The Modern Manicheans and Media

October of 2023 will forever be remembered as the month in which Republicans in the United States House of Representatives dealt with global and domestic chaos by . . . . shutting down the institution for nineteen days. It was like a pathetic, hyperpartisan, debased version of Henry David Thoreau's dictum from Civil Disobedience: "That government is best which governs least."  

How did they get there? Eight Republican House members, upset with fellow Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy because he dared to negotiate with President Biden and House Democrats on a deal to keep the government open, put forth a motion to depose him. For their part, House Democrats refused to rally their voting bloc to rescue the Speaker unless he negotiated some kind of power sharing arrangement with them--which he of course refused to do. Thus McCarthy was removed from his post after only 269 days, the shortest reign in more than 140 years. 

After nineteen agonizing, embarrassing days, what McCarthy called the "Crazy Eights Led by Matt Gaetz" decided they could support Louisiana's hard right conservative Mike Johnson for Speaker. Johnson apparently met Rep. Ronny Jackson's (R-Texas) criteria for the position: You have to be "smart enough to get to 217 but stupid enough to want the job.”

The conflict between the "Crazy Eights" (aka "MAGA Republicans") v. moderate Republicans and Democrats is typically referred to as "populists" v. the establishment. Some Democrats and Leftish pundits would argue that MAGA is not populist, but fascist. Their reasoning goes something like this: Populism is a bottom-up movement driven by mostly working class people. In contrast, fascism is a top-down takeover of traditionally [small-d) democratic institutions, typically animated by allegiance to a cultish leader. Donald Trump, the Dems argue, is the crazy eight cult leader. 

For me, MAGA Republicans are neither populist nor fascist. To be truly populist or fascist requires a level of commitment to principles and public policy ideas that take hard work to formulate, advocate for, and organize movements around. MAGA Republicans don't really have much interest in policy. Their most defining trait is that they hate Democrats, and they hate anyone who works with Democrats. The moment Mr. McCarthy negotiated with Dems to keep the government open--which is another way of saying "the moment he did his job"--he was toast in MAGA world. 

One of the most ridiculous parts of modern electoral politics in the USA is that it is now possible to get elected on a platform of "if you let me serve you I promise never to work with the other side." Think about the absurdity of that position when put in a job interview context: 

Employer: So, Mikey, why should you prevail over all the other qualified candidates? 

Mikey the Job Candidate: Because if you hire me I pledge I WILL NOT DO THE JOB.

Politics as resentment, grievance, temper tantrum, trolling, score settling, rejecting any hope of compromise before negotiations even start, and shouting into cable tv and podcast echo chambers is not really politics, at least not in any meaningful sense. Rather, it's a kind of dogmatic mania more typically found in religious movements. In fact, the crazy eight have more in common with the Manichean religion of the 3rd-5th centuries than they do with any coherent American political tradition. 

The Manicheans believed in a strict duality between good and evil; everything on earth featured forces of light vs. forces of darkness. Journalist Glenn Greenwald, in his book A Tragic Legacy, argued that the George W. Bush administration was destroyed by the good v. evil mindset: 

[Manichaeism is] a very simplistic idea that even early Christianity rejected as not appreciating the complexities of how the world actually is and the ambiguities, the moral ambiguities that characterize who most of us are in most situations. George Bush views the world and his followers viewed the world through this lens of pure good versus pure evil. (emphasis added).

And it’s not me saying that. He said that in virtually all of his speeches. And when you see the world that way what it means is that if you’re on the side of pure good, as he asserted that he was and we are, it means that anything that you do, no matter how limitless, no matter how brutal and immoral, is inherently justifiable because it’s being enlisted for service of the good.

And by contrast, anything that you do to those on the other side is inherently justified as well because they’re pure evil. And from the war in Iraq to the torture camps and secret prisons that we set up all of the things that have done so much damage, I think that’s the mentality that lies at the heart of it.

Today's crazy eight, MAGA Republicans have little regard for George W. Bush. In fact, they consider him to be a RINO (Republican in Name Only). Yet all they have really done is taken Bush's Manichean mindset and moved it from foreign affairs to the domestic realm. We see it most clearly in efforts to shut the government down, erect barriers to make voting more difficult, and framing existential issues like climate and infectious disease prevention as partisan. 

Glenn Greenwald's 2007 character study of George W. Bush showed how a Manichean mindset of good v. evil animated the administration's foreign policy. Today's MAGA Republicans have taken that mindset and applied it to domestic politics. 

