In a Sarasota school board race, voters soundly rejected the culture war policies pushed by by right-wing extremists like Gov. Ron DeSantis and Moms of Liberty
Moms for Liberty always struck me as an oxymoron. They are for the felon and his sycophants, who are for anything but liberty. Thank you, Sarasota, for recognizing tyranny when you see it.
Oxymoron is right. When I look at the names of these right-wing organizations, I can't help thinking of the Newspeak in Orwell's _1984_. Up is down, true is false, etc. As to why so many USians have fallen for it, well, I'm still trying to figure that out.
Who would have thought Florida would be the poster child for democratic change. Thanks, Steven, for this encouragement from a retired teacher of 41 years in ruby red Indiana. We have, sadly, have followed Florida down the rabbit hole of Heritage Foundation. This is great news for public education and educators everywhere. This is how it is done!
I'm a freelance editor, and Indiana University Press used to be one of my regular clients. They do great work, and my connections from those days have survived so I know that though the state may be "ruby red," some of its pockets are not.
I do want to learn more about what happened to the Heritage Foundation. I'm a longtime resident of Massachusetts. Once upon a time, like in the early 2000s, its health-care proposals influenced my state's "Commonwealth Care" program, which wasn't perfect but it was a step in the right direction that I, as a then-uninsured freelancer, benefited from. Heritage took a pronounced rightward swing since then and now they're anti-democracy and generally appalling.
I’m tired of describing groups such as Moms for Liberty as “conservative”… when it’s more apt to describe them as radical Christian Nationalists or Faux Conservative. We must call them out for what they are… cruel, hateful, bigoted, and culture warriors bent on going backwards to a time in America that is no more, instead of forward in a kind and thoughtful way into a new and changing world.
A fair point. I’ve stopped describing the extremist Supreme Court supermajority as conservative, for example. I changed the term for Moms for Liberty to far-right. They are this and more…
Good point. Being an editor, I mess around with words and wonder about how they came to mean what they mean today. "Conservative" is a big one. What are they trying to conserve? It definitely isn't democracy -- maybe it's white supremacy? I think of them as reactionaries, not conservatives, but "reactionary" hasn't really caught on in popular discussion.
All true. I don’t think ppl are as familiar with words like ‘reactionary.’ We really need to stop letting the loudest voices in any moment redefine words.
The word "fascist" does seem to have caught on, but this presents a problem. Too many Americans think they know all about fascists, and Nazis and communists while we're at it, but most of us don't know as much as we think we do and history doesn't stand still either. Some 50 years ago a brilliant history professor of mine opened his first lecture on Fascism and Nazism with "What is a fascist -- other than someone you don't like?" Nervous laughter ensued, and I've never forgotten it.
"Christian nationalist" doesn't really work either, not least because these Christians seem to be overwhelmingly Protestant, and usually fundamentalist or Evangelical -- and it's an oxymoron because if anything Jesus' teachings embodied the antithesis of nationalism. And for Christian nationalists, the nation is overwhelmingly white. (I'm guessing that Jesus looked more like Abdul El-Sayed or Zohran Mamdani than, say, Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott.)
I wonder if flipping the script works. We have socialists running but not communists. Drumpf repeatedly called Kamala Harris a communist. Social media memes targeted certain users with ‘commiela’ images. DeSantis had big success building a political base on fear of communism. Has a K-12 propaganda program in the curriculum & a mandatory Memorial Day for Victims of Communism. He provides political theater with public shows of support for the Bay of Pigs ‘veterans.’ No need to guess who his targets are: voters whose families fled Latin American countries. So … what do people in general think when they hear ‘communist’? I think the regime has touched all the burners on the hot stove:
Political Repression
Concentration of Power: state control over both the political system and the economy removes independent checks and balances.
Coercion: Enforcing strict social or economic equality often requires strong government force that limits individual choice
Stagnation and Shortages
Private Property: interfering with private ownership of businesses and personal assets
I suspect that DeSantis’s #1 target is Cuban Americans. Florida has a large Cuban population who either left Castro’s Cuba (because many did quite well under Batista) or are descended from those who did. Doesn’t surprise me a bit that DeSantis has played to them.
