Revolt of the Parents Vol. 3 (WSJ Editorial Thursday) welcomes intervention of parents in school boards, but says very little about the Reepo Right extremists sneaking in as a way to seize total power in the fall. Anyway, the WSJ editors blab:
"America’s fed-up parents on Tuesday sent another set of school board incumbents to the timeout corner to reflect on what they’ve done wrong. This time the elections were in Waukesha, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee. The races were nonpartisan officially, yet it was a win for a slate backed by the state and local GOP. Three Waukesha school incumbents lost their seats, one in the primary, two on Tuesday. “Our children have endured an awful lot in the past two years navigating a pandemic that unleashed mandates, restrictive rules, remote learning and constant changes to their normal school routine,” one of the winning challengers, Mark Borowski,"
The one element left unmentioned is how the Right's autocrats and fascists invariably use the same template to catapult themselves into power: the very machinery of democracy used against it. It merely depends on too many uninformed, misinformed, stupid or distracted voters using their votes to put into power those who'd destroy their rights and their lives. Ask the Weimar Germans so distracted by the chaos and hyper inflation around them they saw no option other than casting ballots for Hitler and the Nazis, see e.g.
Here in Colorado the autocrats are already on the move, organizing for a potential takeover of the state come November, thanks to too many citizens-voters upset by inflation, the war in Ukraine, or just buying the codswallop that Joe Biden is too slow on the uptake, too inept or both.
Take Danielle Neuschwanger (yeah, that's her real name) who has called for current governor Jared Polis to be arrested on the spot as soon as she takes over - in January of the new year. (Colorado Springs Independent, April 6-12, p. 14) She also demands our current secretary of state Jena Griswold - e.g.
who so capably oversaw our mail balloting in 2020, e.g.
Be arrested and imprisoned for life, for "treason". (I.e. allowing too many mail ballots to be cast and helping to overthrow Trump.) As COS Indy columnist Mike Littwin observed (p. 14): "She tried to walk back that one - but let's just say the treason charge is a hard one to unsay."
But even Neuschwanger's psychotic plans are rivaled by what the autocrat Reeps in Mesa County (Lauren Boebert's stamping grounds) want to do if put into power.(COS Indy, op. cit. 'License and Registration, Please!, p. 16). These misfits - even a full 8 months ahead of the midterms - have advanced a proposal which "calls for regulating the free press, a foundation of the U.S. Constitution." The plan germinated at a March 26 GOP assembly in Grand Junction and calls for: "The registration and regulation of journalism to protect against the Marxist agenda." Jeff Roberts, a pre-eminent leader of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition blasted the idea of regulating journalists in the same Indy piece: "Apparently some people need a reminder that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects journalists from being regulated or restricted by the government."
Adding: "Freedom of the press is a critical pillar of our democracy, ensuring that the American people are informed so that they can vote intelligently, and hold those at all levels accountable."
Well, that is, unless the press itself loses sight of its defined goals and publishes dreck that makes the autocrats look good in comparison to the true protectors of democracy - thereby risking the overthrow of our system, e.g.
https://pressrun.media/p/is-the-press-rooting-against-biden?s=r
Which I suggest everyone read very carefully, along with my supporting post:
That brings us to the eruption of the extremists right here in the Springs. In a headline from two weeks ago, we learned that Right extremists have basically taken over our local (D-11) school board. Led by Al Loma (see image) who "uses Board time to peddle his church" (COS Indy, 'The Right's Power Grab', April 5, p. 3, 10-11), also Jason Jorgenson who "spends his time spouting misinformation", and last but not least, Sandra Bankes and Laruen Nelson who "forced out superintendent Dr. Michael Thomas who was leading a turnaround in D-11 - before COVID and the conservative clown car hit."
Now, the conservo clown car is running amok as it takes over dozens of school boards nationwide in a nefarious template set out by pro-Trump acolyte Steve Bannon, Bannon, to our horror, has pushed a "precinct strategy" to enable Trump supporters to take over counties at the grassroots level - by "flooding local positions that are low profile but come with critical powers."
Bannon himself has made no bones about the fact that this is the optimum way to use the machinery of democracy against itself and thereby install an authoritarian, anti-democratic state before citizens know what happened. This is no mystery and Rolling Stone magazine already elaborated how Bannon "emphatically reminded listeners on his War Room podcast that he and the Right are 'trying to do away with democracy by taking over elections - and overturning Trump's loss."