The state of Wisconsin has been reeling from malicious GOP Manicheanism since 2011, when then Governor Scott Walker didn't even pretend to consult with Democrats (or even moderate Republicans) before pushing the union-busting Act 10 on the state. Since then we've seen the Wisconsin GOP on a Manichean rampage: the most gerrymandered voting districts in the country, refusal to allow hearings for Democrat-sponsored bills, taking powers away from the governor's office the moment a Democrat got elected, dismantling a government accountability board that was recognized nationally for excellence, firing the Democratic governor's appointees at a record rate, holding University of Wisconsin System employees raises hostage over a disagreement over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies at the campuses, and many, many more. Indeed, Wisconsin might be the poster child for religious style persecution masquerading as serious politics. 

To be clear, Democrats are not innocent victims in all of this. They have their own Manichean moments, such as the obsession with Russia conspiracies, carrying out their own brand of gerrymandering where they have majorities, and keeping their progressive wing on the margins by discouraging competitive primaries. Still, the Dems having Manichean "moments" is not the same as being overrun by a philosophy that is hostile to democratic norms, which has happened in a tragic way to the modern Republican party. 

What role does the mainstream news media play in enabling a Manichean movement? I find myself agreeing with political scientist Lilliana Mason. In an essay in Politico she wrote

. . . our political news media privileges stories about conflict. This focus plays into deep-seated human inclinations to pay attention to bad things — and is rewarded with public attention. This incentivizes news media to tell Americans a story about politics that is largely about division, animosity and attention-seeking strategies — all laid over an “us vs. them” framework. Politicians know that all they need to do to gain attention is to start a fight. Very little news media focus on the hard work and compromise of governing a nation, partly because they know that very few Americans will pay attention.

Mason is the author of Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity, which does an excellent job of showing the roots of the "us v. them" reality we are now mired in. In it she quotes political scientist Seth Masket, who in 2016 said, "The Republican Party is demonstrating every day that it hates Democrats more than it loves democracy." Seven years later, that brand of Manicheanism is stronger than ever. 

Professor Lilliana Mason's excellent book Uncivil Agreement explores the roots of the extreme us v. them politics of our time.

Matt Taibbi's Hate, Inc. takes things a step further and shows how promoting hate of other Americans is now the dominant business model of cable news. If he is correct, it would make sense for media to give attention to politicians who rate higher on the religious zealotry scale than on anything resembling political pragmatism. 

If it is true that our democracy is on the ropes, in part because of the Manicheans takeover of one of the major political parties, what do we do about it? Here are eight suggestions designed to prevent us from becoming crazy eight style people: 

*Organize at the local level with people who want to make a positive difference in the lives of others. 

*Have difficult conversations with friends, family, coworkers, and others. 

*Support independent media. 

*Resist the temptation to call people you disagree with "evil." Use the term "mistaken" instead. 

*Accept that you too are probably mistaken on a number of issues. 

*If a public policy idea makes sense to you, support it NO MATTER WHO ELSE does. 

*If a public policy idea strikes you as harmful, call it out even if your side supports it. 

*Get in the habit of willfully seeking out ideas that you disagree with. Make sure that your disagreement is grounded in something more solid than hostility to the people stating the idea(s). 

Celebration of the Music of 1973, Part 2

Back in July,  I identified 25 of the best albums of 1973. As noted in that post, 1973 was the height of the so-called "classic rock" era, even though much of the best music of that time was/is not necessarily "rock" in the most strict sense. The majority of the artists were practicing a kind of musical gumbo, mixing and mashing together multiple genres from rhythm and blues to jazz to soul to heavy metal to folk and others. New recording technologies, FM radio, and social movements for freedom sparked an amazing burst of creativity that may never be matched. 

I've written about this before, and I'll say it again: the importance of FM radio in creating an audience for boundary-pushing music cannot be overstated. Fifty years ago, the most popular artists attained that status not just because of their musical talents, but because FM radio music directors were committed to an ethic of expanding the musical tastes of listeners. They hired DJs to play the music who actually loved it. By the late 1970s that ethic would be gone, replaced by market survey driven playlists, canned shows hosted by bland jocks, and a kind of soft-censorship of creative art. MTV was probably the final nail in the coffin of progressive, ear opening rock radio. Music that pushes boundaries never went away, but finding it requires the patience to navigate streaming sites and (mostly) online guides to new music. In the early 70s you could get exposed to the creativity just by turning on your radio. Former DJ Richard Neer, one of the pioneers of the early FM radio format at WNEW-FM in New York, told CNN: "For a brief period, what we were doing was an art form. It didn't last . . . But it died a lot sooner than it had to."

The legendary Leland Sklar in his home studio, with the actual bass guitar that he played on the classic track "Stratus" from the 1973 Billy Cobham album "Spectrum" 

But enough lamenting the sad state of contemporary FM radio. Let's instead celebrate the music of 1973! Below are my personal top-25 from that year. The ranking is just for convenience and to make for easier reading; they are all relatively equal to me. 

