USA Today ran this headline yesterday: “‘Parents’ rights’ groups labeled extremist: SPLC lists a key Florida group as anti-government.” The article uses SPLC’s designation of the Moms for Liberty as “extremist.” Note the use of scare quotes around parents’ rights in the headline. In fact, Moms for Liberty is a parents’ rights group. USA Today is using scare quotes to imply that the group, or any group like it, isn’t really about parents’ rights, but about right-wing ideology. Conservatives don’t really care about children. They only use them as pawns in the culture war. You know, that sort of impression.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s loathing of the ordinary American and the populist movement is palpable. What is the explanation for designating Moms for Liberty an “antigovernment group” and “extremist”? “Moms for Liberty is primarily aimed at not wanting to include our hard history, topics of racism, and a very strong push against teaching anything having to do with LGBTQ topics in schools,” SPLC Intelligence Project Director Susan Corke Corke said. “We saw this as a very deliberate strategy to go to the local level.” The SPLC concludes in its report that the group is part of a broader “antigovernment movement“ focused on local politics that sprung up during the pandemic.
I had concerns about the SPLC several years ago (see my blog The Irony of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Authoritarian Desire). My assessment of the organization today is much more negative.
“Antigovernment.” What does that even mean? Does it refers to having a stance or perspective that opposes or criticizes the actions, policies, or existence of a government or governmental authority? Presumably Moms for Liberty is not an anarchist organization. In fact, anarchist groups are not on SPLC’s list of antigovernment groups (which you can download here as an Microsoft Excel spreadsheet: SPLC’s 2022 list of antigovernment groups).
I asked ChatGPT to tell me what an antigovernment person might look like. It told me that antigovernment people are not people who want no government but rather those who “may object to specific policies, laws, or actions undertaken by the government. They might believe that certain policies infringe upon personal freedoms, violate human rights, or are ineffective or unjust.” Sounds like a healthy democracy to me. Was Martin Luther King, Jr. antigovernment?
“Some individuals may be anti-government due to a general distrust of concentrated power and authority. They may be concerned about the potential for corruption, abuse of power, or the erosion of civil liberties when too much authority is vested in a central government.” Hey, I possess a general distrust of concentrated power and authority. I, too, am concerned about corruption, abuse of power, and erosion of civil liberties when too much authority is vested in a central government. Am I antigovernment?
“Many proponents of limited government believe that the role of the state should be minimal, primarily focused on protecting individual rights and maintaining essential functions like defense and justice. They may view an expansive government as intrusive, inefficient, or prone to overreach.” Ah, so libertarians are antigovernment. I’m a libertarian, a classically liberal sort of fellow. I view an expansive government as intrusive and prone to overreach. It’s looking like I’m antigovernment, alright.
“Being anti-government can also extend to opposing specific forms of governance, such as autocracy, dictatorship, or totalitarianism. Individuals who oppose these systems may advocate for more democratic or decentralized alternatives.” I oppose fascism. Yep. I’m antigovernment.
Just to make sure, I asked ChatGPT, “Would you change the definition of antigovernment from what you wrote above? Or are you satisfied with your answer?” It responded: “I believe the definition I provided accurately reflects the general understanding of what it means to be ‘anti-government.’ However, if there are specific aspects or nuances you would like me to address or clarify, please let me know, and I’ll be happy to provide further information or modify my response accordingly.”
ChatGPT’s invitation sounds enticing, but to stay focused on the matter at hand, does SPLC have a definition of antigovernment? That might be more relevant. And it turns out that they do and it’s nothing like what ChatGPT generated—albeit it does read like something ChatGPT might hallucinate if I had asked it for some nuance:
“An antigovernment group is an organization or collection of individuals that—based on its official statements or principles, the statements of its leaders, or its activities—believes the federal government is tyrannical and traffics in conspiracy theories about an illegitimate government of leftist elites seeking a ‘New World Order.’ In the past this movement was referred to as the ‘Patriot’ movement by adherents and critics. Although many elements of the movement were originally rooted in white supremacy and antisemitism, the movement has attempted to distance itself from these ties since the mid-1990s, following the Oklahoma City bombing. In recent years, however, antisemitic and anti-Muslim sentiments have permeated the movement’s conspiracy theories.”
