We have long discussed how educators are instilling viewpoint intolerance in students from the earliest grades. The latest example is the cancellation of a visit to McKinley Elementary School in Fairfield, Connecticut, by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. The students had the opportunity to speak and interact with a cabinet member, but the school cancelled the event due to political opposition from parents.
Reports indicated that the visit, part of McMahon’s “History Rocks” tour in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, was cancelled due to a campaign by parents.
The parents rose up after McKinley Principal Christine Booth wrote them saying that the school was
“proud to offer this unique opportunity and… unforgettable experience for our McKinley students. Students will enjoy a dynamic, interactive assembly that brings American history and civic learning to life through fun, game show style activities, hands-on participation, and even prizes. This high energy experience is designed to spark curiosity, celebrate our country’s story, and make learning memorable for our students.”
Fairfield Superintendent of Schools Michael Testani folded immediately under the political pressure rather than stand firm that the school is a place for different ideas and voices:
“Following this evening’s announcement about the Secretary of Education’s planned visit to McKinley on Friday, we heard from many families who expressed concerns and shared that they were considering keeping their children home. Due to these circumstances, the Secretary of Education’s visit to Fairfield has been canceled.”
Those “circumstances” were the combination of political pressure from parents and a lack of principle by school officials.
These parents and officials have taught these students a terrible lesson: they should not be exposed to opposing views or speakers. They are raising a generation of speech-phobics that reflects their own intolerance and bias.
“…educators
instilling
viewpoint
intolerance….”
Let that sink in.
There is nothing to be done for these cultural-marxist, closed-minded puppets, but to hope that the rationality discussed here, can break through for the few “democrats” who still have enough moral fiber left to question their own certainties. As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” No wonder they are being encouraged (literally, hypnotized), and so easily, into “putting their bodies on the line”….
MAGA people lining up wanting the taxpayers to give them money.
Trump wants $10 billion from the IRS for the leak of his tax records in 2018 and 2020.
Lindsey Graham wants $1 million because Jack Smith got his phone call records.
J6ers want money.
Farmers want money.
Of course CEOs want their contracts, subsidies & tariff waivers.
It’s griftapalooza at taxpayer expense for the gangsters.
Classic changing the subject.
@Anonymous
I am someone that believes in differences that are complimentary (and that kind of cognitive dissonance is anathema to the incapable of critical thought, ‘collectivist’, mindset), and the modern left, are not that. Try again, and somewhere else.
How much was that again DOGE discovered in Democratic fraud through USAID? How muck was that Russian Hoax by Hillary $50M? Pfffffft! Aonoafart
Off topic, but someone has to disabuse you of your one-sided grifting hallucination:
The Griftapalooza—guess you were fast asleep during the democrat/Biden adminstation’s Act-Blue Rip offs, BLM rip-offs, NGO ripoffs, illegal immigrants with free credit cards, new cars, and hotels with top-grade food taxpyer rip-offs, Ilhan Omar who has no speical skills becoming a millionarie, etc., etc., etc.
Take the blinders off and you might start learning about the REAL world.
Democrats whining – instead of being happy – that EVERYBODY would have to pay taxes to cover the damages from the malfeasance and criminality of their Dear Leader, Bribery Biden and his felons like Merrick Garland, Jack Smith et al.
Why not. They/government broke the law.
Remember that.
BREAKING NEWS: DOJ RELEASES THE THREE MILLION PAGES OF EPSTEIN FILES!
X may be late showing up for work today, as he pours through the files desperately searching for anything that hints at Trump impropriety, after he can’t find a crime.
RELEASE THE DEMOCRAT HOUSE PELOSI/HAKEEM JEFFRIES J6 BURN BAGS!!!!
“BREAKING NEWS: DOJ RELEASES THE THREE MILLION PAGES OF EPSTEIN FILES!”
Apparently. among those files is documentation that Bill Gates requested Epstein to give him antibiotics for his wife, to whom he (Gates) passed an STD that he acquired from (presumably under-aged) Russian girls on one of his Pedophile Isle jaunts. I also read that there are over 3,000 photographs of men that are unredacted. This should be verra interesting…
OT
The singular American failure is the judicial branch.
The death penalty was dropped from the Luigi Mangione case.
Judges and prosecutors search for “smoking guns.”
This case includes a video of the victim and the perpetrator firing the smoking gun.
Never has there been more of a “sure thing,” “open-and-shut,” or “slam dunk” case.
This judge must be impeached and convicted, and most of the rest of them too.
The juristocracy must be concluded with extreme prejudice.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch.
Copied and pasted posts repeatedly put up on a daily basis deserve the exact same word for word as rebuttal.
The overwhelming singular failure of the American republic rights and freedoms experiment has been voters allowing the continued existence of the vile and violent, seditious DNC and their equally vile members like Anonymous, The Racist Democrat Communist Formerly Known As George.
