Republican Assault on Democracy and March Towards Fascism

[LFC]

This is how you get fascism. This guy is going to vote and the most important issue to him is Critical Race Theory. The problem is that he literally can't articulate a single, solitary thing about what it is.

Faux News's work is complete with this one.

[Bact PhD]

Nov 1, 2021 19:51:50 GMT Bact PhD said:

And for the latest from Flori-DUH…the tune has changed, only somewhat (bold mine):

www.gainesville.com/story/news/education/campus/2021/10/31/university-of-florida-spokeswoman-three-professors-could-testify-if-unpaid/6223947001/

The University of Florida would allow three professors to serve as expert witnesses in a case that challenges a new state law restricting voting access if they are not paid and don't use university time or resources, a UF spokeswoman said.

Hessy Fernandez, UF director of issues management and crisis communications, told the Gainesville Sun in a text message Sunday the university views the professors' request to do outside work for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit as harmful to the university's interests.

That allowance for unpaid work was not mentioned earlier when Gary Wimsett, UF’s assistant vice president for conflicts of interest, told two of the professors that “UF will deny its employees’ requests to engage in outside activities when it determines the activities are adverse to its interests.”

[snip]

Wimsett's statement does reflect a view the UF President Kent Fuchs expressed at a September Faculty Senate meeting. When the issue of a vote of no confidence in UF's COVID-19 fall plans arose, Fuchs reminded the group that the state government has authority over almost all areas of the university's operation.

"It is critical that UF as an institution and any entity within the institution that officially represents the University of Florida not rupture or fracture our relationship with our state government and our elected officials," he said. "If I as president or any other entity that officially represents the university becomes an adversary of state government and our elected officials, we'll lose that ability to influence those decisions that affect us."

Fuchs did note academic freedom as an example of one area where the state typically defers to university leadership and faculty.

Blocking the professors from serving as paid expert witnesses has raised concerns over academic freedom and the professors' First Amendment rights. It also highlights another facet of ongoing tension between university faculty and the higher education institution's ties to state government.

On Sunday, Smith said, he has previously served as an expert in federal voting rights lawsuits against the state.

"Over the past decade, I have been asked numerous times by plaintiffs to serve an expert in federal lawsuits dealing with voting rights. The defendants have included the Governor and the Secretary of State," he wrote in an email to The Sun on Sunday.

"These approved outside activities, for which I am paid for my expertise, are on my own time. I am clearly speaking for myself, not UF, and Tigert Hall [colloquialism for UF Administration] has never before disapproved of my involvement in these cases. Quite the contrary, they have publicly celebrated my (and my colleagues’) involvement in these outside activities that are of great public import and that bring national recognition to UF," he said.

Got that? If you’re a UF Faculty member, you can speak out, but don’t you DARE piss off the Supreme Emperor or His Minions…

The plot thickens: The Accreditation body is weighing in. Will that get their attention??

The accrediting authority for colleges and universities in the South is asking the University of Florida to explain why its denial of three professors' requests to serve as paid experts in a voting rights lawsuit conforms to standards for academic freedom and avoids undue political influence.

Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges, told The Gainesville Sun on Monday that the accreditation inquiry is a routine step when SACS hears of actions that might violate its standards. She said SACS would send a letter to UF President Kent Fuchs this week.

"If we find there is reason for concern, I would take that to the board," Wheelan said. Next steps from there could include sending a team of investigators to Gainesville to delve deeper.

Ultimately, SACS has five options ranging from finding no fault, continuing to monitor UF, issuing a warning, probation or, at the extreme, dropping accreditation membership. Accreditation is needed for colleges to receive federal student aid.

[snip]

Wheelan said the inquiry will focus on two accreditation standards: academic freedom and freedom from undue political influence.

In explaining its standard for academic freedom, SACS says "The essential role of institutions of higher education is the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge. Academic freedom respects the dignity and rights of others while fostering intellectual freedom of faculty to teach, research, and publish. Responsible academic freedom enriches the contributions of higher education to society."

As to avoiding undue political influence, SACS says, "Elected officials, corporate offices, alumni associations, and religious denominational bodies are examples of persons or bodies that appropriately have interests in the activities of related colleges and universities. However, the governing board of the institution has been vested with the authority to make decisions regarding the institution, and no outside person, board, or religious or legislative body should be in a position to interfere with the governing board’s ultimate authority to fulfill its responsibilities or to interfere in the operations of the institution."

