that Democrats have for some time now, not talked enough about "values". Not is the self-righteous, sanctimonious, and largely hypocritical way Republicans do, but with vision, compassion and fire. Biden is to my way of thinking, doing a better job than most. And Presidents can help to hold a focal point, but cannot and should not speak for society alone; not in a democracy.
As in the Civil War, the clash of values is now massive, extreme, and critical. Besides their structural bearing in the edifice of history, why do the most remembered lines of declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, or the Gettyburg Address resonate so often today?
But now the tactic is to threaten and attack the meteorologists who cover climate change. I follow blogs and am dismayed by how many people still don't believe in climate change. They will try to intimidate people who report it.
Even local reporters have complained of being deluged with ugly hate mail reporting the slightest diversion from GOP talking points. It's more subtle than Brown Shirts, but it is still intimidation. My suspicion that has a lot more to do with timid press "both siderism" than is openly discussed.
Japan turned the tide, much to Hitler’s dismay. Don’t think we can count on that again. The cheating stage is set, the extent is truly shocking. The money/cult coalition is formidable and they vote while suppressing any opposition. Take nothing for granted.
It was a horrible but a true relief to FDR (and Churchill) when Hitler officially declared war on the US. It kicked us into high gear. And the treasonous voices of Lindbergh and Company were drowned out.
Read Heather's How the South Won the Civil War. She shows how WW2 brought the country together to save the democracy. Times were ripe for an autocrat at that time too. FDR could have been one, Harry Truman could have as well, but they actually believed in the ideas of the Constituion and DOI.
Heather does not like John Adams for all the right reasons, but he deserves credit for following the will of the people when he rode out of DC after losing his election cementing the transfer of power following an election.
I must say that reading through these letters and a vast number of other writers, I no longer use party terms or democrats and Republicans, but conservative libertarian and liberal progressive in reference to who creates our political turmoil. The CL extremists give us the vast majority of our problems and threaten the democratic republic as they seek to rule, not govern as HCR so carefully concluded in her How the South Won the Civil War.
Go back a bit more and read the Sinclair Lewis novel, “It Can’t Happen Here.” He based the work on his wife’s coverage of the rise of Nazism and Fascism in 1930s Europe. Many similarities with what we’ve seen here in the last 20 years, or so.
My sentiments exactly. One of the things that struck me about The Man in the High Castle is that it depicts a large fraction of US citizens as docile acolytes of the occupiers. Christopher Rufo would be among them. So would a large number of Republicans. It’s shocking to see Philip K. Dick depict how easily many Americans succumbed to the blandishments of the Nazis. And the book was published in 1962. Of course, there’s another fraction of unclear size that fights a guerrilla war of liberation. But in the end, Dick plays with our minds, as is his wont.
I join you recommending The Plot Against America. The book not only describes a plausible political counterfactual but also the pervasive anti-semitism of the USA in the 1930s and 40s. The family’s trip to Washington, D.C. was painful to read. Of course, much worse occurred to Blacks. The book was turned into a TV movie by David Simon. I recommend it also.
We continually ignore the fact that many of our rich billionaires don't believe in democracy and constantly fund these anti democratic, far right groups. They have been doing it since the 1930s. FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson had changed the public perception of the government into something good. These groups do not want the people to believe in the government because then they elect leaders who will help them..
Since the 1970s and 80s, they have been successfully turning people against the government and today they openly attack the government anytime it tries to help the people.
Ah, we united because there we found a common enemy, the "other" from abroad, to direct our animus. Tribalism 101?. Is climate to existential to achieve this kind of united front? 🤔
Brilliant deductions and writing, Heather! This new forward movement gives us all great solace and hope. When we're not distracted we can see democracy growing and thriving under the Biden administration. We, the People, united in freedoms for all.
Jenifer Rubin, take it a step further when u call out media on Pres Biden’s economy. When the economy is good to great, their revenue should be up too. If it is not, why? The answer is hyper competition between traditional somewhat regulated media and unregulated monopolistic social media. This is a sea change from 25+ years ago, a galaxy change from 40 years ago. Unregulated SM has a massive advantage of both outrage engagement and a dopamine reactive/interactive component that are unmatched in history. It is as if the two information business are playing different games entirely. Traditional media can never win by these rules. So they are forced into playing a losing game with a losing hand. The answer my friends is to break up these modern monopolies and regulate them in new in innovative ways not yet considered as a common sense possibility. This failure to reign in new communication technology is a threat to democracy. We have a choice. We can continue this way: incentivizing lies, social division, unreality, fantasy, chaos, or....
You speak the truth. Fox started the “galaxy change” and the social media cretins are super charging it. Left Walter Cronkite in the dust eons ago, it seems
Fox is the seed for radicalization. But radicalization grows and grows with social media to a point, even at the brink of disaster (Charletsville, George Floyd, Rittenhouse, J6)that Fox can not attempt to reign the believers/viewers in, at all.
And neither can any other GOP leader. The cult of personality sets up like stone. The only stimulus that moves them is their dear leader, and any challenge/threat to his power.
So… how in the heck do the major networks and newspapers compete in this environment, with 70 million plus viewers, the “true believers”? After all it is a business.
It is clear to me that since Mr. Biden tidied-up the economy and put people back to work the only issue the right wing has is the culture war. If able, be sure to watch Shiny Happy People, the conclusion of the documentary is terrifying.
Well, they will have the economy to cry about in a couple of months. We have reached an apex and should be in recession by end of year. Just in time for the elections. It will not be pretty.
Pit one group against another using red meat ‘social issues’…that’s the key to Republican power….
The more extreme the issue the better….and make it real simple…..protect our white women and children from those greedy and evil Dems who want to ‘give away’ our money and corrupt our kids with ‘false’ teaching and gay sex and all manner of other ugly stuff. God wants you to vote for Trump. …Courtesy of the Moms for Liberty! AND your friendly evangelical pastor!
Absolutely NO OXYGEN LEFT FOR THE ENORMOUS GOOD THAT BIDEN HAS DONE…..
As I see it, one of our anti-Republican extremist assignments is to continue to knock holes in their red meat pronouncements and let that Biden oxygen through.
Every bit of effort to preserve and improve our Democracy counts!
No, it isn’t that easy, but those who are straddling the political fence for one reason or another, May still be able to hear facts and truths. One of my big concerns is the group of voters who feel overwhelmed or unable to see their ideal candidate. They are stuck in that place and often feel that their vote doesn’t count or they choose not to vote. Empathize with the unsure mindset, but emphasize the urgent need to vote for someone like Biden who genuinely loves our country and has done what he promised. Otherwise we may lose any future chance to choose any other positive, strong, constructive candidates in the future. Ask someone to seriously think through what will happen to their rights as they know them now if an autocratic , fascist leaning dictator takes over.
He has , in spite of Republican road blocks, begun to rebuild our country. ( Jobs, economy, infrastructure, stronger support of Allie’s abroad, etc.) None of that can be completed in one term, but Biden has been greatly underestimated.
No, nothing is easy right now, but every little bit of effort to preserve our Democracy does count.
Yes, sadly there are some who cannnot and will not listen to and think about facts and truths. They have become perfect examples of mind control, and the only positive in that is recognizing that they do exist out in the open now. Forewarned is indeed forearmed.
