Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Republicans do not pay their debts.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

So very ready.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

You are here: Home / Politics / domestic terrorists / Excellent Read: Moms for ‘Liberty’, And Also…

Excellent Read: Moms for ‘Liberty’, And Also…

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Thank you, Dave Roth, and Defector:

You know how it is. You are one of the 20 or so most unpleasant and aggrieved individuals in Hamilton County, Ind. As such, you have found yourself laying out the newsletter for your local chapter of Moms For Liberty, the fast-growing reactionary astroturf organization that grew to prominence by harnessing the power of screaming the word “groomer” at school board meetings and to which you, as an elite 0.01 percent unpleasant/aggrieved person, were naturally and perhaps inevitably drawn. Moms For Liberty claims 300 chapters in 45 states, and all around the country those chapters are doing something like the same mom-coded political actions, all of which proceed from the belief that, as a Moms For Liberty presentation once put it, “globalists, utopians, socialists, totalitarians and the UN are using public schools to undermine freedom and Christianity.”

That work takes various forms, none of which will be surprising to someone who follows the news or has met an upper-tier unpleasant suburban person. It has been, at different times, agitating against COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates in schools, demanding that moms’ voices be heard on The Bathroom Issue, organizing against both overcrowded bookshelves in school libraries and the teachers’ unions dead-set on filling them, making sure that academic curricula do not contain a harmful quantum of uncomfortable stuff pertaining to the realities of American life or history, and challenging both the existence of trans kids and the woke depravities of The Walt Disney Co. This work plays out in school board meetings and local elections and Facebook threads in which activists talk about how prepared they are to “do a 1776 to” their chosen political enemies. Moms For Liberty is outwardly a grassroots organization of moms dedicated to ensuring that their children grow up to have precisely the same opinions that they do, but is associated with precisely the sort of impossibly rich, impenetrably secretive conservative political enterprises that these organizations are always associated with, and also the Florida Republican Party, and also in some instances the Proud Boys. Earlier this month, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated Moms For Liberty an extremist group.

Anyway, the newsletter that you will post on the Facebook page for the Hamilton County, Ind. chapter of Moms For Liberty is a part of that important work. But it isn’t finished yet. It is visually busy, but then your chapter has been busy as well; the issue contains news about “A class in Biblical Citizenship” and “Carmel Pride Festival funding” and a rundown of “Parent WINS,” and a message from the organization’s founders headlined “Moms For Liberty will not be intimidated by hate groups!” But there is some blank space above that, right next to the In This Issue bit. It doesn’t look right, and so you plug it with what is either a motivational quote or a cautionary one—”He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future”—and then you attribute it to its author, and then you publish it to Facebook, on Wednesday afternoon. Which might have been it, had the bloodthirsty click-chasing media types at The Indianapolis Star not noticed that the quote, which is commonly attributed to Adolf Hitler, was also in this instance attributed to Adolf Hitler, right there at the top of your Moms For Liberty newsletter. And then, of course, they make a big deal out of it…

But then … hoofbeats, and the cavalry rides over the horizon. It is the national organization, speaking in clarion voice—many thousands united in the voice of one mom, a voice raised in defiance and demanding that the newspaper that reported on all this “do better.”

Excellent Read: Moms for 'Liberty', And Also...

Thank you, Soonergrunt — that was my coinage:

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    Jerzy Russian

    I am not sure that the “intentional dishonesty” was in the reporting, but then again I am tired and am considering a nap.

    Also, “squid cloud of butthurt” is a pretty accurate description of the events outlined in the main post.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    Roth is a gifted writer. And I was today years old when I learned that you, Anne Laurie, coined “squid cloud of butthurt,” which is another piece of gifted writing. Salud!

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I know revisionist histories always pop up, but Nazis are bad and Hitler was the lead Nazi should be a pretty safe historical judgment.  Just sayin’.

  11. 11.

    BeautifulPlumage

    I wonder how many chapters are actually run by old white guys playacting as moms on Facebook & Twitter?

  12. 12.

    Alison Rose

    “Everyone knows Hitler is bad.”

    You see. This is one of those sentences where, if you find yourself having to say it, you’re too deep in the shit to ever claw your way out.

  21. 21.

    Jay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    There is another Drag Queen Story hour this week at the Coquitlam Library.

    Did my research on who is probably going to show up, by trolling the web.

    Got 6 sex offenders* and nobody with kids in Coquitlam.

    Gonna be fun.

    *not supposed to be within 1km of a school, the school is right across the street. Cops will be there, so I have copies of their criminal records printed out, that I will just hand off to the Cops.

  24. 24.

