Using Kids to Sell a Narrative

 

By Gretchen Garrity

Nixa student group pushes "banned" books

In August, education reporter Claudette Riley of the Springfield News-Leader, teased her readers with a tweet from X (formerly Twitter) about some local students who had "reached out" to her.

Met tonight with a group of high school students for an upcoming story. They were articulate, passionate and interesting. So happy they reached out. pic.twitter.com/8LpQLrTCHB

— Claudette Riley (@CRileyNL) August 15, 2023

Back in June 2023, after months of citizen interface with the Nixa School Board about sexually explicit and pornographic books available to students, the school board voted to remove four books from the school library. Later, another book was retained.

Groups like U-Turn in Education, positively featured by Riley in an October 2022 article, have been active in working to prevent the removal of obscene and pornographic books from school and public libraries. In fact, U-Turn is heavily involved in the student group featured in Riley's article.

The teaser tweet finally came to fruition Sept. 27 in an article titled 'It's not their library.' Nixa High School students form group to fight book ban attempts.'

'It's not their library.' Nixa High School students form group to fight future book ban attempts from parents, community members. https://t.co/AK0Dfb2LfY via @springfieldNL @nixaschools @PENamerica #BannedBooksWeek

— Claudette Riley (@CRileyNL) September 27, 2023

 According to the article, a group of little Lord and Lady Fauntleroys has been fighting valiantly against  devilish parents that are attempting to keep literature out of their hearts and minds. The students are described as "calm" and "reasonable" while adults called the school board "names and made ugly comments leveled at students, other adults and high school librarians."

(As an aside, Nixa School Board President Josh Roberts may want to clarify his comments. He is surely not aware of everything that goes on in the school board meetings, since he sits apart from citizens.)

Nixa student group links to Marxist bookstore

This type of accusation is a common tactic of the Left, and has been in play in articles about our local area for months now. In several articles, children are being put on the front lines of the battle for parental rights. It can't be about smut in our schools. It can't be about protecting children or letting parents decide what books their children will be exposed to. It has to be about mean adults taking away a child's right to read.

See here and here and here. Once you see the tactics, you can't unsee it. The latest article in the News-Leader is ramping up the narrative.

 

U-Turn in Education linked from Nixa student group

Thankfully, few citizens are buying what they're selling. And if you want to find out what U-Turn in Education thinks about parent rights, go here to see how they subvert them.

In fact, at least one of the four founding members of the student group, Nixa Students Against Book Restrictions, has parents involved in U-Turn. And U-Turn is linked at the top of the SABR Instagram page. 

For some intelligent commentary about the article, Nick Reed featured it on his show The Nick Reed Podcast on 104.1 KSGF. And for a little humor:

@right2winozarks

♬ Funny - Gold-Tiger

Quality Literature for Children

 

 Awhile back we mentioned we would begin compiling a list of favorite children's books. But, instead we've created a sidebar (look right) with different lists of books that others have already compiled.

We will add to it from time to time as we find more lists.

Kicking Over the Applecarts

 

Sen. Bill Eigel at the Greene County GOP T.A.R.G.E.T. BBQ

By Gretchen Garrity

 The race for Missouri governor is already heating up. Since he announced his candidacy, state Sen. Bill Eigel has garnered a lot of media attention. Eigel is not afraid of controversy, or of attacks from either his own Republican party or the Democrats.

Last weekend, Sen. Eigel was in Springfield to attend the Greene County GOP’s T.A.R.G.E.T. BBQ. While local party rules prevented him from addressing the audience except to introduce himself, Eigel took time to meet with local supporters and citizens in a coffee meetup at an IHOP near the Ozark Empire Center Eplex beforehand.

Sen. Eigel’s platform is straightforward: Election reform through getting rid of machine counting and prohibiting out-of-state organizations from collecting voter data. According to his platform, “Missouri has its own authorities, from the Missouri Secretary of State to county election officials, to ensure election integrity. Missouri election transparency and integrity should be maintained within our borders and out of the hands of foreign special interests. Bill Eigel opposes Missouri’s membership or participation in any out-of-state organization and does not support the release of private voter data to any non-Missouri agency or authority.”

