California Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis squared off in a debate last night, and one thing was crystal clear: the two could not be more diametrically opposed on every single political issue.
Unsurprisingly, one subject that was broached was public education — what it should include and what it should not include.
Florida has been very open about rejecting the inclusion of gender ideology in its school curriculums, believing it is not the role of the school but rather of parents to determine how children should be taught in matters such as sexual orientation, gender ideology, etc.
“The role of the school is to educate kids, not indoctrinate kids,” DeSantis said, “and what we've said in Florida is it's inappropriate to tell a kindergartener that their gender is a choice; it's inappropriate to tell a second grader that they may have been born in the wrong body.”
“Now California has that–they want to have that injected into the elementary schools,” he continued, pulling out an excerpt from a book commonly found in California elementary schools called “Gender Queer.”
Holding the page up to the camera, DeSantis revealed several blurred out pornographic images (images that he says “would not be able to be put on air”) that are featured in this “children’s” book.
Newsom’s face when DeSantis showcases the graphic images is a combination of haughty and perturbed as he looks down at his feet.
“When people on the left say that somehow you're banning books by removing this from a young kid's classroom — no, this is not age appropriate, and so we're going to stand for the rights of parents,” DeSantis continued, adding that he hopes to do this “nationwide.”
“I don't think you can have a situation where some states just trample on the rights of parents. Parents have a fundamental right to direct the education and upbringing of their kids.”
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Former President Barack Obama has caught heat over his declaration of support for librarians who have been working hard "on the front lines" to peddle and protect so-called banned books.
His letter of support comes amidst efforts by conservatives and parental groups to protect children from pornographic, racist, and propagandizing literature in school libraries and classrooms.
Obama shared the letter to social media Monday, noting that some of the books "being challenged" had "shaped" his life, adding "It's no coincidence that these 'banned books' are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community."
Two of the "banned books" Obama may have been referencing, which now face restrictions in certain school districts around the country, are Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer" and Susan Kuklin's "Beyond Magenta."
The former covers "the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears," and contains illustrations depicting and describing oral sex and masturbation.
The latter, "Beyond Magenta," describes teens' experiences undergoing sex-change mutilations and hormone therapies and reportedly features "descriptions of children performing sex acts with adults."
Obama characterized the efforts to restrict the circulation of certain books as driven by an impulse "to silence, rather than engage, rebut, learn from or seek to understand views that don't fit our own."
This appears to be an about-face for Obama, who just last April told an audience at Stanford University that more should be done by social media companies to clamp down on undesirable speech.
"Content moderation can limit the distribution of clearly dangerous content, it doesn’t go far enough," said Obama. "People are dying because of misinformation."
The former president, whose administration discriminated against hundreds of conservative groups and cracked down on journalists, suggested that prohibitions on books are "profoundly misguided" and that "not only is it important for young people from all walks of life to see themselves represented in the pages of books, but it's also important for all of us to engage with different ideas and points of view."
Intimating that the pressure is on because foreign nations are looking to America's leadership on cultural deregulation, Obama thanked librarians for their alleged "unwavering commitment to the freedom to read."
In a subsequent post, Obama directed people to the American Library Association's "Unite Against Book Bans" — a campaign to circumvent the will of parents and the broader demos as a means to ensure problematic literature remains on library and classroom bookshelves.
Libs of TikTok responded to Obama's glorification of librarians, writing, "When they accuse of 'banning books' they're referring to graphic books containing pornographic content offered to kids in schools across the country. For some reason, they never show examples from the books. ... Why does Obama want your kids to read porn like this in school?"
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Courage Is A Habit, a parent group focused on combating "indoctrination in K-12," similarly highlighted some of the "obscene" books, the removal of which from school libraries Obama might regard as "misguided."
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The Twitter account associated with the Being Libertarian Substack wrote, "Funny invoking the 1st Amendment now but not during the past 3 years when the government unprecedentedly censored anyone questioning the government line on COVID."
Conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza asked the former president on Twitter whether his life "was shaped by books" about deviant acts, adding, "Do elaborate!"
Fox News Digital reported that Obama, whose administration set a record for censoring or refusing to release government records, has also kicked off a TikTok campaign defending so-called banned books and will feature in a series of videos promoting books in defiance of "profoundly misguided" restriction efforts.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!As the world becomes oversaturated with what is basically flat-out insanity, it’s become impossible to tell the truth from satire.
And while this isn’t exactly a good thing, sometimes, it makes the satire even better.
Dave Rubin is well aware of this. Which is why he’s happy to share a satirical skit centered around the left’s claim that Ron DeSantis is using his position as Florida governor to “burn” books.