The Democrats who loved Chief Justice Taney telling them their Darkies were just a different breed of farm animal, now attempt to blame the chaos they’ve created on the Supreme Court, not themselves. That would be the Supreme Court that has given them what they couldn’t get at the ballot box.
The Confederate DNC, who have now embraced Marx/Alinsky’s communist strategies since losing the Kluxxer Civil War, now put their fellow communists like Justices Jackson and Sotomayor on SCOTUS, polluting that court in hopes of continuing to get from SCOTUS what voters consistently reject at the ballot box.
And while GeorgeX and other communist Democrats want to blame SCOTUS – at the same time they howl in delight at the actions of Jackson and Sotomayor that they worked so hard to put on SCOTUS.
Holy Geeze! What the —- was that? Psychosis manifested?
Holy Geeze! What the —- was that? Psychosis manifested?
Double Holy Geeze!! It’s too early in the morning for the Democrat movie theater to be having a childrens’ matinee showing of the Democrat Commie Clown Show.
Projection:
Channeling one’s actions onto others typically refers to the psychological concept of projection, where a deeply emotionally disturbed individual unconsciously or deliberately attributes their own thoughts, feelings, and anti-social or criminal behaviors onto someone else.
This is an internal defense mechanism which allows mentally ill people to avoid confronting their own behavior and guilt by seeing it instead as as the thoughts and actions of another person who they despise and hate.
Want to kill Luigi Mangione? Put him on a United Healthcare insurance plan.
The news reports about this incident provide some additional insight: “In an interview with Connecticut Public, McKinley parent and Democratic member of the Fairfield Representative Town Meeting Tracy Rodriguez said she had a “heated conversation” with Superintendent Testani on Wednesday. “He saw no concern over the visit. He thought I was politicizing it,” Rodriguez said. “I think it’s completely inappropriate to have someone from the Trump administration speaking directly to our children, and in light of what’s happening in our country right now, I personally felt that the safety of our students and staff was not being considered,” Rodriguez said.”
Heaven forfend that anyone from the Trump administration directly interact with the students and create some doubt that they are devils incarnate. There is a clear and justified concern that Representative Rodriguez’s student might experience something that is dissonant with the representation of reality given at home. That would indeed create a safety problem because then the student just might wonder what else have they been told that is utterly bonkers or even worse consider their parents as bonkers. I would also surmise that what Superintendent Testani characterizes as “many” families was actually a relatively few vocal families – the emphasis being on vocal. One would indeed expect that the superintendent and principal to have had firm principles but canceling is the easier path.
Supposedly, “parents rose up,” causing “Fairfield Superintendent of Schools, Michael Testani, to fold immediately under the political pressure….”
In REALITY, it’s not even that serous of a problem to hear other views, regardless of who is speaking. The norm is to have Q&A after a lesson or session to expand the dialogue.
“Cancelling” an educational event creates gossip and innuendos that take the place of facts and rational discourse; these particular parents and their school are forcing the destruction of the more sophisticated goals of education: the hearing and grappling-with other views, and they nullify fair and civil compromise so necessary to civic peace and unity.
Leftists have lost the meaning of education, which is not politics, but learning, learning which intrinsically includes the tolerance of varied ideas and even counterpoint; their staunch bias mixed with emotional vitriol shows that the school system in Fairfield, Connecticut, is ruined, and reverting to the primitive. They have totally lost the objective.
I think it is a good idea to introduce children to the concept that if one is wealthy enough and willing to shed ethics, one can get a job tearing down the part of the government they are rewarded for paying to be in charge of and getting paid to do it. Essentially, pay to become the rot from within.
It is also an opportunity to show that wealthy people can be close associates of those who have been closely involved with child sex traffickers so they know what to avoid in the future. As future minions to billionaires the children need to know that those who displease their masters can either be driven to suicide or murdered.
Turns out the big Melania movie is really just a remake.
https://youtu.be/88MR0E-FzMI?t=15
Turns out this is just more Democrat anguish that Melania is the opposite of their commie bitter former First Tranny, Big Mike, with the bulge in the front of her/his dresses.
Isn’t the column about a cancelled visit by Sec’y McMahon?
“. . . spark curiosity, celebrate our country’s story, and make learning memorable for our students.”
To Leftists, that is the triple threat.
Education is not supposed to kindle intellectual inquiry. Its supposed to dull the mind and kill a desire to know.
Educators are not supposed to admire America or its Western culture. They are supposed to degrade them.
And, most of all, learning is not supposed to be a unforgettable experience. It’s supposed to be the rote memorization of Leftist propaganda — swallowed whole, then regurgitated back.
Sam,
Leftist ideology is a dystopian mix of 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 and various failed socialist and communist experiments.
Don’t forget to take your meds chief
Don’t forget to take your meds chief
Democrat Dump To Deflect And Run, smelling like you’re a thief siphoning somebody else’s gas.
