One thing that is seldom mentioned about the removal of books from Florida classroom libraries: much of this activity may be illegal. The school board in Escambia County, Florida, for example, is being sued over their decision to remove And Tango Makes Three
I feel like Republicans have been making a lot of rules that they would not like if the roles were reversed. If there were a far left government in Florida trying to ban books with heterosexual characters or books about conservative policies, they would rightly be outraged. Of course, there's only one party trying to ban books in reality.
John, I think this is a good idea. Let’s start with not allowing people into stores if they wear a torture device around their neck..aka..a cross. From now on high school games will begin with a bow to Mecca. Praising Allah-freedom of religion-according to them!
The First Amendment is under attack from all sides of our allowed political debate. Thanks for highlighting this pernicious argument put forth by the great state of Florida.
Not the State, but the extreme Republicans who support DeSantis. The Democratic Party doesn’t seem interested in competing in Florida, & doesn’t devote much money to support their candidates, assuming they even run candidates for office. DeSantis is in his last term as Governor here. It would be a good time to pick a strong candidate to run for his office & get that candidate in the news.
Did you see how many law professors from so many Florida law schools joined in the amicus brief? There's an example of an intelligent and active group in FL.
Problem is, there is no such "majority" in Florida. The actual majority there voted these buffoons into office and will continue to do so. The problem is the voters, brainwashed by the disinformation industry for at least 30 years.
But the country is overwhelmingly Blue. That federal level change is needed before removal of the Fascists can begin. That’s why all votes need to go to Biden and every single person down ballot. No thinning out the vote with 3rd party lunatics. We CANNOT afford it. That much should be very clear!
I should point out that turnout in 2022 in Florida was much lower than in 2018 when desantis was elected. Also nominating Charlie Crist was nothing short of political malpractice.
That's before figuring in the voter suppression, including severely limiting the scope of felon enfranchisement that a majority of FL voters approved.
So, while it is true that a majority of FL voters reelected this cadre of idiots and weirdos, it doesn't necessarily follow that a majority of FL's citizens did.
Thank you Judd for your extensive research on this profoundly important issue. I am grateful that my mind works so differently from Baggett and her ilk--and their leader Ron DeSantis. My imagination of second graders reading about the two male penguins raising an orphaned chick was thinking about what they and a good friend might do in the same case, figuring out how to be a good penguin parent--nothing sexual at all! It would call on their ability to love and nurture.
And, about shaping "the government's message: How wonderful that so many law professors from so many law schools have joined in an amicus brief! And, how amazing that SCOTUS Sam Alito spoke out with clarity and wisdom about how the dangers
"the concept of government speech is susceptible to dangerous misuse." Can you believe that he:
"Alito, writing for the Supreme Court, wrote that 'we must exercise great caution before extending our government-speech precedents' because it could be used as a pretext to 'silence or muffle the expression of disfavored viewpoints.' "
I spent a career in public elementary schools and I can tell you that children do see the good in And Tango Makes Three.
The book "has won multiple awards, including American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Henry Bergh Award (2005), American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book (2006), Bank Street Best Books of the Year, and the Rainbow Project Book List (2008), and been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award (Magnuson, 2012, p.4). It has also been in American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom‘s Top Ten Most Challenged Books eight times since publication in 2005 (American Library Association, n.d.)."
When the Heritage Foundation and Koch brother money machines got up and running they crafted a plan to eliminate other ideologies when it comes to relationships. They only want to see a man and a woman and nobody else. As the Zieglers have shown us that involves two women and a man. The hypocrisy of the Republicans is mind-blowing and voters don't seem to see it. IN FLORIDA THERE IS A AN INTELLECTUAL DEFICIT AMONGST VOTERS. Too many retirees who consistently vote Republican and just too many idiots.
I have zero faith in the Florida supreme Court as they all are handpicked by the Federalist society And are conservative leaning espousing anti-democratic viewpoints. Since Ron cuts their check they would find some reason to muck this up
Funny. Republicans pejoratively refer to public schools as government schools, despite districts being localized with elected school boards. Now Rs and their book banning cultists call public schools government schools in order to control "government speech" aka all books in the the school library.
