Media top headlines February 17
In media news today, Twitter allows hacked info on Canadian Freedom Convoy donors, Ilhan Omar scolds journalists for promoting the harassment of said donors, and The Las Vegas Sun pins a BLM activist’s shooting of a mayoral candidate on ‘extremist Republicans.’
Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times have issued warnings for San Francisco Democrats ahead of November's midterm after Tuesday's recall election.
After the city's residents ousted progressive school board President Gabriela López and members Faauuga Moliga and Alison Collins earlier this week, both outlets discussed how these removals might translate months down the line when tired and frustrated voters head to the polls.
The LA Times described the recall results, though unexpected to some, as foreseeable since members of the liberal establishment threw their money behind the cause. Among them was progressive San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who said that the results "delivered a clear message that the school board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else," allegedly expressing the school district's need to stray from social justice policies.
According to the Times, the chaos is a foreshadowing, a "warning" that the outcome for Democrats could be "very bad" this November.
A pedestrian walks past a San Francisco Unified School District office building in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Meanwhile, Newsweek warned that progressive Democrats should view the San Francisco school district's recall results as a "wakeup call" amid ensuing criticism of progressive policies.
The members' focus on renaming 44 district schools originally named after allegedly "racist" figures George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and current California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and attempting to end selective admissions at one elite institution proved too much for parents who were more concerned about pandemic-related school closures.
SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO RENAME SCHOOLS HONORING WASHINGTON, LINCOLN, FEINSTEIN, OTHERS
"The board talked about social justice and equity non-stop but didn't do anything to help the disadvantaged kids who fell the furthest behind thanks to the extended school closure. Which is why the voters of San Francisco supported this recall in huge numbers," Siva Raj, a parent and leader in the recall effort, told Newsweek.
Other parents, pundits and politicians across the nation have voiced their disquiet with "woke" policies and ongoing pandemic restrictions, telling school districts to bring school closures to an end and to unmask children, including Donny Deutsch who, during a panel appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," accused Democrats of being too "woke."
"The Democrats have to step away from the super wokeness," he said during the show. "I mean San Francisco really tells you what is going on. You have three school board members who were voted out by 70% because they're focusing on things like changing the name of schools. This is not what voters care about."
Cropped shot of university students sitting in class (istock)
In October, parents decried indoor mask mandates for children aged five and older in Louisiana's Ascension Parish school district by taking their grievances to the school board.
In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin touted his focus on parental rights by abolishing the state's mask mandate on Wednesday.
RICHMOND, VA - JANUARY 15: Glenn Youngkin and his wife Suzanne arrive to be sworn in as Virginias 74th governor on the front steps of the Virginia State Capitol on January 15, 2022 in Richmond, VA . (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
YOUNGKIN SPEAKS OUT ON LEGISLATION 'EMPOWERING PARENTS' TO CHOOSE WHETHER TO MASK STUDENTS
"The idea that Parents Matter isn’t a new one, but it’s one that the Democrats forgot about," he tweeted with a link to a recent interview with FOX News' Martha McCallum.
"This is exactly why parents across America and parents across Virginia are standing up and saying ‘no more, we’re going to elect different folks.'"