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. This morning it hit me that maybe that’s the story: that the reactionary right that has taken so much of our oxygen for the past year is losing ground to the country’s new forward movement.
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.
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.
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!
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....
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.
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…..
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Moms for Liberty is proof that instead of marriage licenses, we need procreation licenses.
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!
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....
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.
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…..
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 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.
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.
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.