Something you’ve probably picked up on over the last year and change is that critical race theory is the Republican party’s bogeyman du jour. CRT, for those unaware, is an academic framework based on the notion that racism is not simply about individual prejudice but the prejudice embedded in a country’s institutions and policies, like a justice system that lets a police officer get away with fatally shooting a 12-year-old Black boy for the crime of playing with a toy gun, while a white teen is acquitted of killing two people after claiming self-defense. CRT is not about teaching kids that all white people are bad, but you definitely wouldn’t know that from watching Fox News or listening to conservative politicians, who would have people believe that CRT requires teachers to tell their students that white people are to blame for everything that’s ever gone wrong in the history of the universe, and that Joe Biden is about to pass a law that says the government can repossess white people’s houses and garnish 97% of their wages as reparations, or something. Another important fact to know about critical race theory? Elementary, middle, and high school teachers are not actually being forced to incorporate it into their lesson plans—ask an actual teacher, they’ll tell you!
Instead, conservatives are using CRT as a tool to fan the flames of yet another culture war and apparently scare voters—some of whom were told over the weekend that CRT is so dangerous they must literally be willing to die to stop it.
Yes, in a characteristically unhinged speech, Donald Trump warned his followers: “Getting critical race theory out of our schools is not just a matter of values, it’s also a matter of national survival. We have no choice, the fate of any nation ultimately depends upon the willingness of its citizens to lay down and they must do this, lay down their very lives to defend their country. If we allow the Marxists and Communists and Socialists to teach our children to hate America, there will be no one left to defend our flag or to protect our great country or its freedom.”
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To state the obvious: CRT proponents are not engaging in violence in order to advocate for it to be implemented in the classroom, so it would appear that Trump is proactively telling his supporters to resort to violence to get it “out of our schools,” and, in the process, be willing to sacrifice their lives. (Anyone who would like to give him the benefit of the doubt here apparently slept through the last six years, or somehow selectively missed the many times he encouraged his followers to do exactly what it sounded like.)
Trump’s declaration comes days after the Florida legislature passed a legitimately insane, wildly Orwellian bill that bans schools and private businesses from conducting lessons or trainings that would make white people feel guilty. It also comes against the backdrop of uninformed parents taking over school board meetings to protest the mere idea that systemic racism is real, so it’s not a great time for the former president of the United States to tell those very people they should get violent to save the country from…education.
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Meanwhile, in Russia
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This woman, Maria Ovsyannikova, is an editor at Channel One, a Russian state TV broadcaster, according to Insider. She was reportedly arrested and could face up to 15 years in prison under the country’s new law that criminalizes disseminating anything the government deems “false” about the war. As the Financial Times’ Max Seddon noted, even news of Ovsyannikova’s protest was censored. “To give you an idea of how sweeping the wartime censorship laws are in Russia: Novaya Gazeta, Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov’s paper, published a picture of Ovsyannikova’s protest that looks like this,” he wrote on Twitter, alongside an image of Ovsyannikova with the words on her sign blurred out.
In a prerecorded message shared by an independent human rights group, Ovsyannikova said: “Only we have the power to stop all this madness. Go to the protests. Don’t be afraid of anything. They can’t imprison us all.” She added: “Regrettably, for a number of years, I worked on Channel One and worked on Kremlin propaganda, I am very ashamed of this right now. Ashamed that I was allowed to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I allowed the zombification of the Russian people.” She made it clear that “What is happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor. The responsibility of this aggression lies on the shoulders of only one person: Vladimir Putin.” Thousands of people in Russia have been arrested for protesting the war, according to Insider; last week CIA director Bill Burns told the U.S. House Intelligence Committee that the government has jailed as many as 14,000 people for speaking out.
Democrats claim Trump is breaking election laws by not officially declaring 2024 bid
We know this must come as a shock given Donald Trump’s long history of always doing the right thing. Per The New York Times:
“He should have to adhere to the law in a way that all other candidates do,” Jessica Floyd, the president of the group that filed the complaint, told the Times. “When he says, ‘I’m going to do it a third time,’ that’s not flirting. That’s more than a toe dip.” Unfortunately, Trump has a long history of not only teasing presidential runs but getting away with everything despite copious evidence against him. So we should probably assume nothing is going to change.
Nothing to see here, just the spouse of a Supreme Court justice admitting she attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol
In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, Virginia Thomas, a.k.a. Ginni Thomas, a.k.a. Clarence Thomas’s wife, said that she was at the January 6 rally at which Trump repeated his baseless claims of 2020 voter fraud, and told his supporters to fight on his behalf. And while that admission seems damning vis-à-vis her husband’s job, it’s just one example in a long line of conflicts of interest she’s brought to the table. Per The Washington Post:
In the Washington Free Beacon interview, Thomas swore that her political “activism” has no impact on her husband’s work. “Like so many married couples, we share many of the same ideals, principles, and aspirations for America,” she said. “But we have our own separate careers, and our own ideas and opinions too. Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work.”
Elsewhere!
War is driving up food prices, exacerbating shortages abroad, especially for food-insecure nations (Washington Post)
Biden administration weighing expediting some Ukrainian refugee cases (CNN)
Russia could default on its debt within days (CNN)
Random People Start Seizing Properties Belonging to Russian Oligarchs and Putin’s Daughter (TDB)
Pfizer CEO says a fourth booster shot “is necessary” (The Hill)
Trumpworld Crypto Coin Sinks After Trump Gets Involved (TDB)
Joe Manchin Dooms Biden’s Pick for Federal Reserve (TDB)
The 18 Minutes of Trading Chaos That Broke the Nickel Market (Bloomberg)
Russia rejects Peppa Pig trademark infringement claim to retaliate against sanctions for Ukraine war (Independent)
Elon Musk challenges Putin on Twitter to “single combat” for Ukraine (The Hill)
Sanctions Ensnare Roman Abramovich Rent Payments to Queen Elizabeth (WSJ)
— Images of Russia’s Attack on Ukraine
—Trump Calls Putin’s Ukraine Moves “Genius” Because He Hates Democracy
— The Zucker-Cuomo Saga Just Got Even Messier
— Why Biden Wanted Americans to Know Exactly What Putin Was Planning
— It’s Been a Hell of a Week for Letitia James
— “If Ukraine Matters, Tell Us Why”: Joe Biden Is Talking to Everyone Except the American People
— Republicans on Russia Crisis: It’s Biden’s Fault
— Thieves in the Night: A Vast Burglary Ring From Chile Has Been Targeting Wealthy U.S. Households
— Watergate’s Central Mystery: Why Did Nixon’s Team Order the Break-In in the First Place?
— From the Archive: Russia’s Dark Master
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