In this column below, read Timothy Magrath’s response to our center column on Florida’s rejection of mathematics text books and Governor Ron DeSantis’ culture war with The Walt Disney Company; “’Don’t Say Gay Escalates Culture War.” 

Scroll down further to read about our Twitter poll on Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) future as House speaker after post-January 6 phone recordings of his discussions with other GOP leaders on Capitol Hill came to light, and read our discussion on Elon Musk’s impending takeover of Twitter.

Comments: 

editors@thehustings.news.

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(MON 5/2/22)

The primaries are here … And Republican leaders are confident they can retake the Senate this November so long as primary voters send in the right candidates. 

John Thune, of South Dakota, second in Senate GOP leadership under Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) says his party has a 50-50 chance right now of gaining a majority, which would require simply one net Republican victory. 

“It would be a lot higher than 50-50 if the primaries were over and we knew who our nominees were,” Thune told The Hill. “(There) are some very contentious, competitive primaries and in states, swing states, in a general election where you’ve got to have good candidates.”

Translation: Whereas the House of Representatives is considered a slam-dunk for Republicans, including – perhaps especially – Trump-endorsed candidates, Senate Republicans obviously are counting on voters moving beyond the Big Lie and the 2020 presidential election the former president continues to contest. Problem for Senate Republicans is the same primary voters will be choosing House candidates and where applicable, Senate candidates on the same ballot. 

First up: The purple state of Ohio, now considered deep red after Donald J. Trump’s win there in both 2016 and 2020, as well as Indiana are held this Tuesday. Everyone’s watching Ohio, where moderate Republican Sen. Rob Portman is retiring. The lead Republican for the nomination is former anti-Trumper turned Trump endorsee and Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance. If he wins the nomination, he will likely face Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who currently serves Ohio’s 13^th District.

Other primaries in May, per Ballotpedia, are West Virginia, on the 10^th, Kentucky and Idaho, on the 17^th and Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia, on the 24^th. 

--Todd Lassa

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(FRI 4/29/22)

Parents v. Culture Wars … Most parents, no matter their political affiliation, are content with their children’s schools, reports an NPR/Ipsos poll with findings that suggest the “culture wars” over critical race theory, LGBTQ+ policy, and banning library books are the product of small, but vocal, minority of parents, and of elected officials looking to make political hay of the issues. 

According to the poll, reported on NPR’s Morning Edition Friday, 76% of parents say their school does a good job of keeping them informed about curricula, including controversial topics. The poll covers a wide range of questions related to the culture wars and to the results of school shutdowns during the pandemic.

The poll results reflect an improvement over a February 2021 NPR/Ipsos poll that asked the same wide variety of questions about teachers and local school boards. 

You can read a full summary here: https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/NPR-Ipsos-Parent-Child-Education-04282022

The April 2022 poll of 1,007 parents found:

• Only 24% said they have too little influence over their children’s curricula.

• 37% said they “don’t know,” and 34% said they have about the right amount of influence.

• Political affiliation breakdown: 32% of Republicans, 18% of Democrats and 23% of independents said they have too little say in their kids’ school curricula.

•••

How to spend filthy lucre … The Biden administration is weighing options for directing to Ukraine for rebuilding tens of billions in dollars of Russian assets seized in economic sanctions imposed upon its invasion, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Roll Call, which notes that the plan would require an act of Congress and could potentially pose long-term risks to U.S. taxpayers. Russian foreign reserves were estimated in January at $630 billion, although it is not clear how much of that is frozen in the U.S.

President Biden announced Thursday a package of $33 billion in humanitarian aid and defense for Ukraine. Many Republican senators already are signaling, however, they will need more information about Biden’s supplemental before they could commit to voting for it, CNN reports.

Here’s some more information: Russia hit Kyiv with a cruise missile strike during UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ visit to the capital city, The Guardian reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a “strong response” to the strike, which came “hours” after Biden announced the U.S. would double aid to his country.

