Virginia Democrats are moving to require teachers to tell students that Jan. 6th was an “insurrection” and effectively bar them from referencing “peaceful protests” or election irregularities. The characterization of the riot as an insurrection is historically and legally false. However, any parents who want to send their children to Virginia public schools would have to accept this form of indoctrination as part of their children’s education.
In the last election, Democrats campaigned as moderates, including Abigail Spanberger. Once in control of the Governor’s mansion and the legislature, however, they have moved quickly to the far left in a flurry of measures. Democratic legislators just voted themselves almost a 300% increase in salaries. They will need it. They are moving to increase taxes on ride shares, concerts, counseling, leaf blowers, Amazon deliveries, DoorDash, Uber Eats, ammunition, and other areas.
However, HB 333, drafted by Del. Dan I. Helmer of Fairfax, raises serious concerns over academic freedom and free speech.
The summary of the bill mandates “a program of instruction on or relating to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol” and further:
“prohibits any such program of instruction, any accompanying curriculum or instructional materials, or any instruction provided by a teacher as a part of such program of instruction from (i) describing, portraying, or presenting as credible a description or portrayal of the actions precipitating or involved in the January 6, 2021, insurrection as peaceful protest or (ii) stating, suggesting, or presenting as credible a statement or suggestion that there was extensive election fraud that could have changed or actually changed the results of the 2020 presidential election. The bill requires any such program of instruction, any accompanying curriculum or instructional materials, or any instruction provided by a teacher as a part of such program of instruction to describe the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol as an unprecedented, violent attack on U.S. democratic institutions, infrastructure, and representatives for the purpose of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
Soon after Jan. 6th, I condemned the riot but rejected the argument that this was an insurrection. However, it soon became part of an orthodoxy in politics and academia despite the fact that the public rejected it. As former House Speaker Pelosi declared, “It is essential that we preserve the narrative of January 6th.”
Yet, “insurrection” and “sedition” are legal terms. They have a meaning. The FBI investigated thousands after January 6th and charged hundreds. Not one was charged with insurrection or conspiracy to overthrow the country. The vast majority are charged with relatively minor offenses of trespass or unlawful entry or property damage- the type of charges that are common in protests and riots.
Indeed, the Supreme Court effectively reduced many of the charges to mere trespass in later litigation, rejecting obstruction claims.
Faced with a collapsing historical and legal narrative, Democrats are now moving to simply indoctrinate students that this was an “insurrection.”
Notably, Helmer is running again for Congress after Democrats, with the support of Gov. Spanberger, moved to reduce Republicans in the state (which is divided down the middle between the parties) to just one of eleven districts through gerrymandering.
Helmer is running in one of the most notorious new districts, called the “lobster” or the “scorpion,” because it runs from the Potomac River in Arlington southwestward, then splits into two “claws” toward the West Virginia line near Rawley Springs and Goochland and Powhatan.
In my book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, I discuss the radicalization of the American left. While many on the left advocate censoring “disinformation,” they are far less circumspect in promulgating their own disinformation.
Likewise, where Democrats have objected to the pressure put on universities for greater diversity of viewpoints as an attack on academic freedom, these Democrats see no problem in mandating the teaching of positions that are demonstrably false.
Here, Rep. Helmer and other Democrats are mandating the teaching of a false narrative to children rather than simply relying on public debate. The reason is that they are losing the debate over the characterization of this riot as an actual insurrection.
This, and other moves on the left, will only accelerate the exodus of families from public education. Notably, Fairfax County (which Helmer represents) has seen a sharp fall in enrollments in recent years.
Best and Most Succinct Sentence of the Day Award:
“Faced with a collapsing historical and legal narrative, Democrats are now moving to simply indoctrinate students that this was an ‘insurrection.’”
And the Award goes to……..wait for it…………….The good professor himself!
Lin,
Well said!! And right on the money!
He didn’t say anything, he quoted Turley. Are you daft or what?
Lin, Ah yes, the ‘Good Professor’ Award for Selective Memory. It’s amazing how ‘factual history’ suddenly becomes ‘indoctrination’ the moment it involves high-definition footage of a riot
And the award for being the “Most Conspicuous and Over-the-Top Liar on the Internet” goes to despicable George aka X”.
Congrats buddy. You deserve it. We’ll send it via UPS. It’ll be there in 30 days. It’s gonna be a bit ripe, no matter, its what we think of you.
George/X says: “suddenly becomes ‘indoctrination’ the moment it involves high-definition footage of a riot”
THank you, George, for calling it a riot and not an insurrection.
Or was that a high-definition slip on your part?
Lin, I’m flattered you’re hanging on my every word, but a ‘riot’ is how you start an ‘insurrection.’ It’s like saying, ‘Thank you for calling it a fire and not an arson.’ One describes the chaos; the other describes the crime. I know nuance is a struggle for you, but try to keep up. Yours truly, X.
George, I’m flattered that you have recently echoed me when I expressly stated to you a few months ago that I was “flattered” with your comment directed at me. Indeed, I am very flattered that this has become a recurring word in your recent comments, even though synonyms are abundant. yours truly, lin
Lin, Since you’re so concerned with my lack of synonyms: I’m “charmed”you noticed, “gratified” you care, and “positively tickled” that you’re spending your free time counting my syllables instead of addressing the actual point. Better? Yours truly, X.
Hey X clown, you are no match. A wounded and cornered rat strikes out with bites. But it misses. We can tell that the target hit home.
