Post and background for today is taken in part from the historical novel, 1984, written by George Orwell.
It helps set the scene for what we see,
hear, and read about in FL right now and spreading in several other “Red/Ultra-Conservative
GOP-run states” with their self-made label of: “Our Social and Cultural War” on education,
free speech, and well, on our American democracy as a whole.
The 10 Most Popular Quotes From Orwell’s 1984:
These are the 10 most popular 1984 quotes with
the highest number of reader votes on Goodreads.
(FYI: My six
favs are highlighted up front):
1. “Who controls the past controls the future.
Who controls the present controls the past.”
2. “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance
is strength.”
3. “The best books… are those that tell you
what you know already.”
4. “If you want to keep a secret, you must also
hide it from yourself.”
5. “But if thought corrupts language, language
can also corrupt thought.”
6. “Doublethink means the power of holding two
contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of
them.”
7. “Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as
to be understood.”
8. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a
boot stamping on a human face — forever.”
9. “We shall meet in the place where there is no
darkness.”
10. “It was a bright cold day in
April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
Now to Florida and their out of control cultural GOP warrior
Governor Ron DeSantis and his GOP legislature who is going bonkers:
TALLAHASSEE, FL (The AP) — Florida Republicans on May 3 approved bills: (1) To ban diversity programs in colleges and (2) to prevent students and teachers from being using pronouns that don’t correspond to someone’s sex – building on Gov. DeSantis' priorities.
The two proposals were given final passage by the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate. DeSantis is expected to sign the bills into law.
Also, DeSantis is also expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign in the
coming weeks as he has driven a hardline conservative agenda that
seeks to gain support of Republican primary voters nation-wide (or so it
seems),
The state’s Legislative session, scheduled to end this week,
has been dominated by divisive cultural issues, with Republican allies of
DeSantis approving his priority bills on sexual orientation, gender identity, race,
certain speech, and education that are expected to aid him in his presidential
bid.
More DeSantis hardline
bills:
1. The GOP Senate also voted to expand the law critics call Don’t Say Gay, a major calling card
of DeSantis. It prevents school staffers or students from referring to people
by pronouns that don’t correspond to the person’s sex.
2. FL also bans classroom instruction on gender identity and
sexual orientation up to the 8th grade, legally reinforcing a DeSantis
administration move to prohibit such lessons in all grades.
3. The bill also strengthens the system in which people can
lodge challenges against school books, another DeSantis initiative that has led
to the removal of material he and his supporters argue are inappropriate for
children.
FL Legislator Comments:
DEM State Sen. Tracie
Davis said: “Think about what we’re doing, honestly. Think about how this
will affect families that don’t look like yours. They’re still families.
They’re Florida families. But we’re treating them like they’re outsiders and
we’re telling them we don’t want them here.”
Republicans
GOP Sen. Erin
Grall said: “You see society coming at our children in a culture war that
has an agenda to make them confused. We are depriving children of the ability
to figure out who they are when we push an agenda, a sexualized agenda, down
onto children.”
Separately, Republicans in
the House gave final passage to a DeSantis priority bill that bans colleges
from using state or federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion
programs (DEI).
Such initiatives have come
under increasing criticism from Republicans who argue the programs are racially
divisive.
The FL Impact
Nation-wide: Republican lawmakers in at least a dozen states have proposed
more than 30 bills this year targeting DEI efforts in higher education, based on this AP analysis using
the bill-tracking software called “Plural.”
GOP State Rep. Randy
Fine said: “They want rote belief in the same thing. They say they want
inclusion, but they don’t unless you believe what they believe. These programs
are being used all over the country. Imagine how great our universities will be
when we are the only ones who are not.”
DEMS have no power to stop the Republicans, but they have begun to vent over the rightward shift in policy.
State DEM Sen. Jason Pizzo said: “The message that resonates from this chamber over the last few years
is one of hate, exclusion, and punishment. There is very little grace and very little
compassion.”
My 2 Cents: Astonishing article. Who truly believes after examining
the record thus far of Gov. DeSantis can honestly conclude that he is fit and able,
or responsible to run for President let alone serve in that office?
The scariest part of all
this anti-everything attitude is that it’s not just DeSantis, but perhaps it a
movement in a dozen or so other GOP-run states, too.
The all seem to blame
(24/7) DEMS, President Biden, and everyone in sight except themselves for the
raw turmoil they have ginned up ever since Trump hit the scene and worst since
2020 with his “Big Lie” that led up to January 6 and never once blaming him or
certainly themselves.
Yes, it’s true that our
democracy is under attack and being stretched like I’ve never seen before in
all my days, but not totally due to the DEMS, President Biden, or the and much
needed policies now in place, but is due to their own GOP raw nasty ugly
mean-spirited political stunts like the above with DeSantis in FL and also with
Gov. Abbott in TX and in other GOP-run states.
End of my rant – the facts
and the data support most of what I just posted as true and worrisome.
Thanks for stopping by.
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