I have spent a lot of time in a rural setting that has a lot of Trump supporters…a number of whom are my friends…
I think in that world where a rather slim if any college education has occurred and the local evangelical world promotes the ‘socialization’ opportunities…. such ‘reasonable arguments’ as you make are not going to ‘work’…very well if at all with these guys…
There’s a basic resentment to ‘elitist’ folks who ‘don’t respect us’ and a basic bullheadedness that can’t afford to be wrong…..
Where I do think there’s lots of promise is in the ‘independent voter category’….and if the stats are right ..there are a LOT of those guys…think Dobbs is serious incentive…indictments (and hopefully ‘convictions’) are helpful….et al…and I suspect the ‘young’ will be helpful….
And I very much like your ‘take’ on the ‘hesitant—my vote doesn’t count’ potential voter!
First of all I support you for staying open to friendships regardless of voting choice.
From what I have learned, I think your assessment of Trump supporters, especially in rural areas, is a good one. The “ bullheaded” mindset seems to be a gut response to a “ safe “ place where they feel accepted and in control among their people. Stepping outside that threatens their perceived being. I do not like or agree with that, but I do understand it.
Here’s hoping that your assessment of the independent voter category is on target.
If that also includes young voters who can see through all the rhetoric and bluster, then all the better.
Oh Marg…I don’t deserve any praise…these rep folks are ‘family’….I’m 2nd/3rd generation in this world..and these guys have been so helpful when my dad was dying etc…
The bizarre paradox is that in my own immediate family we are very ‘connected’ at the national and state Dem level.
So I’m sort of a ‘both sides now’ gal. I’m a dem, and political, I’ve lobbied at both the state and national level for low income folks, ….when the Reagan budget hit the ‘joint Conference Committee of the CA legislature…I testified for the Bishops..at their request…
Poverty is my major concern…I don’t like it a bit and I want and have worked for ‘structural change’….
And needless to say I think Trump is a very disturbed psychopath…
Where I think our largest challenge is, assuming Trump is NOT our president in 24…is somehow That we come together as ‘family’ in this bifurcated nation…I don’t know quite how this occurs ..but I’m pretty sure it needs too!
Excellent point…..’red meat’ is the deal and that generally IS sexual…..trans, gay …et al
These guys are NOT SELECTIVE …just super nasty.
I need to sort of apologize for the ‘super nasty’ comment….think it’s more likely that they are just scared/super defensive/few intellectual options..etc…
I remember I think about a decade ago that the MRI’S of voters were presented by the Smithsonian and with around 80% accuracy their political preferences could be identified…had to due with the size of certain brain lobes developed more or less developed by fight or flight circumstances….
Put another way, folks for whom FEAR/FLIGHT was physically identifiable definitely preferred ‘conservative’ political positions…BUT the brain is able to ‘change’….
I’m not sure I see much humor in this deal…to compound matters the media has totally under reported Biden’s accomplishments which ‘reversionary history’ will doubtless celebrate!
Perhaps, just perhaps, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to Biden's policies and the brilliant men and women he has surrounded himself with. And thank you, HCR for laying it out so eloquently. As a retired school principal, I would encourage folks to go, periodically, to school board meetings. Be the sane adult in the room and speak if necessary. In Las Cruces we have been going to City Council and County meetings to counter the 'crazies' . It has been effective.
The "GOP" specializes in misnomers. It's a bit like "pig Latin". Their nomenclature and pronouncements only begins to make sense when you attach the word "not" to them.
Outright lie, from Mien Kampf - James Murphy translation “…the broad masses…more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, because they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.” Repubs have no shame, what more proof do we need?
Well let’s get that democratic coalition going already! No time to waste! Thank you for bringing attention to Jennifer Rubin’s (also) excellent piece this morning. The more repetition the better—hope springs eternal that the media and the populace will take note. My night is never complete without reading your reflections on the day. Thank you!
This column is superb. It so articulately summarizes the NAF ( New Authoritarian Fascist) Party -- formerly the Republican Party-- nefarious opposition to the New Deal and now to American democracy itself. I wish it could be distributed to every American. It is that important.
There are so many problems with the fringe nutso groups, it's hard to tell where to begin. One of the ideas I have seen floating around for many years, is to have all public schools funded by the State instead of property tax. It sounds like a good idea on paper, and theoretically it would even out the schools so you didn't have the huge discrepancies we have now in the affluent vs poor schools even in the same school district. The problem with the idea is what happens when a bunch of whack jobs get elected in the State and suddenly funding for schools is on the chopping block - as happened to higher education schools in California. Without quality education for all, you end up with bleating sheep, incapable of critical thinking, or even basic though processes, ripe and ready for DeSantis and Trumps wannabe dictators.
Happening in MT. Teachers leaving, difficulty recruiting new teachers leaving schools unable to hire qualified teachers. New laws passed re charters schools & questioning if they have to meet state educational standards. Law suits happening. Agreed, we need quality schools no matter where you live. A desired school district can also drive up housing prices in that area.
Yes. a desirable school can improve housing costs. But, I maintain all children should be able to achieve the best that they can be. The surest way to achieve this is individualized education. Costly to set up but much better for students and reduced costs in the long run while producing young adults who have achieved their best regardless of the field of study.
As an OT with lots of IEPs under my belt, I agree. All kids should have IEPs. Even in Spec Ed programs if the class rooms have too many students & teachers dont have the needed support to carry out IEPs, it doesnt happen. As an itinerant , I saw many different programs & classrooms & one of the better ones I think was called Roots & Wings. It kept some of the former focus of concern kids in mainstream education.
I have been pitching this idea for years. Zip code funding of education guarantees the wealth and poverty silos we live in. While there IS danger in a state wide school board and funding scheme, that danger already exists in the state legislatures. And those battles will always be fought.
But at least kids would have a more level playing field.
And of course, if a state went too whacko in its curriculum, one could move. Massachusetts is open for business for "everyone". Our billboards in Florida invite the repressed and oppressed to relocate where all are welcome.
We need less control, not more! (other than caring for our environment which should be a world wide concern) We do need the investment of excellent , non prejudical, intellectually well-rounded teachers and leaders who realize that they are educating citizens who will hold the responsibility to lead, to govern , to vote for a healthy future for each and all....
Not to mention the wealthy always find a workaround. I remember my mother voted for Prop 13, because one of it's promises was to put school funding at the state level. However, what she didn't know, os that wealthy communities - Beverly Hills, Marin County, Carmel-by-the-Sea.... were able to become "Basic Aid" districts whose funding was still based on their high property taxes. Result? their per pupil funding is two or three times that for neighboring communities.
Living in Florida where Moms For Liberty are, with Desantis’ help, trying to dismantle school boards and have destroyed New College in Sarasota, and have infiltrated the new “board” appointed by Desantis for Disney’s Reedy Creek area, I can assure you these women are Nazis, plain and simple. Book bans, allowing slurs against lgbtq board members at public meetings, forcing resignations of superintendents who followed CDC mask guidelines in districts during the pandemic-they are a public menace spreading hate and division and trying to exercise their will over all. They are Desantis’ minions-I fear for my grandchildren and their education in this state. How can they compete nationally if they are learning only what educational experts have deemed a curriculum aiming to raise a next generation of “ignorant racists”? Sick and sad-and scary.
I’m hoping the pushback from the student body/faculty is strong and loud but I have to admit had I a child seeking higher education I’d steer waaay clear of Florida. Sad.
