Ron DeSantis’s Illiberal Education Crusade
Ron DeSantis’s Illiberal Education Crusade
Plus: How ‘Final Five Voting’ Can Help Save Democracy
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CATHY YOUNG: Ron DeSantis’s Illiberal Education Crusade.
The “War on Woke” waged by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues with a new bill introduced in the Florida House of Representatives last week, House Bill 999, based on proposals introduced by DeSantis at the end of January. While DeSantis’s office said the proposal would elevate “intellectual freedom,” such language can be seen as Orwellian considering that the bill restricts or bans the teaching of a number of ideas and concepts at public colleges and universities in the Sunshine State.
This comes on the heels of an ongoing controversy about Florida’s decision to nix a proposed AP curriculum in African American studies (and a subsequent College Board announcement of a revised curriculum, apparently in response to criticism from Florida officials).
And conflicts continue over moves by trustees DeSantis appointed in January, including anti-woke crusader Christopher Rufo, to give a struggling liberal arts school in Sarasota a conservative makeover.
People over 40 tend to see themselves as about 20% younger than their actual age. Is it because aging is seen as bad — or because they’re optimistic that they have many years ahead? Plus, living with long Covid, and John Fetterman’s depression. Jennifer Senior joins Charlie Sykes today.
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KATHERINE GEHL: How ‘Final Five Voting’ Can Help Save Democracy.
The 2022 midterms were heralded as defying history, replete with “historic firsts” and “shocking results”—yet the vast majority of congressional races were essentially decided long before Election Day.
Just before the election, the Cook Political Report rated only 40 House and Senate seats as “toss-ups”—that is, as truly competitive. It was a good call. Of the other 430 races last November, only one had an unexpected result. Just four Senate seats out of 35 were forecast to be close. In the end, only 17 percent of the House races and 26 percent of Senate races were decided by a margin of less than 10 percentage points.
To put this fact another way: The winners of about four in five congressional races were determined no later than September 13, the last primary day. The general election in these cases was just an afterthought. Most seats are essentially owned by one party or the other, so the only races of consequence in those districts and states are party primaries, where hardly anyone shows up. As the democracy-reform group Unite America calculated, “In 2022, 83% of the U.S. House was elected by just 8% of Americans.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Happy Wednesday! While CPAC just started and Principles First is this weekend, Bernie Sanders is out on a book tour, and people aren’t happy about the prices. And the supporters of the imprisoned insurrectionists are having a block party. And James Comer and a McCarthy aide were spotted meeting with the mom of Ashli Babbit earlier.
Mike Lee, Elon Musk, and Catturd2 log on to a website... A look at the current state of the conservative movement.
The groomer conspiracy… Meet the fringe right activists pushing one of the right’s hottest conspiracy theories.
Hold Trump’s enablers accountable… Argues Jennifer Rubin at the Post. (The list of non-enablers is far, far easier to keep.)
At Gorbachev’s Table… On the realism of George Schultz.
“Mommy, what was it like before the internet?” The American Girl series has created two new 1990s dolls.
Executions in Saint Louis… Where crime is out of control.
“Don’t be a cuck…” That’s the advertising pitch the “conservative” dating site run by Kayleigh McEnany’s sister Ryann (funded by Peter Thiel!) is using going into CPAC. Cringe.
Meanwhile, in the “Free State of Florida…” Chris Rufo says the quiet part out loud.
Liz Cheney’s next step… Is teaching at the University of Virginia.
Lavish Leonard Leo… How the co-Chairman of the Federalist Society cashed in during the Trump era.
Ron DeSantis’s new cheerleaders… A host of new webpages cropped up and sure enough they lurve them some DeSantis.
Ted Cruz doesn’t want to be a Senator anymore… Part 332,627,216 in an ongoing series.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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