Sunday, February 12, 2023

Woke!

At Tuesday Republican's rebuttal to the President's State of the Union" Gov. Huckabee said,

"I'll be the first to admit, President Biden and I don't have a lot in common," she said. "I'm for freedom. He's for government control*. At 40, I'm the youngest governor in the country, and at 80, he's the oldest president in American history. I'm the first woman to lead my state. And he's the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman is."

What exactly does "Woke" mean?

No one really knows, it is a made up definition by the right-wingers.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it this way,

: aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)

And it is not until way down the list of the definitions that we get,

disapproving : politically liberal (as in matters of racial and social justice) especially in a way that is considered unreasonable or extreme

And even that doesn’t cover all the meanings that the conservatives use the word and they is because they stick the label on anything that they don’t like. It is a "buzz word" that triggers an emotional response in conservatives. 

However, the voters are waking up to the Republicans animosity against Blacks, women, and us.

Courier-Journal
By Trey Grayson Opinion Contributor
February 6, 2023


After a year of challenges, from sky-high gas prices to devastating floods in Eastern Kentucky and the continued aftermath of violent tornadoes in Western Kentucky, families in our commonwealth deserve a fresh start in 2023. It’s time for our lawmakers to deliver a bold legislative agenda that offers the economic solutions and support we need to thrive, such as continuing to modernize Kentucky’s tax code, supporting our signature industries, and investing in infrastructure such as broadband and roads.

But some Kentucky leaders have indicated they would rather spend their time on bills to take rights away from our LGBTQ community, particularly some of Kentucky’s most vulnerable kids.

These bills don’t deal with the real economic issues that you or I have to grapple with. They’re political stunts to get attention from a handful of extremists, and if we let these efforts stand, we open the door for politicians to find even more ways to meddle in people’s private lives.

Even in Congress the Republican’s first order of business is their attacks on abortion rights, on us, and the President… and not the business of running the country. But the voters are getting tired of their continuing hammering of us.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce expressed similar concerns and affirmed its stance against anti-LGBTQ attacks in the Kentucky General Assembly, “The Chamber discourages any discriminatory legislation that would hinder any individual’s or organization’s desire to do business in or with the commonwealth. The Chamber’s mission is to foster a positive environment that enables business growth in Kentucky, and we believe such legislation to be bad for business.”

You got that? Bad for business! Do you think that the Republicans will get the message?

Major Kentucky employers understand these stakes and have joined the coalition Kentucky Competes to vocally oppose anti-LGBTQ legislation – particularly the extremist bills that target transgender kids and call for laws that ensure all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, have a fair and equal chance to work and participate in our community. Because transgender people are our neighbors and our coworkers, and our communities are better together.

Everyone knows this is all political and is wrong except for the right-wingers die-hards.


The people are also getting wise to the school voucher programs in their attempt to cripple public schools.

Texas Public Radio
By David Martin Davies
February 6, 2023


After the Uvalde school shooting, many predicted that this legislative session would be focused on school safety, but it turns out the top of the education agenda for lawmakers is privatization with vouchers. This was demonstrated last week by Governor Greg Abbott and the State Board of Education.

“When a school does fall short of excellence, parents should not be helpless. They should be able to choose the education option that is best for their child,” said Gov. Greg Abbott at the Annapolis Christian Academy in Corpus Christi. “The way to do that is with ESAs – Education Savings Accounts.”

Abbott delivered a full endorsement for vouchers through Education Savings Accounts.

This would give parents public dollars to spend on private schools. The bill to create Education Savings Accounts was introduced by State Senator Mayes Middleton, a Republican from Galveston.

But if you look at the history of school voucher programs you see the alternative motives of the Republicans to cripple public education. Look at the Republican campaign about “Parental Control” it is designed to fragment public school support, after they get the parents riled up then they offer school voucher programs. 

Speaking on behalf of Pastors for Texas Children, public education advocate Louis Malfaro said school vouchers have an ugly origin.

“The whole notion of vouchers. They were originally called segregation vouchers,” Malfaro said.

He said this idea was a white supremacist response to the landmark Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision.

“So it makes me sad that our state leaders don't see the value of the common school. Hispanic children now are a majority of the students in public schools in Texas. So now the state has all of a sudden lost the will to invest in its public school system,” Malfaro said.

But another main point that Abbott offers in support of vouchers is that it will improve school outcomes.

