"Democrats are waging a hard-edged culture war on their political opposition. The hard edge right now is the Justice Department’s enforcement powers — the investigative process exploited for purposes of intimidation."
:
:
"Called on it, Garland proved to be a weasel.
"To the wrath of several Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, the attorney general purported not to know that his memo had spurred the Biden administration’s United States attorney in Montana to issue a letter,"
:
:
"In the main, Education Inc., a Democratic powerhouse, is grousing about parents who attend school-board meetings to protest against the marination of their children in gender radicalism, critical race theory, anti-Americanism, Marxism, and anti-religious bigotry. Overwhelmingly, the parents are not committing crimes, much less federal crimes. But how inventive of the Justice Department to suggest that, if parents are protesting a bit too vehemently for Education Inc.’s comfort, the FBI and federal prosecutors could seek warrants or convene grand juries to read their mail or scour their email correspondence — you know, just to make sure they’re not the next Timothy McVeigh."
Most of the comments here are from the extreme right. As a liberal non woke Democrat, I have found precious few places where moderates, either conservative or liberal like me, can escape the extreme rhetoric that is on display here. Sad.
Every paprent has the right to speak out about their children's education. As a teacher of 31 years, I found it almost humorous that now parents are the pariah's of education, when for years, schools were desperate to get parents "involved" in their child(ren's) education. How times have changed. The very real possibility of Merrick Garland's son-in-law's educational platform, Panorama, with millions of dollars in worldwide contracts teaching CRT or as it's now known, DEI, may just have something to do with it. After all, he and his team would have to revise a whole new litany of educational buzzwords and curriculum to sell to the schools throughut the US, if the parents were actually listened to about their concerns. Follow the money trail. Keep speaking out Maud Maron and all parent because it's your duty.
Thank you Maud for your perspective and sharing your experiences. I believe part of the problem today is that the overall temperature of what should be civil discourse and a sharing of ideas is running in the very hot zone. It is frustrating too that the media in the one minute story line on evening news (not MSNBC or Fox, mainstream evening/nightly news) jumps right into the hot zone with video that would make anyone watching believe BLM protests all ended in rioting and looting (false, 95% didn’t) or that everyone that attended President Trump’s rally on January 6th was a white supremicist that attacked the Capitol (also false). It is hard to find a spot in the news media or on line where ideas are shared, pro and con, to find reasonable solutions to help move our country forward. For example, my fellow readers, how quickly this comment section devolved into name calling, whataboutisms, etc. not about the issues Maud eloquently put on the table, but about our leaders, and more scary, about each other. And, unfortunately it is these personal attacks that more and more evolve into violence, or legitimate threats of violence (and who can tell the difference these days), that drown out the civil discourse we desperately need and create the hot zone loop we find ourselves in today. Our challenge, with each other, is to show through our efforts (everyday people) that we can be civilized toward each other, even when we disagree, and vote in leaders, who can do the same, and vote out leaders that show no interest in even trying to discuss let alone find solutions. If Ms. Weiss continues to post thoughtful, fair, and non-partisan views on this blog, I will continue to read and I am hopeful that like minded readers can improve on these views while stepping out of the hot zone at least with each other.
Bari - your interview with Brian Stelter on CNN was such a clear display of good verses evil. I thank you for being a voice for the good and a voice for the truth. You are truly a class act and you are a hero
The irony of self-declared moderate centrists who want to put extreme limits on liberalism when it starts to impact their stature in the US's de facto caste system. "Hey, I'm liberal. But when you start to threaten the balance of things and impact my comfort zone, you're all extreme."