I am grateful to Heather Cox Richardson for posting about Moms for Liberty. I recently had to defend an LGBTQIA book ("Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe) when it was challenged by them. As a high school librarian I want to ensure that all of my students feel welcome, represented, respected and valued by the library. I live in Vancouver, WA and was surprised when the challenge came about. My school happened to be the only one in the district and in fact in any of the neighboring districts in SW Washington that had "Gender Queer" so I had to defend it by myself. I received over 35 hateful emails sent personally to me asking me to remove it. My superintendent received an email asking that I be fired, arrested and made to make a public apology. I was called a pervert, a pedophile, and a groomer. I was grateful that the district protocol in place was followed and I was able to retain the book in my library. The challenge committee they formed voted 10 to 2 with one abstention to keep it. One thing to note, the book increased in popularity over this action at my library and 2 other schools decided to add it to their high school library collections. In addition one important thing I realized as I read the hateful emails that I received was that this was the kind of hate that my LGBTQIA students and staff receive on a regular basis. This experience increased my empathy for them. I have always supported all of my students, but this helped me better understand what they go through. Although I didn't want this to happen, I feel that it has shown me just how critical it is to ensure that my collection meets the needs of my entire community.
Brava to you, Kate! It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up to this hate and I appreciate and respect that you stood up for your LGBTQIA students. Thank you.
In Fremont, CA, in the 2022 election, a woman billing herself as a candidate from Moms for Liberty (I find it difficult to write that appellation), ran for a seat on one of the school boards. She got trounced. I expect the group will try again in the next election, and the same result.
I know it’s petty, but I secretly refer to m4l as klanned karenhood. My inner child can’t resist, but I know they are dangerous!
Assholes with casseroles
Minivan Taliban
Crackpots with crockpots
https://twitter.com/DLDePrille/status/1677989371469758464?s=20
😂😂😂
another one: Twatzies
Genius, Becky!!!
😅
The " m4l as klanned karenhood" -- hey, a three-word slogan I can get behind! Good on ya!
WELL DONE !
Lisa. !!
Hallelujah!
Joanna, besides liking you comment, may I add “Ditto”. And thank you Kate.
Just seeing your comment. Thank you. One can't help but admire a person like Kate.
Perfectly stated! I second this comment!
If you want to call attention to a book, ban it. I'm willing to bet that the bulk of the hateful emails you received were not about the book at all, but sent simply as a way to intimidate you. I have a friend who is a school librarian in VA, who has gone through similar attacks. Unfortunately, his school administration was not as supportive as yours, and books were removed, without following the school district's policies for adding/removing books. However, the town library has made a point of making some, if not all, the books banned from the school library available to students and parents.
Steve, intimidation is a common weapon used to control people and stifle learning, along with inquiry, curiosity and respect for others. In sum, intimidation is part of the far-right's goal to kill democracy and the freedom of human beings here and everywhere. Thank you, Steve Abbott, for calling it to our attention.
Thank you Fern for pointing that out. So much of the population does not understand the mechanics of controlling a group of people. It is first and foremost fear, which in my definition is the absence of love. Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.
It is difficult to understand the mentality of the mass of citizens who is so caught up in the hatred. But arguing will not help. And turning the other cheek will only go so far.
Thank you, Gina, for pointing to the importance of instilling fear as part of intimidating people, key to anti-democracy propaganda.
As to the MAGAs, their spirit differs from how they are frequently categorized. David French's, Opinion, 'The Rage and Joy of MAGA America', which appeared in The NY Times days ago, goes a long way in capturing the feelings of many MAGAs, and why it seems impossible to reach them.
'I live in Tennessee outside Nashville, a very deep-red part of America. According to a New York Times tool that calculates the political composition of a community, only 15 percent of my neighbors are Democrats. I’ve been living here in the heart of MAGA country since Donald Trump came down the escalator. This is the world of my friends, my neighbors and many members of my family. That is perhaps why, when I’m asked what things are like now, eight years into the Trump era, I have a ready answer: Everything is normal until, suddenly, it’s not. And unless we can understand what’s normal and what’s not, we can’t truly understand why Trumpism endures.' (NY Times)
I plan to refer to this article again in a future post. In the meantime, I think that you and other subscribers will understand MAGAs better after reading it, A gifted link is below.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/maga-america-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=taYEv02XVutuy0pN7wv3pvgwDcj2pPBw-LuLNFepzu92qEJaamiriSxSTltC5s3sdfWq9WSWSvRMSdl7r6CT5RAG3sXr-2-k_mK5a9KQ96jl6egOHiOKuN0CQsmQa-gmsy09zWy7MXuQQdqwBlNzrwOUmQbWIc81mLPGMn95CyWdUfpGvJVMuHN12mogGfZ1YFPmGHL-TKyW-02wznZzPUYP8xFHdW51uQem9G58z9ubifTqbdbJ3LYmEjeWKb7ajz2JIUKq0GI1Opi-YwWseXrcVLszhpf21IvhkCInxOMO-aoTzH6yPHD3OmlcrgXVAgFi3ztkPwridN4l&smid=url-share
Fern, Thank you for this link. I did read it once today but saving it to read again.
The psychology of the human mind is often baffling. It is good to contemplate in order to develop a greater understanding of why we do what we do and think the way we think.
Right now instead of considering evolution I am thinking more of regression. Seems as if some humans are trying disparately to hang on to some prior place in our development of reasoning.
I am reminded of the play by Tennessee Williams, "Summer and Smoke." I think of these people, such as Moms for Liberty, and how words spoken in the play relate to them. John, a medical student, has Alma in the garden, trying to "put the make on her," yet she refuses. In exasperation, he tells her: "You know what your problem is? You're so full of what's right, you don't know what's good." Laurence Harvey played John and Geraldine Page Alma in the movie.
Control issues anyone? ( John not Alma)
“Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.”
Fear is what (“so called”) Christians have used throughout millennia to control the masses. There’s a lot of recorded history of this as well as the heinous methods they used to instill that fear.
I bet anything the book spiked in sales on Amazon. Kids are way smarter than these idiotic book banners who don't understand that the best way to get a kid to read a book is to tell them they can't....
A play was banned in the high school in a small rural Oregon town 13 years ago because the religious community did not agree with some of the words used in the play ( and that it was set in a bar in Paris where there was drinking and cigarette smoking”. It was put on at the local college in a much bigger auditorium which was filled all three ( or maybe 4) nights! This was the yearly play that mostly just the parents of the kids and their friends came to because it wasn’t a musical.
Linda, that's a textbook demonstration of how we have to be fighting this atrocity! Thanks for posting!
Yes and so they use fear. That is how they get them to cooperate. And, sadly they then also teach them how to control people to get what they want. Is it any wonder so many of the children have a warped sense of love and how to treat others ( and others belongings as well)
In my district the high school libraries have a digital partnership with the public library so that all our students have access to all of those resources and can use them at school. One of the digital ebooks they carry is "Gender Queer". Had the book been banned from my library, it still would have been available to students while seated in my library via this digital access. LOL!!
I would think quite a few of these books that fascists want to ban have been in school libraries for years. It's amazing to me how many people respond to hate over that which they don't understand or is different from them. Empathy is key. Without it, one is just filled with everything ugly. Thank you, Kate Burton, for being one of the good guys.
Look at who is the librarian in any school.... and then look at which books have been included or quietly gotten rid of. You might want to look at who the biology teachers are too. I was a little surprised when my daughter came back from at “TAG” camp at Univ of Oregon and said that she took a great course that she didn’t know about..... Evolution! She had already taken AP Biology at her high school and she has a very good memory!
