There was a time in the United States when Republicans and Democrats tended to agree on policy but differed on procedure. Now, it is a fundamental difference in ideology.
Most telling in Placer County is the tug-o-war going on over schools informing parents when their child decides to change gender. Republicans (conservatives) tend to think a school that informs parents is a good idea, Democrats (progressives) adamantly think that violates a child’s rights. That contrast is evident as written by Placer County 1st Vice Chair Deana Rhodes on the Placer County Democrat Central Committee webpage.
“The American Dream,” Rhodes wrote, “that enigmatic hope for a successful future we imagine our children will be able to attain. We love, feed, house, and guide our children, but much of their future depends on the interactions they have when we are not around. …”
What conservative would disagree with that?
However, Rhodes goes on to write in her second paragraph, “But Republicans demand that our youth live an American nightmare. …”
Most Republicans would be hard pressed to agree with that. As noted above, there was a time when Republicans and Democrats agreed on policy just not procedure. Rhodes’s second caricature slips into a political impasse at that point.
In the old days, Republicans stood for lower taxes and less government; the Democrats, just the opposite. However, America seemed to stumble through regardless of which procedure we were asked (legislated) to live by. But those days are gone.
If one takes Rhodes’s statement, “We love, feed, house, and guide our children, …” it sounds very much like Rhodes stands firmly for the sanctity of the family, but from there she takes a hard left turn.
At the end of her second paragraph, Rhodes wrote, “(Republicans’) bigotry and desire to maintain control over not only their own children, but everyone’s children, require that they dumb down the young minds and deny them the opportunity to ever escape their parental constraints.”
Anyone who can remember their adolescent days would have to agree; there were times when our parents took on the role of ogre denying us the opportunity to indulge in bad behavior. If our parents stood fast, years later, we would thank them from the bottom of our hearts. It’s a good bet Rhodes probably feels that way about her parents, then again, maybe not.
Rhodes concludes her remarks with (author’s remarks in parentheses), “We must support a vibrant education for our youth (no argument): provide them with access to books on all subjects (age appropriate); celebrate diversity and recognize the contributions of all groups currently and throughout our past (Nazis too?); and provide safety from those far-right extremists (Republican parents) who use violence to fetter them from seeking the American Dream.”
Is Rhodes referring to violence like smashing windows, turning over cop cars, and burning buildings, or something like disciplining a child? There is a difference.
The author is grateful that Rhodes was willing to express herself so clearly. It helps Republicans (conservatives) to understand where the Democrats are coming from, since Democrats view the issue of parental notification in public schools as a party thing, not community or family. Of course, in some minds, the way school board members vote tends to posit them along party lines.
As in the past, political partisanship was a two-sided coin. What kept things in balance was the ability to occasionally flip that coin. We’ve made it thus far doing that, but the parted waters are now becoming parched lands.
The world needs parents to not only “… love, feed, house, and guide our children,” but to have them as well. After all, without them there would be no need for schools.