You've often talked about an "extreme race- and gender-focused curriculum" becoming more common in school systems. Can you cite some specific examples and explain further what you mean by this? Also, in what schools have children been specifically told that their genders are not real? As for Gifted and Talented programs - I grew up as beneficiary of the predecessor to the G&T program in NYC's public schools. G&T was built upon the legacy of programs designed to keep white, middle class families for fleeing NYC for the mostly white schools of the suburbs on Long Island and in New Jersey. Even as an elementary school age child it was blatantly apparent that the "smart kid class" was for the white and Asian kids in the neighborhood. Fast forward to our current era and when as a parent I toured our zoned elementary school, which serves children from both Brownstone Brooklyn and public housing, it was a huge selling point to the upper middle class parents on the tour that the G&T classroom kids never interact with the students from other classes except at assembly in the auditorium. It was a selling point that the G&T class got the most experienced teacher with the most resources. It was blatantly obvious that there was a separate and unequal classroom experience within the walls of the school, and it was all derived from a one hour test administered to 4 year old children, many of whom excelled at the test because their parents could afford tutors starting at age 3. I saw this within my own cohort, within my neighbors. If parents of the kids from the public housing development could afford those same tutors, would their children also do well on that one our aptitude test? We'll never know. Sadly, the statistics show that those who are excluded from the G&T track rarely if ever catch up to their peers even when they have the potential. Is it wrong to try to rectify this?
Quite a few examples here if you would care to read through them. You are conflating gender and crt based curriculum. They may have examples of each but the two issues do not generally have a curriculum based relationship
The thing that makes me most sad these days is the seemingly low percentage of people with integrity. It seems that so many of our public figures 'spin' their argument using exaggeration, worst case scenario as the common scenario, etc., in order to have maximum emotional leverage towards influence. I hope we can pull back to integrity and common sense.
Difficult to know all the facts but what I heard is that a lot of parents were afraid to even attend these meetings or voice their opinions due to a handful of loud, screaming parents trying to get their points across. Also heard that many that attended these meetings did not even have children attending school in that district. In other words, they attended the meeting with ulterior motives.
Avoid the conspiracy theorists, on both sides. Unless you count grandparents as someone who does not have a child attending school, they do, but it is their grandchild, then no, the parties wishing to speak about the curriculum are not unaffected by the curriculum. The parents never start out screaming. It devolves when the school board repeatedly cuts them off before their alloted time. And the school board members are equally at fault in the devolution to screaming. They do it also. It ends up making you feel the entire room is 12 year Olds in adult bodies.
It seems Maud Maron is upset about the Justice Department helping local police investigate threats, and one needs to assume she knows what a criminal threat is because he's an attorney. Maud frames the threats as simply: "...dress down school boards over their dereliction of duty. I've seen video of people, where it's not unreasonable to question their sanity, she portrays this "...dress-down..." As though it's normal behavior, these videos say otherwise. Ms. Maron conflates the NSBA memo about domestic terrorism and hate crime with the Justice Department's memo. The memo does not comment about using the patriot act. It is straightforward about assisting local police with threats against school board members, and surely she doesn't object to that? I have no idea how prevalent threats are being made to the school board members, but I know it makes sense to nip it in the bud if that's the case. All in all, it comes down to this, if parents behave rationally and don't threaten school board members, they have nothing to fear!
It is not normal for the federal government to insert itself in matters best handled by the local police. The letter to the DOJ has resulted in multiple state school boards withdrawing from the NSB because none were consulted or approved the letter or request for DOJ.
The division of police power in the United States is delineated in the Tenth Amendment, which states that “[t]he powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” That is, in the United States, the federal government does not hold a general police power but may only act where the Constitution enumerates a power. It is the states, then, who hold the general police power. This is a central tenant to the system of federalism, which the U.S. Constitution embodies.
The regulation of the enforcement of peaceful exchange of ideas is therefore held by the state.
The federal police powers involve multiple state jurisdiction.
In this case a national body is invoking federal police powers with a claim that was not authorized by any single member body and is in fact refuted by an increasing list of states. Multiple states are withdrawing membership from that body in response to the letter. In all cases so far, including the states listed as examples, the state body decries the statements and states that any of the problems they have encountered are handled locally and are arbitrated locally to an amicable conclusion.
I am familiar with the 10th amendment, which guarantees states' rights. This is very creative writing; "The regulation of the enforcement of peaceful exchange of ideas is therefore held by the state." The exchange of ideas is guaranteed by the First Amendment. As to your, "The federal police powers involve multiple state jurisdiction." I believe section (28 U.S.C. § 540) applies. I can see you're practiced at bureaucratic speak. The national body nor the state body, as you call them, are not the controlling factor. Federal and state law enforcement has jurisdiction.