I live in Vancouver, WA and parents of students at my high school asked that we take evolution out of the biology curriculum. Here is a link including some of the landmark cases re teaching evolution in public schools. I sent this list to the district office where they'd been considering eliminating evolution. After I sent this, they quickly changed their minds about it. https://ncse.ngo/ten-major-court-cases-about-evolution-and-creationism
It takes courage to stand up to bullies. May your example be an inspiration for all of us who subscribe to Letters from an American.
Thanks for fighting the good fight, Kate.
Thank you Kate. That took courage too. I read so often of the anger, hate, rudeness and disrespect from these factions. Their common actions . They want to deny reality and make difference bad through taunting, bullying, shaming, accusing, spewing hatred.
Yet they are the only ones doing it!
Such blatant self incriminations ...and too few see it.
As a former high librarian, I had a few complaints which I managed to ward off, and nothing like this. Our English dept. got in trouble a couple times; both were for revenge. One was because a student was disciplined and interestingly enough the author was visiting at the same time of the objection. The other had to do with suing the principal for harassment, etc. He got one of his buddies on the faculty to have his son object to books in the drama class. The books were in the library at the teacher's request and she always made it clear that students should not choose play excerpts that they found offensive. I was called over to talk to the curriculum coordinator who was out to get them for reasons of her own. The irony of this was that this person was a devote Christian who was supporting the principal who was doing things in real time, but was objecting to words in books about subjects you could read in any newspaper. The books stayed, btw, and the principal moved on despite being absolved by our board who were afraid of being sued by him. Now I thank my lucky stars I am not still working and kudos to librarians like Kate who stand up and most especially to her district for standing up for her. Yesterday the Oregonian had an article about the author of Jarhead, written about 20 years ago and he found a board in Michigan had banned his book. The review committee voted to keep it, but the board had too many of these people who should never be on school boards on it. So, the key here is that all elections matter and people should vote in them all and be aware of agendas like those of Moms for Liberty. Always have these names that disguise their real purpose. Also had an article about them put out by a local group.
As a retired school librarian, I can think of only 1 or 2 books that were challenged in my 28 years in this job, and neither were removed from the library, nor was there intimidation via nasty remarks or death threats. Currently, I am horrified at what school librarians are dealing with. We can't emphasize enough that all elections matter.
Amen, Sister.
Kate, you are truly on the front line of this battle royal. Thank you for fighting this trench warfare. It must be frightening and all consuming. Please know that the vast majority of millions of Americans support equal rights and smart education. We are proud of folks like you who want to live in the 21st century. The book banners are the dinosaurs.
HOpe those millions of Americans turn out to vote accordingly!
Let’s all work to make it happen!
Kate, sadly, these well meaning "pro-life" persons are only Pro-life for some of us and only if we are like them in all our choices...."blind guides?"
How are they going to respond to their own child who may hide personal struggles with sexuality for fear of being rejected? They are trying to create a world that does not exist.
I , as a Christian , would like for them to point out where and when Jesus rejected anyone who who came to Him....or treated others with disrespect for who they were.
I don't think they're as much well-meaning as they are lacking in empathy for those who are different. They seem to see those differences as evidence of our not belonging to the human community. And above all, they seem to be afraid. Their fear may be rooted in their ignorance or denial of something they actually feel ashamed of in themselves. I hold their religious leaders culpable, as well, since they seem to be encouraging this kind of belief, that it's okay to "other" people who aren't like them. Religion is often used to justify some of the most heinous behaviors toward others. Unfortunately religion often also encourages absolutist thinking, which is totally inaccurate, but allows people to not think for themselves.
I believe most reactions to race, religion, etc is fear. Black and white thinking. No grey area. You are (or think) different than me... one of us is wrong... IT"S NOT ME!. So they must prove their point. Their actions come from a place of weakness, not strength. It's what they have been taught and they were never taught to think for themselves.
Perhaps a little more time with their Bibles would help: "Even as you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me." Matthew 25: 34-46.
I would respectfully disagree only with the term ‘well-meaning’.
Only because it is an anodyne phrase. People who consider other people fools or idiots, corrupt or morally wrong, and who then take action to protect their own idea of society from the rest of us are all well-intentioned.
Protect me from well-intentioned people. Protect all of us from the well-intentioned.
What do they say that the 'road to hell' is paved with?
They have no idea what the first three Gospels say and love books like Revelations. In my mind they are not Christians or even decent people.
They are not well meaning.
Thankyou for your brave stance & trust in your self in the face of so much adversity! It is great that your superintendent & staff supported you.
Such important story to read. Thank you, Kate.
You rock.
Also, what's with the hue and cry over "Gender Queer"? It's pretty tame stuff (tho it's great)
You are a hero! Bless you!
Thank you for what you're doing for your students. Keep on keeping on. The majority is with you.
StopMomsForLiberty
I’m not a mom( just of a four-legged🐾) or social media user but wanted to share. This is a closed Facebook group ,for obvious reason. The founder of this group is a respected, retired educator in my FL county where Moms For ( Not) Liberty was founded. Looks like they are approaching 10k members !
https://m.facebook.com/groups/stopmomsforliberty/?ref=share
Yup. I joined last week.
I just applied to join. Thanks for including the link in your comment. I also posted a link on my Facebook page so friends could consider joining. We need to stop Moms for Liberty.
I just did a "join" request as well. Delighted to support any group against these fascistic women. (I keep thinking of that scene in Field of Dreams where Amy Madigan's character yells something at a mother in a parent meeting, referring to her as a "Nazi cow". :D )
"street warfare" the FB way! Meet them and up them.
Yes!!
Done
Thank you for posting this. Just sent a request to join.
Thanks, Kathy! Just requested to join.
Just joined!
HCR’s Letter today, taking the prism of Moms for Liberty as the far-right’s weaponry against democracy, against learning and books; against equality and respect for others ended with ‘…the Republican marriage of elites to street fighters will crumble, leaving room for the country to rebuild the relationship between citizens and the government. '
That is talking to the people; that’s telling The American Story today through Letters to an American. Thank you Heather Cox Richardson.
What you have done is pure COURAGE. It is what integrity is all about. Doing what is right in the face of hostile opposition. All this ignorant hatred is a disease that has infected too many, what we need is a vaccine of love and understanding. But they are anti vaccine also.
Thank you!
Moms for Liberty. We can all rest assured that if a group has liberty or freedom in its name said group is working hard to take those very things from us.
Moms For Klanned Karenhood is more like it.
I laughed out loud at "Moms For Klanned Karenhood" —but I agree with those who worry about innocent Karens.
I think Jean-Pierre Garau nailed it : Moms for Liberty = White Women of the KKK
Yes, they've made no attempt to hide the hypocrisy of their mission. This newsletter scared me to death until I read the last paragraph. It reminded me that in this country democracy has worked with the right people in charge. Joe Biden might not have the charisma of FDR, but he has doggedly worked hard to elevate the rights of every marginalized US citizen at war against the wealthy zealots, the religious hypocrites, and the plain old stupids....
"....the Republican marriage of elites to street fighters will crumble..."
Best line of the letter.
I agree, Sophia. President Biden has just nailed a near impossible job.
He also surrounded himself with smart passionate honest public servants as appointees. TFG, a criminal himself, just looked for people who would join in the criminality. Took a page from Putin, eh?