I really am curious about the resurgence of the Communist bogey-man. Maybe “socialist” is less scary than it used to be? What do younger USians (meaning younger than those of us who remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, bomb shelter drills, etc., or at least were around when Russia was still the USSR) think when they hear the word “Communist”?
Oh, yes. Less scary & the play for Cuban votes so very obvious. FL also has the largest Venezuelan origin population in the US. (Roughly 1/3 the size of the Cuban pop.) The Nicaraguans are roughly 200,000. Over 2 million in all and concentrated in certain areas where they influence elections.
DeSantis targets socialism but the biggie is Communism. He’s rehabbing Jospeh McCarthy. It began with the Memorial Day and heavy emphasis on the atrocities. Harder to sell “socialist atrocities” with the popularity of Bernie and AOC. Maybe next to Drumpf socialists aren’t so scary. (Kamala Harris’ father was viewed as a Marxist economist due to his writings. The meme’s were a natural GOP fit.)
All of us sentient beings know Moms for Liberty means Moms (and Dads) for Censorship! Attached at the hip to "christian evangelicals" who are neither. Just following some brain dead 'pastor' or cult who makes the rules for them. I'm for Moms and Dads for Education, Thinking, Truth and Freedom to Read, Speak and Think for ourselves! Not some glorified jesus wannabes
Here's a thought: we'd be in a far, far better place if we put 2nd grade teachers - who, after all, are dedicated to the process of teaching young minds to think rationally, and with kindness and imagination - in charge of everything.
Thanks for this. We need to be reminded that wins are not only possible but who is showing the way. (There was a PA special election flip in a long-held GOP district last week too.)
The decline of MfL is a sign that communities are taking back more than the word “liberty.” Like other movements which seek to replace our values, this group gave a helping hand to the momentum against it that was growing 2-3 yrs ago. Major sex scandals and allegations against the co-founder and her husband a headline Hitler quote on the front of a local paper. Congratulations to the grassroots folks who continued to push. One of the major signs of trouble was a big drop in donations.
Thank you, Steven, for this uplifting news. I already feel better now with this sign of Hope. Not to be premature here, for I’m well aware there is a great need now for change, but, I’ll acknowledge any intelligent and thoughtful news that takes into account a greater good.
This is exactly why we need to give more attention to our local elections. In my predominantly red city in central California a city council member who was running for Supervisor gave a lecture to our high school’s student republican club and she focused only on promoting Charlie Kirk. Well, teachers, parents, and community members rallied together and got it stopped. She ended up decisively losing her bid for Supervisor.
As a long term Floridian these recent election events offer some hope on the horizon. And as a retired government employee I may have a "feel" of what may likely occur in November. Racial politics will come into play, more than some folks realize. Jolly will defeat Donalds since white voters in the northern counties (MAGAs to the bone and part of the "Alabama" section of Fl.)) won't vote for a black man. This also includes the center of the state.
Over on the Senate side, Ms. Nixon will lose since a strong MAGA crowd will turn out against her. This includes many transplanted northerners (I know many, unfortunately) who are "redder" in their politics than the most redneck of homegrown rural folk. I would bet on this prediction.
I hate to be snarky (sometimes), but wasn't one of the founders of Moms for Liberty involved in a rape scandal involving her, her husband and a woman who often participated in three-way sexual encounters with the two of them? And didn't she stick with her husband, who was the accused? Yep. It amazes me how many of the MAGA crowd like to 'party hearty' even if someone (usually we the people) gets hurt. And then go to church and look all churchy on Sunday.
Moms for Liberty always struck me as an oxymoron. They are for the felon and his sycophants, who are for anything but liberty. Thank you, Sarasota, for recognizing tyranny when you see it.
Oxymoron is right. When I look at the names of these right-wing organizations, I can't help thinking of the Newspeak in Orwell's _1984_. Up is down, true is false, etc. As to why so many USians have fallen for it, well, I'm still trying to figure that out.