#25: Billy Cobham, "Spectrum." When discussing art, words like "remarkable," "iconic," and "groundbreaking" are frequently overused. However, those accolades actually do fit when discussing drummer Billy Cobham's epic "Spectrum" album. With Cobham and keyboardist Jan Hammer bringing their jazz chops to the table, and with bassist Leland Sklar and guitarist Tommy Bolin adding a blues/rock sensibility, the result was something unprecedented and extraordinary. This album supposedly so inspired the late Jeff Beck that it solidified his drive to record jazz-rock records in the mid-1970s. 

Sklar's playing on "Stratus" is probably my all time favorite bass riff. Ever. 

Billy Cobham: Stratus

#24: Hall & Oates, "Abandoned Luncheonette." I've never been a great fan of Darryl Hall and John Oates, but as time has passed I've developed more appreciation for their unique pop sound--a sound that was much more musically ambitious and sophisticated than I was able to recognize at the time. These guys were thoroughly grounded in R & B and soul traditions, resulting in minor masterpieces like "She's Gone" from "Abandoned Luncheonette." Today, a moving ballad like that would probably have an electronic dance music beat and a "featured" rapper in the middle for no apparent reason. 

Hall & Oates: She's Gone

#23: ELO, "On the Third Day." Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra is one of the true geniuses in rock history. There was no way the Beatles would reunite after the death of John Lennon, but if they had done so, it's entirely conceivable that Lynne would have been brought on board as John's stand-in. John Lennon himself was a huge fan of ELO, calling them "son of Beatles," and in 1974 he praised the song "Showdown" during an interview on WNEW-FM radio in New York. 

ELO: Showdown

#22: Paul Simon, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon." One of Simon's premier post Simon & Garfunkel records, featuring a number of songs that stayed in heavy FM radio rotation for much of the 1970s and 1980s. My favorite is probably "American Tune," Simon's Watergate scandal lament whose melancholy melody and lyrics I came back to frequently during the Covid crisis: 

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered

I don't have a friend who feels at ease

I don't know a dream that's not been shattered 

Or driven to its knees                                                                

Paul Simon: American Tune

#21: Renaissance, "Ashes are Burning." English progressive rock band Renaissance featured the lead vocals of Annie Haslam, one of the most underrated singer/songwriters in popular music history. "Ashes are Burning" received much FM airplay in the 1970s, with beautiful songs like "Carpet of the Sun" and "Can You Understand" becoming quite popular at the time. 

Renaissance: Carpet of the Sun

#20: Bob Marley and the Wailers, "Burnin'." The sixth album by reggae gods Bob Marley and the Wailers, but the first to achieve commercial success in the United States. The album starts with "Get Up, Stand Up," which might be the most powerful musical call to action ever recorded. 

Bob Marley: Get Up, Stand Up

#19: Genesis, "Genesis Live." Most people know the band Genesis as the Phil Collins led outfit with a string of pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s. The original Genesis featured Collins on drums, but the singing and most of the songwriting was done by the great Peter Gabriel. "Genesis Live" is an important album in the history of "progressive rock," with abstract lyrics, complex arrangements, and a theatrical live performance defining the genre about as well as any other recording of the time. 

Genesis: Watcher of the Skies

#18: Mike Oldfield, "Tubular Bells." There is only one movie that I've seen once and refuse to see a second time. That's William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," an amazing cinematic achievement that terrified me to the point of almost wanting to seek counseling. (People raised in a Catholic tradition will understand that.). Part of the soundtrack of that film was Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells," recorded when he was only 19 years old. Once attached to The Exorcist, the haunting melody became instantly iconic. Because I do not like being reminded of the terrifying scenes from that film, I do not often listen to Tubular Bells. 

Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells

#17 Iggy and the Stooges, "Raw Power." Born James Osterberg in 1947 in Muskegon, MI, "Iggy Pop" became the "Godfather of Punk." "Raw Power" was a hard rockin' good time whose soaring guitars and playful zaniness represented a style that would ultimately be imitated by scores of punk bands in the USA and Europe throughout the 1970s and all the way up to today. 

Iggy Pop: Shake Appeal

#16: David Bowie, "Alladin Sane." One of the classics of Bowie's "glam rock" period, featuring a number of songs that stayed in his concert set for decades, most notably "The Jean Genie" and "Panic in Detroit." (Both tunes reveal Bowie's Chicago electric blues roots.). This was the first album that Bowie wrote and recorded after he had become an international star, a stressful period for him in which he was truly "A Lad Insane." 