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is the intended psychological manipulation by a low-IQ perpetrator targeting those they hope to victimize through intentionally misleading that person or group. This involves the perpetrator trivializing, lying, denying events, and other methods used in the hope their intended victims doubt their perceptions of reality, memories, and feel overly emotional or irrational.
The main five methods of gaslighting that may be used alone or in conjunction with others are: trivializing, countering, lying, blame shifting, and withholding.
How unsurprising. So three fiction novels are the basis of upstates’ political ideology?
Those novels are not the basis of my political ideology. It is the blue print the DNC is working from.
How unsurprising. So three fiction novels are the basis of your conservative ideology?
@Anonymous
We know you can read, at the least. An ability to comprehend? Pfft. And yet you will turn around and brag about the pure transactions you refer to as ‘degrees’. Really, junior, step aside. Your time is over. You will have more temper tantrums until it really sinks in for you, because you are thick as a log, and have the maturity of a kindergartner waiting for their graham cracker, milk, and nap, but it’s done. Go to the crying corner.
How unsurprising. So three fiction novels are the basis of your conservative ideology?
How unsurprising. Democrat Dump And Disappear, smelling like you’re a thief siphoning somebody else’s gas.
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is the intended psychological manipulation by a low-IQ perpetrator targeting those they hope to victimize through intentionally misleading that person or group. This involves the perpetrator trivializing, lying, denying events, and other methods used in the hope their intended victims doubt their perceptions of reality, memories, and feel overly emotional or irrational.
The main five methods of gaslighting that may be used alone or in conjunction with others are: trivializing, countering, lying, blame shifting, and withholding.
Wait a minute
Daughter Stephanie has a beef with mother Linda. Roll it.
Linda McMahon and daughter
“Linda McMahon and daughter” Any Big Daddy Joe Biden and druggy daughter Ashley footage you found on YouTube? Anything where somebody has their clothes off?
Joe Biden’s daughter Recalls ‘Showers w/my Dad’ -Ashley Biden’s Diary
https://youtu.be/x-FksOoWFbo?si=TFGKduqlTdFOJl-B&t=24
Removing partisanship from the equation, we have an Executive Branch (WH and federal agencies) practicing a foreign model of government, not practicing America’s model of government. Republican icons like Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan would not support this foreign model of government – not found in the U.S. Constitution.
It’s highly likely that most Trump officials couldn’t pass a “Citizenship Test” that most immigrants are required to pass to become U.S. citizens.
From shear lack of American Civics Education of Trump officials, why would we want these uneducated politicians teaching our kids anything? Regardless of political party.
Perhaps because it would be a lesson in critical thinking.
Nice! Pretending to be a Republican and cosplaying as offering a Republican analysis!
Can we go now? You’ve done enough today and I want to get to the Friday Tranny Brunch we’re invited to!
This is exactly the problem. You are arguing for shielding students from ideas because you distrust the people in power, while simultaneously claiming to defend constitutional self-government. That position is incoherent.
Civic education is not about trusting officials, passing loyalty tests, or deciding which side is qualified to speak. It is about teaching students how the Constitution works, how to evaluate competing claims, and how to confront ideas they disagree with without demanding suppression.
The deeper issue is that this way of thinking reveals a failure of civic formation. Someone who has never been formed for self-government naturally seeks protection from ideas rather than engagement with them, and then passes that same impulse on to the next generation.
Distrust of officials is precisely why students must be taught how to evaluate ideas for themselves. Shielding them because you dislike who is speaking is not civic education. It is civic surrender.
OLLY,
Great comment!
Well done!
Blah, blah, blah, blah, Trump, blah, blah, Trump/cabinet, blah, blah, blah. Nice post.
Ano
Test” that most immigrants are required to pass to become U.S. citizens.
You do know Prez Trump was born here. He is a US citizen.
Folks, gonna have to apologize for Dustoff. He’s the local idiot, cut him some slack please.
@Anonymous
Clearly you went to the same schools. 🙄 Spare us, we know better.
It’s highly likely that most Trump officials couldn’t pass a “Citizenship Test” that most immigrants are required to pass to become U.S. citizens. From shear lack of American Civics Education of Trump officials…
Do you have any similar issues with Biden and his Administration first inviting and then in violation of existing American law bringing Illegal Aliens into America while they called them “immigrants”?
Do you have any concerns with “the sheer lack of American Civics Education” among Biden, Obama, and their Administration officials? The ones who violated the oath every one of them took to faithfully uphold the existing laws of the USA?
Stick around and debate your views on what “American Civics Education” looks like from your Democrat side.
It’s hard to swallow a Democrat insinuating their view on what not practicing America’s model of government looks like. Throwing in the names of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan doesn’t get it done.
“From shear lack of American Civics Education of Trump officials . . .”
If that’s true, why does the Left deem them such a threat?
Worth considering: it appears that dark money connected to the Chinese Communist Party is bankrolling the violent unrest we are seeing. It’s obviously in China’s interests to weaken the US, their main geopolitical rival, including weakening us from within. For them it’s a three-fer: (a) efforts to deport violent criminals here illegally are impeded, (b) many people get criminal records, and (c) social cohesion is undermined.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ccp-connected-millionaire-allegedly-bankrolls-minneapolis-agitator-groups-through-dark-money-network
All roads to the left lead to Beijing.