Ah yes, the ‘Good Professor’ Award for Selective Memory. It’s amazing how ‘factual history’ suddenly becomes ‘indoctrination’ the moment it involves high-definition footage of a riot
Why is there any real need to even talk about Jan 6th at all?
Why is it any different than any other protest or similar event?
Because J6 was the first attempted coup in US history. And it was staged by the sitting president.
No it wasn’t. You are wrong on all accounts. If you really want to blame someone, blame Nancy Pelosi. She was the one in charge of security, and she turned it down. There was NO insurrection, at all. Riots, I’ll give you that, but NO insurrection. Most of the people there were very peaceful and the security personnel were letting them into the Capitol Building, giving them tours. Go back and listen to President Trump’s FULL SPEECH. NOT once did he say go storm the Capitol. He told everyone to go peacefully. He said that MANY times throughout his speech.
Jeannieinthekitchen, Trump did use the phrase “peacefully and patriotically” once early in his 75-minute speech. Once. However, he did use the word “fight” 20 times telling the crowd, “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore. He was inciting the crowd.
“ Most of the people there were very peaceful and the security personnel were letting them into the Capitol Building, giving them tours.”
Tours? Wow. Right, they were giving them tours in the middle of a riot. Sure. While some footage shows people walking calmly, other footage shows rioters smashing windows, using chemical spray on police, and chanting for the hanging of the Vice President. Law enforcement personnel in some areas were severely outnumbered and attempted to de-escalate or direct the crowd to avoid more violence. Those were not what you euphemistically call “tours.”
Ahem. George …. you’re lying again. What happened to your AI helper? Your comments are pretty thin.
You are SO biased. How many times have Democrats used words like Fight? And yes, the guards were giving them tours. WATCH the videos. https://www.facebook.com/RickAndBubba/videos/january-6-the-truth-comes-out/893449965255477/ This is but one of the many out there. Once again, it just comes down to the sources of information. I am SO SICK & TIRED of people saying this is FAKE news. People need to wake up, and do their own research, from many sources. the truth is out there, waiting to be found, but people have to put in the work and effort to find it.
Ajeanneinthekitchen,
I love the ‘Democrats say fight too’ argument. It’s like saying, ‘The fire department uses water, so why can’t I use a fire hose to knock people over?’ Context matters. One ‘fight’ happens at a ballot box; the other involves metal flagpoles and bear spray. If you’re ‘sick and tired’ of fake news, stop using videos for your “research” that edit out the violence to make it look like a field trip.
Again, and typical. You are being lazy. One quick search and this was the first thing that popped up. https://ajeanneinthekitchen.com/2026/03/06/pizza-sauce-vs-spaghetti-sauce/
Before you can teach about January 6th, you first have to have all the information to be credible in your teachings.
Has the January 6th released all the evidence? Has any of the evidence been destroyed? Chairman Bennie Thompson, Liz Cheney, and the rest of the J6th committee need to be put under oath to testify that all the evidence has been produced before it can be taught to little children. No redactions or omissions!
I rather see our children taught about the illegal immigration catastrophe and its consequences.
Better yet, teach them how build and not to destroy.
The attempted coup was peaceful and lawyerly, and took place in the 6 weeks leading up to J6th. That doesn’t make it any less vile and repugnant — the idea that lawyers and the Pres. thought they could mickey the Electoral College vote to overturn the result (which was certified by Dec 15th in each state).
The stupid Dems made their accusation of a coup based on the violence on J6th, rather than the legal gaming of the Constitution that was attempted leading up to it.
Why? I’m guessing, but I think the Dems love THEIR ACTIVIST LAWYERS (Marc Elias, e.g), and love skirting the intent of the law wherever possible to gain advantage. Or, they are just media whores, and only understand politics in terms of what the media spotlight is on, not the behind the scenes action done by crooked lawyers.
Why is January 6th different? Because it was NOT a “protest”. What was there to “protest”? The fact that the voters chose Biden over Trump? The fact that Trump will go to any lengths to avoid humiliation? There wasn’t, and still isn’t, any proof of the Big Lie. In fact, all proof is to the contray. January 6th was NOT A PROTEST BECAUSE:
1. Because it was PLANNED–to try to prevent Joe Biden from taking office because Trump is a malignant narcissist and cannot stand to lose, so he was more than willing to do anything possible to keep in power, despite the will of the people, including violence to Capitol Police officers and trying thwart the peoples’choice as their president. Planning meetings were held at the Willard Hotel. The Proud Boys went on reconnaissance trips to plot the best way to get past the Capitol Police so they could gain access to the Capitol Building and stop Congress from accepting the certified vote totals. This was attested to by a British journalist who was embedded with the Proud Boys. The plot intended to try to cast doubt on the election results, based on the lie of widespread voter fraud, so Congress wouldn’t certify Biden as the winner. Therefore, Trump’s allies figured that Congress would say that they can’t determine the winner, so the question would go to the states. There were more Republican state legislatures than Democrat ones, so the plot was to pressure them to ignore the actual votes and award their Electoral College votes to Trump, even in states where he lost. That was the plot–and it failed because there was not, and still isn’t, any proof of any widespread voter fraud. Polls predicted Trump would lose–the economy was in shambles, COVID was out of control, and he was historically unpopular.