David Bowie: The Jean Genie

#15: Nazareth, "Loud and Proud." How the fuck are Scottish hard rockers Nazareth NOT in the rock and roll hall of fame? Lead singer Dan McCafferty and guitar player Manny Charlton in the 1970s were right up there with Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osborne and Tony Iommi, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore for heavy metal histrionics. Loud and Proud has a number of original tunes on it, but Nazareth's cover of Bob Dylan's "Hollis Brown" and Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight" were remarkable reworkings of those classic songs. In fact, Nancy Wilson of Heart claims that she stole the riff for the hit song "Barracuda" from Nazareth's cover of "This Flight Tonight." 

Nazareth: This Flight Tonight

#14: Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On.' Unlike 1971's "What's Goin' On," Gaye's 1973 effort was not a politically charged recording. However, it did solidify his reputation as probably the greatest soul singer in the world not named James Brown, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, or Aretha Franklin. The title track remains as a soul classic. 

Marvin Gaye: Let's Get It On

#13: Al Green, "Call Me." Speaking of legendary soul singers, how about Al Green? If you ever watch the music competition shows like "American Idol" or "The Voice," it always seems like the majority of the contestants strive to imitate Al Green's falsetto style. A number of critics consider "Call Me" to be Green's masterpiece, in part because its links to later artists are so clear and easy to hear. Believe it or not, there was a time when a great song like "Here I Am" would actually be played on FM rock radio. 

Al Green: Here I Am (Come and Take Me)

#12: James Brown, "The Payback." Hard to talk about soul masters without getting to the Godfather of Soul himself, Soul Brother #1 James Brown. In 1973 he released "The Payback," one of his many funk masterpieces of the era. The title song of the album has been sampled by hip hop and other artists over 400 (!) times. 

James Brown: The Payback

#11: Black Sabbath, "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath." The 5th album by the original Black Sabbath line-up, and the last truly spectacular one they recorded in my humble opinion. The album is the epitome of the Sabbath brand: head bashing guitar riffs, socially conscious lyrics, a rhythm section that wakes you up like Vincent Vega giving Mia Wallace the adrenaline shot in Pulp Fiction, and Ozzy Osborne's extreme vocals that send bats into hibernation. Sabbath at that time had great appeal to alienated, socially awkward kids like me, and the fact that they were for the most part banned from FM radio made their mystique even greater. 

Black Sabbath: Killing Yourself To Live

#10: Bachman Turner Overdrive, "BTO II." I think Canadian musician Randy Bachman, co-founder of 1960s iconic band The Guess Who and leader of BTO, is another one of those seriously under rated singers, songwriters, and guitar players. Unlike Black Sabbath, BTO did not play metal for the alienated kids as much as for the blue collar folks. There's a working class ethic to their early albums not only in the music, but in the band's image: "average" looking dudes with weight issues who rejected ANY pressure to conform to the more flashy "glam" images of the time. In that way they were actually quite refreshing. 

BTO: Takin' Care of Business

#9: Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, "Brain Salad Surgery." Anyone old enough to have purchased this album in vinyl in the 1970s will remember what seemed like an intricate jacket/sleeve that reinforced the band's avant garde image. I remember being impressed by the fact that the album included a quote from Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (who wrote "Tocatta" that appears on the record): "Keith Emerson has beautifully caught the mood of my piece." To me that seemed to add some credibility to the album, as if ELP were saying, "see, even SERIOUS composers like our stuff."  Portions of "Karn Evil 9" dominated FM radio for much of the 1970s, a fact that actually motivated punk rockers because they were known to hold up ELP as an example of the kind of music they were reacting against. 

ELP: Karn Evil 9, First Impression Part 2

#8: The Who, "Quadrophenia." Pete Townshend's most ambitious project. "Quadrophenia" is an epic example of the "concept" album that Pete pioneered several years previously with "Tommy." Much more than Tommy, Quadrophenia had autobiographical elements; it calls forth the "mods v. rockers" battles in England that the band's members were literal participants in during the early 1960s. For me, Quadrophenia should be considered a central text in any discussion of the baby boomers: its themes of alienation, generational strife, striking out against authority, getting lost in sex/drugs/alcohol mirages, and desperately wanting to know LOVE are things that define that generation. I consider Pete Townshend's theme song on this record, "Love, Reign O'er Me," to be one of the most profound pieces of recorded music in global history. And I'm not exaggerating. 

The Who: Love, Reign O'er Me

#7: Queen, "Queen." Not the band's best album by any means, but it holds a special place in the hearts of all Queen fans for being the one that introduced remarkable Freddy Mercury to the world. "Keep Yourself Alive" got the most radio attention, though "Great King Rat" and "Liar," I would argue, have the lyrical imagination and Brian May guitar theatrics that would define the band as they moved forward. 

