The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
The group leads a movement that threatens the power of their teacher union paymasters.
"For most Americans, “Mom” evokes images of kindness, courage, sympathy and love. Likewise, “liberty” calls up concepts like individual rights, freedom of expression, equality and justice. Yet, the perversity of the current political environment is such that a parental rights group whose name combines these two words has been demonized by Democrats, the corporate media and the reactionary left. Just recently, a New Hampshire Democrat denounced the group as “Assholes with casseroles,” the Hill ran a story titled, “Six reasons why Moms for Liberty is an extremist organization,” and the Southern Poverty Law Center added them to its Hate Map.
Why so much animus for an organization whose goal is merely to give parents a voice in the education of their children? It certainly doesn’t reflect public opinion. An Economist/YouGov poll released in late June found that a mere 23 percent of Americans view Moms for Liberty unfavorably. The remaining 77 percent view it favorably or have no opinion about the group at all. The organization was co-founded in Florida by Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice, who had witnessed firsthand the disregard for parental rights by school boards on issues ranging from COVID-19 restrictions to age-appropriate curricula. In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, they suggest that the education establishment sees them as a threat:
A survey conducted last month for Moms for Liberty by Jim McLaughlin proves that point. Mr. McLaughlin’s national poll of 1,000 likely voters found that more than two-thirds think the K-12 public-education system is on the wrong track. Two-thirds favor removing age-inappropriate sexually explicit material from K-12 classroom. Maybe most important, the poll found that 70% of Americans think parents, not government, should have the ultimate say over what is being taught to their children at school.
"This explains why Moms for Liberty has, in less than three years, expanded from a few chapters in the Sunshine State to nearly 300 chapters in 45 states. Nor have they restricted themselves to protesting at school board meetings. They have endorsed and actively supported parent-friendly candidates for school board seats nationwide. In 2022, they supported 500 candidates, 275 of whom won. Moreover, their candidates took control of 17 school boards in California, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Moms for Liberty has now set its sights on school board elections in 2024, even as the organization enjoys rapidly growing conservative support and donor funding." . . .