2. Because Trump leaned on Mike Pence, to try to force him to shirk his Constiutional role in accepting the will of the American people. Pence wouldn’t budge, so Trump sicced his fans on him, and they were hunting him, with a gallows, shouting “Hang Mike Pence”. Trump tried to get the Secret Service to spirit Pence away from the Capitol so he couldn’t accept the votes. Pence wouldn’t budge–he stayed at a loading dock. After 3 hours of beating and battering the Capitol Police by Trump fans and trashing the Capitol, urinating and defecating in it, it became clear that Pence wouldn’t leave until he finished the job he came to do as required by the Constitution, so Trump finally called off the faithful, one of whom died trying to breach the Speaker’s Lobby. Pence completed his Constitutional duties.
3. Because January 6 was based on a LIE! A big, fat, lie. Giuliani suggested to Trump to just say he won anyway, which he did. This is a lie he refuses to budge on. Did you forget that at 2:00 a.m. the morning after Election Day, Trump took a victory lap and declared that he won–even before all of the votes had been counted?
4. Because the plot involved falsification of Electoral College votes in multiple states–falsification of such records is a felony. Trump fans did it anyway.
Telling children the truth is not “indoctrination”. More of Turley’s purchased MAGA advocacy. It’s truly a shame.
Cry harder Gigi, we can’t hear you.
Oh, and I left out the call to Brad Raffensberger to “find” votes Trump didn’t receive.
What do you call it when the leader of a country loses an election and tries to stay in power using thugs to pressure the legislature and VP to doing unconstitutional things?
And what is Jasmine Crockett doing right now, since she lost her primary? What about Al Gore? Or Stacy Abrams or Hillary Clinton, and many more? So according to you, it is only legal when it comes from the Democrats, but if a Conservative, and especially President Trump question the election results, it’s a crime. That’s hypocrisy and you know it.
ajeanneinthekitchen,
Well said and great comment!!
Thank you.
Hey farmer, she has more degrees than you have brain cells. Whata say to that? And to boot, she’s from from CA, as you always describe it, the Land of Commies.
All of those conceded the election within a short time frame.
Really? WOW! Hillary Clinton and Stacy Abrams are still going on about it, many years later.
Shouldn’t you be in the kitchen, where girls belong?
F YOU!!!!!
Jeanine, Questioning results isn’t a crime—over 60 lawsuits were filed and heard in 2020. The ‘crime’ part enters the conversation when you move past the courts and start organizing fake electors or inciting a crowd to interfere with a constitutional process. It’s not about who’s asking; it’s about what they do when the answer is “no.” A very clear distinction.
Well, that didn’t happen. Sadly, the MSM has the country so divided. It all depends on where you get your information, and then taking the time and effort to dig deeper to find the truth. The truth is out there, but sadly, it has been intentionally hidden so most people won’t go looking for it. Sadly, most people are gullible, lazy sheep, who don’t question things and don’t want to really know the truth. The MSM has hoodwinked the American people and the world.
Ajeanneinthekitchen, The difference is that Gore, Clinton, and even Jasmine Crockett—who conceded her Senate primary on March 4—actually know how to concede when they lose.
Questioning an election isn’t a crime; if it were, Trump’s 60+ failed lawsuits would’ve put him in a cell years ago. The ‘crime’ part starts when you move past the courts and start begging officials to ‘find’ 11,000 votes. It’s not hypocrisy—it’s just the difference between litigation and solicitation.
You are a hypocrite!
I call it a failed coup attempt. But, the violent takeover of the Capitol was NOT part of that plan. That was a last ditch attempt of MAGA radicals and Trump to interrupt the Joint Session, so it couldn’t announce Biden as the winner. It was the collapse of the coup plan.
Why is
Pelosi-rrection with elements of Whitmer-conspiracy and Capitol punishment. Demos-cracy aborted is a wicked solution.
“ Yet, “insurrection” and “sedition” are legal terms. They have a meaning. The FBI investigated thousands after January 6th and charged hundreds. Not one was charged with insurrection or conspiracy to overthrow the country. The vast majority are charged with relatively minor offenses of trespass or unlawful entry or property damage- the type of charges that are common in protests and riots.
Indeed, the Supreme Court effectively reduced many of the charges to mere trespass in later litigation, rejecting obstruction claims.”
Oh boy, so much to unpack….
“ Insurrection” and “sedition” are two different legal terms. They have meaning.” Yeah, they do. But they also have different legal applications.
This is a semantic distraction. While the specific “insurrection” statute (18 U.S.C. § 2383) is rarely used due to its light 10-year maximum sentence, at least 14 high-level defendants (including leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys) were charged and convicted of Seditious Conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 2384). This charge carries a 20-year maximum and specifically involves conspiring to “overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States” or “oppose by force the authority thereof.” Calling the event a “riot” ignores the fact that juries found these men guilty of a literal plot to stop the transfer of power. That is what most republicans trying to re-write the events want most of us to forget. Fortunately courts did not.
“ The vast majority are charged with relatively minor offenses of trespass or unlawful entry or property damage- the type of charges that are common in protests and riots.”
I doubt many have experienced being rounded up in a riot and processed with all those people en masse. They have procedures and processes for that.
The “vast majority” argument is a statistically misleading one. In any mass arrest, the rank-and-file are charged with lesser offenses like trespass, but that doesn’t define the event’s character. More than 350 defendants were charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, including 110 who used deadly or dangerous weapons. These aren’t “minor offenses common in protests”; they are violent felonies that the Department of Justice continued to prosecute aggressively at the time.