And, The UF Faculty Senate is gearing up to have a look.

The University of Florida Faculty Senate is expected to launch investigations into the hiring of Dr. Joseph Ladapo and the administration's decision to block three professors as paid expert witnesses in a federal voting rights lawsuit.

"This is something that needs to be addressed," said David Bloom, president of the UF Faculty Senate, speaking of concerns related to Ladapo's appointment within the College of Medicine. Ladapo also was named state surgeon general by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Bloom said he will ask the Faculty Senate on Thursday to create a committee to investigate the Ladapo hiring, and also plans to organize a committee to look into the denial of requests from three professors to work as expert witnesses. A third Faculty Senate group will look into UF's post-tenure review process.

"It is unusual" to have three simultaneous investigations underway, Bloom said Monday evening. "My role is to protect the faculty."


Also late Monday, UF President Kent Fuchs and Provost Joe Glover issued a statement that affirmed the university's commitment to free speech and academic freedom. The statement went on to say "we are immediately appointing a task force to review the university's conflict of interest policy and examine it for consistency and fidelity."

[snip]

Spokeswoman Hessy Fernandez wrote in an email to the Sun on Tuesday afternoon that UF is working on details about the task force, including who and how many people would be on it and how long they will have to complete their work.

"Finally, as has already been reported by some news organizations, if the professors wish to testify pro bono on their own time without using university resources, they are free to do so," the Monday night statement concluded.


The professors were initially told that "outside activities" deemed to be against the university's interests were denied, without mention of pay.

[snip]

UF denied requests from Daniel Smith, chair in the Department of Political Science, nationally renowned election expert Michael McDonald and African American political behavior expert Sharon Austin to appear as witnesses for the plaintiffs — a move that has drawn national attention.

The president of the accreditation authority for UF told the Gainesville Sun that it would be seeking answers about the denial to the three professors on the grounds that testifying in a lawsuit against the state would be against the interests of a state university.

The American Association of University Professors has condemned the denials, as has the state's Democratic congressional delegation.

Bloom said that while Ladapo appears to be well qualified to join the College of Medicine as a tenured professor, he is concerned that improper pressure may have been exerted from Tallahassee, based on reporting by the Gainesville Sun and the USA TODAY network in Florida.
Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo appears with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as he is introduced Sept. 21as the state's surgeon general in Tallahassee. (Image courtesy of the Executive Office of the Governor)

"There is a policy shift going on," Bloom said, referring to recent decisions by the UF administration. "I really want to get the facts and understand what the university's policy is. They have not been very forthcoming."

Bloom said he hopes to have a preliminary report from the investigative committees by the end of the month. "I want to really fast-track it. We need to get it out to the faculty. Academic freedom is central to the university's ability to operate."
'Academic freedom is the linchpin of everything we do'

The United Faculty of Florida at the University of Florida, a union chapter for UF employees, is also initiating talks with the university on the issue of academic freedom and the union's 2021-24 Collective Bargaining Agreement, according to President Paul Ortiz.

“Academic freedom is the linchpin of everything we do. If we lose that, we lose everything,” Ortiz said. “No matter what anyone tells you, this is a crisis of intellectual freedom. This is an extraordinary moment.”

The union leader and UF professor said giving Smith, McDonald and Austin the option to testify pro bono is unacceptable and the fact that so many groups are taking action, like the Faculty Senate, AAUP and SACS, shows the gravity of the situation. Should UF not fully reverse course, Ortiz said, there will be “a devastating impact in the long run” not just to the university’s reputation and recruitment but to higher education across the nation.

The negative consequences have already begun for UF, he said.

According to Ortiz, parents of prospective UF students have told him they are no longer sure about sending their children to UF and are instead considering other state universities and out-of-state options. Long-time university donors have told him they are pausing their financial gifts until UF “gets it act together.” And moving forward, top notch faculty may look for jobs elsewhere, like the private sector, he said.

“It’s demoralizing,” Ortiz said. “Whatever gains we’ve made in rankings … if UF doesn’t reverse course on this, all of that good will and prestige evaporates immediately because we’ll be known not as the university that got number five in U.S News & World Report — we will be known as the university that prevents professors from engaging in scholarship when it’s perceived to be irritating to Tallahassee.”

[LFC]

Cancel culture at its finest. Say it ain't so, Republicans. I'd be shocked if you didn't do as you say!

