The media is desperately trying to salvage Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s chances in Virginia’s governors’ race, after his alarming comments about parents and education have cost him in the very tight election.
This week, MSNBC went so far as to call Loudoun County Public Schools in VA covering up a sexual assault as a “manufactured” and “made up” controversy.
On Mehdi Hasan’s Sunday night show, the host claimed the hot debates over Critical Race Theory and a school rape coverup due a impending controversial transgender bathroom policy were just “manufactured outrage” from the GOP. He was really upset because McAuliffe’s (and Obama’s and the media’s) arrogant dismissal of parents’ concerns wasn’t doing them any favors in this race. Hasan seemed to think parents shouldn’t be upset about these things, and if they were, they were just racists [click “expand”]
It almost seems as though the GOP does not care about consistency, books, or speech. They are all about getting power and divisiveness. Mcauliffe is not alone in this. Glenn Youngkin (the GOP opponent) has made parental anxiety and created outrage his central focus. It seems that it is working. Race isn’t just a distraction. Virginia voters are now most concerned about education at 24%. Last month, it was 15%. Education voters preferred McAuliffe last month by 33 points.
Now they tilt to Youngkin by 9, that’s a whopping 42-point swing. Yes, we can discuss what’s happening in Virginia, Florida, and Texas within the context of race and how our ability to or inability talk about racism. It is possible to talk about the issues in the context of election and how the Biden Build Back Better Agenda will affect the outcome. How can we save our infrastructure and democracy?
The MSNBC hack went off the deep end, complaining this was about the right’s inability to talk about “racism” and the GOP’s desire for authoritarian rule.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe the next morning, it wasn’t much better. Joe Scarborough is the host. New York Times’ columnist Michelle Goldberg mocked the Loudoun County rape case as a “big lie.”
Scarborough complained that the first sexual assault by a boy wearing a skirt in the girls’ room happened before the transgender policy was in place, so any anger over it was inconsequential:
“This was a guy that went in and sexually assaulted a girl.Trans students are not subject to a controversial policy in the bathroom. This is just a controversy that you and your column point out that’s just been made-up,” He laughed.
Scarborough insisted again that the school’s transgender policy had nothing to do with the rape. (Does he think that allowing boys into girl’s locker rooms and bathrooms will diminish sexual assaults?(Read more)
Michelle, again, though the story line in the governor’s race, the story line politically, even the story line in that NBC package is parents saying oh this has to do with a controversial new bathroom policy.This is simply not true. Although this was a criminal act committed in the high school’s bathroom, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the controversial bathroom policy that many Republicans claim it did.
Goldberg then outright lied about the district’s transgender policy, claiming that if the boy had *really* identified as a girl under the current school policy, he still wouldn’t have had access to the girls’ bathrooms. Not true, as the policy approved in August by the school board plainly states: “All students are entitled to have access to restrooms and locker rooms that are sanitary, safe, and adequate, so that they can comfortably and fully engage in their school programs and activities. It is important that students are allowed to access the facilities which correspond with their gender identity..” Still she said the following:
Yes that’s correct, look it’s true the boy was wearing a skirt and that was the germ of this whole sort of misinformation. Again, the boys did not identify themselves as transgender and even though the policy would have allowed them to access the bathrooms for girls, the policy was not in effect.
The TimesColumnist was more gracious to school administrators who told lies about sexual assaults than she was to parents concerned about this cover-up.
“I also think it’s not clear to me whether the school’s superintendent really was covering this up or misunderstood the question to say, had there been sexual assaults as a result of this policy, I mean either way he’s guilty of severe miscommunication,” she argued.
Scarborough ended the segment lecturing parents, saying that if they were upset over the school’s transgender policy, they were upset over “a lie.”
MSNBC desperately attempting to help Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s governors’ race, was paid for by advertisers Xfinity (Morning Joe) and Mercedes (Mehdi Hasan), whom you can contact at the Conservatives Fight Back page linked.
