Have we become so numb to Republican norm- shattering happening on a daily basis that the un-American actions of an Orwellian demagogue pass with so little outrage? To wit:
For those who are paying attention, it's been obvious for some time that Florida's mega-MAGA governor, Ron DeSantis, is aggressive with book bans because he would just prefer it if kids didn't read books at all. So while it was infuriating, it was not surprising to read that the investigative journalism team at Popular Info had
discovered that teachers in Manatee County, Florida were told that
every book on their shelves was banned until otherwise notified. Failure
to lock up all their books until they could be "vetted" by censors,
teachers were warned, put them at risk of being prosecuted as felons.
The facts of this situation are straightforward: A Florida law signed
by DeSantis requires that every book available to students "must be
selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational
media specialist certificate," in most cases, the school librarian. This
may sound reasonable on its surface, but as the situation in Manatee
County shows, in reality, it's about creating a bottleneck preventing
books from getting into the hands of students. Even more importantly,
it's about establishing the idea that books are inherently dangerous
objects, to the degree that no student can be allowed to handle one
without heavy-handed surveillance. [snip]
... Authoritarians hate reading for the same reason they hate sex, or any
private behavior that allows people to experience thoughts and feelings
outside of the authoritarian's control. Learning to sit quietly and
read by yourself is, for most people, the first step towards being able
to sit with your own thoughts. It's crucial for learning to think for
yourself. There's a reason most teachers like to have a wide array of
books on hand, giving kids the freedom to read on their own. It's how
kids develop other skills, like critical thinking and creativity.
Of course, all that is exactly what DeSantis is afraid of. He may
occasionally make noises about freedom, but his actions speak clearly of
his goal, which is to turn Florida students into a bunch of unthinking
right-wing robots. This is a man who released an ad where he bragged about teaching his young child to parrot
"build the wall," after all. He's never hidden his loathing for
education and his preference for indoctrination. Books are being banned
en masse in Florida schools. That's not an accident or a side effect,
but always very much by DeSantis's design.
And this:
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday rolled out a slate of higher-education
proposals that included eliminating spending on diversity, equity and
inclusion initiatives, a move the governor said would lead such programs
to “wither on the vine.”
DeSantis also announced proposals involving the frequency of post-tenure
reviews for faculty members and the state setting new “core course
requirements” at colleges and universities.
DeSantis’ announcement came weeks after his administration directed
leaders of the college and university systems to collect information
from schools about diversity, equity and inclusion-related expenditures.
(See also, "Tweets" below)
This, of course, follows a pattern established by smug thug DeSantis of identifying a hot- button right- wing culture war issue (under the umbrella of "wokeness"), and then jumping to the head of the mob, demonstrated in part by:
-- his "Don't Say Gay" legislation and his efforts to muscle the Walt Disney Company to stay out of the fight;
-- his opposition to life- saving COVID mandates and restrictions and association with violent cranks;
-- his backing legislation to allow Florida gun owners to carry a firearm in public without a permit;
-- his cruel performative show of flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard under the false pretext that jobs and public support were awaiting them.
Instead of receiving the opprobrium he richly deserves, this demagogue's authoritarian, racist policies are being covered as part of the horse race narrative the media is most comfortable with. "Oooh, look what Trump said about him," "Is he going to run?," "Can he beat Trump?," etc. What he's been up to in Florida should be setting off loud alarms and fierce pushback, but it seems there are still many who find a growing, dangerous authoritarian movement in this country mesmerizing and are willing to see it play out right under their noses.
BONUS: The political press is happy to assist in Republican narrative framing.