When asked about disenfranchised voters, Sen. Eigel replied, “Don’t let go.” He said, “God is in control. God has a plan.” He explained that one way to ensure election integrity in Missouri is by developing a local grant program to train hand counters. He also proposed a special fund to go to any county that has moved fully to paper ballots and hand counting.

Eigel has described his candidacy as “kicking over the applecarts” in Jefferson City, and he spares no one, including the current governor, Bill Parsons, whom the senator describes as a “center-left Democrat” on fiscal policy. Parsons has grown his budget more in the last seven years than any Democrat governor previously, the senator said. 

“All taxes in this state are too high,” Eigel said.

Acknowledging that even local budgets are growing too much, another plank in his platform is the repeal of the personal property tax. In a March interview, Sen. Eigel said the personal property tax hits working and middle-class taxpayers hardest. While SB8 is currently stalled, Eigel is determined to make headway with providing tax relief to citizens. His bill would phase out the personal property tax over several years, allowing for local entities to make adjustments.

 On a related note, listen to Sen. Eigel and Christian County Commissioner Brad Jackson talk taxes below:

Very heated discussion this morning with @BillEigel @Producer_Cass Bradley Jackson, and @chrisrussell_ #moleg @johncombest_com @missouriscout https://t.co/ArKGLG0BbO

— KWTO 93.3 FM - 560 AM - News - Analysis - Opinion (@933KWTO) September 22, 2023




When asked about the ever-expanding budgets and poor performance of local school districts, Sen. Eigel mentioned the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). He said DESE began as a very small department, with about six employees. It now has 2,000 employees and has become very powerful. Eigel wants to put parents in charge, and one way to do it is to rein in DESE’s funding.

Eigel is also opposed to the top-down imposition of CRT (Critical Race Theory) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion). His platform includes: “Eliminat[ing] Hate-Based Ideologies such as Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and other “woke” programs in public schools…” He is equally opposed to biological males participating in female sports, and prohibiting gender-transitioning surgeries for minors.

Additionally, Sen. Eigel “supports legal requirements for school districts to maintain easy to understand and electronically searchable curricula and lesson plan records, available at all times on the homepage of the website hosted by the district.”

When asked about what can be done regarding obscene and pornographic books in public libraries, Sen. Eigel said the governor has the power to stop state funds from going to libraries.

GOP candidates and elected representatives in Springfield

 

Eigel intends on staying busy in the Missouri Senate in 2024, and has plans to continue pushing for a repeal of the personal property tax, and a rollback of the gas tax increase, as well as supporting SB98 (maintaining separate bathroom/shower facilities for males and females), and SB100 (the gold and silver bill). He is also vigorously opposing Red Flag laws, vaccine and mask mandates, and foreign ownership of Missouri land.

When asked how his military service prepared him for public service, Eigel related how his time in Turkmenistan--a country which at the time had transitioned from a Soviet republic to an independent nation under the authoritarian rule of a self-styled “Turkmenbashi"--showed him what government overreach can do to the citizenry.

Those in government had much. Those not in government had little. It solidified his conviction that less government means more for citizens.

Eigel said the heart and soul of his campaign is “Don’t be afraid."

The RINO in the Room

 

Diversity/Equity/Inclusion from the MLA

By Gretchen Garrity

 At last Saturday's Greene County GOP T.A.R.G.E.T. BBQ in Springfield, Secretary of State John R. "Jay" Ashcroft (candidate for Missouri governor) spoke about his efforts on behalf of taxpayers who are struggling with children having access to obscene and sexually explicit materials in the public libraries.

He shared that although a bill protecting children from such materials did not make it through the legislature, he was "...making sure your taxpayer dollars weren't being used for pornographic and obscene material in our libraries for kids. It didn't get through the legislature so I said, 'Okay, I had the authority, I put forth a rule. I said, 'If you're a public library and you want taxpayer funds from the state or the federal government you've got to put parents in charge, you've gotta rate books and you've gotta keep inappropriate material out of kids hands, because parents are given those kids by God to raise, not petty bureaucrats that think they're in charge."