You are correct! They started in Florida, where I live, and are wreaking havoc in our schools. They are awful!
I agree and like your name for this. Moms For Klanned Karenhood. That is a good name and description for these insane idiots. I suppose they honor the Hitler salute too.
But what do I do with all t he great women named Karen who keep me on my toes over at That's Another Fine Mess? Not to mention the lady who is the light in my life.
Not to mention all the women of color, like my former colleague at UCLA, who happen to be named Karen. Very nice person.
Hmmm, i was once sweet on a lady named Karen too. Rename the whole thing to ''KKK Carens '' for the moms for liberty fascist women. Wish i could find me a good Karen. i have been alone for 7 years now after my wife of 40 years up and left for no reason.
There is always a "reason". But it might not have been about you. Sometimes we just head in different directions. That's been my experience (more than once).
It's been my experience more than once also. The first time the reason was obvious, adultry by my first wife. The second time, the reason is still a mystery, at least to me it is...
Yeah, it was a cute name flip. But I agree. I have known several women named Karen and all of them were quite nice - nicer than most, actually. How did a common first name become such a nasty reference?
IMHO, just an easy meme…Kens or Karens….not unlike calling all tissues Kleenex or photocopies Xerox’d. Agree, too, that all of the real Karens I know are wonderful folks….hmmm…don’t know any Kens come to think of it….
I know a couple Ken’s. Even split on good vs. not so good.
My wife is named Karyn. ‘Nuf said.
I know one. My former screenwriting partner. A fantastic wood sculptor and allaround Good Guy. Good enough he probably makes up for all the ones who aren't.
TC, come up with a better insult for this hate group. Surely you can.
A very nice cashier where I frequently shop had her name badge turned around when I first met her. I overheard someone ask her why. “If you were named Karen, you’d do the same.” As she held my ID, I commented that everyone named Karen who feels abused by this could form a line behind those of us named John who have dealt with this kind of stupidity for a lot longer. She smiled, and turned her badge around. Solidarity, sister!
My given name is "Karen" and I try to find the humor where it's present (I admit that it's my nature to be silly and find humor nearly everywhere, so it's easy for me to do), and when it's hostile, I joke that now I know how guys named "Dick" have felt all these years. :D
Bottom line: best policy is to not take it personally, if that's a thing you can do.
If you don't fit the stereotype, it's not directed towards you.
Thank you. I read Klanned Karenhood a few days ago and shamelessly stole it
Cretins always use the names of what they don’t espouse. Thank Frank Luntz for that.
The Minivan Taliban
I am stealing this!
So sad, this 'name calling'...I have a sister and dear friends named Karen to whom this is humiliating and unwarranted 😥
Perhaps the more accurate name is KKKaren?
Perhaps KKK is enough - yes women are affiliated with the KKK. Do we say KKKEN, KEVIN, KURT etc???
Same goes for the derogatory use of the name Brandon!
As a woman I prefer no name calling...we can all do better💛
Humiliating? Really? If this is your big worry you have a very charmed life.
Funny... and clever!
Moms for Liberty is proof that instead of marriage licenses, we need procreation licenses.
As a teacher, I’ve come to believe we can best help our children & families by subsidizing parental education classes. I propose paying parents to attend biweekly classes on parenting. There are some great models out there like the Nurturing Parenting program, from which to build off of. Often, the session starts with a meal, the instructors & families break bread together, helping to form community. Parents talk in small groups with instructors & learn parenting strategies & see how universal so many of our parenting struggles are. During this time the program provides enriching childcare. We have to make it easy & enticing for families to take on this extra responsibility but I’ve seen the effectiveness of programs like this. If we can scale up & make parent education ubiquitous, we can improve the lives of entire families & change communities.
I agree with every word you just said, Gina.
Here is the link to the Nurturing
Parenting program - https://assessingparenting.com/about/nurturing_parenting. Our local Department of Social Services uses this program and parents can be required to participate as part of a court order. Parents are not paid but food & childcare is provided. I’d like to see this program serve as a foundation for a larger scale program, which does pay parents and caregiver for attending.
TC, I've been saying that ever since I did a stint of public school teaching.
I've been saying it ever since I heard Keanu Reeves's character say it to someone in "Parenthood" many years back.
It's an impossible idea, but it certainly DOES seem like it should be real, for sure!
My late husband always said the same. As a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge, he was faced with evidence of questionable parenting daily.
Good for you, TC, I've long felt that was the best way.
My husband has advocated that for years. 🙂
Dr. Richardson's concluding paragraph seems a little optimistic tto me after listening to Rachel Maddow's "Ultra" blog about how close the country came to being taken over by fascists in the late 1930s and early 1940s. If it weren't for the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor and thereby making their Axis allies our enemies and souring the American people on fascism, the fascists like Father Coughlin and Charles Lindberg might have eventually won. The term "America First" originated in this era, not from Trump or other current pod-people Republicans. The Christian Nationalists still might win this time around -- especially if their violent threats continue to cow government officials and others. And, though a World War helped save our democracy last time around, I don't think another World War is as viable solution this time!
Climate disruption is starting to bite. That's a wild card.
Agreed! I feel like this is getting not nearly enough attention, and while I have no idea how its impact will strike, I think it is being underestimated.
Water will be the biggest problem.
This world heat record being set every day is getting a lot of attention.
Yeah, but not enough action. Even the scientists have underestimated the rate/scope of impact they discerned decades ago & they “pulled their punches” in alerting the public/gov’t/etc., not wanting to overly alarm people. Greta was right & her Gandhi-like protest a few years back stirred the pot but, alas, not quite enough (she’s still on it, tho’ & was recently arrested for her efforts). In a nod to the heat waves, if we don’t act now & aggressively, humans are toast.
I think, since Florida (and New Orleans) are probably going to be the places first and hardest hit, that it might get "interesting".
You nailed it, sir. The Climate Crisis is the equivalent of an alien invasion. Everyone will be affected. The difference is that in the movies of yesteryear, most of humanity teams up to fight the "Martians" or whatever it is.
I fear that the destruction of food supplies and the shortage and pollution of drinking water will cause us to spiral into a competitive chaos. The movies of today are dystopian and the world descends into self destruction.
Maybe it's time to watch some old movies...
Bill, sadly the “common enemy”—our alien invasion—is US, so is hard to battle within our own cultures/views/needs/power structure. We are quickly running out of time—too late to avoid a lot of pain/destruction/disruption already—but I don’t think we are going to be able to “techno” our way out of this in a big way unless we undertake massive world-wide (with prosperous countries, who are generally those who contribute the most to climate change, doing the heavy lifting) action. Folks don’t want disruption to their lifestyles, but that is what it will take to change the trajectory of this global unfolding disaster. My dear grandmother, born in 1898, often said she was born in the most amazing time…from riding in horse drawn buckboards to seeing a man land on the moon…she would be so distraught to see what is unfolding in her grand & great-grandchildren’s lives.
I recall my mother talking about a gathering with relatives in which they passed around the headphones of a "crystal radio", the first broadcast she ever heard. We now carry Star-Trek like "Tricorder" computers in our pockets that I'm sure many educated people would have argued was impossible in my youth. In the mid 1970s I was at a party with an IBM division manager shortly after microprocessors came on the market, and suggested that if production scale reduced the price enough, we could put logic circuits in all manner of appliances like toasters and washing machines. He said witheringly, "You could, but why would you want to?"