According to SPLC, Moms for Liberty is a “far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities and self-identifies as part of the modern parental rights movement. The group grew out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID-19, opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated books bans.” It continues: “Moms for Liberty and its nationwide chapters combat what they consider the ‘woke indoctrination’ of children by advocating for book bans in school libraries and endorsing candidates for public office that align with the group’s views. They also use their multiple social media platforms to target teachers and school officials, advocate for the abolition of the Department of Education, advance a conspiracy propaganda, and spread hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community.”
As is standard with SPLC’s profiles, the organization provides quotes by Moms for Liberty leaders and members. It’s a long list, but this quote is representative: “I raise my children. The government does not. We do not co-parent with the government. And there are certain sensitive subjects that we would like to be directing the conversation around for our children,” said co-founder Tiffany Justice in a C-SPAN2 About Books interview. “Parents are very concerned about this idea about gender identity that was never discussed in our public schools, and it is now taking a front row seat in our children’s education. And it is affecting everything they do, including for many of our girls, how safe they feel in the bathrooms at their school.” Sounds like a concerned parent invested in the wellbeing of children in public schools. This is antigovernment? This is extremist?
The worst quote I could find was from Melissa Bosch of the Lonoke County, Arkansas chapter. Bosch is a fireplug, for sure. SPLC reports that she was indicted for “terroristic threatening” directed towards the faculty and staff of Cabot School district. That’d be bad if it were true. But it’s not true. According to the incident report, “Sgt. Baugh obtained the copy of the recording from the Mom of Liberty meeting. Dr. Thurman stated that Melissa Bosch has been very outspoken at school board meetings. Due to her conduct, he was concerned about the comment on the recording. After listening to the full recording, the individual identified as Melissa Bosch did in fact make the statement ‘If I had any mental issues they would all be plowed down with a gun by now’. However this statement was not made in the context of a threat. Sgt. Baugh spoke to Dr. Tony Thurman as well as to Melissa and informed her that she would not be charged in this case.”
In March of this year, on The View, Jane Fonda said pro-life politicians should be murdered. I could not find Fonda’s name on the SPLC web site. I am sure that’s an oversight. Or maybe the organization took Fonda’s word for it when she later clarified that comments were “obviously made in jest.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., reported Jane Fonda to Capitol Police “for threatening public officials.” The police in this case didn’t take any of this seriously, either. There’s no way Bosch’s words could be taken that way. After all, the recording is muffled so it is hard to hear her intent.
If SPLC doesn’t designate Antifa an antigovernment group (I checked, I doesn’t), then how is Moms for Liberty an antigovernment group? The answer lies in what SPLC is all about. It’s not actually against extremism or hate. It depends on who the extremist is and who or what is hated. For SPLC, any group that does not repeat the slogans of the progressive establishment is antigovernment. SPLC does not want an America where there are different opinions, where competing ideas are contested, where democracy happens—especially at the local level. Grassroots politics is scary. But not really. It’s not local politics that concerns SPLC. It’s the ideological content of the politics that exercises the organization. Blacks Lives Matter. Mostly peaceful. Moms for Liberty? Right up there with the KKK.
If you object to teaching children to regard each other through the lens of racial resentment, you are antigovernment in SPLC’s eyes. You might ask whether the government should actually ban teaching children to regard each other through the lens of racial resentment. Isn’t that racist programming? No, because you are an antigovernment extremist. If you don’t think that children should be sexualized in school by reading books with pornographic content or having provocative and searching conversations about sex and gender with their teachers, or if you don’t want Pride flags in the classrooms and hallways, you are antigovernment. What if administrators and teachers put up Christian Nationalist flags? Wouldn’t SPLC condemn that? Of course it would. It would be horrified if that happened. Because that’s the wrong flag.
For SPLC and the worldview it expresses, the mindset of the progressive establishment, it’s not the principle that classrooms should be ideologically-free spaces that should concern parents. Classrooms should be centers of ideological indoctrination. But it’s got to be the right ideology. And the content of that ideology can be understood by who SPLC defames.
However, one wonders how SPLC will respond to Muslim parents who object to woke indoctrination of their children. Here’s a rally in Montgomery County, Maryland yesterday. It is loud and enthusiastic. Antigovernment? Extremist?
What about these Armenians who object to the woke indoctrination of their children in Glendale, California? They are being attacked by the trans activist organization Antifa. Remember, Antifa is not an extremist organization because it attacks antigovernment types. But Armenians? They’re antigovernment?
freedom and reason 