While Sec. Ashcroft received applause for his statement, here in Christian County taxpayers are still fighting to get obscene materials out of the children's and teen sections of the library. A ratings system was voted down by Christian County Library Board of Trustees in June, and obscene books are still accessible by children. 

The taxpayer funding was never really withheld either, (see here). This is how the political machine in Jefferson City works. Politicians say one thing in public, but the status quo almost always prevails.

From the link:

"Noticeably missing from Sec. Ashcroft's letter was any mention of the Missouri Library Association (a chapter of the ALA), and the Missouri State Librarian's ties with it. Robin Westphal is the state librarian, and here she is quoted in a January 2023 article from American Libraries Magazine: "As a state librarian, Westphal connects the 160 libraries that are part of the Missouri Library Association (MLA) with needed resources."

The MLA protesting on the ALA website

 

According to the April 28, 2023 meeting notes of the  Secretary's Council on Library Development, "Vincent states that the state aid budget the House cut has been restored by the Senate. Vincent believes this money should stay. Vincent also reinstates [sic] that the new rule is at a local level and that it is up to the community and board to determine what goes in the libraries [sic] policies. She also wanted to mention that if the library has a room that is open to the public for event rental that there needs to be a sign posted with a rating. If the event is adult only, for children, members only, etc. it just needs to state that on the advertisement."

Trish Vincent is the Executive Deputy Secretary of State/Chief of Staff for Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. Again, according to the meeting notes, the new rule is "at a local level, and that it is up to the community and board to decide what goes in the libraries[sic] policies."

The rule, apparently, has no teeth. But it did give Sec. Ashcroft an opportunity to score points with unsuspecting Republicans who trust without verifying.

Additionally, while Sec. Ashcroft has withdrawn funding from the American Library Association over its attempts to discriminate against Christian story hours at public libraries, there is the question of the Missouri Library Association, which is a chapter of the ALA. Do any state funds flow to the MLA? Does taxpayer money pay for memberships in the MLA? Is the secretary aware that the same kind of ALA socialist agenda is present in the MLA?

According to MLA President Otter Bowman, in her March 2023 newsletter column, "President Elect Kimberly Moeller and I attended the Secretary of State’s budget hearing that morning [Feb. 7], and we were relieved that Secretary Ashcroft continued to advocate for funding our libraries, even as he engaged in some heated discussion with committee members regarding his proposed rule. As of this writing, an updated version of his proposal is headed to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for their consideration."

Here is part of an email to members of the MLA (received through Missouri's Sunshine Law for the Christian County Library) from Amigos Library Services, one of a myriad of "charitable" groups that push socialist agendas into our public libraries. Amigos works closely with the MLA. This is the type of "training" that our library staff is exposed to on a frequent basis. This is why our libraries have become vectors for socialist indoctrination.

Click for clearer image

It is well documented that sexualizing children is part of the ALA/MLA socialist agenda. If Sec. Ashcroft is serious about stopping such indoctrination in Missouri's public libraries, surely he will also withdraw any state taxpayer money from being spent on membership with the MLA and our State Librarian Robin Westphal from supporting membership in the MLA.

From the March 2023 MLA newsletter

 

And it must be noted again that the MLA is having ALA President Emily Drabinski as its keynote speaker at their annual conference in early October. It has been publicly known since at least March 2023 that Drabinski would be the keynote speaker at the October conference. Here is the latest from Madam Drabinski courtesy of journalist Karlyn Borysenko:

Additionally, there is ample evidence of the socialist agenda in the MLA's bi-monthly newsletters. Classes and seminars with titles like "Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in cataloging & Technical Services," or "Developing Collections on Gender Relations and Feminism in the Twenty-First Century," and "Sustainability 101," are common themes being funneled to public library staff at taxpayer expense.

