You can’t defend America by eliminating freedom of expression

Free speech is the answer to free speech.

I’d love to lay claim to those words, but they come from a guy I listen to on the radio. They apply in Alabama and around the country these days, as conservatives try to preserve what they think this country is about by banishing one of its core values: freedom of expression.

In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey has replaced her director of early childhood education, a woman named Barbara Cooper. Cooper oversaw the distribution of a book called the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book, 4th edition. (The title alone makes me want to nap.)

The governor’s media release cited two issues with the book. In the first, the book says, “the United States is built on systemic and structural racism.” The second issue is about discussing LGBTQ+ inclusion to four year olds.

There’s plenty to discuss about the first issue. Slavery was part of the economic engine of this country for its first 100 years. And though we’ve made strides, incidents like Bruce’s Beach in Los Angeles and the Tulsa Race Massacre (something I never learned about in school) are part of our history. I don’t happen to believe the US is built on racism, but that’s a debate to be had, not a viewpoint to be eliminated.

As for the second issue, children are curious. It’s within the realm of possibility that a four-year-old might ask why he or she has a mommy and a daddy, but Heather has two mommies. God forbid we spend time trying to think of an answer that’s not from Leviticus 18. No one’s suggesting that we tell kindergarteners how lesbians have sex (if they were, I’d be against that). Discussions about how to address that question seem appropriate for teachers.

Ivey says the Cooper’s firing shows that Alabama won’t tolerate woke concepts. She’s made it clear what happens to anyone who dares disagree.

A generation ago, conservatives were pushed for inclusion in increasingly hostile college campuses. They said they wanted a level playing field against an increasingly intolerant intellectual leadership class. They wanted diversity of viewpoint alongside demographic diversity.

They were right in their goals.

Now, they’re just replacing one set of restrictive viewpoints and penalties for denying orthodoxy with another.

Ironically, in defending the United States, they’re eliminating its most important core principle.

For Texas teachers, here are the Ten Commandments. In Klingon.

In an effort to restore faith to the country, the Texas state senate approved a bill that would require the display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in the state. They must be displayed in a conspicuous place. And, because Republicans like limited government, they must be a durable poster or framed copy no smaller than 16 inches by 20 inches.

I know a teacher’s job is difficult, leaving little time for family and leisure–and that’s before you include new requirements from the state. As a public service, this blog post lists the text of the Ten Commandments for use by teachers to make posters that are framed or printed on a durable poster. The Klingon translation is by some guy who calls himself MrKlingon.

I. Qunpu’ lo’taHmo’ jIH yItamQo’ (You shall have no other God before me)

II. nepmo’ joH’a’ pong yIlo’Qo’ (You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.)

III. joH’a’ jaj yIquvmoH. jajvam le’qu’ ‘e’ HochvaD yIja’ (Remember to keep the Sabbath holy)

IV. SoSlI’ vavlI’ je yIquvmoH (Honor your mother and father)

V. yIchotQo’ (Don’t murder)

VI. yInenqu’: loDnallI’ be’nallI’ pagh yInga’chuq!. (Do not commit adultery)

VII. yInIHQo’ (Do not steal)

VIII. jIllI’mo’ yInepQo’ (Do not give false testimony against your neighbor)

IX. jIllI’ juHmo’ yIghalQo’ (Do not covet your neighbor’s house)

X. jIllI’ vay’mo’ yIghalQo’ (Do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor)

Please feel free to make posters of this and post them conspicuously in your classroom. After all, Romans 13 requires us to obey the government.

Use Dylan Mulvaney to sell beer, but that doesn’t mean everything that doesn’t is “out of touch”

I don’t drink Bud Light but I love their commercials. Whether it’s the I Love You Man guy, Mr. Really Really Really Bad Dancer, of the guy who stole Mr. Galleyweekitch’s limo (you mean Dr. Galazkiewicz?), I’ll still watch them on YouTube because they amuse me.

According to Bud Light VP of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid, those ad campaigns are just the “fratty” ads filled with “out of touch humor” the brand must move past if they want a future. She said these things in an interview about the brand’s decision to use Dylan Mulvaney, a trans actress and influencer, as a spokesperon.

Anheuser Busch can use Mulvaney if they want. It’s not a bad business decision. And buying a crapload of Bud Light just so you can drive a steamroller over it is juvenile and stupid. (I’ll show them, I’ll spend an entire paycheck on their product so I can destroy it! Har-RUMPH!)

