Florida Eviscerates Education (Again) and The Sad Desperation of Biden Impeachment Talks
Community Fights to Take Back Library, Barbenheimer Reviewed, Cat Stevens Sings
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Americans
I watched a docuseries the other day where a woman consistently insulted and verbally abused those around her. But during interviews with the producers, she cried about how she was mistreated and wailed that “I’m a good person.” She kept saying, “I’m a good person” over and over. That disconnect from reality is the driving force in American politics today.
When writing a compelling villain in fiction, good writers know that it’s important to create a character who sees themself as the hero. These atrocious characters are able to justify every despicable act and frame them as necessary for a greater good. Even Thanos from the Avengers movies—who murdered half the population of the universe and killed his own daughter to do so—had a self-righteous speech explaining how he was doing it for the benefit of all species. In fact, he knew that his plan would mean his own death, making him a Christ-like savior in his own eyes.
However, evil is not in the eye of the beholder. If it were, then all behavior would be permissible. There would be no justice system: no police, no prisons, no courts. People could steal, molest, rape, and murder at will—as long as they could justify it as for a greater good.
Without rules and laws, and morality, a safe and just society is not possible, which is why we are always on the lookout for evil—especially that which, and those who negatively affect children. The problem is evil doesn’t always recognize itself (Thanos, Moms for Liberty), or it is good at disguising itself to better exploit victims (Ted Bundy, Trump, DeSantis). But the real evil—the most destructive evil of all—are those eager to become followers in these Crusades of Destruction.
New York Times/Siena College poll shows that 53% of Americans believe Trump’s actions after the 2020 election “went so far that he threatened American democracy.” And yet, both Trump and Biden received 43% support if they ran against each other today. How is this possible when those supporting Trump know that they are endorsing a rapist (he was found to have digitally penetrated E. Jean Carroll against her will, which is not technically rape in New York but is in the minds of most other people who aren’t rapists), child abuser (bragging he walked into dressing rooms of girls as young as fifteen), and murderer (confessing he kept the severity of COVID a secret from the public as they unknowingly spread it, eventually killing over a million people in the U.S.). Also of interest, not a single of the 319 respondents in the MAGA category of the poll believed he had committed serious federal crimes, despite Trump facing three separate indictments.
How is this possible? Because people choose to believe “I’m a good person” despite all the evidence to the contrary (just as we had the “good Germans” allowing the Nazi atrocities). Today’s newsletter examines how people convince themselves of their own goodness, even as they stomp a destructive path through society like Godzilla through Tokyo. But another underlying question lingers: Why are Republicans so determined to court and then prostrate themselves before these people? Why have they made it such a priority to appeal to the least logical, least informed, and most venal segment of society?
Florida Hammers Another Nail into the Coffin of Education
Indoctrination in Florida schools? PragerU’s conservative content aims to change minds (Miami Herald)
SUMMARY: Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly says he opposes indoctrination in schools. Yet his administration in early July approved materials from a conservative group that says it’s all about indoctrination and “changing minds.”
The Florida Department of Education determined that educational materials geared toward young children and high school students created by PragerU, a nonprofit co-founded by conservative radio host Dennis Prager, was in alignment with the state’s standards on how to teach civics and government to K-12 students.
The content — some of which is narrated by conservative personalities such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson — features cartoons, five-minute video history lessons and story-time shows for young children and is part of a brand called PragerU Kids. And the lessons share a common message: Being pro-American means aligning oneself to mainstream conservative talking points.
“We are in the mind-changing business and few groups can say that,” Prager says in a promotional video for PragerU as a whole. He reiterated this sentiment this summer at a conference for the conservative group Moms for Liberty in Philadelphia, saying it is “fair” to say PragerU indoctrinates children. “It’s true we bring doctrines to children,” Prager told the group. “ But what is the bad about our indoctrination?”
PragerU is not an accredited university and it publicly says the group is a “force of good” against the left.
MY TAKE: Conservatives have been justifying their war on books and education by vilifying librarians and teachers as indoctrinating children. Now they give their stamp of approval to a shoddy, faux “education” organization that admits its goal is indoctrination.
For context, here’s how Wikipedia describes PragerU’s content: “PragerU's videos contain content widely considered to be misleading or false in promoting climate change denial. Historians and political scientists have also criticized PragerU's videos for containing misleading or inaccurate claims about topics such as slavery and racism in the United States, immigration, and the history of fascism. PragerU has also been accused of promoting anti-LGBTQ politics.” Just on the basis of factual accuracy, PragerU shouldn’t be in consideration by any state education department. But it’s Florida where education goes to die. And take its children with it.
Even worse than their lack of commitment to facts is the overt racism PragerU brings to the classroom. The above video from PragerU, entitled “The Top 5 Issues Facing Black Americans,” doesn’t even mention proven systemic racism that includes voter suppression, poorer health care, fewer job opportunities, dying at an earlier age, police brutality, and a biased justice system. None of those make the top five. The entire video blames Blacks for their imaginary problems (since no actual problems are ever mentioned). The video states: “Does racism exist? Sure. But there are other problems far more serious. And waiting until there are no more racists will mean waiting, and making excuses, forever.” In other words, all the problems in the Black community are self-inflicted. It’s the same logic as blaming a rape victim for the crime because she smiled too much, clearly instigating the attack.
Here’s PragerU’s delusional list of the top five issues:
Problem #1. Unquestioning Allegiance to so-called Progressive Policies. This is where they blame Democrats and liberals for leading Blacks astray.
Problem #2. Proliferation of Baby Mamas. Educators should be disturbed by the lack of sources for statistics. I tried to find statistics to verify the claim that 75% of Black births were from unmarried women, but couldn’t. But even if I could, the family dynamics have changed in the 48 years since 1965 (the year of the first study mentioned, but not cited). In 1990, 28% of all births in the U.S. were outside marriage; today, it’s about 40%.
Problem #3. Urban Terrorism. This is the old Black-on-Black crime cliche, which they choose to label as “terrorism.” Statistically, 70% of Black people are killed by other Black people, but 62% of White people are killed by other White people. Where’s the Suburban Karen-on-Chad Terrorism accusation?
Problem #4. Lack of Diversity. Here they malign the “Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson type” (Jackson marched with Dr. King) and scold Blacks for not embracing two conservative Black professors.
Problem #5. The Victim Mentality. Because Blacks see themselves as victims, they are unhappy. That’s like going to the police to report getting mugged, and they tell you to quit acting like a victim and the muggings will stop.
This list, seemingly composed by the Association of Plantation Owners, is basically the recipe for gaslighting the Black community while allowing the White community to take no responsibility for systemic racism. Win-win. If you’re not interested in the facts. If you want to think you’re “a good person,” even as you’re grinding your foot on your neighbor’s neck.
Welcome to Florida “education.”