The skit features DeSantis with flames around him, joking that the governor is banning “classics like ‘P is for Penis,’ ‘Whore and Peace,’ ‘Moby’s Dick,”’ and “in a shameless act of partisan politics” is “even going after President Biden’s beloved pop-up book: ‘Shower Time.’
“Does your second-grader want to read ‘Charlotte’s Webcam’? Well, thanks to Ron DeSantis, that book has been banned,” the skit continues.
The satire was inspired by the intense backlash DeSantis has received from LGBTQ+ activists who believe the governor is banning books from schools that deserve to be on the shelves.
However, DeSantis sees nothing wrong with his “ban.”
“In Florida, pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards,” DeSantis said in a statement about the ban.
The ban began after parents of children in Florida schools found a myriad of completely inappropriate books in their schools' curriculums and libraries.
Some of these books were “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a pornographic book showing sex acts; “Flamer,” a graphic novel about young boys performing sex acts at summer camp; “This Book Is Gay,” a manual on “the ins and outs of gay sex"; and “Let’s Talk About It,” a manual on how to masturbate for males and females.
Dave Rubin, a resident of Florida himself, finds the ban justified and the skit hilarious.
“It’s impossible to tell the truth from satire these days,” Rubin laughs.
To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
The parental rights movement is growing, and even CBS is talking about it.
"CBS News Sunday Morning" recently aired an interview with Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice — former Florida school board members and founders of the Moms for Liberty organization — and hosts asked them if they supported book-burning.
Moms for Liberty was launched in 2021 and now claims 275 chapters in 45 states with 115,000 members and counting.
The group has grown exponentially after bringing attention to books like "Genderqueer" in school libraries, which the moms have deemed inappropriate.
“Never bet against a mom,” Justice said in the CBS interview, “I mean, nobody’s going to defend anything like a mom is going to defend their child.”
She continued, “We want people who are serving an elected office [to] respect the role of the parent in a child’s life.”
And they’ve been very successful.
Co-founder Descovich confirmed. “So, in 2022,” she said, “our chapter’s endorsed in over 500 school board races across the country, and they won 275 seats.”
When the "CBS News Sunday Morning" host asked what kind of books they want in libraries, Descovich said they want books that “educate children.”
The host called her answer a “generalization,” and Justice interrupted.
“Books that don’t have pornography in them. Let’s start there. Let’s just put the bar really, really low. Books that don’t have incest, pedophilia,” she retorted.
The host then went quiet.
Dave Rubin believes CBS airing this piece is a step in the right direction but is “only possible because more and more people are stepping up and fighting for the right thing.”
“The point here guys,” he continues, “is that something positive comes when you tell the truth.”
To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Are government agencies being weaponized against the American people?
Dave Rubin sat down with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) to discuss government overreach, and they all certainly think so.
Jordan brings up the government’s crackdown on private businesses like Twitter, saying “When did the government get that business?”
Byron explains that the reason government agencies are being weaponized is because “you have these subgroups that exist where their entire purpose is to play gotcha with the weight of the federal government or to suppress, or to dissuade, or to diminish thought process, idea, etc.”
“Here’s what I would say to the Democrats now,” he says. “If you truly believe in protecting the soul of America, if you truly believe in saving democracy, you can’t allow elements of our government to suppress speech of the American people. It cannot be allowed.”
Rubin says it seems like “Republicans are starting to wake up,” asking Jordan and Donalds, “Are you hopeful for that?”
Jordan replies, “I am,” explaining that it’s not just Republicans who are starting to wake up, but the other side of the aisle as well. “Look, we’ve seen so many agencies turned on the American people,” he says.
But Donalds believes conservatives are the ones trying to save America.
“We are the ones trying to frankly save the soul of America. We’re the ones trying to save everybody’s constitutional rights and liberties. It’s not the left, and when you go into their shows, into their wheelhouse, and you talk about that stuff, it shows.”
To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Move aside, Goodnight Moon. The newest children’s classics are hitting library shelves near you … and they’re kinky in all the colors of the rainbow. I walked into my local Chicago Public Library (CPL) branch, heading over to the holds section to pick up my newest read. Book secured, I went to check out, passing […]
Anyone anywhere in the country can buy these 'banned' books on Amazon and have them at their front door ASAP.
'The words you spoke are disturbing,' said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, after a senator read passages from pornographic books.
Do you think the prestigious Sidwell Friends School where the Obama children attended offers pornographic graphic novels in their library?
When the corporate media use a trigger word, like 'banned,' look for the historical understanding of the term.
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