And lastly…
“ Indeed, the Supreme Court effectively reduced many of the charges to mere trespass in later litigation, rejecting obstruction claims.”
This refers to the Fischer v. United States ruling, which narrowed how a specific obstruction of an official proceeding law can be used. It did not “reduce charges to trespass” across the board. The Attorney General noted that the “vast majority” of the 1,400+ defendants are unaffected by this ruling because they face other felony charges like assault or conspiracy. The court didn’t say no crime occurred; it just said one specific accounting-era law was applied too broadly.
Jan 6 was a terrifying event for Republicans when they saw Trump ignoring calls to stop it. They were genuinely in fear of Trump succeeding and they would get attached to the idea of being the first to overthrow an election by force. It was that bad. Now that they essentially dodged a bullet on that one they are trying hard to re-write history to avoid the kind of scrutiny it deserves.
Is Satan paying you by the syllable today?
What, you don’t like that there is an opposing view on this thread? How is that any different than John Say’s long responses?
Perhaps you could offer a counter view and rebut mine. You know, joining the discourse and whatnot.
Countey view… Like you claiming Prez Trump would keep the new 747-8 to himself.
LIE.. The US Air force has it and it’s undergoing going remodel.
Poor george, lying is all he knows.
The counter is that events become factual history based on what actually happened, not based on what the contemporary officials charged people with.
True, history is about what actually happened—and what ‘actually happened’ is documented in the evidence those officials used to charge people. You don’t get to swap out evidence for ‘vibes’ just because the facts are inconvenient.
“and what ‘actually happened’ is documented in the evidence those officials used to charge people.”
That has never been the standard historians us. What is charged is part of the history, not the determination of what happened.
Anonymous,
Oh, I see. So according to your ‘historian’s standard,’ we should ignore the thousands of hours of raw video, the DNA evidence, and the sworn testimony, and just go with whatever story feels best?
Historians don’t ignore documented evidence just because it came from a courtroom; they use it to separate actual events from fan fiction. But hey, if you want to argue that the ‘determination of what happened’ is better left to a Twitter thread than to verified records and high-def footage, you do you.
X–YOU are the clown who keeps invoking the word “insurrection.” NO ONE, NOT ONE of the J6 defendants was even charged with insurrection let alone convicted of it. And you are even more of a clown for saying that they were not charged with sedition because the sentence was less. They could have been charged with BOTH (they are separate crimes) Wonder why they were not, clown.
“The court didn’t say no crime occurred;”
Precisely, X.
I don’t recall that any Republicans claimed that either.
And, you conveniently forgot to mention that Trump DID NOT pardon or commute sentences for MANY of those who were convicted of other offenses/crimes.
glaring “failure to mention,” Mr. George.
Lin, you can’t claim ‘no one says no crime occurred’ while ignoring the context. If the goal was only to pardon the non-violent, the President wouldn’t have needed a blanket order that wiped away convictions for over 600 people who assaulted police with metal flagpoles and bear spray. He didn’t just pardon ‘protestors’; he pardoned the people who attacked law enforcement.
As of March 2026, dozens of pardoned individuals have been rearrested for new, separate crimes committed after their release—including child sex abuse, homicide, and violent assault. Naturally, a 2025 pardon cannot proactively cover crimes committed in 2026. That’s not a good look for the President or his competency to determine the “innocence” of those who were convicted or charged, right?
“ Soon after Jan. 6th, I condemned the riot but rejected the argument that this was an insurrection. However, it soon became part of an orthodoxy in politics and academia despite the fact that the public rejected it. As former House Speaker Pelosi declared, “It is essential that we preserve the narrative of January 6th.”
Turley’s argument relies on a convenient double standard: he dismisses the legal findings of seditious conspiracy as mere ‘orthodoxy’ while simultaneously claiming ‘the public’—more than half (55%) of whom still call it an attack on democracy—has rejected it. If we use a systems lens, we see that the term ‘insurrection’ isn’t a political choice; it’s a description of a forceful attempt to stop the constitutional transfer of power. Calling that a ‘word game’ is just a way to ignore the structural damage done to the system that day.
And the Pelosi claim? Wow. Talk about twisting the facts. Turley is stripping context to create a “smoking gun.” When Pelosi speaks about preserving the narrative, she is referring to the historical record of a violent breach that resulted in deaths and hundreds of injuries to officers—events that are currently being rewritten by some politicians as “peaceful protests.” Preserving a factual narrative of violence is the job of a historian, not a deranged moron like Trump or his acolytes.
“ In the last election, Democrats campaigned as moderates, including Abigail Spanberger. Once in control of the Governor’s mansion and the legislature, however, they have moved quickly to the far left in a flurry of measures. Democratic legislators just voted themselves almost a 300% increase in salaries. They will need it. They are moving to increase taxes on ride shares, concerts, counseling, leaf blowers, Amazon deliveries, DoorDash, Uber Eats, ammunition, and other areas.”
Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, Professor, come on. That is a lot of misleading claims in one paragraph. Sigh. Let’s pick it apart one claim at a time shall we?
“ In the last election, Democrats campaigned as moderates, including Abigail Spanberger. Once in control of the Governor’s mansion and the legislature, however, they have moved quickly to the far left in a flurry of measures.”
