The second night of Jim Acosta’s hosting CNN’s, Democracy in PerilHe was quite the showman, and it is safe to say that his crazy antics were beyond belief. Acosta described Virginia, in a segment on Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s ban on Critical Race Theory as “Soviet-style” police state.
Acosta opened the segment by wailing about Youngkin’s request for neighbors to surrender to him. Youngkin had apparently established an email tip line to allow parents to inform his administration of schools that are breaking his ban against the teaching Critical Race Theory. CNN anchor Acosta, agitated by his favorite topic, claimed “experts fear” that the tip line is. “Weakening our democracy as seriously as the big lies”
It is not clear how it “weakens our democracy,”
Acosta then brought on Atlantic writer Molly Jong-Fast to continue kvetching about Governor Youngkin:
Molly, do you remember Glenn Youngkin running in Virginia in a fleece vest? He was running for a different Republican. It was going to have a vest. Not a Soviet-style, police state that crosses the Potomac River from Washington.
Virginia is now a police state. Youngkin created it to empower parents and hold children’s schools to account. CNN provides this thought-provoking commentary.
Jong-Fast appeared to be in agreement with Acosta’s accusations, saying It’s truly bizarre. He was elected. He wouldn’t allow Trump to come along and run for office with him. This was a fake Trump. She continued “As soon as the he was in there, he started to take away masking from Virginia public schools. These teacher hotlines allow you to rat out teachers. “It’s like he went full Ron DeSantis from the start.”
Acosta continued this conversation and accused conservatives, asking “why doesn’t this upset the traditional conservative tenants of liberty, anti-censorship, and freedom?”
Jong-Fast “Republicans are really into canceling teachers. You may recall that libraries had many banned books during the 1960s and 1970s. In the later part of the discussion she fears-mongered. We’ll see more laws similar to this one”Both Republican and Democratic states will be “Race to become Trumpier and Trumpier.”
This loony segment featuring a CNN host referring to Virginia as a “Soviet-style police state” was made possible by Discover and Sleep Number. This link will take you to their contact information so that you can inform them about biased news funding.
You can click the “expand” button to see this section’s transcript.
CNN’s Democracy in Peril
1/25/2022
9:40 PM
JIM ACOSTA: Virginia’s Governor has asked neighbors to call in to report criminal activity and turn in their neighbors. It all comes down to the GOP’s new culture war obsession. Glenn Youngkin is already in his second week as Governor and has set up an email tipline for parents who wish to report teachers of divisive subjects. His concerns about race and historical issues were the focus of his remarks.
[cuts to video]
VIRGINIA GOVERNOR GLENN YOUNGKIN: We’re going to kick critical race theory and other divisive–inherently divisive teaching practices out of the schools.
[cuts back to live]
ACOSTA: This tactic of pitting citizens against citizens isn’t just a Virginia thing. Remember the Texas anti-abortion legislation? This law was allowed by the Supreme Court to stay in effect. Anyone can sue anyone for aiding someone to have an abortion. It seems that Republican leaders are determined to divide the nation in many different ways. Listen to what they have to say.
[cuts to video]
FORMER VICE PRICE PRESIDENT MIKEPENCE: America does not have racial tendencies. America should abandon the mythical left-wing systemic racism.
SENATE MAJORITY RANGER MITCH McCONNELL: The President Biden is determined to make literal millionaires from people who have violated federal laws. They would like to eliminate seven-figure checks on illegal border crossings.
CONGRESSMAN MATT GAETZ: Lookout, Mr. Potato head, you’re next. He’s now calling himself Potato X. Mr. America’s first transgender doll was Potato head, and even that one got cancelled.
[cuts back to live]
ACOSTA: Maybe he shouldn’t be making comments about Mr. Potato head it’s just a thought there. These are not empty words. Some experts worry that these new culture warfare are affecting our laws, and could even be making it harder to vote. Here to discuss Molly Jong-Fast contributing writer for the Atlantic and author of the newsletter “Wait What?”. Molly, you may recall Glenn Youngkin running in Virginia in a fleece vest. He ran as an entirely different type of Republican. According to me, there would be a vest and not a Soviet-style state police force that stretches across the Potomac between Washington and Baltimore.
MOLLY JONGFAST : Yes, that’s weird. He was elected. He wouldn’t allow Trump to come along and run for office with him. He pretended to look like this non-Trumpy Trump. Once he was in, he began to remove masking in Virginia public school classrooms. You can call these hotlines to get feedback from your teachers. Ron DeSantis has been his spokesman since the start.
ACOSTA: It’s not only Youngkin. According to a recent study, there are numerous new options that could allow teachers to be punished for teaching children things they don’t agree with. This doesn’t seem to be in line with the conservative principles of freedom, anti-censorship and liberty. It’s not difficult to understand why you would want to cancel your teacher. You can email the Governor of Virginia, and they will probably ratify you in some other states.
JONG-FAST : Republicans are really into abolishing teachers. In the 1960s and 70s, there were a lot banned books in libraries. You probably know that this is one of the tropes we are going to return to with this Republican Party. Bailing books out is not good. You never want to be on the side that’s banning books. The positive news is that some kids are now able to use libraries. There is a certain excitement in the thought that books can be so dangerous that if your child reads them, they might become a Democrat.
ACOSTA: That’s right. You can rebel against your parents and go to the library. It was something I didn’t do as a child, but it could be a starting point. Youngkin’s actions are very similar to the Texas abortion law, where people turn each other in. These laws seem to have caught on, and citizens are ratting out each other. This is like canceling the neighbor next door or across the street.
JONG FAST: What happened to the Texas SB8 law? The Supreme Court made a decision without making a final decision. And they said “Stay decisis does not matter” – they kind of passively said it. It doesn’t matter how absurd it may seem, as long as we support the principle of law. Instead of abolishing the law, as many court watchers on both sides of the aisle thought it would be, they left it standing. So now, the message was if you’re a conservative Governor and you want to pass a crazy law, you have, remember there–Trump has installed a third of the Supreme Court so you have a kind of blank check to do whatever you want. These laws are only the beginning. This is why I believe we will see more blue states than red. These red states do not have the incentive to be Trumpy. They are just going to race, and be Trumpier and Trumpier.
ACOSTA: Yeah, no question about it. Molly JongFast: I won’t be snooping on you, by the way. That would be impossible. It was a pleasure to have you with us tonight. It was great to meet you.
JONG FAST: I am grateful for your presence.
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