Steve Corbin is Professor Emeritus of Marketing, University of Northern Iowa
I fondly recall my senior year in high school when Mary Beth Tinker, John Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt wore black armbands to their high school to protest the Vietnam War. Their suspension from school was cast around the thought that wearing armbands would disrupt learning. In a landmark Supreme Court case – Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) – justices agreed students’ rights should be protected plus they refuted the school’s stance by candidly stating, “Students don’t shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates.”
Many of today’s GOP-oriented governors and legislators, far right-wing groups, conservative media and Republican presidential candidates have either passed or supported book banning, anti-LGBTQIA and anti-racist curriculum laws. It’s a blatant attack on the constitutional rights of students, parents, teachers, general public and book authors. Several organizations and politicians -- identified by a multitude of sources -- are named as a threat to Americans’ intellectual freedom and First Amendment rights.
Moms for Liberty (MFL) may be the most cited right-wing extremist group. Founded in 2021, MFL is referred by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as an anti-government and conspiracy propagandist group of 120,000 members in 285 chapters throughout 44 states who, among many beliefs, are anti-LGBTQIA, anti-gender identity and anti-inclusive educational curriculum, which includes school pedagogy, social emotional learning and books. MFL has been featured on the Rush Limbaugh Show, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, Glenn Beck Program, Newsmax and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly’s show. MFL is associated with several chapters of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, 3 Percenters, Gays Against Groomers and GOP’s affiliated Heritage Foundation.
It’s quite ironic that MFL touts they are for liberty, yet are willing to strip others of their liberty to read books of interest. The American Library Association reveals of the 2,571 book titles banned for censorship in 2022, 58% were targeted for schools and 41% were aimed for adults in public libraries. Hence, the organization is not only attacking students’ First Amendment rights but also 78% of Americans who are adults. No Left Turn in Education (NLTIE) urges parents to ban LGBTQIA rights and books categorized as anti-racism, anti-police, critical race theory and comprehensive sexuality education since those concepts don’t align with their autocratic agenda. Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education (PDE), has been described as a “veteran political operative affiliated with the Koch network.” PDE is a group of “corporate school privatizers going hard right to attack school boards, superintendents, principals and teachers” (Media Matters for America, Nov. 12, 2021).
According to the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Blog, “No Left Turn in Education, PDE and Moms for Liberty share inflammatory claims about `radical agendas’ to disguise their desire to engage in censorship and government control of intellectual freedom.” Book banning narrows students’ cultural understanding, world view and critical thinking capability.
Finally, there’s the Goldwater Institute (GI) who proudly states their aim is to control public school’s K-12 curriculum. Individuals who are cited by multiple sources to be in concert with MFL, NLTIE, PDE and GI include: former president Donald Trump (R-FL), former U.N. Ambassador and Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA), Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (OH).
America was founded on the value and importance of free expression. According to John Stuart Mill’s essay On Liberty (1859), free speech must be protected from political, economic and social tyranny. When our First Amendment rights are purposely being attacked by right-wing extremists, they are attempting to shackle the minds of children and adults plus America’s future. Bottom line: we are witnessing politicians and groups who want America to abandon its 1630’s New England Colonies democracy roots and become an authoritarian country like Russia, China and North Korea, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15).
References:
- Jacqui Higgins-Dailey, The stakeholders of status quo, Intellectual Freedom Blog of American Library Association, March 10, 2022
- Moms for Liberty, Southern Poverty Law Center, 2023
- Olivia Little, Unmasking Moms for Liberty, Media Matters for America, Nov. 12, 2021
- R.J. Praker, Better dead than read: Moms for Liberty and book banking in America, David Political Review, July 19, 2023
- Kristina Watrobski, Parents’ rights orgs labeled `hate’ and `extremist’ groups by Southern Poverty Law Center, CBS Austin, June 7, 2023
- Laura Barron-Lopez and Matt Loffman, GOP presidential candidates appear at far-right Moms for Liberty event, PBS News Hour, June 30, 2023
- Andrew Atterbury, DeSantis names Moms for Liberty co-founder to Florida ethics panel, Politico, Sept. 6, 2023
- Paul Steinhauser, Moms for Liberty takes center stage again in 2024 Republican presidential race, Fox News, Sept. 6, 2023
- US Republican candidates woo controversial Moms for Liberty group, Al Jazeera, June 29, 2023
- Juan Perez, Jr., The parents group Republicans are banking on to win the White House, Politico, June 30, 2023
- Gregory Krieg, How `Moms for Liberty’ grew into a 2024 Republican power player, CNN Politics, June 30, 2023
- Ali Swenson, Moms for Liberty rises as power player in GOP politics after attacking schools over gender, race, Associated Press, June 11, 2023
- Francesca Block, Gov. Kim Reynolds pushed `parental rights’ to Moms for Liberty crows. Protesters pushed back, Des Moines Register, Feb. 3, 2023
- Republican presidential candidates canoodle with Moms for Liberty, The Economist, July 6, 2023
- Reuters, From schools to statehouses, conservative Moms for Liberty push to grow influence, NBC News, April 6, 2022
- Tyler Kingkade, Moms for Liberty’s conservative activists are planning their next move: Taking over school boards, NBC News, July 17, 2022
- Wikipedia, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, https://www.en.m.wikipedia.org
- Goldwater Institute, https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org
- Moms for Liberty, https://www.momsforliberty.org
- Parents Defending Education, https://www.defendinged.org No Left Turn in Education, https://www.noleftturn.us
- Gays Against Groomers, https://www.gaysagainstgroomers.com
Disclosure: Steve is a non-paid freelance opinion editor and guest columnist contributor (circa 2013) to 172 newspapers in 32 states who receives no remuneration, funding or endorsement from any for-profit business, not-for-profit organization, political action committee or political party.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.