Wednesday's Most Active Threads

For the first time since the Hamas attack on Israel, the thread about the Gaza war was not the most active. The thread was not even the second most active, but fell to third. I am not really surprised as the thread has become unreadable, bogged down in unending petty arguments about esoteric topics. The most active thread was titled, "School board results?" and posted in the "Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)" forum. This thread was started late Tuesday evening by a poster in search of the Fairfax County Public School Board of Education election results. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party won every seat. The FCPS school forum has been filled with threads describing alleged failures of the school system and criticizing current Board members. There was clearly a hope by some that this election would reduce the Democratic dominance of the school board. The outcome left posters with such hopes in despair. "So depressing. I don't understand how FCPS will continue their reputation with thus (sic) trajectory", wrote one. In response, a number of posters lamented that centrist and independent candidates simply were not popular. As one poster said, "I tried voting for non progressives but they are getting crushed." Another wrote, "I voted for the independents. No one else did though." A common theme of the thread is that while the candidates endorsed by Democrats might not be perfect, the Republican-endorsed candidates had failed to focus on the issues that really mattered to voters. As a poster wrote, Republicans "should have stayed away from book banning and crucifying trans kids. As well as slamming equity like it is a slur." Similarly, another poster wrote, "Run on reasonable changes and I’ll listen. Run on MAGA talking points and I am not voting for you." As the results sunk in, posters turned to discussing what they believed would be the future of the school system. The primary criticism was what some posters believe to be an inordinate focus on "equity". By this they mean too much attention to making sure that all students achieve a minimum standard. Such posters want to see more opportunties provided for high-achieving students whose needs they believe are not being addressed as teaching is concentrated on the lowest common denominator. I am not an expert on FCPS, but from what I read in the forum there is a plethora of Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) and other programs for high-achievers. We even created a separate forum for such programs. So, I am a bit confused about the complaints concerning equity. One poster strongly dislikes "Skills Based Grading" and dominated the last several pages with her criticism. If this thread is any indication, the future of the FCPS forum will be much like its past. Full of threads complaining about the school system and blaming the board for the system's demise.

The next most active thread yesterday was posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Rashida Tlaib was censured and some Dems voted for it", the thread was about the censure by the US House of Representatives of Rashida Tlaib, an American of Palestinian heritage who represents the Detroit area in Congress. First a disclosure. I am a supporter of Tlaib and have donated to her campaigns. This is not going to be an unbiased post. I am angry about the Congressional action which I believe to have been unwarranted and unfair. Tlaib was accused of "promoting false narratives" which refers to her allegation, since withdrawn, that Israeli forces bombed the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza and that the Israeli military is committing genocide. She was also accused of "calling for the destruction of the state of Israel" due to her using the phrase "Free Palestine from the River to the Sea" which has been a popular slogan at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. To be clear, Tlaib was not accused of antisemitism. Rather, she is accused of criticizing Israel, a sovereign country. This was considered censure-worthy because of Israel's close relationship with the United States. In truth, the Congressional action is just one more episode in a pattern of "scalp-taking" that has been going on in Congress. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has been the target of repeated censure resolutions and was stripped of her committee assignments in the previous Congress due to false and antisemitic statements. She authored a resolution to censure Tlaib but withdrew it in favor one authored by Representative Rich McCormick, which was subsequently passed. Greene and other Republicans have been eager to get even with Democrats and Tlaib provided them the opportunity. As for the substance of Tlaib's censure, it is quite frivolous. In the aftermath of the al-Ahli Hospital explosion many assumed that it was the result of an Israeli attack. The social media staffer for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even posted a tweet taking credit for the attack. The Israeli government released evidence showing that the explosion was the result of a misfired rocket launched by Islamic Jihad, but had to withdraw some evidence that was proven false and other parts were contradictory. Authoritative sources have disputed some of the remaining evidence. While the US position is that a rocket fired by Palestinians caused the damage, Tlaib's position is that responsibility for the explosion is unclear and that it should be subject to an international investigation. That does not seem unreasonable to me. The topic of genocide is a tricky one, especially where Israel is concerned. However, Israeli Holocaust Scholar Raz Segal has called Israel's conduct in Gaza "a case of genocide". So, while many disagree with Tlaib, her allegation is not without merit. Regarding the "River to the Sea" slogan, I have written in this blog that I don't think the statement should be used. Nevertheless, Tlaib has said that it is "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate." Essentially, Tlaib is being punished for statements that are simply differences of opinion, not misstatements of fact. This was a politicized move to punish the only Palestinian-American in Congress and to demonstrate that criticism of Israel will not be tolerated. It was a very unfortunate action by the Congress.