•••

Abortion ban OK’d … Oklahoma’s state legislature is not waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on Texas’ controversial SB 8, which essentially bans abortions, with a ban of its own. The Republican-dominated Oklahoma House of Representatives voted 68-12 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt for his signature, The Guardian reports. 

Like Texas’ SB 8, the Oklahoma law prohibits abortions after six weeks, before most women know they are pregnant, and allows citizens to sue abortion providers.

The Oklahoma House also approved new legislation prohibiting transgender students from using school restrooms that match their gender identity, and requires parental notification before any classroom instruction on sexual orientation or identity. (Note:See today’s first item.)

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Nic Woods

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Stephen Macaulay’s center-right take on Florida’s bill to strip Disney World of its special improvement district status “Mouseketeers, Assemble!” is directly below. And below that is R.J. Caster’s right-column commentary, “DeSantis’ Education Push-Back,” in response to our center column, “Checking Our Math.” 

Scroll down further to read about our Twitter poll on Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) future as House speaker after post-January 6 phone recordings of his discussions with other GOP leaders on Capitol Hill came to light, and read our discussion on Elon Musk’s impending takeover of Twitter.

Comments:

editors@thehustings.news.

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In the right column our pundit-at-large, Stephen Macaulay takes a center-right look at the Florida-based culture war between Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and The Walt Disney Company. We encourage you to read his commentary along with our Wednesday debate. 

You can read our center column on the issue by scrolling down with the scrollbar at the far right, where Timothy Magrath comments from the left, on the left, and R.J. Caster comments from the right, on the right.

Keep the conversation going with your comments. Email us at editors@thehustings.news and list yourself as “left” or “right” in the subject line. 

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By Stephen Macaulay

There are an estimated 58-million visitors to Walt Disney World each year. That is more than double the entire population of Florida.

People come from all 50 states and from countries around the world.

The base price for a ticket to the theme parks is $109 per day. It is estimated that the average visit to what is generally described as “The Happiest Place on Earth” is six days.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that people go to WDW and spend five days visiting the parks (they might spend the sixth at the Disney Springs shopping complex).

For five days, that would be $545 for tickets ($109 x 5).

For 58-million visitors, that’s $31,610,000,000.

Yes, billions.

Odds are you or someone you know has gone to WDW. And while it might seem like a heavy-lift to spend as much as any number of days cost to visit (that $31.6 billion doesn’t factor in plane fares, transportation, lodging, food, souvenirs, etc.), Disney is well known for its high standard of customer service.

There is value for money.

Another aspect of The Walt Disney Company is that it has developed (or purchased) some of the most beloved fictional characters of all-time. You can be a card-carrying member of AARP and have fond memories of Annette Funicello and Mickey; you can be in preschool and be capable of singing along with Elsa; you can live in your mom’s basement and know the back stories of even the obscure denizens of the Marvel Universe.

Disney owns 25,000 acres in central Florida where its parks and other amenities exist. That area is the “Reedy Creek Improvement District,” and operates with its own fire department, sanitation services and other functions of a municipality. A Florida law made it, and some other properties, an “independent special district.”

And Florida governor Ron DeSantis, allegedly because he was annoyed that WDW didn’t go along with his mask-free approach to COVID and because Disney CEO came out in support of the repeal of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, signed Florida Senate Bill 4-C, which revokes Disney’s right to operate as an independent special district.

One of the problems that the Democrats have is that they make things far too complicated in their messaging. They have a tendency to worry unnecessarily that they might offend someone by taking a stand on something so they boldly say little.

Meanwhile, the Other Side, to use a somewhat vulgar but accurate description, makes shit up. And if it doesn’t stick, despite repeated flinging of the bull, then they move on to something else. When called out on the lack of veracity they claim they are being unfairly attacked and then move on to something else.

Meanwhile, Democrats stare at their shoes.