    HumboldtBlue

    Sometimes I think to myself that these sorts of gaffes are actually planted by the secret liberal who has infiltrated these right wing groups and are deliberately looking to portray them as ridiculous, proudly ignorant and utterly fucking clueless, and then I watch Fox News clips and I stop thinking that to myself.

  26. 26.

    Suzanne

    Some interesting reading: “The Truth About Fat Men and Hot Wives in Sitcoms“.

    Our entire entertainment industry is based on the concept of helping less attractive men get laid. That’s why underdog’s always get the girl in the end, to increase the potential of this actually happening in real life.

    …

    The lesson of every episode of the the Honeymooners: no matter how fat, dumb, and belligerent your man is, you better stick with him because there’s absolutely no alternative.

    This social dynamic is obviously changing…. should be interesting to see how this representation shifts.

  28. 28.

    Tony G

    Hmm.  This doesn’t prove that “Moms for Liberty” are a bunch of Neo-Nazis (although perhaps they are) — but it does suggest that they are extremely lacking in basic intelligence and common sense.  Adolf Hitler was not an obscure historical figure like the leaders of the Romanian fascist Iron Guard — he was probably one of the most famous figures in history — and even people who know almost nothing about history will agree that he was a “bad person”.  So are these “Moms for Liberty” scolds actual Neo-Nazis or are they just really, really stupid?  (Or both?)

  29. 29.

    hells littlest angel

    “Everyone knows Hitler is bad.”

     

    I don’t know. Sounds kind of … woke.

  30. 30.

    Ohio Mom

    A few of those Moms for Liberty have been elected to a couple of suburban school districts around here (not mine yet, knock on wood). There are fairly regular newspaper stories on the chaos they are causing. One of them nearly started a fist fight last week.

    I am looking forward to them all being voted out. Most suburbanites understand that their property values rest on their school district’s reputation, and are invested in that even if they don’t have kids in the schools.

  31. 31.

    scav

    @Tony G: Or, rather like bullshitters vis-á-vis truth, entirely and quintessentially uninterested in the rightness or wrongness of Nazi-dom so long as they get their way?

    And of course stupid. or, is that quintessentially uninterested in intelligence so long as they get their way?

  32. 32.

    Delk

    They shouldn’t be allowed at any school board meetings unless they can explain what globalists, utopians, socialists, and totalitarians are and give clear examples of how they are effecting the school.

  33. 33.

    James E Powell

    Everyone knows Hitler is bad.

    I just have a funny feeling that the original draft of that tweet had “Everyone knows Hitler is bad, but . . .”

    Truth is, the right wing is filled with people who, like Trump, will argue that Hitler did a lot of good things.

  34. 34.

    SpaceUnit

    My guess is that they were trying to claim that it’s the ‘woke mob’ who is attempting to hijack and subvert today’s youth . . .  just like Hitler!!!

    But when actual nazis are part of your political alliance that shit tends to blow up in your face.

  35. 35.

    dm

    Maybe they put the Hitler quote up as a cautionary tale? Their schtick is that their opponents are trying to take over the minds of the young — in imitation of what Hitler was talking about. Sort of like the John Birch Society quoting Lenin on how he was going to subvert the capitalist world, so you better watch out.

    [ETA: SpaceUnit beat me to it.]

  36. 36.

    TriassicSands

    Oh, c’mon. Giving these sweet, concerned ladies a hard time because they quoted Hitler. Why I can quote a lot of things Hitler said and they aren’t at all offensive.

    “Ein”

    “Eine”

    “Der”

    “Sie”

    “Bier” (A favorite of Justice Kavanaugh!)

    And the list goes on.

    Seriously, my utter disgust with the ignorance displayed by this group, and others like it is as close to infinite as I can imagine.

    But, then there is the Southern Poverty Law Center calling “Moms for Liberty” and extremist group. The SPLC has no credibility. They probably think Donald Trump is an extremist. Or Marjorie Taylor Greene. Why they’re just mainstream Republicans today and in the “Party of Lincoln,” I might add. I’m just a little confused though — is that the party of Abraham Lincoln or George LINCOLN Rockwell.

    For any of you kids out there, George Lincoln Rockwell was the head of the American Nazi Party from 1959-67. From ’62 to ’67 he was also the leader of the World Union of National Socialists. (A real multi-tasker.) His illustrious career came to an end when he was assassinated by a former party member whom Rockwell had expelled for “Bolshevik leanings.” If he’d somehow survived until today, he’d probably be a “moderate” Republican serving in the House of Representatives.

  38. 38.

    Scout211

    As a reminder, the “Democratic presidential candidate,” RFK jr. is a featured speaker at the big Moms for Liberty Summit.

    Birds of a feather . . .