Who would have thought Florida would be the poster child for democratic change. Thanks, Steven, for this encouragement from a retired teacher of 41 years in ruby red Indiana. We have, sadly, have followed Florida down the rabbit hole of Heritage Foundation. This is great news for public education and educators everywhere. This is how it is done!
I'm a freelance editor, and Indiana University Press used to be one of my regular clients. They do great work, and my connections from those days have survived so I know that though the state may be "ruby red," some of its pockets are not.
I do want to learn more about what happened to the Heritage Foundation. I'm a longtime resident of Massachusetts. Once upon a time, like in the early 2000s, its health-care proposals influenced my state's "Commonwealth Care" program, which wasn't perfect but it was a step in the right direction that I, as a then-uninsured freelancer, benefited from. Heritage took a pronounced rightward swing since then and now they're anti-democracy and generally appalling.
She’s talking about how they landed there & you’re referencing where they landed.
I’m tired of describing groups such as Moms for Liberty as “conservative”… when it’s more apt to describe them as radical Christian Nationalists or Faux Conservative. We must call them out for what they are… cruel, hateful, bigoted, and culture warriors bent on going backwards to a time in America that is no more, instead of forward in a kind and thoughtful way into a new and changing world.
A fair point. I’ve stopped describing the extremist Supreme Court supermajority as conservative, for example. I changed the term for Moms for Liberty to far-right. They are this and more…
Good point. Being an editor, I mess around with words and wonder about how they came to mean what they mean today. "Conservative" is a big one. What are they trying to conserve? It definitely isn't democracy -- maybe it's white supremacy? I think of them as reactionaries, not conservatives, but "reactionary" hasn't really caught on in popular discussion.
All true. I don’t think ppl are as familiar with words like ‘reactionary.’ We really need to stop letting the loudest voices in any moment redefine words.
The word "fascist" does seem to have caught on, but this presents a problem. Too many Americans think they know all about fascists, and Nazis and communists while we're at it, but most of us don't know as much as we think we do and history doesn't stand still either. Some 50 years ago a brilliant history professor of mine opened his first lecture on Fascism and Nazism with "What is a fascist -- other than someone you don't like?" Nervous laughter ensued, and I've never forgotten it.
"Christian nationalist" doesn't really work either, not least because these Christians seem to be overwhelmingly Protestant, and usually fundamentalist or Evangelical -- and it's an oxymoron because if anything Jesus' teachings embodied the antithesis of nationalism. And for Christian nationalists, the nation is overwhelmingly white. (I'm guessing that Jesus looked more like Abdul El-Sayed or Zohran Mamdani than, say, Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott.)
I wonder if flipping the script works. We have socialists running but not communists. Drumpf repeatedly called Kamala Harris a communist. Social media memes targeted certain users with ‘commiela’ images. DeSantis had big success building a political base on fear of communism. Has a K-12 propaganda program in the curriculum & a mandatory Memorial Day for Victims of Communism. He provides political theater with public shows of support for the Bay of Pigs ‘veterans.’ No need to guess who his targets are: voters whose families fled Latin American countries. So … what do people in general think when they hear ‘communist’? I think the regime has touched all the burners on the hot stove:
Political Repression
Concentration of Power: state control over both the political system and the economy removes independent checks and balances.
Coercion: Enforcing strict social or economic equality often requires strong government force that limits individual choice
Stagnation and Shortages
Private Property: interfering with private ownership of businesses and personal assets
Upheaval: Disruption or violence
I suspect that DeSantis’s #1 target is Cuban Americans. Florida has a large Cuban population who either left Castro’s Cuba (because many did quite well under Batista) or are descended from those who did. Doesn’t surprise me a bit that DeSantis has played to them.
I really am curious about the resurgence of the Communist bogey-man. Maybe “socialist” is less scary than it used to be? What do younger USians (meaning younger than those of us who remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, bomb shelter drills, etc., or at least were around when Russia was still the USSR) think when they hear the word “Communist”?