All to true, and all too late. These phenomena are obvious signs of decomposition, for which there is no remedy. American civic peace, 1945 - 2016, was based upon several things: steadily superior global military, political and economic power, relative equity in wealth distribution, consumer supremacy, and a moderate but dependable level of social services. All of those are seriously eroded now. In such a weakened context, the grievance industries of right and left function as decomposing organisms that spread the rot through polarization. Buffalo Springfield accurately described the process back in the 1960s; check the lyrics to Stop Children What's That Sound. The difference then was that the supportive structure was still quite sound, which allowed the organism to outlast the disease process. Now . . . well, you tell it, Maud.
Bari, Your site becomes more and more like the kind of internet sites I'm trying to avoid. First, I can find no way to email you other than these comments sections. I spent a few minutes looking for a "contact" link but don't find one. You need to make contact simple. Second, I went to listen to your interview with Jared ? (can't remember his last name) on spotify, and because I'm not a member of spotify, there is no way to fast forward (which I wanted to do because I had listened to the first half of the interview yesterday). Again, this makes it difficult for readers.
This is an old dried-up thread, but somebody happening by might wanna know why Garland really SHOULD be impeached, without a doubt.
"Merrick Garland Plays Dumb on a DOJ Atrocity" https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/10/merrick-garland-plays-dumb-on-a-doj-atrocity/
"Democrats are waging a hard-edged culture war on their political opposition. The hard edge right now is the Justice Department’s enforcement powers — the investigative process exploited for purposes of intimidation."
:
:
"Called on it, Garland proved to be a weasel.
"To the wrath of several Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, the attorney general purported not to know that his memo had spurred the Biden administration’s United States attorney in Montana to issue a letter,"
:
:
"In the main, Education Inc., a Democratic powerhouse, is grousing about parents who attend school-board meetings to protest against the marination of their children in gender radicalism, critical race theory, anti-Americanism, Marxism, and anti-religious bigotry. Overwhelmingly, the parents are not committing crimes, much less federal crimes. But how inventive of the Justice Department to suggest that, if parents are protesting a bit too vehemently for Education Inc.’s comfort, the FBI and federal prosecutors could seek warrants or convene grand juries to read their mail or scour their email correspondence — you know, just to make sure they’re not the next Timothy McVeigh."
Some may have seen this already. NSBA memo of Oct. 22 is heartening.
http://www.osba.org/News-Center/News_releases/20211022NSBA.aspx
From https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/school-board-group-apologizes-for-comparing-parents-to-domestic-terrorists/
Most of the comments here are from the extreme right. As a liberal non woke Democrat, I have found precious few places where moderates, either conservative or liberal like me, can escape the extreme rhetoric that is on display here. Sad.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/national-school-board-assoc-backs-down-we-regret-and-apologize-for-the-letter-to-fbi-targeting-parent-protesters/
Every paprent has the right to speak out about their children's education. As a teacher of 31 years, I found it almost humorous that now parents are the pariah's of education, when for years, schools were desperate to get parents "involved" in their child(ren's) education. How times have changed. The very real possibility of Merrick Garland's son-in-law's educational platform, Panorama, with millions of dollars in worldwide contracts teaching CRT or as it's now known, DEI, may just have something to do with it. After all, he and his team would have to revise a whole new litany of educational buzzwords and curriculum to sell to the schools throughut the US, if the parents were actually listened to about their concerns. Follow the money trail. Keep speaking out Maud Maron and all parent because it's your duty.