Really at some point enough people in FL that are relatively normal and not zombified, need to stand up and defend their rights. One not very bright but determined person like Vicki should not be able to upend an district.
When a party has ruled for 25 years without checks and balances this is what happens. It is sad and I am not sure Democrats can come out of it unless they get a national campaign to spend the money. When corporations are writing the laws that benefit themselves no one stands to gain except for shareholders. Florida by far is one of the more corrupt States when it comes to business and government. I have to laugh when they complain about New York. I live there for 53 years and this state of Florida is by far the worst.
Republicans are famous for crafting laws that are vague and up to constant interpretation. These laws are crafted for the very reason to envelope everybody instead of being a targeted piece of legislation. Republicans new exactly what they would doing when they unleashed people like Moms for Hate, Mom's for Threesomes, Mom's for Orgies and Morality for thee but not for me. With Republicans the projection onto others is usually the admission of themselves
I think that is why this is in court. But the state has joined the case.
All their repressive cases attempt to push or expand some legal doctrine from the attempt to not certify the 2020 election to any other subversive legal argument.
It’s more than just saying the quiet part out loud - the entire mask is gone. The implications of having every place of public learning limited to strictly government-sanctioned speech are staggering. Beyond the libraries, curriculum, textbooks, teacher speech, extracurricular activities & classroom materials are all already under government control.
“Government speech doctrine?” That’s as fascist as “Corporations are People.” The Brown shirts and their brown, trumpy noses are out in full force . . . Lawlessly.
"parental rights" is such bull. What about MY parental rights to let my children have access to these books? What about parental responsibility to act as the gatekeeper for one's own children without restricting other people's?
Sounds like the parents there are not concerned-sadly. If they were, they’d get that woman fired. And so would the students. I hope it’s not too late to reverse these selfish school admins.
Jettison Florida, we don’t need it. How do we force it to secede from the union? I’m sick of paying for hurricane cleanup for a group of malcontents who hate America.
I know this is part serious part tongue in cheek so I’ll add some ideas. Send in rescue helicopters for the sane take the fed money that used to go to this Fascist state and provide new housing and job opportunities for the rescued. Then build the wall! 😁
The far-right is a collection of the dumbest people in the world. I love when they try to get away with flouting the constitution and then are caught and have to put the books back. When the courts rule that they have overstepped, which they most certainly have, please follow this story closely and make sure they actually put the books back. When they try to refuse, they should be jailed.
I can easily see the conservative majority on SCOTUS repudiating that argument. I can easily see where a SCOTUS decision would then allow school libraries to "convey the governments message". So, in all the conservative states, prepare for your children to continue to be indoctrinated in the messaging for a less diverse, less tolerant, more discriminatory hate filled way of life. Oh, and with all of the "love" of the Christian dominionists being preached by teachers in classrooms daily. Yeah, making America great, right? Great for Naziism and for the rest of us fear that the "conveying of the governments messaging" will soon come for us. <sigh>
How very North Korea of them.
Also, how very Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, Hungarian, Italian Fascist, Nazi German, and Southern Confederacy of them.
Spot on Janet!
I feel like Republicans have been making a lot of rules that they would not like if the roles were reversed. If there were a far left government in Florida trying to ban books with heterosexual characters or books about conservative policies, they would rightly be outraged. Of course, there's only one party trying to ban books in reality.
Don’t look for consistency. The only consistent theme is “we control everything.” Everything else is window dressing.
Yes.
As with the study of Whiteness by Ken Hardy:
"Whiteness makes the rules, Whiteness interprets the rules and Whiteness enforces the rules."
Then, as Naomi Klein observed some time ago, "Impunity breeds a kind of delusional decadence."
I already tried to ban the Bible Guess what It didn't even get reviewed or removed It only works how they want it to work
John, I think this is a good idea. Let’s start with not allowing people into stores if they wear a torture device around their neck..aka..a cross. From now on high school games will begin with a bow to Mecca. Praising Allah-freedom of religion-according to them!