“When students are given education options – it’s a proven fact – that it leads to better education results for all schools across the entire state,” Abbott said.

Cowen said that’s wrong. He said based on vouchers in other states, it leads to the de-funding of traditional public schools. And the education results are worse.

“On the academic side in states like Indiana and Ohio we’re seeing devastating effects on student outcomes.”

But that is exactly what the Republicans want with the segregation vouchers, they want to degrade public schools. Most of the private schools are white and middle class while minorities see their public school funding cut. That’s the Republican way.


Then we have Kentucky, the Louisville Courier Journal wrote in; “Masks, drag shows, new pronouns: What a Kentucky lawmaker wants to ban in schools.”

Hours after listening to concerns about Kentucky’s teacher shortage and criticizing the state education commissioner over what he called “woke” ideology, a state lawmaker proposed sweeping legislation to give parents near total control over their child’s education and place broad restrictions on what can be available in schools.

Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, also filed a school-choice measure Tuesday to change Kentucky’s constitution to allow public dollars to follow students to schools of their choosing, including private schools.

Republicans have increasingly backed “parents’ rights” measures in recent years, often stemming from parent disgruntlement over how schools handled COVID-19 and how schools talk about racism and LGBTQ topics.

We all know what the Republicans mean when they said “parents’ rights” it means the right to discriminate against minorities.

His second measure, House Bill 174, would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot for voters to decide whether Kentucky’s public dollars should be allowed to follow students to a school of their choosing. The move comes after previous school-choice measures have been either struck down in court or tied up in legal battles over their constitutionality.

This fits right in with the Republicans plans to cripple public education and dumb down minorities.


The Republicans are making schools their #1 issue, here in Connecticut the Republicans have introduced bills about school curricular making the school boards review all school reading materials and lesson plans. Talking about adding a layer of bureaucracy! And this from the party of “get the government off our backs!” Also in Connecticut cries from conservatives to stop the teaching of CRT (This is another thing that has no definition and the conservatives have a Pavlov response with.) remove books on Blacks and us are also being heard.

Donald Trump and possible rivals, like Gov. Ron DeSantis, are making appeals to conservative voters on race and gender issues, but such messages had a mixed record in November’s midterm elections.
New York Times
By Trip Gabriel
February 6, 2023


With a presidential primary starting to stir, Republicans are returning with force to the education debates that mobilized their staunchest voters during the pandemic and set off a wave of conservative activism around how schools teach about racism in American history and tolerate gender fluidity.

The messaging casts Republicans as defenders of parents who feel that schools have run amok with “wokeness.” Its loudest champion has been Gov. Ron DeSantis, who last week scored an apparent victory attacking the College Board’s curriculum on African American studies. Former President Donald J. Trump has sought to catch up with even hotter language, recently threatening “severe consequences” for educators who “suggest to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body.”

Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor, who has used Twitter to preview her planned presidential campaign announcement this month, recently tweeted “CRT is un-American,” referring to critical race theory.

It is a full-court press… local, state, & federal!

And I have to wonder how all these anti-educations bill will affect the teacher shortages?

It is a giant steamroller crushing anyone or anything that gets in its way. They want their constituents to be in a  constant state of rage.


*Okay, lets stop right there!

"I'm for freedom. He's for government control"

Does anyone see the irony about this statement?

Lets do a quick list: Which political party that banned...

  • Abortion: Republican,
  • Transgender Healthcare: Republican,
  • Drag shows: Republican,
  • Saying "Gay": Republican,
  • Teaching Black history: Republican,
  • Banned books: Republican,
  • Diversity training: Republican,
  • Selling property to immigrants: Republican.

It seems to me that the Republicans are more for Fascism than freedom, that the Republicans are more for authoritarianism than for democracy.

She went on in her speech saying,

Sanders drew a significant contrast with Biden by focusing on culture war issues such as race, education and LGBTQ rights. Biden, on the other hand, sought to spotlight bipartisan dealmaking, efforts to combat Russia and China and plans to boost manufacturing jobs — although he did at times spar directly with GOP lawmakers and call for action on hot-button issues like guns and immigration.

The two speeches gave an idea of what both parties are likely to pitch to voters in the early months of the 2024 presidential campaign.

Yes, the Democrats will be for rebuilding America's highways, rail, air travel, they will be for minorities while the Republicans will be fighting a culture war on suppressing minorities.



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