[goldenvalley]

Nov 2, 2021 21:37:33 GMT LFC said:

Cancel culture at its finest. Say it ain't so, Republicans. I'd be shocked if you didn't do as you say!

It's ok if the right wing hero is the one doing the canceling.  

[AnBr]

[LFC]

University of Florida is an outright right-wing gag factory. They might as well rename it to Cancel Culture College.

Eight University of Florida professors have been banned from testifying against state leaders as an expert witnesses in three separate cases in the past year, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The latest incident involves a case in which Florida parents and children are seeking to overturn the state’s ban on school mask mandates.

Jeffrey Goldhagen, a University of Florida professor and pediatrician, was asked by a lawyer for the plaintiffs to testify against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the Florida commissioner of education, the Florida Department of Education, and the Florida Board of Education, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Goldhagen was also asked to testify in another school mask case that involved representing the Disability Independence Group in Miami, according to the Times.

The Chronicle reported that Goldhagen, who said he would not receive compensation for the testimony, submitted conflict-of-interest disclosures to the university. The school ultimately denied his requests, according to the Times.

Goldhagen reportedly defied the university by filing declarations as a primary expert in the cases.

“It was difficult for me personally, not to come forward,” Goldhagen told the Times, adding that he broke his silence because he views UF’s ban on his testimony as “a critical, defining issue” for academic freedom and First Amendment rights.

“I don’t think it is hyperbole when I say this is how totalitarian regimes unfold,’’ Goldhagen told the Times. “If you deny science and you deny the universities the critical role they play in American society, then you truncate free speech, academic freedom and the dissemination of information.”

The latest report of a ban on a UF professor’s testimony comes a week after news that the school had barred three professors from serving as expert witnesses in a lawsuit against DeSantis’ voter suppression law.

[Bact PhD]

Nov 3, 2021 19:38:04 GMT LFC said:

University of Florida is an outright right-wing gag factory. They might as well rename it to Cancel Culture College.

Eight University of Florida professors have been banned from testifying against state leaders as an expert witnesses in three separate cases in the past year, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The latest incident involves a case in which Florida parents and children are seeking to overturn the state’s ban on school mask mandates.

Jeffrey Goldhagen, a University of Florida professor and pediatrician, was asked by a lawyer for the plaintiffs to testify against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the Florida commissioner of education, the Florida Department of Education, and the Florida Board of Education, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Goldhagen was also asked to testify in another school mask case that involved representing the Disability Independence Group in Miami, according to the Times.

The Chronicle reported that Goldhagen, who said he would not receive compensation for the testimony, submitted conflict-of-interest disclosures to the university. The school ultimately denied his requests, according to the Times.

Goldhagen reportedly defied the university by filing declarations as a primary expert in the cases.

“It was difficult for me personally, not to come forward,” Goldhagen told the Times, adding that he broke his silence because he views UF’s ban on his testimony as “a critical, defining issue” for academic freedom and First Amendment rights.

“I don’t think it is hyperbole when I say this is how totalitarian regimes unfold,’’ Goldhagen told the Times. “If you deny science and you deny the universities the critical role they play in American society, then you truncate free speech, academic freedom and the dissemination of information.”

The latest report of a ban on a UF professor’s testimony comes a week after news that the school had barred three professors from serving as expert witnesses in a lawsuit against DeSantis’ voter suppression law.

This latest is news to me. This article is time-stamped about 30 minutes ago.

Goldhagen, former director of the Duval County Health Department and almost 30-year faculty member with the UF Health College of Medicine in Jacksonville, said he understands the political pressure university leaders face.

But he could not ignore his oath and decades of work as a doctor, child advocate and international leader. So, Goldhagen said, he participated anyway, submitting written statements called declarations for two of the three cases.

"It wasn’t a surprise to me given the political overtones and the position of the university in reference to the state. And I should say in deference to the state," he said. "But then it put me in a very difficult situation."

[snip]

The doctor is at least the fourth UF professor to be restricted over outside legal consulting challenging the state government in recent months, as first reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education, and he is one of eight since 2020 who have spoken out about their experiences.

According to the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times, four University of Florida law professors were told they could not identify themselves as UF faculty in an amicus brief with a case last year regarding a Florida felon voting law because it was "action against the state.”