Oh, yes. Less scary & the play for Cuban votes so very obvious. FL also has the largest Venezuelan origin population in the US. (Roughly 1/3 the size of the Cuban pop.) The Nicaraguans are roughly 200,000. Over 2 million in all and concentrated in certain areas where they influence elections.
DeSantis targets socialism but the biggie is Communism. He’s rehabbing Jospeh McCarthy. It began with the Memorial Day and heavy emphasis on the atrocities. Harder to sell “socialist atrocities” with the popularity of Bernie and AOC. Maybe next to Drumpf socialists aren’t so scary. (Kamala Harris’ father was viewed as a Marxist economist due to his writings. The meme’s were a natural GOP fit.)
He’s made it a statewide initiative. I guess to appeal to a larger audience required some effort. This yr curriculum is fully launched. https://truthout.org/articles/this-fall-florida-students-will-be-forced-to-take-anti-communist-classes/
This is how the tide turns!
Thank you, Sarasota. This is amazing.
All of us sentient beings know Moms for Liberty means Moms (and Dads) for Censorship! Attached at the hip to "christian evangelicals" who are neither. Just following some brain dead 'pastor' or cult who makes the rules for them. I'm for Moms and Dads for Education, Thinking, Truth and Freedom to Read, Speak and Think for ourselves! Not some glorified jesus wannabes
Here's a thought: we'd be in a far, far better place if we put 2nd grade teachers - who, after all, are dedicated to the process of teaching young minds to think rationally, and with kindness and imagination - in charge of everything.
Thanks for this. We need to be reminded that wins are not only possible but who is showing the way. (There was a PA special election flip in a long-held GOP district last week too.)
The decline of MfL is a sign that communities are taking back more than the word “liberty.” Like other movements which seek to replace our values, this group gave a helping hand to the momentum against it that was growing 2-3 yrs ago. Major sex scandals and allegations against the co-founder and her husband a headline Hitler quote on the front of a local paper. Congratulations to the grassroots folks who continued to push. One of the major signs of trouble was a big drop in donations.
“The times they are a changin’.”
— In home state, Moms for Liberty shows lackluster influence in school board races —By Trinity Webster-Bass Florida, July 21, 2026 https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article316598397.html
Thanks for the added detail.
I’m glad to hear this, as I have a grandson in the Sarasota public school system.
Thank you, Steven, for this uplifting news. I already feel better now with this sign of Hope. Not to be premature here, for I’m well aware there is a great need now for change, but, I’ll acknowledge any intelligent and thoughtful news that takes into account a greater good.
Glad to hear.
This is exactly why we need to give more attention to our local elections. In my predominantly red city in central California a city council member who was running for Supervisor gave a lecture to our high school’s student republican club and she focused only on promoting Charlie Kirk. Well, teachers, parents, and community members rallied together and got it stopped. She ended up decisively losing her bid for Supervisor.
Thanks, Steven.
As a long term Floridian these recent election events offer some hope on the horizon. And as a retired government employee I may have a "feel" of what may likely occur in November. Racial politics will come into play, more than some folks realize. Jolly will defeat Donalds since white voters in the northern counties (MAGAs to the bone and part of the "Alabama" section of Fl.)) won't vote for a black man. This also includes the center of the state.
Over on the Senate side, Ms. Nixon will lose since a strong MAGA crowd will turn out against her. This includes many transplanted northerners (I know many, unfortunately) who are "redder" in their politics than the most redneck of homegrown rural folk. I would bet on this prediction.
I hate to be snarky (sometimes), but wasn't one of the founders of Moms for Liberty involved in a rape scandal involving her, her husband and a woman who often participated in three-way sexual encounters with the two of them? And didn't she stick with her husband, who was the accused? Yep. It amazes me how many of the MAGA crowd like to 'party hearty' even if someone (usually we the people) gets hurt. And then go to church and look all churchy on Sunday.
Maybe time for apocalyptic
Gestapo Board. Anti woke. Pro coma.