They are still moderate. They have never “moved far left.” Turley didn’t mention that while in Congress Governor Spanberger focused on kitchen-table economics, you know affordability issues like prescription drugs, housing, utility bills, etc. She’s still running on those issues as governor.
“ Democratic legislators just voted themselves almost a 300% increase in salaries. They will need it.”
Of course they need it. Currently they are getting paid a salary of $18,000. Their raise will bring them up to a more sane salary for these trying times, $45,000-$50,000. And here’s what Turley left out. The salary raise does not take effect until Jan of 2028 right after the elections. This way it allows voters have the final say and that current members are not “voting themselves” an immediate payday. When have you seen Republicans do that?
“ They are moving to increase taxes on ride shares, concerts, counseling, leaf blowers, Amazon deliveries, DoorDash, Uber Eats, ammunition, and other areas.”
Here Turley is conflating individual members bills with Spanberger. Some lawmakers introduced bills to modernize the sales tax base to include digital services (a move originally proposed by REPUBLICAN Governor Glenn Youngkin in 2024), Governor Spanberger has not endorsed these tax hikes. Which is something Turley also…left out. In fact, her primary focus has been the repeal of the “pink tax” and other cost-lowering measures.
Turley sure loves to mislead to push a narrative that is not entirely true.
Lunatic cringe
We know you’re out there
Diogenes,
Dont bother reading his garbage. Not worth the time. Just scroll past.
Although watching yesterday OLLY own him and John Say too with an assist by Lin was highly amusing.
🙂
Upstatefarmer, It’s always funny when the ‘scroll past’ crowd spends so much time announcing how much they’re scrolling past. If watching someone hide behind pedantry and dictionary definitions to avoid talking about a failing food system or unconstitutional wars is your idea of ‘owning’ someone, your bar for success is about as low as our current public health standards. But hey, if cheering from the sidelines of a structural collapse makes your day, don’t let me stop the show.
george
unconstitutional wars
_____________________
Odd you libs said zip about O-dumber when he was blowing up Libya & Syria
Then O-Dumber turned Libya into a (black) slave trading country. Yeah, a black prez did that.
You read and only see what you want. Enjoy your new taxes and lies they will tell children. Perhaps you child will be surgery to become a princess or your wife and daughter will enjoy women with peckers in their locker room. Enjoy but please don’t move to texas
LOL… george. You complain about John going on and on… Look at you’re own posting….
OMG.
I take it you don’t own a mirror.
Dustoff, I wasn’t complaining; I was comparing. I’d suggest a dictionary, but I’m worried you’d find the lack of pictures confusing.
Dear Mr. Turley, The January 6th, 2021, riot was just that…..a riot. My question is how the democrats will portray the BLM destructive riots? They have already been labeled “mostly peaceful” by the compliant media. As a public-school student, I was taught many lies over the years. The biggest lie was called ZPG or Zero Population Growth. This stated how we humans were taking up too much space so all we had to look forward to was occupying a 12-inch square of earth for each person. We need to keep in mind that schools only have so much influence on children. There are the parents, family, friends, places of worship and media all may add to the child’s knowledge. The Virginia Public Schools may try to cram this bogus information down the student’s throats, however the truth has a way of “shouting from the rooftops”.
Turley’s focus on Virginia’s “mandated” curriculum and his opposition to a “one-sided” view of Jan 6 seems quite selective. His opposition or criticism of the state “forcing” teachers to discuss the event as violent and not peaceful isn’t applied equally to other similar issues that should also alarm Turley.
It’s interesting that Turley is so concerned about “state-mandated orthodoxy” in Virginia but remains silent on the Texas Bluebonnet curriculum, which uses state funds to incentivize a specific religious narrative in public schools. If the problem is truly about academic freedom and the systemic overreach of the state into the classroom, why is it only “indoctrination” when it’s a topic Turley personally disagrees with? According to his view both are forms of indoctrination. A consistent view sees that any state-mandated narrative—whether it’s about January 6 or the Book of Genesis—is the same underlying form of control he is critical of.
For example, Turley claims HB 333 “raises serious concerns over academic freedom.” However, the Texas curriculum financial incentives and the Ten Commandments mandate arguably exert the same state pressure on teachers, restricting their ability to present a religiously neutral or diverse view.
George: “For example, Turley claims HB 333 “raises serious concerns over academic freedom.”
Turley: “However, HB 333, DRAFTED BY Del. DAN I. HELMAR of Fairfax, raises serious concerns over academic freedom and free speech.”
So who raised serious concerns? Geeezzz… george at least read the article. Comprehension not your strong point eh?
And no mention of Texas.
Anonymous,
You’re arguing about who raised the ‘serious concern’ as if that magically makes the concern valid. In a systems lens, Turley is just the mouthpiece for the status quo protecting itself from accountability. If you need to focus on my ‘comprehension’ to avoid defending Turley’s flawed logic, that’s a pretty loud admission that you’ve run out of arguments.
George/X: You know, you really should just start your own blog. It would certainly help many of us who are concerned about the misleading and/or false information often found in comments on this blog.
Helmer’s HB 333 IS a mandate. It “Permits a school board to provide a program of instruction on or relating to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol to public school students only in accordance with the requirements of the bill.”
It imposes the specific use of certain words or terms, and prohibits others.