All roads to the right lead to Nazi Germany
Yeah… and Trump is actually a Nazi!
Okay… are we done here for today? X will be here soon to take over and there’s the Friday Democrat Tranny Brunch we’re going to miss if we keep hanging around here.
OldManFromKS,
And that is the reason why those protest NGOs are so desperate to stop the investigations in MN. The FBI, IRS is uncovering the extent of how the anti-ICE protests are not grassroots but funded by third party actors.
Foxs news , without proof, claims the CCP is behind it all? You buy that?
We oughta make you head of the FBI, CIA and NIA.
No moron. It has been all over the non-MSM news since the funding was first discovered.
In other news, the Lemon has been arrested. Somebody needs to ask him if the juice was worth the squeeze 😀
He has achieved his goal of gaining entrance into a men’s prison.
The prison shower awaits his excellency.
@Diogenes
I guess the inevitable gaslighting and spinning on his behalf will be lemon-aid.
😀
Juice? Is that cum for your kind of homosexuals’?
Now, Don! Who would have guessed you were a homophobe!
I wonder if these same parents who preach intolerance, hate and cancel culture to their kids will accept responsibility for their kids becoming violent and (at best) getting a prison record for violently-interfering with LEOs doing their jobs, or (at worst) turning up dead like Good and Pretti, who were both armed (vehicle, gun) and who both violently-interfered with LEOs doing their jobs?
Naahhh… of course not.
Narcissists never accept responsibility for their own actions.
I wonder if these same parents who preach intolerance, hate and cancel culture to their kids will accept responsibility ….
When we lived in Church Hill in Richmond, near where Patrick Henry gave his “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech in St. John’s Episcopal Church, we saw yard signs in many expensive homes broadcasting, Be Nice!, after Trump won the 2016 election. The Ten Commandments were out, Be Nice! was in. This was followed by BLM, ANTIFA, and anarchists closing major interstates and roads around Richmond, arson of homes, businesses and “peaceful protestors” blocking firetrucks, railing against black owned businesses for not closing. Police stopped responding to 911 calls because the “defund police” strategy had taken a toll on LEO due to resignations. These later dovetailed into COVID’s holier than thou lectures by non-medical, non-academic moralists. They preened on the importance of masking 24/7, closing schools and the necessity of taking umpteen booster shots for a vaccine that they could not explain its mechanism of action. Those of us in medicine who administered the vaccines and are medical researchers in the field of immunology were told we were anti-science. It only made me laugh out loud in their faces.
The smug are a ghastly species. Living in BFE now couldn’t be more satisfying. Our neighbors came over a few days ago when they saw me shoveling 6″ of ice (formerly snow) on our long sloping inclined driveway. I had not asked any of them for help but they came anyways: one brought a snow shovel, another took the 30 pounds pick from my hands, and they just went at it. I grabbed my flat ended shovel and there we were: arm in arm helping each other. Took 2 days but we can finally use our driveway again thanks to kind neighbors who walk the talk. Later today i’m returning the favor
There is no going back to what Christianity created in Western Civilization. America has squandered her foundational principles. With ~ 350M people in America, you can’t get them all to do a 180 degree turn around. The best one can hope for is to surround yourself with people who share your religious values, whether they are religious or not, and have plenty of ammo.
As it is, the Democrats now control both legislative bodies in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Governor is a far-left privileged white chick AWFUL. They’ve already introduced legislation in VA to tax anything that does not move, and take away our guns and ammo, including making it a crime to own a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.
California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, NY, Minnesota move over. Virginia is where it all started for this country. It will likely be the place where it all ends…the end of leftism in the USA
2026 Regular Session
SB749
Status: In Committee
Importation, sale, possession, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalties.
Summary As Introduced
Importation, sale, possession, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices prohibited; penalties. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses, transports, or transfers an assault firearm, as that term is defined in the bill with some exceptions, and prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction. The bill provides that an assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2026. The bill also prohibits the sale of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that any person who willfully and intentionally (i) sells an assault firearm to another person or (ii) purchases an assault firearm from another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and that any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person younger than 21 years of age to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, transport, or transfer an assault firearm regardless of the date of manufacture of such assault firearm with some exceptions.
https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB749
Worst among these is SB749, which bans the importation, sale, and possession of “assault firearms” and most standard capacity magazines.
“Gun owners beware! If you possess a magazine that holds 10 rounds or more, you immediately become a Criminal under Democrat bill SB 749,” noted the Senate GOP caucus.
Other measures approved include:
SB78 – Eliminates mandatory minimum sentences for firearms-related offenses.
SB79 – Bans the carrying of firearms into buildings owned or leased by the Commonwealth, with the exception of rest areas.
