16 Comments

I thought that the Orange Asscactus was bad. DeathSantis is even worse.

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I agree he’s worse, in large part because some of the media, inexplicably, paint him as normal. Absolutely none of this is normal.

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You are correct, and that's one of the worst things that the Orange Asscactus has accomplished--he has made the completely irrational and unacceptable part of our "normal" political discourse.

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I live in Florida. I graduated from Melbourne High School in 1962. Under Principal B. Frank Brown, a progressive curriculum was offered which included Chinese, Russian, French, & Spanish languages, advanced mathematics, & advanced science courses. I was able to take an Asian history class where our book was written by the teacher, a dentist who was incarcerated by the Chinese in WW2. Our school was featured in Time magazine. We were rightly proud of our education system. (I must note, however, that in 1962, Melbourne was still segregated, so sadly this privileged public education did not extend to children of color.) This was 60 years ago. To see what DeSantis & others are doing to the education system here is criminal, & it is a blatant grab for money & power by using scare tactics that appeal to those fears of our citizens who are ill informed & believe the lies they’ve been fed for the last six or so years. I thought that Rick Scott was bad (& he was bad, not interested in the good of Florida & its residents, but wanting to be President, & not too scrupulous as to how he could make that happen), but DeSantis is worse. This vetting of the mathematical textbooks is a joke, except it’s not funny at all. Our education system needs improvement. We need to vote out these greedy politicians.

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founding

I think it might be about the money. Cannot find the link between Carlyle grouo(accelerate learning owner ) and desantis however bet they gave a lot of money to the governor https://bluevirginia.us/2022/04/the-one-math-textbook-company-deemed-acceptable-in-ron-desantis-florida-accelerate-learning-was-acquired-by-youngkins-carlyle-group-in-2018

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DeSantis is such a bully as well as an idiot. WOKE is defined in the dictionary as having an affinity for human rights and civil rights; I think people need to wake up to WOKE as all the laws that this idiot passes are restrictions on human rights, civil rights, and voting right. Roe is next followed by contraception, gay rights, trans rights, and mixed marriage. Why are we crawling back to the dark ages? The RIGHT is WRONG.

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What happened to the party of “small government”? Where the intrusions of anything but kitchen table issues belonged to Democrats?

Without a platform to run on Republicans have become the party of “no government”, actually. Empty headlines, empty suits and empty heads just parroting each other with exponentially increasing volume.

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Follow the money. Are any of the publishers whose textbooks are NOT excluded contributors to DeSantis' campaign fund?

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I still say follow the money. This was not about content so much as it was about who benefits.

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This reminds me of the Gablers’ campaign to censor textbooks in Texas and the attempt by the state to pressure American Heritage Dictionary to publish a “clean” green edition (uncensored edition was blue) in 1968. We have been here before! Now, of course, the target is more comprehensive and explicit.

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Florida is such a hot mess. And, as I said in a previous comment, what’s really inexplicable is many in the media paint Disantis as more or less normal. It’s like they’re setting us up for Trump 2.0, and actually rooting for it. If they’re still selling the tickets on the rocket to Mars, sign me up!

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It's good for ratings--that's what matters to them.

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Great reporting- thanks!

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“…thorough vetting of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law.” That chills me to the bone. Again, though, we need to hear from outraged and preferably organized parents. With issues like this, they are the only hope for change. And, it would be useful if the federal government had and followed guidelines for how states use federal funds, report on it and withhold, add or reduce accordingly.

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I live in Florida where it’s not the heat, it’s the stupidity. Ron DiSantis is an embarrassment to our state, looking to grab headlines with one after another of his bullying attacks on human rights, science, education, and democracy. Our Republican state legislature falls in line behind every assault. He is clearly vying for a presidential nomination, using the same tactics as his mentor and messiah Trump—being outrageous, mean-spirited, insulting, and authoritative. I’m almost hoping Roe is overturned with the thought that our governor, and many others, will go too far, unleashing a groundswell of voters in a normally dismal turnout for midterms, and republicans will be undone. I hope that doesn’t come back to bite me. And who are DiSantis’ donors btw?

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Excellent visual! I agree, and thank you for that!

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