Queen: Keep Yourself Alive

#6: ZZ Top, "Tres Hombres." My all time favorite ZZ Top record, and considered by most critics to be the masterpiece of the band's early days. When ZZ Top inducted Cream (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker) into the rock and roll hall of fame, it became clear how much TOP--like Cream--saw their music as an expression of love for American blues. "Tres Hombres" is the best example of that expression. 

ZZ Top: Waitin' For the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago

#5: Stevie Wonder, "Innervisions." In 1973 Stevie Wonder was only 23 years old, and yet Innervisions was his 16th studio album. "Innervisions" is one of a string of early 1970s albums from Stevie that showcases socially conscious lyrics backed up by funky beats and soul arrangements. "Living For The City" is one of the most extraordinary songs ever to come out of Motown, a recording that forever put Stevie in the same ballpark as Marvin Gaye in "What's Goin' On." 

Stevie Wonder: Living For The City

#4: Elton John, "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road." In vinyl terms, Goodbye Yellowbrick Road was a double album, and each of the four sides had a distinct personality. In that sense it was like the Beatles' White Album, and really the entire effort was extremely Beatles-esque. "Bennie and the Jets" remains a concert favorite to this very day, but Elton over the years has at various times included all the song on this album in shows at one time or another. 

Elton John: Bennie and the Jets

#3: Led Zeppelin, "Houses of the Holy." The album Zep released previously to this one ("Led Zeppelin IV) included global sensation "Stairway to Heaven" and so there was little chance of the band topping that. And yet for me, "The Rain Song" from "Houses of the Holy" is far superior to "Stairway." "The Rain Song" is one of the few times Zep found a way to mix Jimmy Page's acoustic and electric sounds, along with Robert Plant's vocal range, with a touching set of lyrics that cut deep into universal human experience. Unlike "Stairway," the meaning of which has been debated ad nauseum for 50+ years, "The Rain Song" is a simple but powerful expression of what it means to be a human being in love. 

Led Zeppelin: The Rain Song

#2:  Tom Waits, "Closing Time." If there was a contest to nominate the most unique singer/songwriter of all time, I am quite sure that Tom Waits would get a substantial amount of votes. "Closing Time" was his first album, and his voice is not as deep and gravely as it would be in all future recordings. "Closing Time" gained popularity over the years, in part because almost all the songs on it have been covered by other artists who made them more well known. The best example is "Ol' 55, which Waits released as a single but became a hit for the Eagles. Waits did not appreciate the Eagles cover, calling it "antiseptic," and in an interview he went further: "I don’t like the Eagles. They’re about as exciting as watching paint dry. Their albums are good for keeping the dust off your turntable and that’s about all.” Ouch! 

Tom Waits: Ol' 55

#1:  Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moon." An album that in its day was the most commercially successful rock album of all time, which was ironic given it was essentially an extended critique of the human condition. Whenever I teach "the Rhetoric of Rock and Roll," we usually listen to a couple of songs off this album, and there are ALWAYS a handful of students who ended up digging into the entire Pink Floyd catalogue as a result. Like The Who's "Quadrophenia," Dark Side of the Moon is another record that defines the baby boom generation; I've always loved the fact that for decades people searched for hidden messages in it, and the insistence that the album synchronizes perfectly with The Wizard of Oz (which Roger Waters calls Bullshit) is just hilarious. In all seriousness, Dark Side of the Moon is a brilliant record, with a musical integrity and thematic intelligence that is extremely rare to find in any era. 

Pink Floyd: Time

There you have my top 25 of 1973! Hope you enjoyed it! 

See Also: 

• Celebration of the Music of 1972, Part 1
• Celebration of the Music of 1972, Part 2
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes Series:
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part 1
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part II
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part III: Guitar Hero Edition
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part IV: Dare to Cover Johnny Cash Edition
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part V: I Won't Back Down Edition
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part VI: Bring It On Home To Me Edition
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part VII: The Kennedy Center Honors Edition
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part VIII: Classical Music Covers Edition
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part IX: Covering Spoken Words
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part X: Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream Edition
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes Part XI: Original Tunes That Got The Twist And Shout Treatment
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes Part XII: Theme From Peter Gunn Edittion
• Ten Bold Cover Tunes Part XIII: Reggae Versions of the Classics

Real Assaults on Free Speech

If your only source of information about the First Amendment was Wisconsin's mainstream media, you would think that contemporary assaults on freedom of speech and expression are the product of "cancel culture," or social media censorship carried out by private tech companies, or the alleged hesitation of conservative students to speak out on UW campuses. While cancel culture, private censorship and free speech at the UW are all important and deserve attention, allowing them to dominate the media space allotted to First Amendment issues ends up diverting attention away from much more substantive and disturbing attacks on free speech rights. In this post I'm going to describe four current assaults on free speech and expression that have certainly been covered in the mainstream press, but not with the sense of urgency given to the issues previously mentioned. We need to reverse that. 