SB115 – Orders the review of reciprocal concealed handgun permits with other states.
SB173 – Creates a “gun-free zone” over hospitals that provide mental health or developmental services.
SB272 – Removes exemptions for carrying firearms in public institutions of higher education.
SB312 – Bans the carrying of “assault firearms” in public areas.
SB323 – Bans “plastic firearms or receivers.”
SB348 – A mandatory gun lock law for residences where a minor or a person prohibited from possessing is present
SB496 – Mandates the secure storage of handguns in vehicles
.
SB727 – Bans the carrying of loaded firearms of any sort in a list of public areas under threat of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
https://www.guns.com/news/2026/01/27/virginia-dems-advance-11-gun-control-bills-assault-weapon-ban
I guess my question is, what do most parents want? If most want it cancelled, I’m not happy about it, but it’s their children. The only time we should object to local standards is when it is in defiance of the Constitution.
But if this is driven by local activists and school administrators, then it’s up to the parents to shout down these hacks or be sheared like sheep.
This is Connecticut–the gated community of NYC–so yeah, hacks and sheep. It’s a leftwing bubble and that’s fine, but the minute they think their bubble should be forced on everybody else, they have no solutions–they are themselves the problem.
They want cheap goods from China, so everybody should kiss their ring. They want cheap lawncare from Mexico, so everybody should bow to their sanctimony. Their subjunctive reasoning is full of self-interest. Sadly, NYC’s gated communities never see it that way. They are the problem.
This is not to say I think the Professor is wrong. He has a point. I’m only suggesting how far we can go in being right.
@Diogenes
I am not psychic, so no absolutes, but I can almost guarantee it was your former in this case.
But CT is so blue the sky is jealous (not to mention wealthy – why do those always go hand in hand? And people think the others are the fat cats?), and it is what it is. My wife and I have seen it too many times during our blue state adventures – literally one parent successfully suing for something woke to the detriment of literally everyone else that goes to the school, though in this case I’m sure it was a group, and obviously no lawsuits.
Your hunch is my hunch. The parents are crazy, but it could still be both.
Mr. Turley, you have one thing in particular in common with the Nazis. You can stand there and actually violently condemn the very thing you do with a smug smile on your face. Can’t wait to hear your junior high school explanation for why Don Lemon needed to be arrested.
Don asked to spend some alone time with the boys in cell block D.
This is the new normal. If you don’t like what someone says, you pull out the nazi simile.
“Mr. Turley, you have one thing in particular in common with the Nazis. You can stand there and actually violently condemn the very thing you do with a smug smile on your face.”
What would that be, precisely? Because, like many of the other “Anonymous” posters routinely jibing at Professor Turley, your posts are not being ‘cancelled.”
Why do mush-minded responders like this think that they are coherent?
Junior high response would still be several grades ahead of you.
@Anonymous
my weekly lowering myself to responding to you: you are an idiot, and everyone knows it. At this point, you should probably make a screen name, as everyone knows who ‘Anonymous’ is and it has become an identifier unto itself. Your dumbness would still give you away, though.
A common writing style problem is to not put any kind of quantifying adjective in giving attribution. “Scientists say”, “Economists say”, “Experts say” are commonly used, which gives the impression that some opinion is widely held and can be attributed to the body at large.
Instead, saying “Three scientists say”, “Some economists say”, “A few experts say”.
In this essay, the line “…but the school cancelled the event due to political opposition from parents.” Can be more properly stated with quantifying how many parents, especially out of how many have students at the school.
“In this essay, the line “…but the school cancelled the event due to political opposition from parents.” Can be more properly stated with quantifying how many parents, especially out of how many have students at the school.”
That is an excellent point.
One of the most revealing aspects of the last decade is not what Trump did, but what his presidency exposed. He did not break the system. He revealed how many people were never actually formed as citizens capable of self-government in the first place.
That reality is on display again here. Parents threatening to keep their children home, and officials responding by canceling a visit, are not acting out of concern for education or safety.
They are acting out of civic incapacity.
The Framers understood education as a necessary good for a free people. A constitutional republic depends on citizens trained to exercise judgment, tolerate dissent, and defend rights even when they dislike the speaker or the message.
What we are witnessing instead is the generational transmission of that failure. Adults who were never formed for self-government are now shielding their children from the very experiences required for proper civic formation. Avoidance is being taught as virtue, and discomfort is being treated as harm.
Citizenship in a republic is not merely a legal status or a set of slogans. It is a moral and intellectual condition. Teach people what to chant, how to signal, and when to comply, and they will look like citizens while functioning as dependents.
That is the deeper issue Turley is pointing to. This is not about one speaker or one visit. It is about whether we still understand how to form a people capable of sustaining a free republic at all.
“That is the deeper issue Turley is pointing to…” And you think the readers here can’t discern that for themselves?
Of course readers can discern things. But if the root cause isn’t named, it never gets examined. Silence ensures we keep arguing over symptoms instead of addressing the problem itself.
