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18 Oct, 20 tweets, 9 min read
1. The "grassroots" parent uprising in Virginia is supported by dark money groups connected to the Koch political network and integrated into Republican Glenn Youngkin's campaign for governor

Follow along for the details

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
2. "I am a concerned parent. I am not a plant. I am not an activist... I've always been identified as a Democrat"

That's what Harry Jackson, a Virginian who has generated a lot of media coverage, said on Fox on October 13

Jackson is a parent. But that's not the whole story
3. Jackson is also a member of the "Leadership Team" for Parents Defending Education, a dark money group that launched in March that has extensive ties to the Koch political network

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
4. Jackson is also a co-founder of Coalition for TJ, a group that opposes changes to admission policies at Thomas Jefferson High School.

Earlier this year, the coalition filed suit against changes to the school's admission policy

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
5. In that suit, the Coalition for TJ was represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a right-wing legal group that received $1,000,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2019.

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
6. Jackson is an active participant in "Educators for Youngkin," which is part of the campaign of Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin.

The chairwoman of "Educators for Youngkin" is Suparna Dutta, who founded Coalition for TJ with Jackson.

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
7. While Jackson publicly claims to identify as a Democrat, he frequently promotes messages supporting Youngkin and attacks Democrats on his Twitter account.

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
8. Connecting the dots is essential to understand the forces influencing our politics

What's going on today in Virginia will be everywhere in 2022

You can get more accountable journalism in my newsletter, Popular Information

It's free to sign up ➡️ popular.info/subscribe
9. Youngkin has made it very clear that the politicization of school boards was a central part of his political strategy. Youngkin laid out his strategy in a video submitted as part of candidate forum hosted by Coalition for TJ earlier this year

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
10. Since then, the activities of Parents Defending Education, Jackson, and others at school board meetings have been incorporated into Youngkin's political strategy.

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
11. Let's take a look at how this has played out in the VA Governor's race

On 9/23, Stacy Langton, a Fairfax County parent, appeared at the school board and claimed the high school library carried two books that contain "pedophilia"

This wasn't true

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
12. The books at issue, Lawn Boy and Gender Queer, do contain same-sex sexual content but neither contain pedophilia.

Both books received the "Alex Award" from the American Library Association for books with "special appeal to young adults ages 12-18"

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
13. But Parents Defending Education pounced. Asra Nomani, PDE's Vice President for Strategy and Investigations, tweeted a video of Langton's speech, repeating the allegation of pedophilia

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
14. If you are a parent concerned about your child being exposed to sexual content in 2021, focusing on award-winning books in the high-school library is an odd choice

But both books were quickly pulled by the school, pending review

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
15. But the Youngkin campaign pounced anyway. PDE's video was posted to the Educators for Younkin Facebook page

Youngkin himself used the issue to attack McAuliffe at the final debate.

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
16. Youngkin's attack was false. He claimed a bill vetoed by McAuliffe in 2016 would have informed parents that the library was carrying the book.

But that bill only related to instructional materials used in class, not library books

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
17. But McAuliffe bumbled his reply and defended the veto as if it did apply to library books.

McAuliffe's answer is now in heavy rotation in a Youngkin ad featuring Youngkin's false charge, Langton's speech at the school board

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
18. The books are off the library shelves pending review, but Jackson and PDE have helped to keep the issue alive.

On October 7, Jackson returned to the Fairfax County School Board to give a speech about "porn and pedophilia" in school library books

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
19. Jackson's speech was filmed by PDE's Nomani and posted on Twitter with a link back to PDE's website.

On October 19, Youngkin will return to Fairfax County to highlight a "school system that has told parents they don't matter."

popular.info/p/how-virginia…
20. Langton has also filed a complaint with Virginia's attorney general asking for a criminal investigation into the library's decision to carry these two books.

Her move was announced in a press release from Educators for Youngkin

popular.info/p/how-virginia…

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
19 Oct
1. Much of the discussion on Manchin and his demands on the reconciliation bill has focused on POLITICAL STRATEGY

But there is a more central question: How would Manchin's positions impact his constituents?