But nothing in Bud Light’s previous ad campaigns seems overly “fratty” (whatever that is) or goes out of its way to be exclusionary. In her comments, Ms. Heinerscheid has missed an opportunity to be inclusive, opting instead to be every bit the culture warrior Ron DeSantis is. You can’t just accept Mulvaney, you have to eschew everything that came before.

Gasp! Be offended! Be really, really, really offended!

God forbid a white guy who can’t dance (me) laughs at a commercial featuring white guys who can’t dance. The only thing out of touch about that commercial is the corporately backed decision to dismiss it and everyone who enjoyed it.

If Bud Light wants to include Dylan Mulvaney to reach out to a new market, God bless them. But true inclusion would not dismiss its existing market as somehow substandard. It’s an unnecessary shot at people who might otherwise be allies.

Anheuser Busch seems to be drawing an unnecessary line that says you must fully embrace our new corporate identity at the exclusion of all else, or we don’t want you. That’s a lot different than “hey let’s accept people like Dylan Mulvaney and treat them with dignity and respect.”

I tend not to drink Anheuser Busch products anyway (I’m a beer snob). But my initial support for them, because freedom means they get to do this, has been pushed to the side by their ham-fisted attempt to show their purity.

Inclusion is wonderful. But when the only way to include one set of people is to forceful exclude another set, you aren’t being inclusive.

DeSantis’s offensive is as much about Floridians as about Disney

The war between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Disney empire continued to escalate last week. After Disney embarrassed DeSantis by a quiet, but public end run to control its development district, DeSantis threatened to use the state’s power to tax and apply tolls to make Disney pay for daring to oppose him.

The war started when Disney opposed the DeSantis-inspired Don’t Say Gay law, implemented last year. To make the company pay, DeSantis championed and signed legislation to eliminate Disney’s special tax district. Disney added poison pills to his attempts, rendering it ineffective and prompting his threat.

Disney is one of the biggest corporate entities in the country, owning all the Disney properties, the Marvel cinematic universe, Star Wars, ESPN, ABC, and Hulu, just to name a few. DeSantis’s threat to use the machinery of government against it sends a message not only to Disney, but to everyone.

Disney might be able to fight back against him, but you and I don’t have the means.

Every business in the state has to choose between following its corporate vision and doing exactly what DeSantis says, regardless of their actual stance. If nothing checks his power (thank heaven for term limits), eventually, his threshold will drop from large businesses to small businesses to individuals.

DeSantis’s current political rival, Donald Trump, is fond of saying his opponents are going after his supporters–that he’s just in the way.

Ron DeSantis will eventually go after anyone who opposes him. Disney’s just a first step.

It’s in the way.

For now.

Happy Easter*

Easter is a day of hope for all. It’s the day Jesus rose from the dead and broke the back of death for himself and everyone. Good Friday showed God’s love for us, when Jesus took our sin to the cross to make us right with God. Easter is the day he showed that life after redemption was in our future. It’s a glorious and wondrous day for all and should be celebrated with joy!*

* — Offer is void if you get the hots for someone of the same sex, use pronouns, support Pope Francis, drink Bud Light, purchase any Nike products (especially NFL licensed apparel), or voted for any Democrat since Harry Truman. Jews murdered Jesus, so they cannot apply. Not applicable in New York, California, Michigan, or any other state that has a godless, Communist governor. Papists might be eligible for this offer, but probably not. Offer not valid for graduates of New College in Sarasota, Florida, employees of Disney, or anyone with the letters ESG in their name. It’s okay if you cheat on your wife and have to pay hush money to porn actresses, but not if you object to those activities. Insulting people on social media is acceptable, but only if you wear a red hat. Employees of NBC, CBS, ABC are not eligible. Depending on the day, employees of Fox may or may not be eligible. Residents of the state of Georgia are not eligible unless they live in God-fearing rural areas. Jodi Picoult need not apply. Not applicable for any male who ever wore women’s clothing or dressed in pink or purple (except anyone who played for the Minnesota Vikings before 2015, when the NFL went woke). Even Jack Lemon and especially Prince (sorry, but that one Jesus song doesn’t change anything). Not valid for anyone who doesn’t enjoy Kirk Cameron movies. Employees of the Department of Justice, especially the FBI cannot apply. Review process required for anyone with a name that is not normal or not clearly male or female. People with freaky hair or hair that’s not a normal color cannot apply. Not valid for anyone who watched The L Word, RuPaul’s Drag Race, or any movie or TV show featuring Alec Baldwin.