““That is the deeper issue Turley is pointing to…” And you think the readers here can’t discern that for themselves?”
SOME of the readers here may be able to discern this, but even a shallow dive into the fever swamps of social media, and, certainly the “news” out of Minnesota, proves many in the general population cannot.
Olly – good points all around. I would add: hearing opposing viewpoints is an indispensable means of arriving at truth. Someone who never hears counter-arguments never really knows the weaknesses in his own arguments. That is the downside of echo-chamber living. While it may be more comfortable, it leads to uninformed opinions held fanatically.
Well said oldman. Opposing viewpoints are essential for testing our own ideas. Echo chambers may feel comfortable, but they produce certainty without understanding, which is the opposite of truth-seeking.
Excellent reply to an excellent article. I’m saving this for my daughters who were served the toxic cool aid of public eduction for too many years.
Thank you Ben, I appreciate that. A lot of parents are only now realizing, often in hindsight, how much formation was missing in the name of education.
That realization is actually what led me to write Awakening a Forgotten Republic. I kept seeing the same gaps in civic formation over and over, and at some point I felt they had to be addressed directly.
Hopefully conversations like this help the next generation get something better: not slogans, but the tools to think, question, and govern themselves.
Olly……What a terrific statement!
@OLLY
Bingo! That’s why he’s hated so much. He has exposed so much of the dirty laundry, at times, unintentionally, even. This is why his brashness doesn’t annoy me – it is called for when dealing with what amount to privileged thugs.
I think you’re onto something James. What bothers people most is not his style, but what it reveals.
James and OLLY,
Correct! Trump is dismantling all the fraud, waste and abuse the Democrats need to just function. Without it, they cannot continue to function.
I think that’s largely right Upstate. What’s being disrupted is a system that relies on opacity and deference rather than informed consent. When that system is challenged, the reaction tells you how dependent it is on compliance instead of genuine self-government.
It is about whether we still understand how to form a people capable of sustaining a free republic at all.
Wrong. That misses the deeper issue: we increasingly are a people who have CHOSEN the path of diverting from a free republic. It is not a failure that can be blamed on education, parenting, etc. Increasingly people have decided that some form of democracy that accepts cultural, economic, and political Marxism is more emotionally comfortable and better.
In the long run, they will prove themselves wrong, But many people say things and do things because of the populist appeal, future second and third order consequences are rarely considered when making such decisions.
That is a false choice. Deliberate choices do not emerge in a vacuum. People choose paths based on what they have been taught to value, fear, and understand. Formation precedes preference.
Saying this is not about education or parenting ignores how citizens acquire the capacity to weigh long-term consequences in the first place. A people trained to think in slogans, comfort, and immediacy will predictably choose emotionally satisfying systems over self-restraint and liberty.
What you describe as a conscious choice is itself evidence of failed civic formation. A properly formed citizenry does not casually trade constitutional limits for ideological comfort or ignore second- and third-order consequences.
Choice is real. Responsibility is real. But the widespread nature of those choices tells us something fundamental broke long before the ballot box.
Olly says: That is a false choice. Deliberate choices do not emerge in a vacuum.
And claiming that it’s a false choice is a sophomoric deflection to avoid rebuttal. Again: this has been going on since Woodrow Wilson. Books have been written that take a deep dive into the relationship of FDR incorporating John Dewey’s socialist views into Democrats’ education theories. And the generation that would fight WWII, The Greatest Generation, supported and voted for it.
The Greatest Generation who voted for FDR’s model of Dewey education isn’t the voters of today.
Claiming it is simply ignorance, because these poor fellow Americans of yours/ours simply aren’t smart enough to be able to see the risks in adopting Marxism, “Liberalism”, “Progressivism”, etc is an elitist’s fail.
But… you could write a book based on ignoring that!
You are arguing against a position I did not take. I never said this began recently, and I never claimed people are too ignorant to choose differently. That is a straw man.
Saying choices do not emerge in a vacuum is not sophomoric. It is foundational. Formation shapes what people perceive as reasonable, moral, and even imaginable. Wilson, Dewey, and FDR did not disprove that point. They proved it by institutionalizing a different model of civic formation over generations.
The fact that the Greatest Generation supported aspects of that model does not negate formation. It illustrates how powerful formation is. They were shaped by different circumstances, constraints, and moral frameworks, including war, scarcity, and shared sacrifice, none of which exist today in comparable form.
This is not about calling people stupid or elitist disdain. It is about recognizing that when citizens are trained to prioritize comfort, moral signaling, and state mediation over restraint, limits, and self-rule, their choices predictably follow that training.
Calling this a purely free and independent choice ignores how preferences are cultivated in the first place. That is not a rebuttal. It is an evasion. Yes, I wrote a book. Because this problem is older than any single administration and deeper than any election cycle. Dismissing the argument by gesturing at a book reference avoids engaging the claim itself.