[snip]

Goldhagen said he never intended to be paid for his legal work and only planned to act as an individual, private citizen, not as a UF faculty member, for all three lawsuits. Yet he was still told via email by Gary Wimsett, assistant vice president for conflicts of interest, that his request to do the work could not be approved because "outside activities that may pose a conflict of interest to the executive branch of the State of Florida create a conflict for the University of Florida."

When the doctor asked for further explanation and if there was an appeals process, Wimsett wrote back and said, "there is no mechanism for appealing disapprovals in UFOLIO," and, "UF will deny its employees’ requests to engage in outside activities when it believes the activities are adverse to its interests. As UF is an extension of the state as a state agency, litigation against the state is adverse to UF’s interests."

UFOLIO is UF's online reporting system for employees' outside activities and financial interests. According to the university's conflicts of interest policy, employees must disclose when they are serving or seeking approval to serve as an expert witness or legal consult in a lawsuit.

After all the work UF has done to get itself to the upper tier of the US News & World Report rankings -- the efforts of the last 3 or 4 UF Presidents over a period of over twenty years -- down the crapper. Granted, as I stated elsewhere long before this stuff came up, I would far rather Dear Son get his college education somewhere NOT in the State of Flori-DUH.

A former boss was wont to say, "If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck..."

[LFC]

Being a fascist proponent of The Big Lie is not a handicap for a Republican. Hell, for the primaries it's probably now a requirement.

More Than Half A Dozen Jan. 6 Rally Attendees Were Just Elected
At least eight Republicans who went to the pro-Trump Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse were elected to office on Tuesday.

​​• Three of them won seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. The other five were elected to local positions, including city and town council, in Idaho, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

​​• On the other hand, at least five candidates who went to the rally lost on Tuesday.

​​• At least 57 Republican state and local officials were at the pre-insurrection rally at the Capitol, according to the Huffington Post.

Take a look at that Huffington Post link (not something I say often). It was already mainstream when the Jan. 6 Republican Insurrection occurred. Now it's overwhelmingly predominant.

[LFC]

From a TPM reader (paywalled) in central Virginia:

I live in Madison County in Central Virginia, about 80 miles southwest of DC. Charlottesville and Albemarle County excepted, this is industrial-strength Trump country. … Yesterday’s election unsettled me, a lot. Despite decisive wins across the board a palpable, consuming rage drives Republican energy here, a rage that mere victory will not sate.

There’s a savagery in the opposition to President Biden and to the Democratic Party and its voters that seems to bubble up from a deeper well. I’d describe it as men’s rights anger, a desire for a type of conservative male dominance over all aspects of society, government, and culture, rooted in a specific strain of white evangelical arrogance. … It’s Trumpism distilled to 150 proof, what with its celebration and gaslighting of January 6th, barely concealed threats of violence, and constant invocations of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “1776 moment.”

Basically, it boils down to the idea that white conservative men can do whatever, whenever, and to whomever they want without consequences as just compensation for the world stolen from them by the effete, barely human Democrat Party-liberal-Marxist-communists, all of whom must be jailed and tried for treason (they’re deadly serious about this). It’s much more than “toxic masculinity,” it’s fascism. And it’s here openly and unabashedly.

I don’t know where this is headed, but it’s nowhere good. And it scares the shit out of me.

[goldenvalley]

My completely unsupported theory on what happened in Virginia is that it is a basically red state that has a narrow enough margin that sometimes Democrats win.  Voters didn't see any immediate benefit from Biden being president and have been hearing for months that he is a failure.  The old culture war wedge issue use won the state for this guy Youngkin. People who aren't usually motivated to vote turned out because they were upset at the way COVID was handled in terms of schools. The CRT thing was just the little extra umph they needed to vote for Youngkin.

[pnwguy]

I was just riffing early today to a friend, but there's a good comedy sketch here somewhere.

“My opponent and the traitorous Democrats are doing NOTHING to protect Americans from the Zombie Apocalypse. Obviously they all side with the zombies and are plotting with them for the attack. My administration will FIGHT the zombies and protect America!”

“My Democrat opponent HATES America and has proven it by coming out against my proposal to allow elementary school kids their constitutional 2nd amendment rights to carry firearms at school. Democrats want little children to be defenseless, since they are all pedophiles looking to abduct kids for their adrenochrome. We need Trump to be in the White House, since he won anyway, and rid the country of this scourge. But at least we need to arm these kids instead of making them take Active Shooter drills. And if any of those liberal teachers start talking about critical race theory, your 7 year old can make that Marxist teacher think twice."

