Useful Idiots and Casserole Assholes

Victimhood Is the Core of Rightwing Suppression

While Americans celebrated a holiday about their freedoms as citizens, a Trump-appointed judge in Louisiana responded to a lawsuit filed by Republican attorney generals by banning Federal agencies from communicating with social media. 

In Philadelphia, considered the birthplace of American Independence, an extremist group  staged a national conference, featuring four Republican presidential candidates and promised a nationwide effort to subordinate local and state boards of education to fight the “woke.”

In both cases, a depiction of victimhood was being used as leverage to propagate campaigns opening the floodgates to misinformation favored by the far right to the general public.  

As Luke Zaleski, legal affairs editor for Condé Nast, noted:

• You’re living through the largest longest coordinated propaganda campaign and hostile takeover attempt in the history of humanity, y’all. And if you think it’s unrelated to Elon replatforming every vaccine and election denier and rightwing wingnut you’re just not paying attention

The judicial ruling in Louisiana means the government cannot alert social media companies when it sees online posts including calls for domestic violence, election interference and solicitations for sexual content.

I’ll have more to say about this decision as circumstances warrant in the coming months. It’s likely this order will have unintended consequences; mostly likely will be the collapse of the last decade’s social media companies.

Here’s an important fact from the New York Times:

• Government officials have argued they do not have the authority to order posts or entire accounts removed, but federal agencies and the tech giants have long worked together to take action against illegal or harmful material, especially in cases involving child sexual abuse, human trafficking and other criminal activity. That has also included regular meetings to share information on the Islamic State and other terrorist groups.

This ban on contact is an overly broad judicial demand, one that will take its journey upward through the appeals courts following the same path to the Supreme Court as the decision that unleashed state level bans on abortion. 

The real root of the case brought by GOP’s prosecutors is the same as the path used by so-called parental rights groups: opposition to restrictions during the COVID pandemic mandated by public health agencies.

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As an indication of how far down the road to an authoritarian state the US has gone, a so-called parental rights group, Moms for Liberty, is getting mainstream media coverage portraying them as a respected conservative political player.

ABC News carried a journalistic puff piece about them as “joyful warriors.”

Historian Kevin M. Kruse asked ABC:

•  “Did Moms for Liberty write this puff piece themselves and send it to ABC for publication Christ, I’m embarrassed *for* you.”

and…

• “If you’re a journalist writing about right wing cranks framing their activism as ‘concerned parents’ maybe you should first talk with a historian about the many many times this was tried before so you don’t sound completely naive.”

In the last few weeks a couple of chapters were caught quoting from Adolf Hitler in their newsletters. The national organization was recently characterized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an “anti-government organization spreading “messages of anti-inclusion and hate.”

Starting with opposition to public health measures in response to COVID, the ‘Moms’ agenda has grown to oppose LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated for book bans. More than anything else, the group has become notorious for its confrontational and highly charged actions at school board meetings. 

Via a profile in VICE:

• The group’s methods, however, belie the wholesome vision it tries to project. VICE News has spoken to students, administrators, parents, superintendents, school board members, and teachers who have faced vicious attacks by Moms for Liberty. Their stories paint a picture of a group that conducts orchestrated harassment campaigns against individuals, that’s resulted in many fearing for their safety and, in some cases, their lives.

• “The greatest impact that Moms for Liberty is having is imparting fear, within the teachers and the educators and in the parents,” Laura Leigh-Abby, co-founder of Defense of Democracy, a nonprofit group advocating for inclusive education, told VICE News. “The true impact they’re having is really not calculable, because I’m seeing teachers who are afraid to speak out because they don't want to be targeted.”

They are what I would call a hatestream organization, if for no other reason the appearance of the seditious Proud Boys and other street fighting groups, simultaneous with the Mom’s disruption of public meetings.  

I’m not so sure about what “joy” came out of two years of inflaming school board meetings with aggressive complaints about instruction on systemic racism and gender identity. It certainly wasn’t joyful for the librarians characterized as “groomers” or the teachers receiving threats for instruction on American history that included the civil rights struggles of the 20th century.