Next, after the Gaza war thread which was third most active yesterday, was a thread titled, "As a woman what have you learned about men?" and posted in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum. The original poster asks others what they have learned about men and relationships. I haven't read much of this 11 page thread, but based on what I did read, it is mostly a collection of stereotypes and clichés. I am not sure that anyone hoping to learn the "secret of men" is going to be rewarded. That's because men are individuals. What is true about one may or may not be true about another. As such, the lessons that posters have learned are highly dependent upon the men that they've been around. Those who have been around men who have problems and aren't spectacular specimens of the gender have low opinons of men. Those who have been luckier in their associations think that men are fantastic. A few posters post things that they've learned that, by their own admission, apply both to men and women. A couple of men even answered in order to tell women about men. But, frankly, their responses didn't seem to be anymore insightful than those offered by women. As is probably obvious, I am not a fan of this sort of thread. People are individuals. Treat them the way that you would like to be treated and expect them to treat you similarly. I don't think things are much more complicated then that.

The last thread at which I'll look today was posted in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics" forum. Titled, "Pour one out for Youngkin’s ambition", the thread is about a point I made in my blog post yesterday. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin had staked a lot on Tuesday elections in which he was hoping that Republicans would win control of the state Senate and maintain control of the House of Delegates. It turned out that the opposite happened. This threatens Youngkin's ability to implement his political agenda over the next two years. For instance, just prior to Tuesday's election, Youngkin argued for a 15 week abortion ban. There is no chance of that happening now. The dilemma facing Youngkin is that Virginia governors are only allowed to serve a single term. With the apparent collapse of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign and the poor showings of candidates such as Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, anti-Trump Republican political donors have been considering Youngkin as an alternative candidate. The election results put an immediate end to those ambitions, at least for the near term. The next step for Virginia governors has traditionally been the US Senate and both current Senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kane, are former governors. Kaine is up for reelection in 2024, but it is likely too late for Youngkin to consider that race. Moreover, trying to campaign while confronting a Democratic-led Senate and House of Delegates would not be ideal. Therefore, Youngkin might instead look at Warner's seat in 2026. Otherwise, his next political opportunity will likely not be until the 2028 presidential election. Ironically, if he spends the next two years governing as a centrist and showing an ability to work with the Democratic legislature, that might set him up to be quite competitive against Warner. But, a lot depends on events outside Youngkin's control such as the future of former President Donald Trump and the continued potency of MAGA politics within the Republican Party. Much of this thread concentrates on posters' views of Youngkin with many of them strongly disliking him and others proclaiming themselves fans. Posters argued about the reasons for his victory in the governor's race. Youngkin capitalized on a lot of disillusionment with schools, initially caused by school closures due to covid, but then turning to complaints about transgender students, LGBTQ-themed books in schools, and critical race theory. A few posters still insist on fighting those battles, though these days concerns about book banning and other Republican-led cultural war issues seem to take precedence. Youngkin's run as a conservative cultural warrior seems to becoming to an end due to both political and practical reasons. Whether he can reinvent himself as a centrist pragmatist remains to be seen. Ironically, because most of the mainstream media has ignored his extreme conservatism and portrayed him as a reasonable Republican all along, this may not be much of a challenge.