[jackd]

That second one is too close to reality.

[AnBr]

Realtor who flew to the Capitol riot on a private jet and said she wouldn't go to jail because of her 'blonde hair' and 'white skin' gets 60 days behind bars

A Texas realtor who flew on a private jet to Washington, DC, and took part in the Capitol riot was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Thursday, after pleading guilty to a single federal misdemeanor charge of parading in the Capitol, WUSA reported.

Jenna Ryan had boasted on social media that she wouldn't get any jail time because of her "blonde hair" and "white skin."

When a critic on Twitter told Ryan in March that she would go to jail, Ryan responded by saying she was "definitely not going to jail."

"Sorry I have blonde hair white skin a great job a great future and I'm not going to jail. Sorry to rain on your hater parade. I did nothing wrong," Ryan added.

[Bact PhD]

Nov 4, 2021 19:43:16 GMT goldenvalley said:

My completely unsupported theory on what happened in Virginia is that it is a basically red state that has a narrow enough margin that sometimes Democrats win.  Voters didn't see any immediate benefit from Biden being president and have been hearing for months that he is a failure.  The old culture war wedge issue use won the state for this guy Youngkin. People who aren't usually motivated to vote turned out because they were upset at the way COVID was handled in terms of schools. The CRT thing was just the little extra umph they needed to vote for Youngkin.

Many of those same things can be said about Flori-DUH, as well. First, it just took a while for all the one-time Dixiecrats to switch to Team Red. Second, even when Dems did win statewide elections regularly it was hardly with hard-core liberals (let alone the “progressives” of the post-Obama era).

Once the culture war issue du jour (CRT) got embedded in the minds of the electorate, it was Game Over. Worse, McAuliffe scored an own-goal on the education front with his remarks about parents not having a say in the curriculum—hardly the way to “win friends and influence people.”

I am NOT optimistic for 2022 right now, especially if CRT and other items that tend to fall under the heading of “culture war politics” are still the topic of conversation in 8-10 months.

[jackd]

And even with Tucker Carlson saying on air that he doesn't know what CRT means.

[Bact PhD]

Fuchs Reverses Course.

UF President Kent Fuchs issued a statement to the university community midday Friday in which he said he had "asked UF’s Conflicts of Interest Office to reverse the decisions on recent requests by UF employees to serve as expert witnesses in litigation in which the state of Florida is a party and to approve the requests regardless of personal compensation, assuming the activity is on their own time without using university resources."

It is an abrupt change of course following blistering criticism across the university community, from noted academics across the nation and amid a probe by the accreditation authority essential for student aid. Earlier this week Fuchs had reaffirmed the decision to block the professors' testimony unless they agreed to do it without pay.

[snip]

Attorneys for the three professors were not mollified by Fuchs' reversal.

“While the University of Florida reversed course and allowed our clients to testify in this particular case, the fact remains that the University curtailed their First Amendment rights and academic freedoms, and as long as the University’s policy remains, those rights and freedoms are at risk. We are continuing to assess our options,” attorneys David A. O’Neil and Paul Donnelly said in a statement Friday.

Brown, the journalism dean, said Friday in a memo to the university community, "There will be much said about the present moment, but our commitment to preparing our students with a firm foundation in free speech, and our commitment to the academic freedom that supports our teaching and research, will never change."

I guess hearing from the accreditation body may have gotten Fuchs' attention, and his puppetmaster on the Board of Trustees said it was OK to back off. Nothing like realizing that the President of a major university is an utter jellyfish --- Hmmm, I see a caricature that Marlette might be able to use.

[LFC]

Fascist, violent displays are becoming more and more Republican mainstream. The video is still up. It's ... nuts, but it gives you a good idea what these people glorify.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who has ties to the far-right, on Sunday tweeted an anime-themed video that depicts him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and attacking President Biden with swords — which drew backlash and demands for Twitter to suspend the GOP congressman’s account.

In his tweet, Gosar writes “Any anime fans out there?” and includes a video that opens with his name underneath Japanese text. The start of the clip appears to be a nod to the opening credits of the Japanese animated series “Attack on Titan,” which centers around a hero who goes on a crusade to take down giant man-eating creatures known as “Titans.”