Ah the power of the Teacher Union and wokie Administrators to shield young innocent comrades from the evil in the world (Orange Man affiliates and parents that ask questions or expect results) and ensure they are molded to resist anyone that does not spew the American Communist/Socialist Manifesto which is the path to Soviet Style Paradise – one day! Cut down the funding for noncompliant states and watch how fast they find Monetary Jesus/Allah/Buddha, or whatever!
Marxist parents raising marxist children.
” American Communist/Socialist Manifesto which is the path to Soviet Style Paradise ” Hate to break it to you, the Soviet Union does not exist.
Hate to break it to you, the Soviet Union does not exist.
Democrat Dump To Deflect and run, smelling like you’re a thief siphoning somebody else’s gas.
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is the intended psychological manipulation by a low-IQ perpetrator targeting those they hope to victimize through intentionally misleading that person or group. This involves the perpetrator trivializing, lying, denying events, and other methods used in the hope their intended victims doubt their perceptions of reality, memories, and feel overly emotional or irrational.
The main five methods of gaslighting that may be used alone or in conjunction with others are: trivializing, countering, lying, blame shifting, and withholding.
The Soviet Union does not exist, yet the Democrats continue to try to emulate it.
Arresting journalists for covering protests? Yep, that is an American thing to do.
“Agents are at my door right now, they’re saying they were able to go before a grand jury … and they have a warrant for my arrest,” Fort said in a video.
If your going to make a claim it would be wise to provide enough information to verify it ?
Who is Fort ?
Why are we to beleive Fort is a journalist ?
Why are we to believe they are a journalist ?
Regardless, Law Enforcement is required to execute arrest warrants for grand jury indictments.
After review I beleive the judges decision not to allow the arrest of Don Lemon was correct.
While he is clearly guilty of several crimes with respect to his Church invasion – none of the crimes he is guilty of such as tresspass are federal offenses.
While there is evidence that he knew he was invading a church he did not chose the church or participlate in doing so.
I think he crossed many lines – but not far enough to be clearly a criminal participant.
I would love to see Lemon jailed – but only on charges that will hold up.
“While he is clearly guilty of several crimes with respect to his Church invasion – none of the crimes he is guilty of such as tresspass are federal offenses.”
What crimes are those? Church invasion? Exaggerate much?
The church was open to anyone as most churches are during service. Disrupting a service is rude at best not a crime. If the pastor in charge called the police and trespassed the protesters only a local misdemeanor would apply. The protest lasted only 15 min. Trump’s DOJ used the incident to thump its chest and show how they crack down on protesters by attempting to file federal charges which were nowhere near applicable. FACE act charges were not applicable. It was simply a disruption of service to protest the church’s pastor’s employment as an ICE supervisor.
Yesterday you people said all videos having content one disagrees with are AI generated and fake.
Arresting journalists for covering protests? Yep, that is an American thing to do.
Yep, Obama and then Biden doubled down to make that an American thing to do. Can you name the journalists that were arrested and indicted for covering the three hour long J6 trespassing and rioting?
Can’t do that? Well at least give yourself some credibility by providing the number of how many were arrested and indicted by Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Shouldn’t be that hard – you have enough fingers and toes together to add them up to provide that number.
This is almost a textbook example of how not to form citizens capable of self-government. Schools were meant to train judgment and resilience, not shield students from ideas they dislike. Teaching avoidance and fear of dissent doesn’t create tolerance or wisdom. It creates intellectual fragility and dependence, which is the very opposite of citizen formation.
Well said, Olly. I couldn’t have put this any better. This is exactly why banning certain books from school libraries is so damaging. As you so eloquently stated, “Schools were meant to train judgement and resilience, not shield students from ideas they dislike.” Hence, books like ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ and ‘Between the World and Me’ should be made available to those students who want to learn about more challenging subjects. So nice to see some open-mindedness about this.
Yet one more reason why liberals are teachers. . .and non-liberals need not apply for job openings. After my 4-year military enlistment, I went to college under the GI bill and finished my education in 3.5 years, all while working part time loading and unloading freight in a trucking company. The youths today have become puppets of the liberal agenda in our country, usually touting the need for free college. But they didn’t say how they would pay for it. . .although I’m sure it would be an increase in taxes on you and me. See how this works?
I appreciate the way you framed that, and I agree with the underlying principle. Schools should help students develop judgment and resilience, not simply shield them from challenging ideas.
Where I’d add a note of caution is that formation also matters. Exposure works best when it’s age-appropriate, guided, and connected to learning how to think, not just what to encounter. The goal isn’t to curate comfort, but to cultivate discernment.
If we keep the focus on forming students capable of reasoned engagement, rather than treating schools as battlegrounds for every cultural dispute, I think we’re much closer to common ground.
Well said, Olly. I couldn’t have put this any better. This is exactly why banning certain books from school libraries is so damaging.
That includes magazines as well! There is no reason that banning certain magazines from school libraries like “Hustler – Annual Beaver Shots”, “Penthouse”, and “Blue Boy” are so damaging to children who might be curious about transvestites and youth-attracted adult teachers in their schools.