More importantly, medicine is saving many lives in ways that were impossible when I was born. But we are also seem to be losing our sense of local community. We don't need conformity, which can become tyranny, but we desperately need to cultivate solidarity. Democracy and a innovative, resilient, compassionate society depends on it. It seems to me that all our commercial options and diversions distract us from prioritizing.
2nd attempt to reply…lost my first composition to the ether when trying to post—maybe it will turn up?
Humans are so amazingly intelligent and curious. As you say, the discoveries on so many levels that have brought health and prosperity to the world in general, if not to all its inhabitants. We are looking inward to the micro level of editing our genes and outward to the macro level to contemplate the mysteries of the cosmos. Unfortunately we are too clever by half and don’t seem as wise as we need to be.
May I recommend a trilogy of slim volumes by John Feffer set in the not too distant future and rang eerily true (plausible) to me. They are Splinterlands, Frostlands and Songlands https://tomdispatch.com/books/splinterlands/
Not for the faint of heart & this is earth-based, no aliens or external threats to galvanize us against a common enemy…just what humankind has wrought upon itself. As I have said many times, the only reason I want to live forever is find out how it all turns out.
" the only reason I want to live forever is find out how it all turns out."
Yes, it a pain to leave the show just when it's getting "interesting", though would we dare stay for the end? It would likely be surprising, and who knows in what direction? In any case it looks like a rough ride. Your books have intriguing titles.
And yes, a great difference between just clever and wise. Wisdom is very hard to pin down but I think it is real and seems to be an art as well as a science. I think it involves, probably among some other things, keenly perceiving with adequate context, and an ability to sense what matters most. I don't think we talk about wisdom nearly enough.
You mean like Frank Capra films? This one was different, but prescient. I saw it as a kid.
https://ossfoundation.us/projects/environment/global-warming/frank-capra-warns-of-global-warming-1958
TV kind of blurs the boundary between real and fantasy, commercial messages deliberately so. The unreal can seem real and the unreal seem real. I think that our governments immigrant family separation policy (and hundreds of families have yet to be restored) is a major crime against humanity if you think about facts, but remains a side issue in "the news". The US outsized COVID death toll, well over a million deaths and grieving families, another, and that was a literal attack by a predatory, "heartless", foreign enemy in which focused, "we're all in this together" leadership would clearly have saved many lives. There is too little focus upon what is "tempest in a teapot", what is important, but ancillary, and what is crucial survival and a life worth living.
Trump should have been arrested for crimes against humanity. He clearly, obviously and with self admitted selfish political aims KILLED hundreds of thousands of Americans. It was murder. But we'll get him for stealing documents and giving treasonous speeches.
But still...where is the outrage? "Maybe we could look into injecting people with bleach...?"
Showed up for debates and political events KNOWING he was a super spreader? Isn't that a little like having AIDS and not telling a sex partner?
And yes, using family separations as a deterrent of immigration? The party of "family values" is lower than rotten pond scum.
I recall a Trump administration attorney arguing in court that captive immigrant children did not need blankets or soap, and, as modern "Republicans" are wont to do, trying to twist the law to deny human rights, not protect them.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/jun/23/us-government-lawyer-detained-children-do-not-need-soap-blankets-video
https://www.newsweek.com/detained-migrant-children-donations-soap-toothbrushes-donations-gofundme-1445727
What kind of government does such things? Remember when "Watergate" was a big deal, even to Republicans? We have ignored and "moved on" so much corruption, fraud, and cruelty we seem to have become at least partially inured to it. Jan 6th was a turning point, and it seems is not just being swept under the rug, but "Republicans" are anything but abashed, and continue mischief unabated.
Also, modern "Republicans" bellowing about values is like charitable deeds of cigarette companies (I recall some years back one such company extensively crowing about all of the donations to the common weal; but Business Week noted that they were spending more on advertising their good works than on performing them. Ans that when their "values" are not just flat out self-serving. It seems to me that Democrats have for some time now, not talked enough about "values". Not is the self-righteous, sanctimonious, and largely hypocritical way Republicans do, but with vision, compassion and fire. Biden is to my way of thinking, doing a better job than most. And Presidents can help to hold a focal point, but cannot and should not speak for society alone; not in a democracy.
As in the Civil War, the clash of values is now massive, extreme, and critical. Besides their structural bearing in the edifice of history, why do the most remembered lines of declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, or the Gettyburg Address resonate so often today?
But now the tactic is to threaten and attack the meteorologists who cover climate change. I follow blogs and am dismayed by how many people still don't believe in climate change. They will try to intimidate people who report it.
Even local reporters have complained of being deluged with ugly hate mail reporting the slightest diversion from GOP talking points. It's more subtle than Brown Shirts, but it is still intimidation. My suspicion that has a lot more to do with timid press "both siderism" than is openly discussed.
Japan turned the tide, much to Hitler’s dismay. Don’t think we can count on that again. The cheating stage is set, the extent is truly shocking. The money/cult coalition is formidable and they vote while suppressing any opposition. Take nothing for granted.
It was a horrible but a true relief to FDR (and Churchill) when Hitler officially declared war on the US. It kicked us into high gear. And the treasonous voices of Lindbergh and Company were drowned out.
Saved by a nightmare, and Pearl Harbor was that. But, boy, did the sleeping giant rouse
Read Heather's How the South Won the Civil War. She shows how WW2 brought the country together to save the democracy. Times were ripe for an autocrat at that time too. FDR could have been one, Harry Truman could have as well, but they actually believed in the ideas of the Constituion and DOI.
Heather does not like John Adams for all the right reasons, but he deserves credit for following the will of the people when he rode out of DC after losing his election cementing the transfer of power following an election.
I must say that reading through these letters and a vast number of other writers, I no longer use party terms or democrats and Republicans, but conservative libertarian and liberal progressive in reference to who creates our political turmoil. The CL extremists give us the vast majority of our problems and threaten the democratic republic as they seek to rule, not govern as HCR so carefully concluded in her How the South Won the Civil War.
Go back a bit more and read the Sinclair Lewis novel, “It Can’t Happen Here.” He based the work on his wife’s coverage of the rise of Nazism and Fascism in 1930s Europe. Many similarities with what we’ve seen here in the last 20 years, or so.
My book club just finished reading "It Can't Happen Here ". Note that its copyright is 1935, before Hitler had gotten to the top in Germany.
He wasn’t dictator then, but he was on the rise. Appointed Chancellor in ‘33. The Nazi Party was well-established.
...seek to rule, not govern...
Scary thought, but you nailed it!
Read Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America to get a frightening sense of just how close!
Yes. And watch "The Man in the High Castle" for a taste of what could have been. "John Smith" was a stand-in for Charles Lindbergh.
My sentiments exactly. One of the things that struck me about The Man in the High Castle is that it depicts a large fraction of US citizens as docile acolytes of the occupiers. Christopher Rufo would be among them. So would a large number of Republicans. It’s shocking to see Philip K. Dick depict how easily many Americans succumbed to the blandishments of the Nazis. And the book was published in 1962. Of course, there’s another fraction of unclear size that fights a guerrilla war of liberation. But in the end, Dick plays with our minds, as is his wont.
I join you recommending The Plot Against America. The book not only describes a plausible political counterfactual but also the pervasive anti-semitism of the USA in the 1930s and 40s. The family’s trip to Washington, D.C. was painful to read. Of course, much worse occurred to Blacks. The book was turned into a TV movie by David Simon. I recommend it also.