Apologies for the spelling errors. I just type too fast.
parent
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/parents-sue-ag-garland-for-violating-free-speech-rights-with-fbi-school-board-memo/
Thank you Maud for your perspective and sharing your experiences. I believe part of the problem today is that the overall temperature of what should be civil discourse and a sharing of ideas is running in the very hot zone. It is frustrating too that the media in the one minute story line on evening news (not MSNBC or Fox, mainstream evening/nightly news) jumps right into the hot zone with video that would make anyone watching believe BLM protests all ended in rioting and looting (false, 95% didn’t) or that everyone that attended President Trump’s rally on January 6th was a white supremicist that attacked the Capitol (also false). It is hard to find a spot in the news media or on line where ideas are shared, pro and con, to find reasonable solutions to help move our country forward. For example, my fellow readers, how quickly this comment section devolved into name calling, whataboutisms, etc. not about the issues Maud eloquently put on the table, but about our leaders, and more scary, about each other. And, unfortunately it is these personal attacks that more and more evolve into violence, or legitimate threats of violence (and who can tell the difference these days), that drown out the civil discourse we desperately need and create the hot zone loop we find ourselves in today. Our challenge, with each other, is to show through our efforts (everyday people) that we can be civilized toward each other, even when we disagree, and vote in leaders, who can do the same, and vote out leaders that show no interest in even trying to discuss let alone find solutions. If Ms. Weiss continues to post thoughtful, fair, and non-partisan views on this blog, I will continue to read and I am hopeful that like minded readers can improve on these views while stepping out of the hot zone at least with each other.
Bari - your interview with Brian Stelter on CNN was such a clear display of good verses evil. I thank you for being a voice for the good and a voice for the truth. You are truly a class act and you are a hero
The irony of self-declared moderate centrists who want to put extreme limits on liberalism when it starts to impact their stature in the US's de facto caste system. "Hey, I'm liberal. But when you start to threaten the balance of things and impact my comfort zone, you're all extreme."
Excellent article. How have we gotten to this point?
You've often talked about an "extreme race- and gender-focused curriculum" becoming more common in school systems. Can you cite some specific examples and explain further what you mean by this? Also, in what schools have children been specifically told that their genders are not real? As for Gifted and Talented programs - I grew up as beneficiary of the predecessor to the G&T program in NYC's public schools. G&T was built upon the legacy of programs designed to keep white, middle class families for fleeing NYC for the mostly white schools of the suburbs on Long Island and in New Jersey. Even as an elementary school age child it was blatantly apparent that the "smart kid class" was for the white and Asian kids in the neighborhood. Fast forward to our current era and when as a parent I toured our zoned elementary school, which serves children from both Brownstone Brooklyn and public housing, it was a huge selling point to the upper middle class parents on the tour that the G&T classroom kids never interact with the students from other classes except at assembly in the auditorium. It was a selling point that the G&T class got the most experienced teacher with the most resources. It was blatantly obvious that there was a separate and unequal classroom experience within the walls of the school, and it was all derived from a one hour test administered to 4 year old children, many of whom excelled at the test because their parents could afford tutors starting at age 3. I saw this within my own cohort, within my neighbors. If parents of the kids from the public housing development could afford those same tutors, would their children also do well on that one our aptitude test? We'll never know. Sadly, the statistics show that those who are excluded from the G&T track rarely if ever catch up to their peers even when they have the potential. Is it wrong to try to rectify this?
Quite a few examples here if you would care to read through them. You are conflating gender and crt based curriculum. They may have examples of each but the two issues do not generally have a curriculum based relationship
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/under-new-critical-race-curriculum-white-people-historic-figures-all-look-like-buffoons-or-aggressors-providence-ri-teacher-ramona-bessinger/
The thing that makes me most sad these days is the seemingly low percentage of people with integrity. It seems that so many of our public figures 'spin' their argument using exaggeration, worst case scenario as the common scenario, etc., in order to have maximum emotional leverage towards influence. I hope we can pull back to integrity and common sense.
Difficult to know all the facts but what I heard is that a lot of parents were afraid to even attend these meetings or voice their opinions due to a handful of loud, screaming parents trying to get their points across. Also heard that many that attended these meetings did not even have children attending school in that district. In other words, they attended the meeting with ulterior motives.
