Tuesday's Most Active Threads

The most active thread yesterday was titled, "Head of School at National Child Research Center (NCRC) - Arrest warrant issued" and posted in the "Private & Independent Schools" forum. By the time I learned that this thread existed yesterday, the title was already out of date. The original poster started this thread after learning of reports that an arrest warrant had been issued for James Carroll, the Head of School at the National Child Research Center (NCRC), an elite Washington, DC preschool. Less than half an hour later, Carroll's arrest for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor was announced. For me, this thread provoked an immediate sense of déjà vu. Back in 2006, when DCUM's forums were still in their infancy, a scandal involving a teacher at Beauvoir was the subject of what would become, at that time, the most active thread in DCUM history. That case involved Eric Toth, a 3rd grade teacher at Beauvoir who was found to have taken sexually explicit photos of children using a school-owned camera. Toth fled and ended up replacing Osama Bin Laden on the FBI's Most Wanted list after Bin Laden was killed. Toth, who was later arrested in Costa Rica and is now in prison, had actually been an active DCUM poster. My immediate reaction upon seeing this thread was to think that we were going to have another Beauvoir situation. Carroll has a long history in the DC private school world, including a Beauvoir connection. He apparently was teaching 3rd grade along with Toth at Beauvoir at the time of the Beauvoir scandal. That is an eerie coincidence to say the least. Carroll later joined the Beauvoir administration before leaving to become the head of school at Concord Hill School for two years. He has been head of school at NCRC since July 2018. The criminal complaint provided in this case is pretty tough to read and definitely not for the faint of heart. According to that document, Carroll came to the attention of an administrator of the Discord social media network when he uploaded a photo of "two naked prepubescent boys". The Discord employee contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the photo, and NCMEC alerted the FBI. The FBI was able to trace the Discord account used to upload the photo to IP addresses associated with NCRC and Carroll's home. A review of Carroll's Discord account showed that he "had engaged in conversations with other Discord users about child sexual exploitation, circumcision of teenage boys, urinating on teenage boys and adults, and had discussed the removal of adult male’s penises." In addition, the FBI discovered several "selfies" picturing Carroll. An FBI undercover law enforcement officer using an undercover Discord account established contact with Carroll and engaged in conversation about child sexual exploitation. The undercover officer posed as a father of a nine-year-old boy who was interested in sexually exploiting his child. Carroll provided suggestions for acts the "father" might commit. Reaction in this thread is, as you would expect, a mix of shock and anger. Many posters have children who were exposed to Carroll over the years and are desperately trying to ensure that their children were safe. Many are outraged at the continual flow of scandals involving private schools, not just Carroll and Toth but a number of others as well.

Yesterday's next most active thread was posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "It’s funny how it’s like a wave is coming", the original poster says that while things are quiet now, President-elect, cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump is about to start a wave of mass deportations, mass firing of federal employees, purging the Pentagon of any officers deemed "disloyal", and "basically turning America on its head." The original poster goes on to criticize those who voted for Trump, suggesting that they did not consider a list of negative outcomes that he sees as arising from Trump's actions. This general topic has been the subject of a number of threads, including several that I have discussed in this blog. As such, I am a bit tired of writing about it. This thread is no different than countless similar ones. Many posters are eager to deny that anything the original poster predicts will become true. They accuse the original poster of fear-mongering and being overly dramatic. Other posters side with the original poster and have an abundance of evidence to support their case. For instance, Trump has made repeated statements about his plans. While Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during the campaign, he has now announced his intention to appoint several individuals who had prominent roles in Project 2025 to high-level positions in his administration. From perspective of these posters, those denying what they predict will happen have their heads buried in the sand. The original poster made a comment that Trump voters had supported him because of the price of eggs. During the campaign, Trump and his supporters constantly referred to the price of eggs as an indication of the poor state of the economy. They often exaggerated the price of eggs. For instance, Vice President-elect J. D. Vance once stood in front of an egg display at a grocery store complaining that eggs cost "around $4" a dozen while signs behind him stated that the price of the eggs on display was $2.99 a dozen. Moreover, while eggs had risen in price before falling, that was due to an outbreak of avian flu. More structural price increases are a result of consolidation within the egg industry that has decreased competition. True to form, MAGA posters in this thread were less interested in talking about the coming wave of disruption predicted by the original poster and more interested in taking offense to his comment about egg prices. According to the MAGA posters, that was "condescending". MAGA posters hate being condescended to and, by "hate", I mean "love". They love it because that gives them a chance to whine incessantly which is their favorite activity. Don't believe me? Read this thread. The complaints about condescension continued throughout its 12 pages. For the record, I agree with the original poster. Trump, Vance, and others did misleadingly exploit a temporary increase in the price of eggs. Moreover, is pretty likely that the Trump administration will be less willing to combat industry consolidation and less prepared to address the continual spread of avian flu. Ironically, therefore, I think we can expect even higher egg prices during Trump's second term. But that is secondary to everything else that is going to hit us. The combination of ill-intent, outright theft of public resources, and incompetence is going to make the sacking of Rome by the Vandals look like a walk in the park. Few are likely prepared for what's coming and especially not many of those who voted for it.