Repeat after me, George. “Permits a school board to provide a program of instruction… ONLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH the requirements of the bill. ” https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB333
You “failed to mention” (a newly-learned tactic that you have just recently started accusing others of?) that, -quite conversely,- school districts, of their own volition and choosing, may OPT OUT of the Texas Bluebonnet curriculum (which focuses on improving math and reading skills in general, not a specific subject like J6). Houston and Dallas have opted out. Indeed, as of the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, only one fourth of Texas’ school districts have signed up. Other districts have adopted Bluebonnet but chosen on their own to delete a few biblical references. All agree that the references are statistically very minor.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/28/texas-schools-bluebonnet-bible-curriculum/
Maybe that’s why Turley didn’t mention them both? Perhaps you need to try a little more of the comprehensive and contextual considerations that you impose upon others?
(By the way, I CORRECTED the errors in your comment to me yesterday which attempted to undermine my references to Trump’s EO and the subsequent legislation tied up in litigation. You pretended to not see it (not credible). I am still waiting for an apology.)
Thanks anyway, yours truly, lin.
Professor Turley in his post should have provided the “permits” context and clarification that lin provides.
Lin,
Wow!! That was a devastating take down!! Well done!
Lin, I’d start a blog, but I’m too busy explaining basic vocabulary to you. ‘Permits’ is not a mandate; it’s a restriction. If I permit you to speak only if you make sense, you aren’t mandated to talk—you’re just being told how to do it correctly. It’s adorable that you think a bill telling schools how to teach a subject if they choose to is a ‘mandate.’ Maybe your next lesson should be on the word ‘optional’?”
And the fully emphasize my point, you spent three paragraphs trying to ‘correct’ me on a bill that literally starts with the word ‘Permits.’ If you can’t tell the difference between a school choosing to follow a guideline and being forced to take a class, you probably shouldn’t be lecturing anyone on ‘comprehensive considerations.’ Thanks anyway, yours truly, X.
Thanks, George, glad I saw your reply before I sign off here.
(1) “Virginia Democrats Move to Mandate January 6 Narrative..” vabaynews
(2) “the bill mandates a single narrative, and prohibits alternative descriptions.” https://rallyvirginia.com/2026/01/14/hb-333-public-schools-instruction-on-january-6-insurrection/
(3) “A recent bill mandates that public schools refer to the event as a ‘violent attack,’ categorically rejecting any portrayal of it as a peaceful protest.” patriotfetch
(4) “Under the bill, any instruction on Jan. 6 would be required to… ” “The legislation would prohibit schools from describing or portraying…” thecentersquare
(5) “Virginia Dems Mandate Jan 6. Be Taught as “Violent Insurrection” foxnews
(6) “Virginia Democrats Push New Mandates on Nurses and Classrooms” vaybaynews
etc.
Conversely, Texas Bluebonnet allows enrollees to omit any biblical reference they wish, -WHILE STILL using/employing the Bluebonnet methodology. ( under HB 333, only those who describe Jan 6 as REQUIRED in the mandate are “permitted” to “describe” or “instruct” on the subject of J6.) Texas Bluebonnet does not mandate anything. Do you get the difference, George? What’s really “adorable,” George, is that you think you have scored any points.
Here, take a look at this, George:
https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB333
I smile.
Lin, I love that you smiled while linking a bill that literally starts with ‘Any school board may provide a program of instruction.’ It’s optional. Nobody is forcing a narrative on anyone—they’re just making sure that if a school chooses to teach it, they can’t swap out reality for fan fiction. But hey, keep smiling!”
Oh and to further my point…
It’s interesting that you think the Texas Bluebonnet curriculum is the ‘freedom’ option. Texas is literally dangling extra state funding to bribe districts into using a curriculum that teaches 5-year-olds the Book of Genesis as a ‘sequencing task.’ Virginia says ‘you can teach facts if you want’; Texas says ‘we’ll pay you to teach the Bible.’ Do you get the difference, or is the logic a bit too ‘Bluebonnet’ for you?
X, we love that the distinction made went right over your head, especially ‘permit’ vs. mandate’ .
(btw, referring to “permit” vs. “mandate” is quite “adorable,” as you say.)
If a school “permits” students to enter the building only if they are wearing shoes, and denies entry to those who are barefoot, then the school has “mandated” shoe-wearing, n’est ce pas? Of course, the students are “permitted” to enroll in a different school, and “permitted” to not enter the school.
You seem unable to grasp that concept.
Lin, I love the shoe analogy! So, in your analogy, ‘shoes’ are ‘basic historical facts,’ and ‘being barefoot’ is ‘presenting debunked election fraud as credible’? Yeah, I’m okay with that mandate. I’d rather a school ‘mandate’ that students don’t walk into a glass door of misinformation. But hey, enjoy those ‘optional’ Texas lessons that were so well-crafted they already needed 4,200 corrections for errors.
georgie boy, a “mandate” is “a command, order, or direction, written or oral” Black’s Law Dictionary
that is what HB333 is, you clown.
Anonymous, the word “mandate” is not in the bill. The word “voluntary” and “may” are. Come on, you can do better than that.
J6 was the first attempted coup is US history. There is no MAGA whining or lying or misdirection that can change that historical fact. VA is teaching it accurately.
Tell us about the fact that Pelosi had a chance to make sure that things were under control that day, or are you going to lie about that also??
That did not happen. Pelosi had no control over the situation. The mob was going to attack anyhow. Also most of Trump’s attempted coup happened before J6.
Did you see the police on the East side holding doors open for the “rioters?”