Avoid the conspiracy theorists, on both sides. Unless you count grandparents as someone who does not have a child attending school, they do, but it is their grandchild, then no, the parties wishing to speak about the curriculum are not unaffected by the curriculum. The parents never start out screaming. It devolves when the school board repeatedly cuts them off before their alloted time. And the school board members are equally at fault in the devolution to screaming. They do it also. It ends up making you feel the entire room is 12 year Olds in adult bodies.
It seems Maud Maron is upset about the Justice Department helping local police investigate threats, and one needs to assume she knows what a criminal threat is because he's an attorney. Maud frames the threats as simply: "...dress down school boards over their dereliction of duty. I've seen video of people, where it's not unreasonable to question their sanity, she portrays this "...dress-down..." As though it's normal behavior, these videos say otherwise. Ms. Maron conflates the NSBA memo about domestic terrorism and hate crime with the Justice Department's memo. The memo does not comment about using the patriot act. It is straightforward about assisting local police with threats against school board members, and surely she doesn't object to that? I have no idea how prevalent threats are being made to the school board members, but I know it makes sense to nip it in the bud if that's the case. All in all, it comes down to this, if parents behave rationally and don't threaten school board members, they have nothing to fear!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT-qW5sNrwg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW4Kflt1uMw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO9gxj0rL2E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwa2QlJPvUE
It is not normal for the federal government to insert itself in matters best handled by the local police. The letter to the DOJ has resulted in multiple state school boards withdrawing from the NSB because none were consulted or approved the letter or request for DOJ.
How did you conclude that it's "not normal for the federal government to insert itself in matters best handled by the local police"?
The division of police power in the United States is delineated in the Tenth Amendment, which states that “[t]he powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” That is, in the United States, the federal government does not hold a general police power but may only act where the Constitution enumerates a power. It is the states, then, who hold the general police power. This is a central tenant to the system of federalism, which the U.S. Constitution embodies.
The regulation of the enforcement of peaceful exchange of ideas is therefore held by the state.
The federal police powers involve multiple state jurisdiction.
In this case a national body is invoking federal police powers with a claim that was not authorized by any single member body and is in fact refuted by an increasing list of states. Multiple states are withdrawing membership from that body in response to the letter. In all cases so far, including the states listed as examples, the state body decries the statements and states that any of the problems they have encountered are handled locally and are arbitrated locally to an amicable conclusion.
I am familiar with the 10th amendment, which guarantees states' rights. This is very creative writing; "The regulation of the enforcement of peaceful exchange of ideas is therefore held by the state." The exchange of ideas is guaranteed by the First Amendment. As to your, "The federal police powers involve multiple state jurisdiction." I believe section (28 U.S.C. § 540) applies. I can see you're practiced at bureaucratic speak. The national body nor the state body, as you call them, are not the controlling factor. Federal and state law enforcement has jurisdiction.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/17-state-ags-condemn-doj-targeting-school-board-meetings-trying-to-chill-lawful-dissent-by-parents
All to true, and all too late. These phenomena are obvious signs of decomposition, for which there is no remedy. American civic peace, 1945 - 2016, was based upon several things: steadily superior global military, political and economic power, relative equity in wealth distribution, consumer supremacy, and a moderate but dependable level of social services. All of those are seriously eroded now. In such a weakened context, the grievance industries of right and left function as decomposing organisms that spread the rot through polarization. Buffalo Springfield accurately described the process back in the 1960s; check the lyrics to Stop Children What's That Sound. The difference then was that the supportive structure was still quite sound, which allowed the organism to outlast the disease process. Now . . . well, you tell it, Maud.
Bari, Your site becomes more and more like the kind of internet sites I'm trying to avoid. First, I can find no way to email you other than these comments sections. I spent a few minutes looking for a "contact" link but don't find one. You need to make contact simple. Second, I went to listen to your interview with Jared ? (can't remember his last name) on spotify, and because I'm not a member of spotify, there is no way to fast forward (which I wanted to do because I had listened to the first half of the interview yesterday). Again, this makes it difficult for readers.
Thanks. I also have thought that the site is user unfriendly. It is, however, in a sort of startup phase. Not yet big enough for prime time.