We continually ignore the fact that many of our rich billionaires don't believe in democracy and constantly fund these anti democratic, far right groups. They have been doing it since the 1930s. FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson had changed the public perception of the government into something good. These groups do not want the people to believe in the government because then they elect leaders who will help them..
Since the 1970s and 80s, they have been successfully turning people against the government and today they openly attack the government anytime it tries to help the people.
Unfortunately, their tactics frequently work.
Ah, we united because there we found a common enemy, the "other" from abroad, to direct our animus. Tribalism 101?. Is climate to existential to achieve this kind of united front? 🤔
Brilliant deductions and writing, Heather! This new forward movement gives us all great solace and hope. When we're not distracted we can see democracy growing and thriving under the Biden administration. We, the People, united in freedoms for all.
Well said Cathy!
Jenifer Rubin, take it a step further when u call out media on Pres Biden’s economy. When the economy is good to great, their revenue should be up too. If it is not, why? The answer is hyper competition between traditional somewhat regulated media and unregulated monopolistic social media. This is a sea change from 25+ years ago, a galaxy change from 40 years ago. Unregulated SM has a massive advantage of both outrage engagement and a dopamine reactive/interactive component that are unmatched in history. It is as if the two information business are playing different games entirely. Traditional media can never win by these rules. So they are forced into playing a losing game with a losing hand. The answer my friends is to break up these modern monopolies and regulate them in new in innovative ways not yet considered as a common sense possibility. This failure to reign in new communication technology is a threat to democracy. We have a choice. We can continue this way: incentivizing lies, social division, unreality, fantasy, chaos, or....
You speak the truth. Fox started the “galaxy change” and the social media cretins are super charging it. Left Walter Cronkite in the dust eons ago, it seems
🙏.
Fox is the seed for radicalization. But radicalization grows and grows with social media to a point, even at the brink of disaster (Charletsville, George Floyd, Rittenhouse, J6)that Fox can not attempt to reign the believers/viewers in, at all.
And neither can any other GOP leader. The cult of personality sets up like stone. The only stimulus that moves them is their dear leader, and any challenge/threat to his power.
So… how in the heck do the major networks and newspapers compete in this environment, with 70 million plus viewers, the “true believers”? After all it is a business.
The seed grew a monster. And, instead of a little truth telling, many MSM outlets just went for the money. Now It’s like a Martian invasion
Like Pandora’s Box!
Exactly
Good analysis.
“So their eyes are growing hazy
Cos they wanna turn it on
So their minds are soft and lazy, well
Hey hey give 'em what they want
If lust and hate is the candy
If blood and love taste so sweet
Then we give 'em what they want”
Thank you Heather.
Bidenomics 👍🏻
Mom’s for Liberty = White women of the KKK 👎🏻
It is clear to me that since Mr. Biden tidied-up the economy and put people back to work the only issue the right wing has is the culture war. If able, be sure to watch Shiny Happy People, the conclusion of the documentary is terrifying.
I’m already pretty terrified.
I agree with you.....and, the other say, I started wondering if perhaps "Speedy" Josh Hawley is a part of the "Joshua Generation".
Well, they will have the economy to cry about in a couple of months. We have reached an apex and should be in recession by end of year. Just in time for the elections. It will not be pretty.
Pit one group against another using red meat ‘social issues’…that’s the key to Republican power….
The more extreme the issue the better….and make it real simple…..protect our white women and children from those greedy and evil Dems who want to ‘give away’ our money and corrupt our kids with ‘false’ teaching and gay sex and all manner of other ugly stuff. God wants you to vote for Trump. …Courtesy of the Moms for Liberty! AND your friendly evangelical pastor!
Absolutely NO OXYGEN LEFT FOR THE ENORMOUS GOOD THAT BIDEN HAS DONE…..
Joan,
Nailed it!
As I see it, one of our anti-Republican extremist assignments is to continue to knock holes in their red meat pronouncements and let that Biden oxygen through.
Every bit of effort to preserve and improve our Democracy counts!
I wish it were that easy…..unfortunately a LOT of Trumpies are immune to logic/truth/accuracy…..
The oxygen can’t ‘penetrate’ their consciousness…..(assuming consciousness is even possible).
No, it isn’t that easy, but those who are straddling the political fence for one reason or another, May still be able to hear facts and truths. One of my big concerns is the group of voters who feel overwhelmed or unable to see their ideal candidate. They are stuck in that place and often feel that their vote doesn’t count or they choose not to vote. Empathize with the unsure mindset, but emphasize the urgent need to vote for someone like Biden who genuinely loves our country and has done what he promised. Otherwise we may lose any future chance to choose any other positive, strong, constructive candidates in the future. Ask someone to seriously think through what will happen to their rights as they know them now if an autocratic , fascist leaning dictator takes over.
He has , in spite of Republican road blocks, begun to rebuild our country. ( Jobs, economy, infrastructure, stronger support of Allie’s abroad, etc.) None of that can be completed in one term, but Biden has been greatly underestimated.
No, nothing is easy right now, but every little bit of effort to preserve our Democracy does count.
Yes, sadly there are some who cannnot and will not listen to and think about facts and truths. They have become perfect examples of mind control, and the only positive in that is recognizing that they do exist out in the open now. Forewarned is indeed forearmed.
I agree Marg…
I have spent a lot of time in a rural setting that has a lot of Trump supporters…a number of whom are my friends…
I think in that world where a rather slim if any college education has occurred and the local evangelical world promotes the ‘socialization’ opportunities…. such ‘reasonable arguments’ as you make are not going to ‘work’…very well if at all with these guys…
There’s a basic resentment to ‘elitist’ folks who ‘don’t respect us’ and a basic bullheadedness that can’t afford to be wrong…..
Where I do think there’s lots of promise is in the ‘independent voter category’….and if the stats are right ..there are a LOT of those guys…think Dobbs is serious incentive…indictments (and hopefully ‘convictions’) are helpful….et al…and I suspect the ‘young’ will be helpful….
And I very much like your ‘take’ on the ‘hesitant—my vote doesn’t count’ potential voter!
Joan,
First of all I support you for staying open to friendships regardless of voting choice.
From what I have learned, I think your assessment of Trump supporters, especially in rural areas, is a good one. The “ bullheaded” mindset seems to be a gut response to a “ safe “ place where they feel accepted and in control among their people. Stepping outside that threatens their perceived being. I do not like or agree with that, but I do understand it.
Here’s hoping that your assessment of the independent voter category is on target.
If that also includes young voters who can see through all the rhetoric and bluster, then all the better.
Oh Marg…I don’t deserve any praise…these rep folks are ‘family’….I’m 2nd/3rd generation in this world..and these guys have been so helpful when my dad was dying etc…
The bizarre paradox is that in my own immediate family we are very ‘connected’ at the national and state Dem level.
So I’m sort of a ‘both sides now’ gal. I’m a dem, and political, I’ve lobbied at both the state and national level for low income folks, ….when the Reagan budget hit the ‘joint Conference Committee of the CA legislature…I testified for the Bishops..at their request…
Poverty is my major concern…I don’t like it a bit and I want and have worked for ‘structural change’….
And needless to say I think Trump is a very disturbed psychopath…
Where I think our largest challenge is, assuming Trump is NOT our president in 24…is somehow That we come together as ‘family’ in this bifurcated nation…I don’t know quite how this occurs ..but I’m pretty sure it needs too!
