Elections are about choices – and for parents who want to raise their children without intrusion from an overbearing federal government, the choice in the contest for president is clear: Donald Trump.
Since becoming the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for president upon Joe Biden’s withdrawal announcement in late July, Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign have been doing their best to separate her from both her position in Biden’s enormously unpopular administration and from her own previously held progressive policy positions. Consequently, her campaign has largely been an exercise in obfuscation on policy matters combined with an emphasis on “vibe.”
Not so, however, on the topic of indoctrinating America’s children. Speaking to the American Federation of Teachers just days after becoming the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, Harris mocked her opponents for their concern over what books might be taught to first and second graders: “… these extremists attack the freedom to learn … including book bans. Book bans in the year of our Lord 2024.”
Further, Harris says she sees a role for the federal government in local library book choices, and she wants to ensure that all children, regardless of age, have access to books about gender “transitions.” So does her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who just months ago signed a bill that prohibits parental groups from removing reading materials from school libraries based on content. He referred to those efforts as “regressive.”
Not only does Harris support efforts to prohibit authorities from removing books that aren't age appropriate, she opposes efforts to teach in an “objective” manner that does not seek to “indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view,” as a recently enacted law in Florida required. She even traveled to Florida to criticize the state government for revising its teaching standards to that effect, calling it “propaganda.”
So prohibiting the teaching of propaganda is itself propaganda, in her view.
On June 18 of this year, Harris posted on social media a picture of herself hugging a man in drag clothing, dressed in hot pants and stilettos. Harris added this message: “Our LGBTQI+ children should not fear who they are.” There were no children on the stage with her, or visible in the crowd captured in the photograph, yet she went out of her way to make a connection between a man in drag and children.
Harris’ support for “transitions” is so great that she supports using taxpayer dollars to pay for gender transition surgery – really, medical experimentation – on children. “It is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment associated with gender transition,” she wrote in a questionnaire for the American Civil Liberties Union in 2019. (She also told the ACLU in that questionnaire that she supports using taxpayer dollars to pay for transgender surgery for illegal aliens who are detained by federal authorities.)
And in keeping with her declared support for defunding police, Harris supports removing police from schools. “What we need to do about … demilitarizing our schools and taking police officers out of schools. We need to deal with the reality and speak the truth about the inequities around school discipline.” (As the mother of twins who were high school students at a time their high school was targeted by two of their fellow students for a Columbine-style attack that was prevented by local law enforcement, I am particularly sensitive to the idea of removing police from schools.)
What’s perhaps most disturbing about Harris’ attitude about these matters is that, based on her rhetoric, she wants the federal government to co-parent every child in the country. “When you see our kids, and I truly believe that they are our children, they are the children of our country, of our communities, I mean, our future is really bright if we, if we prioritize them, and therefore prioritize the climate crisis and the need to address it.”
Kamala Harris supports blocking parents’ efforts to control the content of the books made available to their young children, and she opposes state teaching standards that require teaching in an “objective” manner. She supports medical experimentation on young children, and she wants to do it at taxpayer expense. She wants to leave children vulnerable, by removing police from schools.
Let parents be parents, for goodness’ sake. For those who wants to parent his or her own child or children without intrusion from an overbearing federal government, there’s really no choice at all when it comes to making a decision in the contest for president – it’s Donald Trump all the way.
Jenny Beth Martin is President of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Action.