I saw J6ers breaking windows, beating police, and forcing their way into the doors. A few videos of an already defeated police force deciding that they don’t want to be beat to death means nothing.
You’re confusing ‘Speaker of the House’ with ‘Commander-in-Chief.’ Security at the Capitol is managed by the Capitol Police Board—a three-person body that includes the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms. Pelosi doesn’t oversee day-to-day operations or turn down 10,000 troops that were never actually offered. But hey, if blaming one woman for a systemic failure makes the seditious conspiracy convictions easier to swallow, don’t let me stop you.
The Fourth Turning will find you, and it won’t have to find you twice.
please explain how biden got 13 million more votes than obama and how those voters all went away after 2020? Obama was an exciting candidate, biden not so much. Why did 4 swing states suddenly all stop counting late at night? Who was the leader of the coup…was it Buffalo Hat man or Grandma selfie? Which one gave you PTSD? VA is teaching boys they can become girls by willing it so. Is that accurate as well?
Good golly Turley. Virginia is not mandating anything. Even the legislation does not say that.
Turley’s claim that Democrats are ‘mandating’ a false narrative is a misrepresentation of HB 333. The bill is voluntary—it only applies if a school board chooses to teach the subject—and it simply requires that schools do not present debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud or violent breaches as ‘credible’ history. Far from ‘indoctrination,’ the bill establishes a factual baseline for a violent event that resulted in seditious conspiracy convictions and bipartisan condemnation, ensuring that public resources are not used to promote demonstrably false propaganda in the classroom.
The bill prohibits presenting the actions precipitating or involved in the breach of the Capitol as a peaceful protest. It does not bar teachers from discussing the separate, peaceful rallies that occurred earlier that day, provided they do not conflate them with the violent attack on the Capitol building itself. That distinction is always left out.
Also the bill bars presenting claims of “extensive election fraud” that could have changed the 2020 election outcome as credible. This squares with over 60 court rulings and audits from both Republican and Democratic officials that found no evidence of widespread fraud capable of altering the results. They all confirmed Trump lost and MAGA could not handle the truth.
This is far from “indoctrination,” the bill establishes a factual baseline for a violent event that resulted in seditious conspiracy convictions and bipartisan condemnation, ensuring that public resources are not used to promote demonstrably false propaganda in the classroom.
Once the “voluntary” hurdle is implemented everyone under that jurisdiction is NOW not under a mandate to stifle free speech!
Good one anon. Too bad george can’t think that far.
Anonymous,
By your logic, a ‘No Shoes, No Service’ sign is a mandate to stifle your fashion sense. It’s a voluntary hurdle—don’t want to wear shoes? Don’t go in. Don’t want to follow the January 6th guidelines? Don’t teach the elective. I’d offer you a dictionary to look up ‘voluntary’ again, but I’m afraid you’d claim the alphabet is a mandate to spell things correctly.”
Should we move on to the legal distinction between a mandate and a conditional permit, or do you need another minute with the vocabulary?
The majority of court rulings you mention ruled on Standing Alone not fraud. Now tell us the 97% of climate scientist lie again?
In D controlled Virginia:
“The bill requires [. . .] a teacher [. . .] to describe . . .”
In communist controlled China:
Teachers are compelled to spread government propaganda about, for example, the Tiananmen Square massacre.
And the teachers who don’t obey, the students who ask too many questions?
They are “disappeared,” jailed, “re-educated.”
In case you’re wondering why Leftists have a fetish for totalitarians in Venezuela, Iran, Cuba , China — This is why: They are birds of a feather.
True. Modernism gone wild.
Sam,
Just a point of clarification, in China, teachers do not spread government propaganda about the Tiananmen Square massacre. They do not speak of it. No one does. The generation after the massacre does not know it ever happened.
I have seen Tiananmen Square . . . from a distance. It is fenced off.
However, as in China, I fully expect VA Democrats to try to stop any counter narrative to their re-writing of history.
100%
The “insurrection” bull backlash that is partly responsible for putting Trump back into the whitehouse? Please we need dems to triple down.
see, here in America, we can give people the truth and when they make up their own mind, dems lose another voter. Truth cannot be suppressed.
Hence the party of useful idiots elected Trump by making up such unbelievable lies.
Their control of the insane narrative is lost because we have an open society. In the meantime, dems expose themselves for the insincere commies they really are.
Please dems keep it up, it’s working for Trump now and against you.
@Clarke
Precisely. Turns out dems don’t have an issue with religion in the classroom so long as it’s the tenets of progressivism. Despicable, from top to bottom. It’s no longer disingenuous – it’s straight up chicanery, and they KNOW it. Good people, and there are many, need to forget about woke and actually wake the hell up.
Between stuff like this and our media simping for the Iranian regime or still referring to Soros as a ‘philanthropist’ – un-bloody-believable. The modern left are a threat to every free person on earth at this point, and that has only increased since 2024, which I previously thought was unimaginable. They will be satisfied with nothing less than absolute tyranny.
PS – oh, and if this is not successfully struck down, any semblance of non-indoctrination has just been entirely eliminated from these districts – it is no longer optional whatever a teacher’s desire from primary school all the way to a degree. It’s madness.
You are absolutely correct!
This is ridiculous!! What about all other “peaceful” protests that were and are not peaceful?
We need more dems to double, even triple down on their transparent narrative as they have only the dopiest left to believe.
What was Jan 6th? I mean, historically speaking since we’re 5 years distant.