Let's go over some FACTS

popular.info/p/how-joe-manc…
2. Manchin's opposes the Clean Energy Standard which would:

Prevent 250 premature deaths in WV annually

Add 3.5K jobs in WV

Increase earnings in WV by $172M

Help WV, which is highly exposed to flood damage, avoid the worst impacts of climate change

popular.info/p/how-joe-manc…
3. Manchin wants to limit the expansion of the Child Tax Credit to families earning no more than 60K and add a work requirement. That policy would:

Strip eligibility from 190K children in WV

Cost WV families more than $250B in annual purchasing power

popular.info/p/how-joe-manc…
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
17 Oct
1. Manchin always insisted his primary issue with the reconciliation package was the overall cost. This allowed him to avoid talking about the actual substance of the bill. But it wasn’t true.
2. We now learn one of his red lines is the clean energy standard, a provision that isn’t very expensive ($150B), but would go a long way to transitioning the country away from fossil fuels
3. Manchin could probably have gotten just about anything for West Virginia coal workers, who will not be working very long in the coal industry regardless. But he apparently isn’t interested.
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
14 Oct
1. The sudden interest in school boards is not an organic grassroots movement of angry parents.

It is an effort orchestrated by seasoned right-wing political operatives who have formed a constellation of well-funded groups.

popular.info/p/the-right-wi…
2. @DefendingEd, one of the most prominent groups targeting school boards, is run by a Republican operative with deep ties to the Koch political network

popular.info/p/the-right-wi…
3. Another major group, No Left Turn, was essentially a non-entity until its founder @NoLeftTurnElana started appearing on Tucker Carlson's show

popular.info/p/the-right-wi…
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
12 Oct
1. In 2020, Trump TRIED to steal the election but his only help came from Rudy Giuliani, a minority in Congress, and a rag tag group of conspiracy theorists.

Appearing in Iowa over the weekend, Trump made clear that his 2024 strategy would be different

popular.info/p/a-citizens-g…
2. "The election was a fraud and if we want to save our country and make America great again, we have only one choice. We must elect strong and unyielding American Republicans at every level," Trump said.

STACK

THE

DECK

popular.info/p/a-citizens-g…
3. Trump's 2024 strategy is not just about him running. It's about installing loyalists at every level of the state and federal government.

First, the Secretaries of State. This would put Trumpists in charge of administering elections in key states.

popular.info/p/a-citizens-g…
Read 9 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
11 Oct
1. Brands are being promised ad placement in "trusted spaces for quality conversations that move our society forward"

Their ads end up on @realDailyWire, alongside conspiracy theories about COVID vaccines and anti-trans diatribes

Here is how it works

popular.info/p/how-brands-a…
@realDailyWire 2. The ad tech industry has wrecked the information ecosystem, allowing sites to easily monetize disinformation and hate

@OpenWebHQ, a venture-backed company that has raised $72 million, was supposed to be a SOLUTION

popular.info/p/how-brands-a…
3. @OpenWebHQ promises to provide "a safe advertising experience" by only partnering w/pubs that "align w/standards of journalism" and don't spread "hate speech" or "disinformation"

But one of its partner sites is The Daily Wire, which is the opposite

popular.info/p/how-brands-a…
Read 10 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
7 Oct
1. Far-right extremists have been on the rise in America and now have an alarming influence on U.S. politics

A key source of funding for this movement: @ATT

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/how-at-and-t…
@ATT 2. We knew that @ATT was a key source of funding for @OANN, a right-wing propaganda network that promotes unhinged conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, COVID, etc

Court records obtained by @Reuters reveal @ATT is the only reason @OANN exists

popular.info/p/how-at-and-t…
3. AT&T is responsible for 90% OF @OANN's REVENUE

A lawyer for @OANN testified in court that, if @ATT stopped doing business with the network "the company would go out of business tomorrow"

popular.info/p/how-at-and-t…
Read 12 tweets

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