From the New York Times:

• The candidates who are going were undeterred by the negative attention the group received when its Hamilton County chapter published a quotation from Hitler in its newsletter: “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”

• After initially defending the quote, the chapter was forced to apologize.

• “We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history,” Paige Miller, the chapter’s chairwoman, said in a statement. “We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and express our deepest apology.”

• Ms. Miller did not respond to interview requests, but Ms. Justice said the swarm of attention only proved how the news media, teachers’ unions and the liberal establishment were trying to stifle parental voices.

So, being critical of one of history’s most anti-democratic murderous leaders whose followers burned books en masse (among other horrors) is now equated with trying to “stifle parental voices.”

An Associated Press story appearing in the Union-Tribune portrayed groups opposing the ‘Moms’ agenda as “teachers unions and others on the left who view the group as a toxic presence in public schools.”  (My emphasis)

This type of framing moves the political window far enough along to the right so Moms for Liberty is portrayed as a mainstream group. 

As far as real parents are concerned, the positions being advocated by so-called parents rights groups are representative of a small minority.

From a national poll by NPR and Ipsos:

• Just 18% of parents say their child's school taught about gender and sexuality in a way that clashed with their family's values; just 19% say the same about race and racism; and just 14% feel that way about U.S. history.

Right wing extremists know that tackling these sorts of issues in a divisive manner requires rhetoric aimed at stoking fear in parents. Therefore, “gender and sexuality” becomes teachers grooming children for sexual exploitation;’ race and racism’ becomes white people being shamed. 

Judd Legum and Tesmin Zekeria at Popular Information dug into a real life incident of a school board fighting “wokeness’. They discovered a $125 per hour unqualified consultant hired to review the curriculum of an Eastern Pennsylvania school district. It should surprise no one that said consultant suggested truncated course material on American History. Or that he swept through other materials looking for traces of LGBTQ+ persons and suggested that sexuality was a topic better covered in the home:

• Notably, Adams, who is 31, does not have any experience developing curricula for public schools. According to Adams, he launched his company, Vermilion Education, in March. (It was formally incorporated in December 2022.) Under questioning from Pennridge School Board member Ronald Wurz, Adams admitted that Pennridge was Vermilion Education's only public school client. (Asked if he has any other clients, Adams said that he is "not at liberty to share about ongoing or potential work with other clients.")

• In an interview, Wurz told Popular Information that Adams' presentation was "amateurish," "horrible," and reflected "a total lack of preparation." Wurz was particularly disturbed that Adams has already billed the district $7500 — the cost of 60 hours of work under the contract — to craft his recommendations. 

• Adams, who appears to have deleted his LinkedIn profile, does not hold any degrees in education. In 2013, Adams received a bachelor's degree in political science from Hillsdale College, a private Christian institution known for its right-wing ideology. In 2016, Adams received a master's degree in humanities from the University of Dallas, another private conservative school. Adams later returned to Hillsdale College as an employee, where he promoted a K-12 curriculum developed by the college, known as the 1776 curriculum, that is favored by right-wing activists.

He was considered for a position (which he failed to get, thanks to public opposition) with the Sarasota County school board, whose chair just happened to be Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty. 

Florida’s Gov. Ron Santis wasn’t deterred by Adam’s lack of credentials, hiring him to review math textbooks submitted by publishers. 

• In one of Adams' reviews, he concluded that a math textbook, Stats: Modeling the World, may violate the state's prohibition against Critical Race Theory. As evidence, Adams cited one of the math problems which involved data related to racial profiling in policing. According to Adams, the math problem may be an effort to indoctrinate students with the belief that "racism [is] embedded in society and legal systems and/or that race is the most important factor in considering an aspect of society."

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Over 50 organizations banded together to stage protests outside the Moms for Liberty convention. A range of actions included banned book giveaways, a public speak out, rallies, marches and a four-day dance party outside of the hotel to “Dance the Hate Away.”