The Snake in the Grass

 

 

 

To find out how your Republican elected representatives are voting here are a few sites to keep track of:

Ballotpedia

Vote Smart

Missouri Senate Voting Records

Missouri Election Results

You might be surprised that some of your elected Republican representatives vote with Democrats about 50% of the time.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher Wants to Outsource Our Voter Info?

Must watch.

According to the video, Plocher may be pressuring freshmen representatives to approve a two-year contract to outsource our voter role software system to a third party. The state already has an internal software system. It will cost the taxpayers $800,000. It is an off-session hearing being done quietly.

Plocher is looking at a potential run for lieutenant governor.

The vote is tomorrow, Sept. 12.

The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates

 

We the People of Missouri, Christian County Chapter, is holding Monday night book club meetings, beginning September 11, from 6-8 p.m., at Godfather's Pizza in Nixa.

The current selection is The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates: A Proper Resistance to Tyranny and a Repudiation of Unlimited Obedience to Civil Government, by Matthew J. Trewhella. Copies are available at the usual places, or here as a printable PDF document.

In light of the Second Amendment tyranny that New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham has visited upon the citizens of her state, The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates is a timely selection.

Captain Seth Keshel has written about the situation at his Substack, and recommends the book.

From his article "America Needs Statesmen":

"By allowing government oppression to take root one unjust ruling or illegal mandate at a time, we’ve now found ourselves pinned by a boulder so heavy, it requires divine intervention to get out from under here in the year 2023.  A predecessor of Michelle Lujan Grisham wouldn’t have had the guts to issue such a mandate when I was born, not even forty years ago.  It took incremental cuts into the tendons and sinews of our Constitutional framework to erode us to the point that we are begging our law enforcement to get with the program and uphold the law, and why we are now having to circulate The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates to re-educate our own citizens as to what their rights are."

The book is divided into twelve short chapters that increasingly define and explain the doctrine, how it came to be, the duty of lesser magistrates, and the role of the people. Several appendixes give supplemental information. 

The first meeting will give an overview of the book, giving participants extra time to get a copy if needed.

Bill Eigel Kicks Off Campaign for Missouri Governor

 

Bill Eigel, Candidate for Missouri Governor

By Gretchen Garrity

State Sen. Bill Eigel officially launched his campaign for governor on Friday. A spirited crowd of supporters enjoyed a backyard-style barbecue in a hangar at the St. Charles County Regional Airport.

Eigel moved comfortably through the crowd, shaking hands and making jokes as  people gathered. The event went off without a hitch, except for one heckler who bellowed loudly before being drowned out and escorted out amid chants of "Let's go MO!"

Eigel with supporters

Numerous elected officials were present, including State Sen. Andrew Koenig, who is running for treasurer and launched his campaign in July.  

State Sen. Denny Hoskins, who is running for Secretary of State and launched his campaign in June, was also present.

"So are you ready to take Missouri back?" said Joe Nicola, who is running for the office of state senator, and gave the opening prayer. 

Sen. Eigel was introduced by Stacy Washington, who hosts SiriusXM's Patriot Channel 125 show Stacy on the Right. Washington recently interviewed President Donald Trump.

First, she defined a politician in 2023 as someone who "has no allegiance to God or country, or things that matter to us...these people are ideologues who think they know better than you...What we want is a public servant."

Next, she defined the "unlikely" public servant. "[A public servant] is a truth-teller...who believes in taking care of Missouri first, in taking care of America first."

She laid out Sen. Eigel's background as a Captain in the Air Force, a successful business owner, a state senator, a husband and father. "He is the unlikely public servant that we can send to work on our behalf in the governor's mansion."

As Eigel took the stage, the campaign chant, "Let's go Mo!" rang out. He said, "If you're like me, you're sick and tired of waiting around hoping that things are gonna get better in this state. I believe that we need a conservative, bold, hard-charging leader in this state in 2024, and that is why I tell you now, I am running to be the next governor of the great state of Missouri."

