From Pine View Farm

Culture Warriors category archive

All That Was Old Is New Again 0

Will Bunch looks at the current right-wing freak-out over book learnin’. A snippet:

This right-wing freak-out over what they claim is children becoming indoctrinated with ideas about racism or homophobia feels like a new McCarthyism. But when I spoke this week to Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education for the writers’ advocacy group PEN America, he said the pace of what his group calls “gag orders” against classroom instructors is the worst since the 1920s’ crusade against teaching evolution that climaxed with the infamous “Scopes Monkey Trial.” That trial took place in Tennessee just 28 miles west of where Maus was banned in the 2020s.

Image of the Pulitzer-prize winning book, Maus, caught in a mousetrap labeled

Image via Job’s Anger.

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Thought Police 0

Michael in Norfolk discusses the right-wing’s war on thoughts. A snippet:

. . . Christofascists and the politicians who prostitute themselves to those who embrace ignorance and bigotry have been trying to ban any books and knowledge that challenge their primative beliefs from public schools and public libraries. Now, this forces have merged with racists – studies have shown the two overlap by wide margins – to push for a new round of book banning to prevent students and members of the public from learning accurate and truthful history and the common humanity of racial minorities and LGBT people.

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Credo 0

At the Idaho State Journal, Leonard Hitchcock posits what he believes to the underlying principles of the dominant faction within today’s Republican Party.

Follow the link to decide whether you think he’s onto something.

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Conceptualizing Governor Trumpkin 0

Noting the Virginia’s new Republican governor wants to ban “divisive concepts” from public schools, Jim Marchman, writing at The Roanoke Times, wonders precisely what that term encompasses. For example:

. . . . what could be more “divisive” than high school sports programs where neighboring communities are driven to passionate rivalries as their teams struggle with each other on playing fields or arenas?

Afterthought:

Of course, Marchman purposely misses the point to make his point.

As Paul Krugman pointed out (see below), a “divisive concept” is nothing more than one which makes Governor Trumpkin and his dupes, symps, and fellow travelers feel uncomfortable.

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Governor Trumpkin 0

Michael in Norfolk is somewhat disturbed by the actions of Virginia’s new governor.

As too am I.

Disturbed, that is.

Not surprised.

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Prior Restraint 0

The University of Florida’s attempt to keep professors from giving testimony that might anger Florida’s governor does not end well for Florida Man the institution of higher so-called learning in federal district court.

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The Evidence of Things Seen 0

Weaving the threads together so as to see the pattern in the quilt . . . .

Via C&L.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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All the News that Fits 0

A Rand gesture.

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Commitment 0

Title:  Oath Keepers.  Image:  Man's hand placed to swear an oath on a volume labeled

Click for the original image.

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Sauce for the Goose . . . 0

The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell has a modest proposal. A nugget:

In the Florida Legislature’s latest effort to target public school teachers, two House Republicans want to video-record and place microphones on teachers whenever they’re around students.

I have a better idea:

Let’s force legislators to strap on body-cams and mics on themselves every time they’re around lobbyists.

Follow the link for his reasoning.

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Vaccine Nation 0

The Des Moines Regisster’s Rekha Basu takes a look at the recent Supreme Court decision nullifying OSHA’s regulation requiring employers to take reasonable steps to combat COVID-19. A nugget (emphasis in the original); follow the link for the rest.

In the face of a virus that has killed 843,000 in America, Missouri’s deputy attorney general warned that the vaccine requirement would cause workers to quit their jobs and would “devastate local towns” because of worker shortages.

Isn’t that what COVID itself is doing? . . . .

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A Rewarding Profession 0

Frame One:  Principal says to aspiring teacher,

Click to view the original image and the artist’s commentary.

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Uncomfortable Truths 0

At The Roanoke Times, Rob Neukirch reminds us that, taught honestly, history is not about feelings.

It’s about stuff that happened.

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Originalist Sin 0

Joe Patrice fantasizes about the possible curriculum of the Heritage Foundation’s Judicial Clerkship Training Academy.

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Vaccine Nation 0

Paul Krugman makes sense of the senselessness. A snippet (emphasis in the original).

Alert readers will have noticed that these Republican claims, in addition to being false, contradict one another in multiple ways. We can ignore COVID thanks to vaccines, which by the way don’t work. Vaccination is a personal choice, but giving people the information they need to make that choice wisely is a vile attack on their dignity. It’s all about freedom and free markets, but this freedom doesn’t include the right of private businesses to protect their own workers and customers.

So none of this makes any sense — not, that is, unless you realize that Republican vaccine obstructionism isn’t about serving a coherent ideology, it was and is about the pursuit of power. A successful vaccination campaign would have been a win for the Biden administration, so it had to be undermined using any and every argument available.

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Remembrance of Things Past 0

Image:  Subpoena to Boebert, Cawthorn, Jordan, Gosar, Cruz, Hawley, etc.  The subpeona reads,

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The Next Frontier 0

Title:  Anti-Vaxxers and Anti-Maskers Move on to the Next Frontier of Freedom . . . the Tyranny of the Stop Sign.  Frame One:  Red-hatted man in giant pick-up runs through stop sign towards pedestrian while shouting

Via Job’s Anger.

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“Those Who Forget Ignore History . . . .” 0

At the Bangor Daily News, professor Ian Mette argues forcefully that America needs to take its blinders off and teach the history it has rather than the history it wishes it had. A nugget (emphasis added):

Here’s the thing: If you have any sort of privilege in our country it is often hard for people to acknowledge that our culture is oppressive because it means unpacking the reality of what our society is built on almost seems unfathomable. We live in a capitalist society that devalues the condition of the working poor, which often deprives people of basic living conditions, safe housing, and access to healthcare that are all seen as second class. Our society increasingly celebrates anti-intellectualism, ignoring basic tenets of medicine as well as decrying those who are educated by labeling them as elite.

We continue to see attacks on people who give voice to the historically marginalized, including groups based on identities such as racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, and sexual identity/orientation, just to name a few. And we often fail to acknowledge that our country’s economy was founded on the enslavement of people to propel itself into a global powerhouse in just a few short generations . . . .

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An Exercise in Futility 0

Robert K. Vischer imagines that one can speak rationally to those who have abandoned rationality.

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