Via Truthout:

• On Thursday night, as the Moms for Liberty hosted their gala event at the Museum of the American Revolution, the dance party started outside. As the attendees came and went in chartered buses, activists danced, kissed each other and expressed joy and resistance. The MC for the weekend, Sam Rise, reminded the attendees that Philly is a trans city, a queer city and a Black city. Local “Philebrity” Philly Elmo and their drumline briefly joined the revelry in the streets. As the gala attendees left, protesters shouted: “Fascists Go Home!”

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Locally, although Moms for Liberty claims a chapter in San Diego County, much of the activity on the ‘parents rights’ front has been with the encouragement of Carl DeMaio’s  Reform California and the local GOP.

The California Republican Party launched a program this year called Parent Revolt, which held candidate trainings and recruitment in San Diego, Orange and Imperial counties.

Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey and El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, Republicans with political aspirations, have been supportive of right wing agendas put forth at various school board meetings.

The Awaken Church, now operating five locations in the county, has a political arm calling itself RMNNT, which has given itself the task of changes in school operations. Here’s education blogger Thomas Ultican, writing about the midterm elections:

• In the recent school board elections, Awaken became extremely active calling for a change in school operations. Their RMNNT political action arm labels themselves as “warriors of liberty.” They self define as a remnant of people rising up violently, if need be, to fight tyranny. They are a dangerously misled and armed people with a doctrine that could hardly be more un-American. Following the national movement, school boards were targeted as the place for promoting their radical ideology of change.

• Out on Coronado Island, Awaken found a fellow traveler in the MAGA right organization, We the Parents Coronado (WTPC). Like Awaken they have rudely railed against state and local mask mandates and vaccine requirements. WTPC’s web page links to anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ materials. The reality is WTPC is a small organization but very loud.

San Diego liberals and progressives need to be on notice and pay attention to next year’s elections. In districts where candidates with radical right wing agendas were called out, those candidates usually lost. Quality candidates with a pro-public education stance need to be supported.

News You Might Have Missed

They’re NOT Pulling Any Punches: I receive a weekly email from the City Clerk’s office informing me about financial filings connected to local electoral contests. Sometimes  opposition money aimed at candidates is newsworthy, like in today’s notices where I discovered that the San Diego Police Officers Association has already contributed more than $70,000 aiming to defeat Council member Monica Montgomery-Steppe’s quest to replace Nathan Fletcher on the Board of Supervisors.

This might seem odd, since the Supervisors have no authority over the SDPD. Campaign contributions are part of an informal reciprocal custom between the SDPOA and the San Diego Deputy Sheriffs Association. 

Since Montgomery-Steppe is the candidate with the highest name recognition (and a supporter of criminal justice reforms) it’s safe to assume that a shitstorm is on the horizon. 

What will it be this time? George (now retired) Soros? Black Lives Matter Boogeymen? Disliking her hairstyle? Who knows? Whatever they do is guaranteed to disgust “right” voters.

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FBI: Gun sales over 1 million 47 months straight Via the Washington Examiner.

• “Happy Independence Day,” cheered National Shooting Sports Foundation  spokesman Mark Oliva.

• “Americans have another million reasons to celebrate this Independence Day. More than 1.1 million times in June, Americans exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase a firearm. That extends the streak to 47 continuous months that background checks for firearm purchases have exceeded a million. This is notable because these figures buck the demands by gun control politicians to surrender rights. Americans choose differently. They choose, by the millions, to keep and bear arms. They are keeping alive the vision of our Founding Fathers that this would be a nation that celebrates the ethos of a responsibly armed citizenry,” he added.

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This July 4 was hot. Earth’s hottest day on record, in fact. Via the Washington Post

• In the United States, 57 million people were exposed to dangerous heat on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post’s extreme heat tracker. At the same time, China was gripped by a sizzling heat wave, the Antarctic is hotter than usual during its winter, and temperatures in the north of Africa reached 122F, Reuters reported.

• Tuesday’s global average temperature was calculated by a model that uses data from weather stations, ships, ocean buoys and satellites, Paulo Ceppi, a climate scientist at London’s Grantham Institute, explained in an email Wednesday. This modeling system has been used to estimate daily average temperatures starting in 1979.

Related: 

Climate change will accelerate the high-end risk of compound drought and heatwave events - published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)

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Lead image via the American Federation of Teachers

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