Assuming that Democrats want to continue in positions of power and maybe even relevance, they have to start making bold, simple statements about what is being done by the Republicans (which generally is to say what isn’t being done by the Republicans because they seem to be more about bloviating than legislating).

So consider this:

Why don’t the Dems get out there and announce that Ron DeSantis is taking a wrecking ball to the Happiest Place on Earth. That Ron DeSantis is the enemy of Mouseketeers everywhere.

This is not an exaggeration.

The first-class service that people are familiar with from the Reedy Creek team? That’s going to be taken over by local municipalities. Which will arguably mean the level of service will go down and the tax rate for the people in those local municipalities will go up.

Not good for those who visit WDW. Not good for those who live around WDW.

While there might be moaning by the left flank of the Democratic Party that Disney is a big business and big businesses shouldn’t get any unfair advantages, they need to get over that. Tax breaks for businesses, whether it is for an amusement park or an automobile assembly plant, are now as American as apple pie.

DeSantis dissing Disney is one of the easiest ways that the Dems can reach not just the voters in Florida but across the country (millions of them).

If they can’t make that message resonate, then maybe they really are far less clever than they imagine themselves to be.

Note: Since this was written, the Disney Company dropped a document on the state of Florida which says, in effect, that the legislation signed by DeSantis is in violation of a contract signed by the state and the company 55 years ago. There is not only a rule-of-law issue here: Turns out that there is bond debt that the company has with the state that is due between 2023 and 2038 . . . which is on the order of $1.2-billion, which the state would have to pay — or eat. Nice work, Ron!

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Timothy Magrath

Much has been written about a recently passed law in Florida to prohibit the discussion of sexual orientation in schools from kindergarten to 3^rd grade.   Critics of Florida’s legislation prohibiting discussion of sexual orientation in public kindergarten to third-grade classes say it targets already marginalized LBGTQ people and groups, while supporters of the law accuse critics of being “groomers” who support steering children to be sexually abused by gay pedophiles, or some other horrid fate.  The critics of the legislation have also said the language is so vague that it would curtail any discussion of sexual education or orientation well beyond the third grade, and it empowers parents to sue while expanding legal liability to school systems across the state. 

Is this really a problem?  Or is this a Republican effort, led by presidential aspirant Gov. Ron DeSantis to demonize an already marginalized group, especially transexuals who have been in the political crosshair of Republican politicians across the country, to further their political aspirations? Is this really how Republican legislators and governors spend their time when they could be working on the real issues that affect their constituents, including infrastructure, climate change, jobs, health care and livable wages? Can anyone imagine kindergarten teachers inculcating young minds on sex?   

All the first- and second-year teachers I have ever met were kind, caring people. Teachers convincing first graders to have sex a certain way is beyond bizarre. And the party of tort reform is expanding school systems’ liability to any parent who suspects a sexual conversation has taken place in the classroom, including any conversations about “mommy and daddy.”   

One can imagine liberal parents, countering those sipping the Fox News Kool-Aid and the Ivermectin crowd by suing school systems for pushing stories with mommy and daddy heroes. 

This legislation should have been named the Lawyer Full-Employment Act, as already stretched school resources will have to be used to defend them from wackadoodle litigation. Way to spend tax revenues.   

Teachers pressed and insulted over the last years of the pandemic will be driven even more out of their loved profession. Why not praise our teachers and give them raises and tell them they are appreciated instead of suing them? 

The mission of many Republican leaders is to demonize opposing views. Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) in the early 1990s began spreading caustic words to aspiring congress members, and the political discourse has not been the same since. Now right-wing Q-Anon wing nuts believe Democratic leaders are pedophiles and even more “mainstream” MAGA Republicans consider the opposing party to be full of traitors, scum, criminals and socialists.

We are citizens of the same country -- friends and neighbors, not political enemies. But GOP leaders seem intent on dividing rather than uniting, first by political party, to “own the libs,” and then by attacking Mexicans and other immigrants, Muslims, minorities, and now people with different sexual or gender preferences. The party who has advocated forever for less government wants to monitor who is sleeping with whom and persecute them if they do not conform.   