Eigel, who described himself as a conservative Republican, did not hold back from calling both political parties to account. "Both parties have completely failed us. Both parties have completely let us down."

"We, all of us here, are working to upend the status quo and bring about a bold, conservative Missouri," he said.

Sen. Eigel thanked the crowd, "I want you to know how blessed I am to have you on this journey." Next, he introduced his wife, Amanda. He said when he counts his blessings, "she is the first among them."

Some of the crowd at Sen. Eigel's campaign kickoff

 

Sen. Eigel's platform includes repealing the personal property tax, eliminating personal and corporate income tax, eliminating "woke" agendas from Missouri schools, guaranteeing transparent access to school curriculum, defending life, requiring hand-counting of ballots, and prohibiting dependency on out-of-state organizations for control of Missouri elections.

Eigel went on to say, "The powerful in Jefferson City are determined to protect what works for them. I want you to know that I will work for what's best for you...I happen to believe that one of the biggest problems that we have here in Missouri are all of those so-called Republicans. Folks who campaign as Republicans and govern as Democrats."

Eigel said, "You know who they are. The RINOs. And folks, Jefferson City is full of them. This race for governor is full of them. Politicians that run like Republicans during the campaign season, with their perfectly manicured name, and their rehearsed consultant talking points--but when push comes to shove, when they are put in a position of power or trust by the people, when they have the opportunity and ability to defend the great people of this great state--they turn tail and run."

"And they ought to be ashamed because they were elected to better Missouri but all too often they end up just bettering themselves. Those Jefferson City RINOs, they've already determined that we cannot win this fight. They can't imagine, they can't imagine that someone like me and a group of patriots like this and thousands of patriots all over the state of Missouri could ever end their cartel."

But, Eigel continued, "There's a new day on the horizon in the Show Me State, a day in which people who have been ignored, neglected, abandoned and forgotten will be overlooked no more. A day when Jefferson City works for us, not the special interests and lobbyists in Jefferson City."

After his speech, Sen. Eigel mingled with supporters for pictures and questions.

A crowd of over 1,000 filled an airport hangar in the most beautiful part of St. Charles County for Senator @BillEigel’s campaign kickoff. pic.twitter.com/Wtj4gBRw3W

— Scott Faughn (@scottfaughn) September 8, 2023

 

News about the campaign launch:

State Senator Bill EigelOfficially Throws His Hat in the Ring for Missouri Governor

State Sen. Eigel Announces Bid for Missouri Governor 

Bill Eigel officially announces run for Missouri governor

More on SEL

 

“Social-Emotional Learning is the hypodermic needle that injects identity-Marxist social theories into our kids.” —@ConceptualJames https://t.co/0MXQS08PCn

— Will Scharf (@willscharf) September 6, 2023

Social-Emotional Learning is Flat Out Indoctrination

 

By Gretchen Garrity

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, commonly known as DESE, is accepting public comment until September 15, 2023 on the proposed adoption of "K-12 Learning Standards, Glossary, and Student Indicators for Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) developed by the SEL work team."

SEL is being sold as a way to help students with self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. While these skills can seem beneficial and benign, they are really a model of indoctrination with the ultimate goal of directing and controlling the thoughts and behaviors of students.

Moms for Liberty has a helpful packet on SEL that sums it up: "The ultimate goal of SEL is to shift the values, beliefs, attitudes, and worldviews of students. The goal is to psychologically manipulate students to accept the progressive ideology that supports gender fluidity, sexual preference exploration, and systemic oppression."

Go here for a quick quiz that gets parents up to speed on SEL.

The site Courage is a Habit also has helpful information to explain via graphics what SEL is. The graphic below is an example of how student surveys--data collection--is the process method of  indoctrinating students through categorizing them by race and gender. Go here to download the full 3-page infographic.

How did Missouri get to the point of adopting SEL into schools statewide? According to Local Control Missouri, on "Tuesday, August 15th, Missouri State Board of Education approved to start the process of the Rule-Making change to add SEL (Social Emotional Learning) for K-12 mental health training."