After showing footage of immigrants at the southern border, a character with Gosar’s face photoshopped onto it scales buildings alongside other cartoon characters with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) faces. Gosar’s character then slashes a “Titan” with Ocasio-Cortez’s face photoshopped onto it.

Gosar’s character goes onto slinging two swords towards an enemy that has Biden’s face on it.

The video also features scenes with Border Patrol officers, some of which are shown on horseback rounding up migrants at the border, as well as migrant caravans.

[pnwguy]

Maybe Gosar will get some animation made of him lassoing velociraptors for he and Sheriff Trump to ride into a machine gun fight with Democrats.

[LFC]

Nov 9, 2021 15:44:33 GMT pnwguy said:

Maybe Gosar will get some animation made of him lassoing velociraptors for he and Sheriff Trump to ride into a machine gun fight with Democrats.

WOO HOO! RIDIN' WITH JEEBUS!!!

[goldenvalley]

I didn't know Jesus looked like Jason Momoa, Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones.  This must be 21st Century American "muscular Christianity." It must be aspirational because most of evangelical right wingers in Congress do not look like this at all.

[pnwguy]

Perhaps the fantasy is that Jesus was supposed to shag Mary Magdalene like Khal Drogo did Daenerys Targaryen, in a show of Toxic True Masculinity. No doubt that's what Josh Hawley was alluding to on HBO.

[LFC]

Nov 9, 2021 17:35:51 GMT goldenvalley said:

I didn't know Jesus looked like Jason Momoa, Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones.  This must be 21st Century American "muscular Christianity." It must be aspirational because most of evangelical right wingers in Congress do not look like this at all.

Seriously. Blonde haired, blue eyed Jeebus must be PISSED!

Time for a "brighter" makeover?

[LFC]

5 Points On How Trump’s Latest Endorsement Shows GOP Embrace Of Armed Militancy

Another version of Fascism Barbie might soon be released, this one in Idaho.

Donald Trump on Wednesday night announced his endorsement in the competitive Idaho Republican gubernatorial primary: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who’s made a name for herself as the state’s second-in-command by repeatedly sidling up to armed militia groups and staking a far-right claim in state politics.

“Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin has been a true supporter of MAGA since the very beginning,” Trump wrote of McGeachin, before bragging about his own election numbers in Idaho and then giving her his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”

Here’s why Trump’s endorsement of McGeachin is significant:

This one is every bit as nuts as MTG and Bimboebert. Taking gender out of the equation ditto Gohmert, Gosar, Gaetz, Nunes, Jordan, and on and on.

[goldenvalley]

Nov 11, 2021 17:45:51 GMT LFC said:

5 Points On How Trump’s Latest Endorsement Shows GOP Embrace Of Armed Militancy

Another version of Fascism Barbie might soon be released, this one in Idaho.

Donald Trump on Wednesday night announced his endorsement in the competitive Idaho Republican gubernatorial primary: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who’s made a name for herself as the state’s second-in-command by repeatedly sidling up to armed militia groups and staking a far-right claim in state politics.

“Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin has been a true supporter of MAGA since the very beginning,” Trump wrote of McGeachin, before bragging about his own election numbers in Idaho and then giving her his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”

Here’s why Trump’s endorsement of McGeachin is significant:

This one is every bit as nuts as MTG and Bimboebert. Taking gender out of the equation ditto Gohmert, Gosar, Gaetz, Nunes, Jordan, and on and on.

 I realize that destructive crazy people live among us. What I can't get my head around is that people vote for such people. 

[LFC]

Nothing says fascism quite like a good ole fashioned book burning! I have no issue with school libraries reevaluating books but the loaded imagery of book burning is just too cliche.

The County School Board in Spotsylvania County, Virginia is divided. Not over whether to remove books that they define as “sexually explicit” from the district’s school libraries. They voted unanimously (6-0) to do so, though one board member wasn’t present. The division was between those members who wanted to remove the books and those who wanted to remove them from the shelves also burn them.

The burn group was made up of Courtland representative Rabih Abuismail and Livingston representative Kirk Twigg. “I think we should throw those books in a fire,” said Abuismail.

Twigg seemed both more methodical and extreme, saying he wants to “see the books before we burn them so we can identify within our community that we are eradicating this bad stuff.”

And from the Department of Because They Want To...

Kirk Twigg said he’ll want to broaden the ban beyond sexually explicit materials because “there are some bad, evil-related material that we have to be careful of and look at.”