Free Speech Assault #1: The Murder of Laura Ann Carelton. The great writer George Bernard Shaw famously said, "Assassination is the extreme form of censorship." In August we saw a chilling example of that, when 66-year-old Laura Ann Carelton, an "unapologetic LGBTQ ally," was shot dead by an individual who objected to her display of pride flags. 

Laura Ann Carelton was murdered for flying a pride flag. Her killer's social media presence featured extreme anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Such rhetoric is has increasingly become normalized on the political right. 

Carelton's assassin, who was himself killed in a shootout with police, maintained a social media site dripping with hatred of the LGBTQ community. Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric occurs against a backdrop of the Republican Party sponsoring hundreds of bills in the last few years that would restrict LGBTQ+ rights in a number of areas. When allies like Ms. Carelton are targeted, it sends a chilling message to other activists who dare use their free speech rights to stand for equality. 

Free Speech Assault #2: The Marion County Record under siege. Also in August, police in tiny Marion County, Kansas, apparently at the behest of a local businesswoman upset with the Marion County Record's reporting about her, staged an unprecedented raid on the of the office of the newspaper. They even raided the home of the paper's publisher Eric Meyer (who previously spent almost twenty years at the Milwaukee Journal). Meyer's 98-year-old mother Joan, who was co-owner of the paper, literally died the day after the raid. What an awful tragedy and travesty. 

The paper has a long history of hard hitting reporting, which is increasingly rare for local newspapers. In fact it was the paper's brand of accountability journalism, not some bogus charge of enabling "identify theft" as claimed by the businesswoman, that led to the raid. The Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press, along with 35 news outlets, condemned the siege. In a letter to the Marion police, they said in part: 

“Your department’s seizure of this equipment has substantially interfered with the Record’s First Amendment-protected newsgathering in this instance, and the department’s actions risk chilling the free flow of information in the public interest more broadly, including by dissuading sources from speaking to the Record and other Kansas news media in the future." 

It would be difficult to find a more stunning and stark violation of the First Amendment's guarantee of press freedom. To support the Marion County Record, you can subscribe here. 

Free Speech Assault #3: SLAPP in Wisconsin. One of the most shameless and shameful ways thin skinned, powerful individuals and interests attempt to silence their critics is through filing sham defamation lawsuits designed to bankrupt the critics. According to Cornell Law School's  Legal Information Institute, a  "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation" (SLAPP) Suit, 

"refers to lawsuits brought by individuals and entities to dissuade their critics from continuing to produce negative publicity. By definition, SLAPP suits do not have any true legal claims against the critics. People bring SLAPP suits because they can either temporarily prevent their critics from making public statements against them or more commonly to make critics spend all of their time and resources defending the SLAPP suits." 

Wisconsin Republican Senator Cory Tomczyk is currently providing the nation with a textbook case of how to use a SLAPP suit to try and drive a publication out of business. The Wausau Pilot & Review in 2021 reported on a contentious meeting concerning a diversity resolution. As a part of the story, the reporter pointed out that Tomczyk, who was not in the Senate at the time, had been overheard calling a 13-year-old boy who supported the resolution a "fag." Tomczyk denies saying that, even though there were multiple witnesses who overheard it, but he did admit in a deposition to using that language at other times. His goal now seems to be to drive the newspaper out of business. 

Shereen Siewert is the editor of the Wausau Pilot & Review. The paper is fighting for survival because Wisconsin law does not allow defendants victimized by frivolous lawsuits to recoup legal expenses. 

In April a judge dismissed Tomczyk's lawsuit, which should have been the end of it. But he decided to appeal, for what appears to be a malicious desire to put the paper out of business. Because Wisconsin does not have anti-SLAPP legislation, what Tomczyk is doing is perfectly legal. Editor Shereen Siewert told journalist Bill Leuders,  "even if we win, we lose, because there is no way for us to counter sue or recoup our losses in any way … because we live in Wisconsin.”

On August 22, Wisconsin's State Senate Democrats introduced legislation that would allow Wisconsin to join more than 30 other states that ban sham SLAPP lawsuits. Unfortunately the legislation has little chance of passing, or even getting a hearing, as long as Wisconsin's legislature remains the poster child for extreme partisan gerrymandering. 