    Moms4Liberty Twitter

    Summit Speaker Announcement

    Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 2024 Presidential Candidate

    Join us next week!

    •Founder of the Waterkeeper Alliance — the world’s largest clean water advocacy group — and served as its longtime chairman and attorney.

    •TIME Magazine named Kennedy its “Hero for the Planet” for his leadership in the fight to restore the Hudson River.

    •Served on the trial team in the landmark victories against Monsanto in 2018, and against DuPont in 2019 in the contamination case that inspired the movie “Dark Waters.”

    •Award-winning writer whose articles have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The Nation, Outside Magazine, the Village Voice, and many others.

  39. 39.

    Scout211

    I must admit that I am feeling rather salty that these horrible people have co-opted the phrase “do better” for evil. It used to have an impact.  Now it has been twisted in such a way that they use to to shame anyone who criticizes them. The phrase has lost its impact.

  40. 40.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Scout211: I must admit that I am feeling rather salty that these horrible people have co-opted the phrase “do better” for evil. It used to have an impact.  Now it has been twisted in such a way that they use to to shame anyone who criticizes them. The phrase has lost its impact.

    That’s what they do. See also: Projection, fake news, “puppet.” Republicans are the “I’m rubber, you’re glue” Party.

  41. 41.

    Jackie

    @NotMax: That’s crazy! A former president can’t get a bond? Maybe being famous for not paying his bills is a sign of untrustworthiness.

    Who coulda known?

  42. 42.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Scout211: As a reminder, the “Democratic presidential candidate,” RFK jr. is a featured speaker at the big Moms for Liberty Summit.

    Undue skepticism of peer-reviewed scientific process? Check.

    Paeons to a mythical past when everything was better? Check.

    Pals around with bigots? Check.

    Had exactly one correct thought in his life and took it to wild, unsupported places? Check.

    Kennedy is running in the wrong for the nomination of the wrong party. Does he think Democrats will simply see “Kennedy” and vote for him out of confusion?

  46. 46.

    TriassicSands

    @Sister Golden Bear: Klanned Karenhood

    Nice one! But trade mark it fast or you’ll lose it forever.

    Klanned Karenhood™ — Cleaning up America by Brainwashing its Children

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    @dc:

    For them, he’s bad because he lost. They are so disappointed, they would not have to fight their fight had he won. 

    I’m sure they’d love being breeders for the state if the Nazis had won.

  52. 52.

    mrmoshpotato

    @BeautifulPlumage:

    I wonder how many chapters are actually run by old white guys playacting as moms on Facebook & Twitter? 

    You mean that Mom4Liberty696986753069 on Twitter could be a fake account?!

    Fetch me my fainting couch!

  53. 53.

    Scout211

    Vice News has a good article about the close ties that Moms for Liberty has with extremist groups, including the Proud boys.

    Again, birds of a feather . . .
      

    Inside Moms for Liberty’s close relationship with the Proud Boyst.co/FGZBU3MDBq— Matthew Levitt (@Levitt_Matt) June 21, 2023

  54. 54.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax: “My name is John Dennison.  I mean David Barron.”

    “Fuck you, you fat, orange, fascist, shitstain loser!”

    *click

  56. 56.

    Citizen Alan

    @Suzanne:@Suzanne: I actually found the article to be fat-shaming on multiple levels. The author focuses on shows with a fat husband-hot wife dynamic in which the husband is invariably an idiot because “fat idiots are extra funny.” And then, the author goes on to mock the very idea that any fat guy could ever land an attractive wife.

    What’s really happening in most of those shows (all of which are off the air b/c the article is from 2010) is just a simple dynamic: (1) Comedian/actor achieves sufficient popularity and QI rating for Hollywood producers to offer him a tv show. (2) Said TV show is constructed around comedian’s standup routine. (3) The easiest and laziest structure for the show is to slot the comedian into a family sitcom as “the Dad.” (4) Since the Dad is a character extrapolated from a standup routine, he will most likely be a buffoon to some degree, with his longsuffering wife and sarcastic kids there to point out what a buffoon he is. This dynamic has been at play for decades and has led to innumerable shows involving thin guys in the “buffoonish Dad” role (Jeff Foxworthy, Home Improvement’s Tim Allen, Bryan Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle) that the author ignores in  his revulsion over fat guys finding love.

  57. 57.

    Penn

    Hey, in his defense, Hitler did do one good thing: he’s the one who killed Hitler.
    That’s all I have in his defense.

  62. 62.

    lowtechcyclist

    @James E Powell:

    Truth is, the right wing is filled with people who, like Trump, will argue that Hitler did a lot of good things.

    And absolutely loads of them who’d say that sure, Hitler was horrible, but Democrats are even worse.

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