The real threat is in Tennessee–and all other supermajority states

While Donald Trump and Kari Lake continued their victimhood bellyaching over elections being wrongly overturned, the real deal happened this week in Tennessee. Three members were threatened with expulsion for the anti-American act of political protest, specifically over gun laws.

Two of them–the two Generation Y black members–were expelled by the Republican supermajority. That’s only happened three other times in Tennessee history. In 1866, six members were expelled for “contempt of authority of this House.” In 1980, a Republican member was expelled for accepting a bribe. In 2016, another Republican was expelled for continued sexual misconduct.

The supermajority has lowered the bar to include political expression,. In doing so, they’ve thrown down the gauntlet to anyone who isn’t a like-minded Republican. In a free society, right thinking will be rewarded. Wrong thinking will be just as quickly punished.

The punishment doesn’t extend just to the expelled members–Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. Because their just were overturned, their constituents have no representation in one house of the state legislature. The warning extends to constituents and it’s the type of warning bullies have issued since the beginning of time.

Other states are paying attention. Currently, 29 states have legislative supermajorities. Twenty of those states have Republican supermajorities; the rest have Democratic supermajorities. In those states, the odds of similar actions are significantly higher than in the other states.

In Texas or Florida, you might lose your seat (and your constituents might lose their representation) if you piss off the governor. In New York or California, if you don’t follow the progressive wave, you might pay the price.

Although none of that has happened, the precedent is set. Florida has a governor who’s mounted a hostile takeover of a college and is going to war with a company. Is it hyperbole to think he’d extend hostilities to legislative critics?

Of course, the people defending Trump and Lake aren’t talking about the Tennessee travesty. It doesn’t matter to them. The only thing that matters is regaining their power, regardless of the required tactics or cost.

Were Trump or Lake to assume power, odds are good they’d approve of overturning elections when the elected don’t properly genuflect. Trump is on record that the greatest threat this country faces isn’t Russia or China, but Americans who don’t see things his way.

Removing elected members for political expression isn’t the hallmark of a free country. It’s the hallmark of a nation sliding into authoritarianism and a government built solely to generate power and wealth for those who run it.

I think I understand what drives DeSantis, et al

I might understand why Ron DeSantis and others are pushing back against diversity and inclusion efforts. In some ways, I’m the walking epitome of their reasons.

As a white, reasonably intelligent, heterosexual, Christian, able-bodied male, I have all the privileges. I’m not a caregiver. I even have work-from-home privilege. If ever someone were eligible to be condemned for privilege, I’m the guy.

Even my struggles are tainted by privilege. Women have fibro that’s worse and more prevalent than mine–and have to do with sexist bastards. In 2015 I wasn’t able to cross the room without stopping to rest. A person of color probably wouldn’t receive the accommodation I did.

Part of the work training I’m taking says it’s a micro-inequity to mispronounce someone’s name. Some of the people we work with have very difficult names to pronounce. Though I always try to apologize up front, I’m certain I’ve butchered those names.

Intent and effort don’t matter. I am nothing more than the accumulation of my privilege. Nothing I’ve accomplished is untainted or fairly gained.

It’s hard to accept that potential reality without feeling intensely uncomfortable. It’s hard not to assume society will eventually make me pay for what I am and for every dumbass thing I’ve done, including truly racist things I said as a much younger person.

It’s hard to reach beyond the condemnation I feel when I work through this material. But it’s necessary. That effort prevents me from becoming harden by fear and shame. I’ve already been an arrogant, judgemental asshole. I can’t go back there again.

Most people want to get to the end of the day without any major calamities happening. Maybe they want to go running before sun-up without feeling vulnerable. Maybe they want to go into a store without worrying about someone following them around. Maybe they don’t want to get nervous when their son is late coming home–and wonder if he’s been shot to death.

These are worries I don’t have.

It’s hard sorting this stuff out. If I’m honest, I have to do it in limited doses. If I may be so bold (or tone-deaf), it’s courageous work. It’s scary to confront the idea that everything you have is suspect.

Today is Good Friday, the day Jesus allowed himself to be tortured to death rather than sticking his divine boot up our stupid asses. The day the curtain that kept us away from God was torn from top to bottom.

Jesus commanded us to take up our crosses and follow him. That means doing hard things in the name of trying to make it better. He suffered a drawn-out humiliating painful death.

I’m just confronting uncomfortable concepts.

I can understand why some people would run away from those concepts. I also understand that my savior commanded me to do stuff like this.