The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for July, 2023

Ah, Friends, Dear Readers - we're almost halfway through July, and the sun has risen over new horizons of ass clownery frantically elbowing each other aside like Der Furor at a NATO summit to advance to the leading ranks of stupidity. As always, it's hard to separate the chaff from the rest of the chaff, but sometimes an ass clown goes that extra mile to separate itself from the thundering herd ... and so it is today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the tinfoil and toilet paper crown designating

The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for July, 2023

is presented to

Moms for Liberty

Moms for Liberty is an antigovernment organization founded in 2021 by a trio of former Florida school board members and dedicated to a crusade against what they consider the “woke indoctrination” of children by advocating for book bans in school libraries and endorsing candidates for public office that align with their deeply conservative views. 

Because our schools are where children learn the democratic values that are the foundation of our government and society, far right activists such as Moms for Liberty have focused on attacking schools at every level, complaining that they brainwash students with “liberal indoctrination.” A Moms for Liberty chapter in Indiana wrote in its first newspaper: “He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future.”* While this quotation has been used by assorted right-wing groups to describe what they claim liberal groups do**, it is actually attributed to Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler ... who, himself, organized a wide spectrum of political indoctrination groups for children of all ages.

The group advocates banning books that refer to any aspect of modern democracy they find objectionable, focusing on those with LGBTQ+ content, support of minority rights, or which present a warts-and-all view of American history. They oppose the teaching of critical race theory in elementary and high schools (where it isn't taught, anyhow), and have forged links with other far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and the Three-Percenters.

The Republican Party seems to view pandering to Moms for Liberty as a way to appeal to the so-called “suburban women” vote, as illustrated by the appearance of five GOP presidential candidates, including Der Furor, at their convention in Philadelphia.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the Right-Cheek Ass Clown award for July, 2023, is presented to the ill-named group "Moms for Liberty" ... recognized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and as a threat to education through the banning or suppression of books by PEN America. 

Our children deserve better.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when Cartoon Saturday returns.

Bilbo

* The group later apologized and updated the newsletter to give context to the Hitler quote ... while leaving their interpretation of its meaning clear.

** Projection, anyone?