Neither political party dares to be honest in its summary, because truth always plays second to loyalty and power-grubbing infowarfare.
Jan 6th was the messy collapse of a 6-week post-election lawyerly plot to overturn a Presidential election, led by Trump, Giuliani. Eastman, Bannon, Meadows, Powell and party operatives. That morning, Trump was still clinging to false hope that Mike Pence could be shamed by throngs of yelling protesters to reverse his announced decision to uphold the Constitution (i.e., accept all 50 states’ Electoral votes). Pence had the day before, and again the morning of, firmly told Trump of his final decision to not mickey the electoral count in Trump’s favor. At 2:24 watching TV, Trump witnessed the votes of the 7 deciding states being accepted, and snapped. He tweeted to the Capitol protestors in real time that “Mike Pence betrayed us”. That provoked rioting with the intent (of the most committed) to force entry into the Capitol and stop the process of declaring Biden the winner. This melee resulted in hundreds of police injuries and the death of two protestors. It only delayed the Joint Session completing its work by 8 hours.
But worse, it showcased to the world how a clique of lawyers thought they could game the Constitution to overturn a Presidential election through a infowarfare campaign steeped in public deception while attempting behind the scenes to game the Electoral College process in multiple states and in Congress. It crossed a red line of Constitutional obedience, and had the plot not been quashed by the Vice President, would have likely ignited civil war. It telegraphed to Americans and the global audience a new era of political recklessness, where rules are there to be respected by the weak, and broken with clever legal maneuvering by the strong.
I think you have written the best description I have seen. You leave out a recitation of all the questionable/illegal behavior of the Dems to push their guy over the top, but almost nobody else focuses on that either, so I forgive you.
You can’t focus on what did not happen.
Sure it did. The mail in ballots needed an audit based on citizenship, residency, multiple ballots, signatures, time, deadlines etc . Instead the ballots were merely counted. The election was fraud undoubtedly. There is nothing democrats do that is honest and trustworthy. Nothing…the democrats are demonic and follow the father of lies. One giant lie…
Next question…
” The election was fraud undoubtedly”
There was fraud IN the election undoubtedly. What cannot be demonstrated beyond dispute (now, and possibly even immediately after the ballots were counted) is whether or not outright fraud changed the outcome. That is why everything that CAN be done MUST be done to ensure that only citizens entitled to vote are permitted to do so in future elections, and that ballots are promptly and accurately counted. There is no magic bullet to eliminate the pure hatred between political factions that has currently taken hold in this country, but I do think that knowing quickly after an election whether your candidate won or lost, without any prevarication regarding the qualification of the voters, or the accuracy of the vote tabulation, could help, possibly substantially. In spite of the fact that I am a zealous privacy advocate, I must reluctantly say that I can see no feasible way to accomplish that quickly without some consistent, reliable, audited form of voter ID. John Cornyn needs to either revert the Senate to a mandate to hold the Senate floor with speech to sustain a filibuster, or step down. and allow his successor to do that.
J6 dumbbells literally broke into the Capitol, fought police officers (law and order?), and delayed the certification of the constitutional transfer of power because a moron Pizza Hut salesman decided to lie for the trillionth time.
Magats are out of their minds.
I believe that Turley just debunked (he’s a dem ya know) that libel delusion as did a congressional committee.
Pizza Hut, try McDonalds, and he did such a great job cooking and serving fries that he was elected POTUS.
Ya see, capitalism has it rewards. Socialism, um… none. You’re an example of that.
Virginia communists. Right from their playbook. These are not dems. The democrat party no longer exists. It’s commies all the way down to the least useful idiots.
That’s why all the violence. Communists get violent when losing. Commies haven’t lost this big since Reagan. Stupid commies.
And if Trump continues his fight for worldwide freedom, there won’t be any communist supporters either, but in the meantime, I love the screeching and wailing. weak. They’re so weak. Low energy. squashed into the mud by the wheels of capitalism and freedom.
It’s interesting how the police freely let people in at one point but you don’t recognize that!
Expect on the east side where police held doors open for them. Studies all show leftist have a hive mind and are easily controlled. BTW-are you worried about all the mRNA injected into you? If not I suggest you do some research so you can get your affairs in order
Once again, the Professor seems to address the issue as an academic exercise not a real life threat to the foundation of our nation. I remember his treatment of the January 6 protests. Somehow the vast majority of the peaceful protest participants got lost in the message and the focus was centered on the disruptive minority. But that’s not my central concern. The overwhelming issue is that our academics want to talk about everything, telling us what we already know, writing books and pontificating on the minutiae of things that have no benefit at street level. Real people know what is wrong. They understand the danger. They don’t need never ending dissertations about how the system works. They see the system as dysfunctional, deaf and unresponsive to their concerns. If our influential academics, talking heads and even politicians would expend some real effort to do something that would make a real difference we would take them more seriously, would fully appreciate them, and might actually get behind them. Virginia and the moves of the Democrats there and elsewhere amount to a perfect example of what happens when good people do nothing. Especially good people who have a pulpit from which to speak. Less talk, even though talk is important, and more involvement.
I’m sick of hearing about peaceful protests or mostly peaceful protests. I wish people would keep to strict Constitutional language and say peaceable assembly.
Blocking a street isn’t peaceable. Obstructing government officers isn’t peaceable. Those kinds of protests aren’t peaceful and need to stop or be stopped.