At this rate it will not take long for a Republican to go lower than Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’s Press Secretary, who tweeted that anyone opposed to this legislation must be a groomer. 

It gets worse. Gov. DeSantis pushed for, and just signed, legislation that removes Disney’s special improvement district simply to punish one of the state’s largest employers for opposing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. We are not born with such bigotry, but rather we are trained by our parents, and apparently by our political leaders. Speak out against bigotry in all forms, as The Walt Disney Company has done, or remain silent and foster division and hate.

Magrath is associate professor of political science and director of the Beall Institute for Public Affairs at Frostburg State University (Maryland).

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By RJ Caster

Gone are the days when a story began with “Florida Man…” and didn’t have anything to do with Governor Ron DeSantis. One thing is for certain, Governor DeSantis learned from President Trump that one has to be high-energy to drive the political narrative and be top of mind, nationwide, in order to raise name identification. And Gov. DeSantis is doing just that on the battlefield of his choosing: Education. 

There is a unifying thread that runs through many of those actions DeSantis has taken as governor lately:

1. DeSantis signs a bill targeting explicit books in schools.
2. DeSantis signs a bill to put an end to allowing transgender athletes to compete in high school sports.
3. DeSantis bans schools from being able to forcibly quarantine children who were exposed to COVID but did not test positive for COVID.
4. DeSantis signs the "Stop the W.O.K.E. Act," banning Critical Race Theory from being taught in classrooms.
5. DeSantis applauds the Florida Dept. of Education's rejection of 54 math books for not meeting standards and/or incorporating "prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT."

Regarding the rejection of 54 math books, the state released several of the examples found. One example was multiple charts illustrating what cross sections of the population were “more racially biased.” The chapter starts out with “What? Me? Racist?” before getting into the topic of… “Adding and Subtracting Polynomials.”

Both Retired Adm. William McRaven (U.S. Navy) and former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice called our K-12 Educational system the “greatest national security threat to our nation.” Last year the Pentagon released the Defense and Industrial Capabilities Report and its findings sounded the alarms around America’s failing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) culture and how it can hurt American policy on the world stage. Why is the educational industrial complex so concerned with fighting against something they supposedly “don’t teach” like Critical Race Theory? Why does the curriculum need to be politicized at all when it comes to teaching students the fundamentals of Math, Science and Technology?

The left would have people believe that it’s “Trump’s Republican Party” acting overzealous in this new battle over the hearts and minds of our youth. But the problem is a growing number of moderates and independents also feel like the Democratic Party is dismissing their concerns about education and what their children are learning. The Teachers unions did themselves no favors when they lobbied for continuous “learning remotely” measures which allowed parents working from home a chance to see what and how their children were learning (or lack thereof). 

Furthermore, it’s a poorly kept secret there is an implicit left-leaning bias among educators, and a glaring disparity when money from teachers unions and their members are involved. Now the people in power are trying to say they aren’t inculcating any political leanings in children even though they tend to be predominately of a particular political persuasion. We are facing a growing mental health crisis among our children and public school educators, lobbyists, and their Democratic counterparts in government continue to stand athwart school choice measures yelling, “stop!”  

We learned this past year in Virginia and almost in New Jersey, among other places with off-year elections, that parents are voting on the left’s handling of education this generation. So Gov. DeSantis is taking the fight to the Democrats over an issue that Democrats monopolized for nearly half a century -- and only time will tell if his strategic vision pans out. Ron DeSantis and the Right have embraced an issue traditionally held dear by the left in education which will benefit them in the coming elections, and possibly the future. 

Caster is chief executive officer of Jacksonville, Florida-based Techne Media, and one-time intern for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD).

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Who will leave Twitter when Tesla CEO Elon Musk completes his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform? Where will they go?