Read the transcripts below:
Morning Joe
11/1/2021
JOE SCARBOROUGH: We are reading all the time and we are talking about the story about a trans student that goes into a bathroom and this is happening and it’s going to have a big impact on the Virginia race. And then we read your column and then we go, read your column, of course even in that package, you hear this controversial bathroom controversy. This was a guy that went in and sexually assaulted a girl. There is no controversial bathroom policy regarding trans students. This is just a controversy that you and your column point out that’s just been made up.
…
SCARBOROUGH: For viewers who are watching, let’s be very clear here. The school board did make a terrible mistake. They can be judged on that and should be judged on that. Michelle, again, though the story line in the governor’s race, the story line politically, even the story line in that NBC package is parents saying oh this has to do with a controversial new bathroom policy. That’s just not the truth. This was a crime that took place in a high school bathroom but it had nothing to do with a quote “controversial bathroom policy” that a lot of Republicans are actually running around the state claiming it did.
MICHELLE GOLDBERG: Yes that’s correct, look it’s true the boy was wearing a skirt and that was the germ of this whole sort of misinformation. But again the bathroom policy was not in place and the boy did not identify as transgender, would not even if the policy had been in place would have had access to the girls bathroom.
The boy and the girl had made plans to meet up in the bathroom. The prosecutor said the girl in this case had asked him to meet her there so that they could talk. So again the boy is guilty. I also think it’s not clear to me whether the school’s superintendent really was covering this up or misunderstood the question to say, had there been sexual assaults as a result of this policy, I mean either way he’s guilty of severe miscommunication.
There is another piece of this. Which is that there was a second sexual assault. He was transferred to another school, he was wearing an ankle monitor, The disposition of that case is this month. It’s worth noting that he had restraining order against returning to the first school and so it’s not clear what options the school had in terms of barring him from school all together. We’ve had a big controversy in this country for the last more than four years where boys accused of sexual assault and whether schools should be allowed to expel them or suspend them before there is a trial or hearing. The same people who are up in arms in many cases about the fact that he was allowed to return to the second school have in the past and including Betsy Devoss have been very clear that you can’t bar them from education without due process.
SCARBOROUGH: Again, To be clear here and the purpose of your column and certainly the fact in the headlines we are showing from conservative websites. What occurred was called a quote, “Transgender bathroom assault.”
….
Mehdi Hasan Show
10.31/21
MEHDI HASAN: This is not a principled position from the Republicans. Let’s be very clear: Virginia’s Republican governor candidate wants parents to have the final say on which books go on the school curriculum. Texas, however, is seeking to restrict the use of certain books and limit their availability. The answer is obvious. It is hard to decide which one it should be. The Republican Party seems to be running two opposing campaigns at the same time. This is a strange thing.It almost seems as though the GOP does not care about consistency, books, or speech. They are all about getting power and divisiveness. Mcauliffe is not alone in this. Glenn Youngkin (the GOP opponent) has made parental anxiety and created outrage his central focus. It seems that it is working. Race isn’t just a distraction. Virginia voters are now most concerned about education at 24%. It was 15% in the last month. Education voters preferred McAuliffe last month by 33 points.
Now they tilt to Youngkin by 9, that’s a whopping 42-point swing. Yes, we can discuss what’s happening in Virginia, Florida, and Texas within the context of race and how our ability to or inability talk about racism. It is possible to talk about the issues in the context of election and how the Biden Build Back Better Agenda will affect the outcome. It’s not worth saving our infrastructure, if it doesn’t help our democracy.
Facility is based on the larger picture, which we can’t lose sight of and the dark bow that we must tie together. Putin follows this playbook in Russia. This is the same man Erdogan looks to in Turkey, and Tucker Carlson’s friend Viktor Orban in Hungary. Republicans will do everything to transform the United States into an authoritarian dictatorship with only a few votes. Don’t be alarmed on Halloween Sunday. You should be very worried about the tracks.
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