And further, "It was snuck into the Ed Omnibus Bill of 2022 (SB 681/662) carried by the team of Senator Cindy O’Laughlin (R) and Senator Lauren Arthur (D). That progressive 2022 Ed Omnibus Bill had a lot snuck into it. And now they are coming after our kids with SEL with their new authority given to them under RSMo 170.307."

Missouri Republicans strike again to implement radical agendas along with their Democrat counterparts.

Below is a video class on "SEL101" that is very informative and eye-opening. The first speaker, Jennifer McWilliams, was fired for refusing to teach SEL in her small, rural Indiana school. Go here for more videos from McWilliams that expose  SEL. And go here for SEL information from another speaker, James Lindsay.

When educators use the language of Social-Emotional Learning, they mean something else than what most people understand the words to mean. In the tweet below, a teachers' union representative says the quiet parts out loud:

And now it’s on a new mechanism to enter the school through SEL.

Just listen to an AFT union presentation.

“…liberation is a collective goal…we share the common goal of standing up for justice and standing up against systems of oppression.” https://t.co/gtADCpPlDj pic.twitter.com/756ufEibcj

— Local Control MO (@LocalControl_MO) September 7, 2023

 The public comment page on the DESE website is several pages and somewhat tedious. It is important, however, that citizens speak against SEL by commenting. There is a lot of verbiage and edu-speak, but once you see the purpose behind SEL, the language of indoctrination becomes simple to decipher. Again, the comment period ends Sept. 15.

Challenge Results Trickling In

 

By Gretchen Garrity

The Christian County Library staff has responded to two recent book challenges. Although the challenge responses don't seem to be published on the library's website (as required) the outcome was expected except for a welcome concession regarding placement of displays.

 The first challenged book, "Thirteen Reasons Why," contains depictions of the sexualization of a minor, two rapes, sexual assaults, domestic violence, teen drug and alcohol abuse and suicide, and has been checked out 64 times since 2017. That is a potential of 64 kids who've been introduced to obscene and sexually violent scenarios.

Additionally, there is a popular Netflix series based on the book that may encourage minors whose parents won't allow them to watch the series to find the book at the library.

Further, the reasons given for retaining the book in the teen section of the library is that it is "well-reviewed," "popular," and appropriately located for a book geared toward 12-14 year-olds. 

The full response is below. Click on the image for clarity and size.

The second book challenge was for "Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story."

The book had been placed in a recent display in the Nixa library, in close proximity to the teen section. 

In a concession, the staff response said, "The display this book was on was next to the Adult Fiction collection, which is also near the teen area. The Nixa branch is limited in space, but we understand the concerns about materials being in close proximity to the teen area and confusion over the intended audience. We have reevaluated the location of that display shelf since it typically contains materials from the adult collection and have moved it further from the teen area."

Note the book display below in which "Sissy" was situated (you can see it peeking out from behind "The Bold World" on the middle shelf, also next to the book "Lawn Boy" and "Gender Queer." 

Other books in the display included "Normal People," "Fun Home," and "The Bluest Eye," among others. Several of those books are considered coming-of-age and would appeal to "young adults" and one, Gender Queer, is located in the teen section of the library.

 

Recent Nixa Library book display.

Activist book displays like the one above, are most likely the brainchild of groups like the American Library Association and its chapters like the Missouri Library Association. These groups, which actively seek to promote sexual and political agendas that are often contrary to local community values, filter down to local libraries through a well-organized narrative that pits parental rights and protecting children against "intellectual freedom" or  "freedom to read."

It's a false narrative. And taxpayer-funded local libraries should not belong to such organizations. A new and better alternative is the World Library Association, which is just getting started, and will serve as a commonsense alternative to radical associations like the ALA.

 And lastly, read WLA's Dan Kleinman's latest article about the plan for libraries to become vectors for socialism. It's straight from ALA President Emily Drabinski's mouth, thanks to undercover journalist Karlyn Borysenko.