The Wausau Pilot & Review has set up a legal defense fund on GoFundMe. Please consider supporting them if you have the resources to do so. You will not only be helping to rescue a great newspaper, but also rescuing the First Amendment from a malicious attempt to undermine it. 

Free Speech Assault #4: Book Banning In Schools: Last month I posted a rant on the case of former Heyer Elementary School (Waukesha, WI) teacher Melissa Tempel, in which her termination was a direct result of her attempt to allow her first-graders to sing "Rainbowland" at a school sponsored spring concert. 

It turns out that so-called conservatives, who have spent years lamenting the loss of free speech, are promoting widespread censorship of literature in schools. According to a New York Times summary of a report from free speech advocacy group PEN America: 

From July to December 2022, PEN found 1,477 cases of books being removed, up from 1,149 during the previous six months. Since the organization began tracking bans in July 2021, it has counted more than 4,000 instances of book removals using news reports, public records requests and publicly available data.

The numbers don’t reflect the full scope of the efforts, since new mandates in some states requiring schools to vet all their reading material for potentially offensive content have led to mass removals of books, which PEN was unable to track, the report says.

The bulk of the censorship attempts appear to be aimed at any literature that includes LGBTQ+ or racial inequality themes. According to the NYT, in 2022 the most commonly banned books were  “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, “Flamer” by Mike Curato, “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins, a graphic novel edition of “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood and “Milk and Honey,” a poetry collection by Rupi Kaur. Much of the censoring is done in the name of "parental rights." (Unfortunately it is hidden behind a paywall, but if you want to read an outstanding testimonial about what it is like to be a school official in a district besieged by a censorship regime, try Bridgette Exman's "This Summer, I Became the Book Banning Monster of Iowa" in the Sept. 1, 2023 New York Times.). If you are facing a censorship crusade in your own school district, the National Coalition Against Censorship has a good toolkit to assist fighting back. 

MSNBC's Ali Velshi has created a "Banned Book Club" podcast that not only keeps a running list of banned books in America, but also interviews authors of such books. In each and every case, the author is rational, reasonable, and interested in addressing serious topics in thoughtful ways that challenge the imaginations of readers of all ages. In other words, the authors are the exact opposite of those who seek to censor them. 

I hope this post has clearly demonstrated the extent to which freedom of speech and expression are under assault in the United States. Every victim mentioned in this post (Laura Ann Carelton, The Marion County Record, The Wausau Pilot & Review, and authors of banned books) represent good faith actors using their first amendment freedoms to promote tolerance, democratic participation, keeping officials accountable, and making people think. To be a patriotic American must mean, at least in part, that we would do what we can to intervene to prevent the assaults on such actors from occurring or continuing. 

What If First Graders Google "Waukesha School Board?"

August 8, 2023 Update: Melissa Tempel has set up a GoFundMe page to help support her struggle with the Waukesha School District. Please support her if you can. Melissa's fight is the fight of every person who believes in education as preparation for living in a democratic society. Here's the link:  https://gofund.me/20955f73  -TP

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Melissa Tempel has been an elementary school teacher for more than 20 years. She's won a number of teaching awards, been praised by students and their families, and never been the subject of any disciplinary proceedings. Until now.  In July she was fired from her first-grade teaching job at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, WI after she tweeted her opinion on the school district administration's decision to prevent her first graders from singing the Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus song "Rainbowland" at a school sponsored spring concert. 

What is happening to Melissa Tempel must be seen as part of an ongoing backlash, promoted by right wing forces, against diversity, inclusion, and equity in education. The state of Florida under governor DeSantis is ground zero for such efforts, but Wisconsin is not too far behind. Ms. Tempel, who is half-Korean, was not even allowed to have an "Anti-Racist Classroom" sign in her room, as that too would somehow violate the district's "Controversial Issues in the Classroom" policy. 

If we take them at their word, in firing Ms. Tempel the board was merely upholding district policy. In media coverage, board members claimed to object to "Rainbowland" not because of the lyrics celebrating tolerance and inclusion, but because some of the children might google "Miley Cyrus" and be confronted by her sometimes raunchy image. Memo to the Waukesha School Board: Someday in the not too distant future those first graders will google "Waukesha School Board" and the search results will not assure them that you acted in their best interests. They will come to understand that you projected your own fears, insecurities, and partisan preferences onto their teacher and classroom. They will come to understand that you tried to hide your intolerance behind a mask of "protecting children." They will come to understand that when cold bureaucrats accuse conscientious educators like Ms.Tempel of "indoctrinating" students, that they are engaging in the worst kind of hypocrisy and gaslighting.  