Let’s hope that abnormality sensitive people like Vickie Baggett find better hobbies than “Censure” of free speech. She is a menace to Democracy!
If there's a loss needed in Escambia County, it's her teacher's certificate.
And I thought the Republicans were all about getting the government off our backs. Damn.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Unfortunately, they refuse to recognize their hypocrisy!
It’s not hypocrisy. It’s “heads I win, tails you lose.”
Their only consistent position is “we win.”
As Speaker Johnson said only last week, "Scripture tells us that Man is inherently evil and must be restrained by religion to find his better self."
Yikes
The First Amendment is under attack from all sides of our allowed political debate. Thanks for highlighting this pernicious argument put forth by the great state of Florida.
Not the State, but the extreme Republicans who support DeSantis. The Democratic Party doesn’t seem interested in competing in Florida, & doesn’t devote much money to support their candidates, assuming they even run candidates for office. DeSantis is in his last term as Governor here. It would be a good time to pick a strong candidate to run for his office & get that candidate in the news.
Give national Democrats some hope that you can win a damn election and you might see a change.
At the moment, Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama are sinkholes that suck up political donations and then elect lunatics and liars.
Those dollars win elections in Colorado, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Did you see how many law professors from so many Florida law schools joined in the amicus brief? There's an example of an intelligent and active group in FL.
The worry: when will our (the majority) protests and push-backs matter?
Problem is, there is no such "majority" in Florida. The actual majority there voted these buffoons into office and will continue to do so. The problem is the voters, brainwashed by the disinformation industry for at least 30 years.
But the country is overwhelmingly Blue. That federal level change is needed before removal of the Fascists can begin. That’s why all votes need to go to Biden and every single person down ballot. No thinning out the vote with 3rd party lunatics. We CANNOT afford it. That much should be very clear!
I should point out that turnout in 2022 in Florida was much lower than in 2018 when desantis was elected. Also nominating Charlie Crist was nothing short of political malpractice.
That's before figuring in the voter suppression, including severely limiting the scope of felon enfranchisement that a majority of FL voters approved.
So, while it is true that a majority of FL voters reelected this cadre of idiots and weirdos, it doesn't necessarily follow that a majority of FL's citizens did.
Clearly, they’re not educated and spineless. And they just go with the flow.
Thank you Judd for your extensive research on this profoundly important issue. I am grateful that my mind works so differently from Baggett and her ilk--and their leader Ron DeSantis. My imagination of second graders reading about the two male penguins raising an orphaned chick was thinking about what they and a good friend might do in the same case, figuring out how to be a good penguin parent--nothing sexual at all! It would call on their ability to love and nurture.
And, about shaping "the government's message: How wonderful that so many law professors from so many law schools have joined in an amicus brief! And, how amazing that SCOTUS Sam Alito spoke out with clarity and wisdom about how the dangers
"the concept of government speech is susceptible to dangerous misuse." Can you believe that he:
"Alito, writing for the Supreme Court, wrote that 'we must exercise great caution before extending our government-speech precedents' because it could be used as a pretext to 'silence or muffle the expression of disfavored viewpoints.' "
I spent a career in public elementary schools and I can tell you that children do see the good in And Tango Makes Three.
The book "has won multiple awards, including American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Henry Bergh Award (2005), American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book (2006), Bank Street Best Books of the Year, and the Rainbow Project Book List (2008), and been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award (Magnuson, 2012, p.4). It has also been in American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom‘s Top Ten Most Challenged Books eight times since publication in 2005 (American Library Association, n.d.)."
https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/jcashin/2020/01/21/book-review-and-tango-makes-three-by-justin-richardson-and-peter-parnell
When the Heritage Foundation and Koch brother money machines got up and running they crafted a plan to eliminate other ideologies when it comes to relationships. They only want to see a man and a woman and nobody else. As the Zieglers have shown us that involves two women and a man. The hypocrisy of the Republicans is mind-blowing and voters don't seem to see it. IN FLORIDA THERE IS A AN INTELLECTUAL DEFICIT AMONGST VOTERS. Too many retirees who consistently vote Republican and just too many idiots.