Next was a thread titled, "MAGA: why so angry?" and also posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. The original poster says that ever since the election of President-elect, cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump, MAGAs have been "furious". They continually scold Democrats about needing to reflect on Harris' loss, they are vitriolic about "woke" policies, and continually complain about everything. This thread is also pretty similar to threads that I've already discussed. As far as DCUM posts are concerned, the original poster's description of MAGAs is undeniable. There have been countless posts from MAGAs that are exactly as he describes them. I have always said that Trump's supporters are driven by resentment and anger. Their goal was not just to win, but to get even. That anger cannot simply be turned off and their quest for revenge has not yet been satiated. One poster says that, having visited a swing state where the poster has relatives, this is a result of the disinformation that they were fed during the election. Another poster attributes it to biology, saying that studies have shown that liberals and conservatives process information differently. Conservatives are hard-wired to respond more aggressively. Some MAGA posters deny that they are angry. They argue that the opposite is true and that they are enjoying Trump's victory. Some of them claim that the only anger they see is coming from liberals. It's true, many liberals are angry. They are upset that an economy that President Joe Biden has made the envy of the world will likely be destroyed by Trump. They are angry that an amazing list of losers and incompetents has been chosen for the nation's top offices. Just consider that men accused of sex offenses have been picked to lead both the Pentagon and the Department of Justice. An anti-vaccine quack has been picked to head the Department of Health and Human Services. A conspiracy theorist with Russian ties is Trump's choice to be the National Intelligence Director. This is absurd, and the sheer incompetence of these selections should be angering. However, some of those responding have a penchant for dark humor and are able to take some pleasure in what is happening. They are not above taking pleasure in others' pain as long as those others voted for this. Other Democrats are simply willing to wait contently while Trump implodes. I personally believe that generalizations should be avoided because people are complex and have different motivations. Not all MAGAs are angry, but there are certainly many angry MAGAs. Some of those angry MAGAs explain their anger by saying that, while Trump won the election, their position within a rigged system remains. But others seem to be especially upset that liberals are not self-destructing more visibly. I suspect that some might be angry because, as reluctant as they may be to admit it, they think that liberals might just be correct and that Trump really will make things worse. The combination of realizing that you have made a mistake and having smug liberals saying that they told you so would make anyone angry.

The final thread that I will discuss today is another one that was posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Nancy Mace’s Women’s Bathroom Bill", the original poster quotes from a CNN story describing a bill introduced by U.S. Representative Nancy Mace to ban transgender women from U.S. Capitol restrooms. This bill comes just after the historic election of Sarah McBride, the first transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress. There are two ways to view this bill, and both are argued in this thread. One is to see the bill as a principled defense of women's spaces which are being invaded by "biological men" who present a physical threat to women. The other is to see this as a cynical exploitation of transphobia directed personally at McBride. While there are plenty of proponents of the first interpretation in this thread, any familiarity with Mace would indicate that the second is clearly more accurate. Mace herself stated that the target of her bill is McBride, saying, "This is a biological man trying to force himself into women’s spaces." When asked by reporters if the bill was in response to McBride, Mace answered, "Yes and absolutely". While many of those responding in this thread still insist that this is an issue of principle, the only correct way to view the bill is in the context in which it was offered. According to Nancy Mace, Sarah McBride presents a threat to women and, as such, cannot be trusted to be in the same bathroom with her. I suspect that almost nobody, least of all Mace, believes this is true. If Mace were actually concerned about her safety instead of political grandstanding, there were other more reasonable approaches. She could have met privately with McBride to discuss her concerns. There are plenty of available compromises that would not have required public humiliation of McBride. But Mace is a publicity hound, concerned only with self-promotion. This was an opportunity to get television time, and that, rather than personal safety, was her real motivation. What disappoints me is the number of clearly intelligent, at least somewhat sophisticated posters who are willingly going along with Mace's charade. The thread is full of posters who say that they support trans rights and the dignity of trans people, but then fully support this effort to mock and embarrass someone whose only crime is their identity. Does anyone even know McBride's plan for using restrooms? How can anyone, as one poster in this thread does, outline their credentials as a trans ally but then give a thumbs up to the public humiliation and personal attacks on McBride? Even if you are uncomfortable with trans rights, I would think that this sort of public vilification for political gains would be discomforting. I repeat that McBride has done nothing wrong. The one time of which I am aware that she was asked about bathrooms, she brushed it off and said that she came to Washington to work on issues important to her constituents in Delaware. There is nothing to suggest that she is interested in any sort of confrontation and would likely have happily worked out an acceptable arrangement that addressed any real concerns that Mace might have. To join in the pile-on alongside unprincipled hacks of the sort as Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene is not a sign of simply being anti-trans, but of generally being a terrible person. Who would support this kind of treatment for anyone?