When the issue is inequality, observe the consistent pivot to sexuality.
Excellent point…..’red meat’ is the deal and that generally IS sexual…..trans, gay …et al
These guys are NOT SELECTIVE …just super nasty.
I need to sort of apologize for the ‘super nasty’ comment….think it’s more likely that they are just scared/super defensive/few intellectual options..etc…
I remember I think about a decade ago that the MRI’S of voters were presented by the Smithsonian and with around 80% accuracy their political preferences could be identified…had to due with the size of certain brain lobes developed more or less developed by fight or flight circumstances….
Put another way, folks for whom FEAR/FLIGHT was physically identifiable definitely preferred ‘conservative’ political positions…BUT the brain is able to ‘change’….
HERES THE CITATION
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjIzO_a2P__AhWhoFsKHT0tA-oQFnoECBkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smithsonianmag.com%2Fscience-nature%2Fstudy-predicts-political-beliefs-with-83-percent-accuracy-17536124%2F&usg=AOvVaw34J95SXWmVH6bwNkhVz9gM&opi=89978449
😜, oh first laugh today Joan. Go get ‘em!
I’m not sure I see much humor in this deal…to compound matters the media has totally under reported Biden’s accomplishments which ‘reversionary history’ will doubtless celebrate!
‘Courtesy of…and friendly e. pastor ‘ is where my cynical ear fell . No offense meant , sorry!
No offense taken!
Perhaps, just perhaps, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to Biden's policies and the brilliant men and women he has surrounded himself with. And thank you, HCR for laying it out so eloquently. As a retired school principal, I would encourage folks to go, periodically, to school board meetings. Be the sane adult in the room and speak if necessary. In Las Cruces we have been going to City Council and County meetings to counter the 'crazies' . It has been effective.
Thank you Penny!
Thank you Professor!
You have provided the public with information, then added perspective.
A recent meme has a quote attributed to Jon Stewart:
"Hey all! Just found out I'm "woke"....
All this time, I thought I was good at history."
Let's encourage children to READ.
Here are two StoryCorps conversations worth a listen,
about boys who found a love of reading at the library, and went on to accomplish great things.
Judge Olly Neal (Arkansas)
Astronaut Ron McNair (South Carolina)
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113357239
https://storycorps.org/stories/carl-mcnair/
If there is to be a ban, let it be on guns, not books.
Given their exclusionary agenda and book banning practices, “Moms for Liberty“ is, at best, a misnomer.
The "GOP" specializes in misnomers. It's a bit like "pig Latin". Their nomenclature and pronouncements only begins to make sense when you attach the word "not" to them.
Again, thank Frank Luntz. He made the art of lying an intellectual exercise in the party of deception.
Like the title of Stuart Stevens book, "It Was All a Lie."
"Moms for Liberty"
Do what we tell you and you will never have to think again.
Just call themselves the Stepford wives group.
Or
Leave the Thinking to Us
Or
MFL The Antidote to Critical Thought
Or
Moms For Liberty
"Did we say Liberty? Hah!!"
"But never think again, that you can think again,
Or you'll get something you'll remember."
--- Tom Paxton
Outright lie, from Mien Kampf - James Murphy translation “…the broad masses…more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, because they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.” Repubs have no shame, what more proof do we need?
Oxymoronic astroturf with mysterious funding. What a combo.
Jean-Pierre Garau just nailed it above: Moms for Liberty = White women of the KKK
Well let’s get that democratic coalition going already! No time to waste! Thank you for bringing attention to Jennifer Rubin’s (also) excellent piece this morning. The more repetition the better—hope springs eternal that the media and the populace will take note. My night is never complete without reading your reflections on the day. Thank you!
This column is superb. It so articulately summarizes the NAF ( New Authoritarian Fascist) Party -- formerly the Republican Party-- nefarious opposition to the New Deal and now to American democracy itself. I wish it could be distributed to every American. It is that important.
I agree. Excellent column.
There are so many problems with the fringe nutso groups, it's hard to tell where to begin. One of the ideas I have seen floating around for many years, is to have all public schools funded by the State instead of property tax. It sounds like a good idea on paper, and theoretically it would even out the schools so you didn't have the huge discrepancies we have now in the affluent vs poor schools even in the same school district. The problem with the idea is what happens when a bunch of whack jobs get elected in the State and suddenly funding for schools is on the chopping block - as happened to higher education schools in California. Without quality education for all, you end up with bleating sheep, incapable of critical thinking, or even basic though processes, ripe and ready for DeSantis and Trumps wannabe dictators.
Happening in MT. Teachers leaving, difficulty recruiting new teachers leaving schools unable to hire qualified teachers. New laws passed re charters schools & questioning if they have to meet state educational standards. Law suits happening. Agreed, we need quality schools no matter where you live. A desired school district can also drive up housing prices in that area.
Yes. a desirable school can improve housing costs. But, I maintain all children should be able to achieve the best that they can be. The surest way to achieve this is individualized education. Costly to set up but much better for students and reduced costs in the long run while producing young adults who have achieved their best regardless of the field of study.
As an OT with lots of IEPs under my belt, I agree. All kids should have IEPs. Even in Spec Ed programs if the class rooms have too many students & teachers dont have the needed support to carry out IEPs, it doesnt happen. As an itinerant , I saw many different programs & classrooms & one of the better ones I think was called Roots & Wings. It kept some of the former focus of concern kids in mainstream education.
I have been pitching this idea for years. Zip code funding of education guarantees the wealth and poverty silos we live in. While there IS danger in a state wide school board and funding scheme, that danger already exists in the state legislatures. And those battles will always be fought.
But at least kids would have a more level playing field.
And of course, if a state went too whacko in its curriculum, one could move. Massachusetts is open for business for "everyone". Our billboards in Florida invite the repressed and oppressed to relocate where all are welcome.
We need less control, not more! (other than caring for our environment which should be a world wide concern) We do need the investment of excellent , non prejudical, intellectually well-rounded teachers and leaders who realize that they are educating citizens who will hold the responsibility to lead, to govern , to vote for a healthy future for each and all....
Not to mention the wealthy always find a workaround. I remember my mother voted for Prop 13, because one of it's promises was to put school funding at the state level. However, what she didn't know, os that wealthy communities - Beverly Hills, Marin County, Carmel-by-the-Sea.... were able to become "Basic Aid" districts whose funding was still based on their high property taxes. Result? their per pupil funding is two or three times that for neighboring communities.
Living in Florida where Moms For Liberty are, with Desantis’ help, trying to dismantle school boards and have destroyed New College in Sarasota, and have infiltrated the new “board” appointed by Desantis for Disney’s Reedy Creek area, I can assure you these women are Nazis, plain and simple. Book bans, allowing slurs against lgbtq board members at public meetings, forcing resignations of superintendents who followed CDC mask guidelines in districts during the pandemic-they are a public menace spreading hate and division and trying to exercise their will over all. They are Desantis’ minions-I fear for my grandchildren and their education in this state. How can they compete nationally if they are learning only what educational experts have deemed a curriculum aiming to raise a next generation of “ignorant racists”? Sick and sad-and scary.
Ruffo being appointed to the New College Board is nauseating.
Absolutely. They are turning it into a Nazi training camp.
I’m hoping the pushback from the student body/faculty is strong and loud but I have to admit had I a child seeking higher education I’d steer waaay clear of Florida. Sad.