“I want everybody to come over to TRUTH – conservatives, liberals, whatever,” former President Trump told Fox News. He was promoting his own social media platform, recently launched, and said he does not plan to return to Twitter. 

You may comment here, or for the right column if that’s your preference. (Please tell us your preference in the subject line.) Note that The Hustings welcomes comments from any and all sides of a political issue, so long as it’s civil and respects the facts. No echo chambers, no trolling, and no twisting of the facts. We edit for length and clarity, though we do not edit content or context. Email editors@thehustings.news.

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(TUE 4/26/22)

Who’s at war with Russia? … At a press conference in Poland Monday after a surprise meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Secretary of State Lloyd Austin said he “wants to see Russia weakened” and unable to recover quickly from its war against Ukraine. This ramps up, at least, the established Biden administration goal of helping Ukraine retain its sovereignty and defend its territory, The Guardian reports. The U.S. also pledged another $713 million in military aide to Ukraine.

The Kremlin responded Tuesday by cranking up its rhetoric. “NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war,” foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian state media, according to The Guardian. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets later Tuesday with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who will argue for an immediate cease-fire, The Washington Post reports. Of course, the Kremlin may agree to a cease-fire, but no one should believe it.

•••

Civil case against Trump Organization is very much alive … While the criminal investigation against former Donald J. Trump’s business organization by Manhattan’s district attorney continues to flail after two prosecutors resigned earlier this year, the civil case by state Attorney Gen. Letitia James scored a victory Monday when a New York Supreme Court judge held the former president in contempt and imposed a $10,000 per day fine against him, NPR reports. Trump’s attorney has appealed.

James’ office is investigating whether the Trump Organization has undervalued its properties to avoid taxes and overvalued its properties in order to procure more favorable loans from financial institutions. Trump turned in zero documents to James after her request last year, according to NPR’s Morning Edition, and has turned in just 10 documents from earlier requests. 

Boilerplate: Trump has repeatedly accused James’ investigation of being politically motivated. 

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Fox News host Tucker Carlson tweeted this Monday evening: “We’re back.” Scary as that may be coming from the Putin apologist, we understand it may have something to do with his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight.

But the looming question now that Richest Man in the World and “free speech” absolutist Elon Musk is about to take over Twitter is whether MAGA will take over the social media platform, which currently has 200 million users. 

Predictably, Donald J. Trump ended speculation that he may quickly re-join the platform that banned him permanently after the January 6 Capitol insurrection by promoting his own company.

“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH. I hope that Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to stay on Twitter,” Trump told Fox News.

You may comment here, or for the left column if that’s your preference. (Please tell us your preference in the subject line.) Note that The Hustings welcomes comments from any and all sides of a political issue, so long as it’s civil and respects the facts. No echo chambers, no trolling, and no twisting of the facts. We edit for length and clarity, though we do not edit content or context. Email editors@thehustings.news.

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There was no sympathy from the left for the House minority leader after release of a January 10, 2021, GOP leadership phone call revealed that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had lied about intending to tell then-President Trump to step down 10 days early, for being complicit in the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Comments from the left (identified by Twitter handles):

Horror show for America.

--Just Say No to Jim Crow

Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

--Shuttem Downes

*Tweets, like letters and other readers’ comments may be edited for clarity, length and civility, but never for context nor meaning.

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Comments: editors@thehustings.news

Conservatives were not any easier on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s recorded comments about calling on then-President Trump to resign after the January 6 Capitol insurrection. But their expectations may be different if polled again after learning of Donald J. Trump’s forgiveness toward McCarthy in his late-Friday interview with The Wall Street Journal. Comments:

If he does (become speaker) patriots will abandon the party.

--Mike Soubirous (retired Riverside, California city councilmember)

R.I.N.O.s need to go.

--Jeanette Starykowicz

*Tweets, like letters and other readers’ comments may be edited for clarity, length and civility, but never for context nor meaning.

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Comments: editors@thehustings.news