Democracy Summer

As someone who is deeply concerned with the state of education in the United States, I openly follow those who have substantial influence over the process. When looking at posts on X from Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, I came across a disturbing thread. It was started with the post below:

Today I joined @natldemsummer @dccc @jamie_raskin and labor lawyer Michael Anderson to have an amazing conversation with young people about the role labor and labor movements play in democracy. There is no democracy without labor and labor movements. https://t.co/hqHHX6MoQg

— Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓🟣 (@rweingarten) July 9, 2024

There were numerous issues with this thread, but the linked website was perhaps my biggest concern. As much as Weingarten would hate to hear this, I visited the website she was promoting. It was truly disturbing.

The website was for something called Democracy Summer. It's a program created by Jamie Rankin that teaches high school and college students to think what Jamie Rankin wants them to think. There were two different lists right on the landing page that showed what was being taught. You could tell that the selection was based on Rankin's personal beliefs. Some even used intentionally skewed descriptions.

In addition to pushing Raskin's views, the website shows that they are trying to prevent divergent perspectives from impeding their goals. They have outlined what is essentially a vetting process. In order to join the program, you must win support from local Democratic leaders.

The website in question is clearly not about informing young Americans to help them make better informed decisions. It was about telling a captive audience what to think. Don't just take my word for it. Visit the website yourself. It's not subtle. That website is blatantly anti-thought.

This is why I could never be a politician. I have my standards. I would want voters to understand the issues as well as they possibly can. Hopefully, they would see the benefits of my positions and decide for themselves to vote for me. I would at least have a shot at winning voters who are mentally competent. I would still end up losing elections because the mindless vote would absolutely kill my chances.

Weingarten linking to this website is even more concerning. As the president of the AFT, she has an insane amount of influence over schools and future generations who are being forced through those schools. If she is openly promoting an anti-thought website, she's unlikely to support the development of thought in schools.

This actually fits very well with what we know about Randi Weingarten. When asked directly, she will insist that schools teach children how to think rather than what to think. This is the opposite of reality. Her hostilities aimed at anyone whose views differ from her own should be enough evidence that she doesn't want people to know how to think for themselves. In rare instances, she might even make the mistake of saying what she means instead of what she wants us to hear.

I have actually brought this up before. Weingarten coauthored an article on the liberal propaganda website, Salon. In it, she criticized Republicans by saying, "And they want politicians, not educators, to control what our students hear, read and think." This is not an argument against controlling what students think. It's an argument over who controls what students think.

Admittedly, my issues with Weingarten are pushing me off topic. The point that I'm trying to make is that I want voters to be well informed and making their own decisions regarding elections. The Democracy Summer website is truly disturbing from my perspective. I refuse to support anyone who stoops that low. If I saw anything like that from a candidate on my ballot, I would treat that as an automatic disqualification.