The entire purpose of this is to prevent kids from developing those minds that will work differently.
I have zero faith in the Florida supreme Court as they all are handpicked by the Federalist society And are conservative leaning espousing anti-democratic viewpoints. Since Ron cuts their check they would find some reason to muck this up
Alito wrote that decision in the 1990s.
Don't expect him to stand by it now.
Way to go, Flori-duh! It just gets worse and worse.
Funny. Republicans pejoratively refer to public schools as government schools, despite districts being localized with elected school boards. Now Rs and their book banning cultists call public schools government schools in order to control "government speech" aka all books in the the school library.
It’s always whatever serves the moment for power grabs for the rescumliCons. Humanity is completely absent from their platform.
Really at some point enough people in FL that are relatively normal and not zombified, need to stand up and defend their rights. One not very bright but determined person like Vicki should not be able to upend an district.
We try but if you lived here you would understand the back room deals and pay to play always win
When a party has ruled for 25 years without checks and balances this is what happens. It is sad and I am not sure Democrats can come out of it unless they get a national campaign to spend the money. When corporations are writing the laws that benefit themselves no one stands to gain except for shareholders. Florida by far is one of the more corrupt States when it comes to business and government. I have to laugh when they complain about New York. I live there for 53 years and this state of Florida is by far the worst.
Republicans are famous for crafting laws that are vague and up to constant interpretation. These laws are crafted for the very reason to envelope everybody instead of being a targeted piece of legislation. Republicans new exactly what they would doing when they unleashed people like Moms for Hate, Mom's for Threesomes, Mom's for Orgies and Morality for thee but not for me. With Republicans the projection onto others is usually the admission of themselves
Can't you see what's going on here?
"Moms for Hate, Mom's for Threesomes, Mom's for Orgies and Morality for thee but not for me." Marvelous!
“Mom’s for Threesomes”😂
I think that is why this is in court. But the state has joined the case.
All their repressive cases attempt to push or expand some legal doctrine from the attempt to not certify the 2020 election to any other subversive legal argument.
It’s more than just saying the quiet part out loud - the entire mask is gone. The implications of having every place of public learning limited to strictly government-sanctioned speech are staggering. Beyond the libraries, curriculum, textbooks, teacher speech, extracurricular activities & classroom materials are all already under government control.
“Government speech doctrine?” That’s as fascist as “Corporations are People.” The Brown shirts and their brown, trumpy noses are out in full force . . . Lawlessly.
"parental rights" is such bull. What about MY parental rights to let my children have access to these books? What about parental responsibility to act as the gatekeeper for one's own children without restricting other people's?
Sounds like the parents there are not concerned-sadly. If they were, they’d get that woman fired. And so would the students. I hope it’s not too late to reverse these selfish school admins.
Jettison Florida, we don’t need it. How do we force it to secede from the union? I’m sick of paying for hurricane cleanup for a group of malcontents who hate America.
I know this is part serious part tongue in cheek so I’ll add some ideas. Send in rescue helicopters for the sane take the fed money that used to go to this Fascist state and provide new housing and job opportunities for the rescued. Then build the wall! 😁
Just wait. Climate change will change the place to the Florida Sea Mount and we can let them all drown.
Climate change will solve the problem, eventually.
The far-right is a collection of the dumbest people in the world. I love when they try to get away with flouting the constitution and then are caught and have to put the books back. When the courts rule that they have overstepped, which they most certainly have, please follow this story closely and make sure they actually put the books back. When they try to refuse, they should be jailed.
Moscow says what?!
I can easily see the conservative majority on SCOTUS repudiating that argument. I can easily see where a SCOTUS decision would then allow school libraries to "convey the governments message". So, in all the conservative states, prepare for your children to continue to be indoctrinated in the messaging for a less diverse, less tolerant, more discriminatory hate filled way of life. Oh, and with all of the "love" of the Christian dominionists being preached by teachers in classrooms daily. Yeah, making America great, right? Great for Naziism and for the rest of us fear that the "conveying of the governments messaging" will soon come for us. <sigh>