Could this be allowed to happen? Yes, if too many on our side get complacent in the midterms and fail to turn out in record numbers, and despite all the obstacles thrown up in dozens of states. Bannon, as the Indy notes, "also called for Republicans to be precinct officers in swing states". And according to Pro Publica, "As of last August GOP leaders in 41 counties reported an unusual increase in sign-ups..adding a total of more than 8,500 new precinct officers. That strategy coupled with deft use of propaganda (especially firing up moderates over 'critical race theory' and masking) undoubtedly led to Glenn Youngkin's Virgina governorship win last November, e.g..
Here in Colorado, meanwhile, as I noted above, the Right extremists - driven by the likes of the Christian Nationalist Truth and Liberty Coalition - are expecting a big payoff in the fall. They are counting on many more thousands of state voters to be losing their minds over inflation (especially for gas and food) as well as Ukraine and Biden in general. They are also counting on our side to be feeling despondent and defeated because we feel not enough was done legislatively - so sitting at home.
But therein lies complacency and a sure path to disaster, not just locally, but in the state and nation if the same malaise plunders pro-Biden, pro-Dem brains. And meanwhile, smiling as ever, 'Pastor' Al Loma conducts D-11 school board meetings more like religious rituals, even asking all those attending to come to his church to receive the Lord's blessing.
Loma and his political hero Steve Bannon are fervently hoping we deliver this Republic to them on a silver platter in the fail. In this state, the Reeps are well on the way to achieving it if they can get enough dumb, distracted or delirious voters to bite. We already know from a piece in Sunday's Denver Post that 2020 election deniers have received the support of the Colorado Republican Party faithful on Saturday. This was telegraphed as delegates voted to put candidates such as indicted (for tampering with voting machines) secretary of state Tina Peters and U.S. Senate (misinfo spreading) candidate Ron Hanks on the GOP primary ballot.
Multiple candidates,
delegates and attendees delivered a clear message at the event at the World Arena here in the Springs. To wit,: They still
don’t trust Colorado’s elections or the results of the 2020 presidential
election and in an update to the party platform, make the Republican Party’s official position
to oppose mail-in ballots. At least for every Coloradan except
those physically unable to vote in person and active-duty military.
That’s despite evidence pointing to the security of the state’s election systems and assurances from county clerks, including many Republicans, that Coloradans can be confident in how their votes were counted.
"A Republic, madam, if you can keep it."
See Also:
by Robert Becker | April 11, 2022 - 6:17am | permalink
Excerpt:
Rightwing venom dramatizes the dire options — on climate, economic, voting and rights justice for the midterms. No surprise the empowered party faces a tough midterm, worsened by brutal polarization. But if Democrats, buoyed by popular proposals, are clobbered by today’s seditious, jackass Republicans – well, that’s a jailing offense. The right’s unswerving brew of “fraud, fear, and fascism” represents a once-a-generation gift to nationalize the mid-term – but that demands far stronger, more unified Democratic messaging. Even if it comes down to Biden the wary vs. Trump the reckless, winning messaging matters more than ever. Especially facing high inflation and economic insecurity, Republicans will be worse.
And:
by Alex Henderson | April 8, 2022 - 6:41am | permalink
Excerpt:
All around the United States, far-right MAGA Republicans have been pushing bills designed to bully and intimidate schoolteachers and/or librarians. One of their goals is to purge public K-12 schools and libraries of any subject matter that makes them uncomfortable, whether it pertains to gay rights, feminism or racism. Books that have been targeted range from Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” to Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on April 7, Paul Rosenzweig — a former official for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — warns that this movement is right out of the authoritarian playbook.
“In 1787, the Framers of the Constitution saw important values inherent in the principle of freedom of inquiry: the search for truth, scientific progress, cultural development, increased virtue among citizens, holding governmental officials to account, strengthening the community, and serving as a check on politicians,” Rosenzweig explains. “Today, as we rush to ban books and limit the freedom of inquiry, we are tossing aside those values. In doing so, we risk becoming that which our forebears rebelled against. Instead of exalting the liberty of free inquiry, some now seek to restrict thought and channel it into ‘accepted’ ideas.
And:
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