At the root of the controversy in Waukesha is the district's "Controversial Issues in the Classroom" policy, a document that--when enforced strictly--reduces educators to nothing more than bland information dispensers. Take a look at the policy, and ask yourself how any teacher--especially in areas like social studies and history that by definition require the introduction of controversial issues into the classroom--could possibly do their job effectively when being micromanaged by it: 

 CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES IN THE CLASSROOM  

The Board believes that the consideration of controversial issues has a legitimate place in the instructional program of the District.

 

Properly introduced and conducted, the consideration of such issues can help students learn to identify important issues, explore fully and fairly all sides of an issue, weigh carefully the values and factors involved, and develop techniques for formulating and evaluating positions.

 

For purposes of this policy, a controversial issue is a topic

 

1. on which opposing points of view have been promulgated by responsible opinion.
    

2. Which may be the subject of intense public argument, disagreement or disapproval

    

3. Which may have political, social or personal impacts on students and/or the community, and
    

4. which is likely to arouse both support and opposition in the community.

 

The Board will permit the introduction of controversial issues when use in the instructional program:

 

1. is related to the instructional goals of the course of study
    

2. is appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students engaged in the discussion.
    

3. does not tend to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view;

    

4. encourages open-mindedness and is conducted in a spirit of scholarly inquiry;
    

5. does not cause a substantial disruption in the school environment.
    

6. does not create a hostile school environment.
    

Issues pertaining to human growth and development, as defined by statute, are subject to 118.019, Wis. Stats.

When controversial issues have not been specified in the course of study, the Board will permit the instructional use of only those issues which have received prior approval by the principal.

A teacher may express a personal opinion, only after all student discussion on the topic has concluded.  A teacher shall identify his/her personal opinion as such, and must not express such an opinion for the purpose of persuading students to adopt the point of view.  The classroom shall not be used as a forum for the discussion of District employment issues.

The Board recognizes that a course of study or certain instructional materials may contain content and/or activities that some parents find objectionable.  Teachers shall provide effective advance notice to parents of controversial issues that are part of the planned instruction in the classroom.
 

If a parent indicates to the school that either content or activities conflicts with his/her religious beliefs or value system, the school will honor a written request for his/her child to be excused from particular classes. The student, however, will not be excused from participating in the course or activities mandated by the State of Wisconsin and will be provided alternative learning activities during times of parent requested absences.

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If I were to rewrite the policy, it would simply say this: 

The Board believes that the consideration of controversial issues has a legitimate place in the instructional program of the District.

 

Properly introduced and conducted, the consideration of such issues can help students learn to identify important issues, explore fully and fairly all sides of an issue, weigh carefully the values and factors involved, and develop techniques for formulating and evaluating positions.

In our district we respect our teachers as professionals and public intellectuals. We respect the right of parents and/or guardians to raise questions and concerns about the issues that a teacher brings into the classroom, and we are happy to facilitate parent/guardian meetings to address such questions and concerns. However, we will never micromanage our teachers in a way that will make them afraid to do their jobs properly or engage in self-censorship. 

The policy as espoused by the Waukesha School Board, like similar policies in school districts across the country, reflect what education scholar Henry Giroux refers to as the "teacher proof" curriculum. In such a curriculum, all the teacher does is dispense pre-approved content, most of it designed to prepare students to be not much more than obedient workers. In its place, Giroux proposes a curriculum designed to create space for teachers and students to learn about their responsibility as citizens in a democratic culture. Such education would respect teachers as public intellectuals and encourage them to spark their students to recognize that they have agency in such a culture. 

Henry Giroux is a prolific writer on the politics of education. He has written over 70 books and hundreds of articles. My favorite is probably his 2011 "Education and the Crisis of Public Values: Challenging the Assault on Teachers, Students, and Public Education." The book addresses themes that are at the heart of the controversy involving Melissa Tempel

What does it mean for a teacher to be a public intellectual? Giroux quotes progressive educator Israel Scheffler, who argued that teachers should be seen not merely as a "performer professional equipped to realize effectively any goals that may be set for them. Rather [they should] be viewed as free men and women with a special dedication to the values of the intellect and the enhancement of the critical powers of the young." That's exactly what Melissa Tempel has been doing for more than 20 years. To remove her from her job over a tweet is deeply wrong on moral and probably legal grounds. 

Melissa Tempel deserves our support. Her situation is about more than the First Amendment rights of teachers, though it is pretty clear that hers were violated. Her situation really is about US as citizens. Are we going to let reactionary school boards micromanage teachers and reduce them to nothing more than information dispensers carrying out a "teacher proof" curriculum? You can email the Waukesha School Board HERE and let them know that you support Melissa Tempel and ask them to reconsider their decision.