New York Times Goes to War Against Parents
By: Michael Senger
Amid the New York Times’ ongoing bewilderment at anyone opposed to the wholesale reorganization of western civilization around prevention of a single respiratory virus, Sheera Frenkel has penned what may be the publication’s most embarrassing article to date: A full-on hit piece against parents whose politics changed during Covid out of antipathy to school closures and mandates.
Frenkel expresses her puzzlement at the basic instincts shown by these parents to defend and protect their children, even at the expense of other political preferences:
Almost everyone in the crowd of more than three dozen was a parent. And as they protested on a recent Friday in the Bay Area suburb of Orinda, Calif., they had the same refrain: They were there for their children.
Most had never been to a political rally before. But after seeing their children isolated and despondent early in – the coronavirus pandemic, they despaired, they said. On Facebook, they found other worried parents who sympathized with them. They shared notes and online articles – many of them misleading – about the reopening of schools and the efficacy of vaccines and masks. Soon, those issues crowded out other concerns.
In the Times’ view, the protective instincts of these poor, benighted parents soon led them down a rabbit hole of QAnon-style anti-vaccine cultism:
Ms. Longnecker and her fellow objectors are part of a potentially destabilizing new movement: parents who joined the anti-vaccine and anti-mask cause during the pandemic, narrowing their political beliefs to a single-minded obsession over those issues. Their thinking hardened even as Covid-19 restrictions and mandates were eased and lifted, cementing in some cases into a skepticism of all vaccines.
Nearly half of Americans oppose masking and a similar share is against vaccine mandates for schoolchildren, polls show. But what is obscured in those numbers is the intensity with which some parents have embraced these views. While they once described themselves as Republicans or Democrats, they now identify as independents who plan to vote based solely on vaccine policies.
But worse yet, in their baffling zeal to prevent the state from using an indefinite state of emergency to terrify, harm, and indoctrinate their children, these parents have become radicalized, creating a fanatical and unpredictable new political movement that threatens the Democratic Party’s sacred cows and, even worse, the job security of its cadres:
Nearly half of Americans oppose masking and a similar share is against vaccine mandates for schoolchildren, polls show. But what is obscured in those numbers is the intensity with which some parents have embraced these views. While they once described themselves as Republicans or Democrats, they now identify as independents who plan to vote based solely on vaccine policies.
Their transformation injects an unpredictable element into November’s midterm elections. Fueled by a sense of righteousness after Covid vaccine and mask mandates ended, many of these parents have become increasingly dogmatic, convinced that unless they act, new mandates will be passed after the midterms.
To back up their beliefs, some have organized rallies and disrupted local school board meetings. Others are raising money for anti-mask and anti-vaccine candidates like J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for Senate in Ohio; Reinette Senum, an independent running for governor in California; and Rob Astorino, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York.
They’ve “organized rallies.” Oh, the horror!
In Frenkel’s view, these parents have embraced anti-vaccine fanaticism, regardless of whether they actually say so or even tell her as much in their interviews with her:
I interviewed 27 parents across the US who adopted anti-vaccine positions during the pandemic, and heard strikingly similar stories of feeling left behind by the government and finding their way to online rabbit holes. https://t.co/SMOy7VMBq3
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) August 1, 2022
The Times has a long history of striving for excellence, and in this pursuit they’ve outdone themselves with an exciting new entrant in the competition for Worst Article of All Time. Apparently, the Democrats’ strategy going into the midterms is to gaslight their base into believing concerns over their children’s education, wellbeing, and safety during Covid are nothing but an initiation into a dark underworld of cult-like anti-vaccine radicalism. We’ll see how that works out for ’em
••••
The above article (New York Times Goes to War Against Parents) was published on the site BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE and is republished here with permission and attribution to the articles author Michael Senger and brownstone.org.
About the above articles Author: Michael P Senger is an attorney based in the United States. He has been researching the influence of the Chinese Communist Party on the world’s response to COVID-19 since March 2020, and previously authored China’s Global Lockdown Propaganda Campaign and The Masked Ball of Cowardice in Tablet Magazine. You can follow his work on Substack
Image Credit: The photo in articles Featured Image (top) “New York Times Building, NYC” by alextorrenegra is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
••••
Also by the Author:
Whatever Happened to ‘Don’t Be Evil’
••••
Click the image below to visit this new site:
••••
••••
Stay tuned to …
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Leave a Reply