Expand on your thoughts on this Olly – we’re following you.
” Schools were meant to train judgment and resilience, ” Sounds like a concentration camp maxim.
Verbal diarrhea.
This is almost a textbook example of how not to form citizens capable of self-government.
More accurately, a textbook example of people who are quite capable of engaging in self-government. But a form of self-government dating all the way back to Woodrow Wilson era Democrats who do not want self-governance resembling the Founders’ principles.
FDR followed up on Wilson’s presidency and doubled down on that by incorporating Dewey’s view of public education as a site for the inculcation of a particular set of civic values. He felt strongly that people have a responsibility to make the world a better place to live in through education and social reform. He was the first figure in American education to push a theory of the goal of education being to educate American youths to be loyal assets of the government. He was an admirer of Bertrand Russell’s philosophy and integrated his Marxist views into his own philosophy.
Anyone thinking what we’re looking at today only began in the last few decades hasn’t really been paying attention to Democrats and their most prominent Marxists, “Liberals”, “Progressives” going back over a century. History didn’t begin with Clinton, Obama, Biden, etc.
You are conflating administration with self-government. What you are describing is not citizens governing themselves, but citizens being organized, directed, and shaped to serve a preferred vision of the state. That distinction matters.
Self-government as understood by the Founders requires internal restraint, independent judgment, and loyalty to principles that limit power. A system that trains people to be loyal assets of government, even in the name of reform or progress, is not self-government. It is managed democracy.
You are right that this did not begin recently. Wilson, Dewey, and later expansions of the administrative state accelerated it. But that only reinforces the point. We have spent generations replacing citizen formation with ideological inculcation, and the results are now unmistakable.
Calling this a different form of self-government does not make it one. It explains precisely how we lost the original meaning.
A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent is facing charges after a Minnesota state trooper found him passed out in his car this week, “covered in vomit,” according to a report.
Alfredo Mancillas Jr., 31, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was found in St. Paul “slumped over in the driver’s seat” around 3:30 a.m. near Allianz Field, according to court documents reviewed by the Sahan Journal. The vehicle reeked of booze and was parked illegally in a no-parking zone.
Mancillas displayed telltale signs of intoxication, including “bloodshot and watery eyes” along with visible vomit all over him, the report said. After failing a field sobriety test, the agent refused to take a breath test. He was arrested and faces charges of 3rd and 4th degree driving while impaired.
The Department of Homeland Security admitted the agent was arrested, stating that “CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission,” while confirming its Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating. Mancillas is expected back in court on March 24.
The arrest occurred during Operation Metro Surge, the massive federal immigration crackdown that has flooded Minnesota with 3,000 federal agents.
Poor guy. Ya gotta feel sorry for him.
If only he had the presence of mind to shoot the cop, all that would have happened is that he would get a paid vacation like Jonathan Ross and the Pretti shooters.
Drunk, angry, stupid and armed. The qualifications of a Trump hire.
I’m surprised that the cop who arrested him wasn’t deported to Somalia, and smeared on Fox.
I like diversity, as long as you’re diverse like me.
Was the arresting officer a somali who was here illegally ? If so he will likely be deported.
We have had a few instances where sanctuary governments have hired illegal aliens – which is a federal crime.
I beleive there have actually been illegal somali law enforcement that have been deported.
But there is no evidence of that in this case.
So you are just making things up.
Further an off duty ICE officer would not have the legal authority to arrest an on duty illegal somali state trooper
The rule of law is a real thing – you do not get to make things up as you go.
John Say,
“ If you’re going to make a claim it would be wise to provide enough information to verify it ?—John Say.
“ We have had a few instances where sanctuary governments have hired illegal aliens – which is a federal crime.”—John Say,
We need enough information to verify it. Right?
One shooter, a cop was a Biden hire according to MSNBC.
There are no indications Mancillas was armed.
If Mancillas had moved towards a gun – even so much as reaching under the seat without the Tropper allowing it – The Trooper would have shot him – and been justified – even if there was no gun under the seat.
The justification of an officer involved shooting should have nothing to do with politics.
Go for a weapon while being arrested – even one that might not be there – and you are going to get shot, and likely killed.
It does not matter why you are being arrested, whether you are an off duty cop or a member of antifa, whether you are white or black or brown.
It does not matter if you like the law you are accused of violating.
Wrong blog pal.
So ?
People from all walks of life have alcohol problems.
I do not know MN’s DUI law, In My state Mancillas would be convicted – though he would also be elligable for ARD which would expounge the conviction if successfully completed.
Regardless I personally have a problem with convicting people where you have no evidence they were DRIVING drunk.
If someone gets into their car drunk – but does NOT start driving, or starts but realizes they are too impaired to drive and pulls over – even parking illegally, we should encourage that – not seek to inspire them to try to drive home.
But Zmy state has bad laws on that.