Politics
This Texas county just reclassified a history book as fiction. Let that sink in.
UPDATE (Oct. 22, 2024 7:05 p.m. E.T.): According to Chron.com and The Texas Freedom to Read Project, Montgomery County officials returned “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” to its appropriate nonfiction section Tuesday.
The Texas Freedom to Read Project is a parent-led organization dedicated to safeguarding the rights of Texans — especially young people — to freely access information. We collaborate with local residents to combat censorship attempts across our state. Although we are frequently disheartened by these attempts, rarely are we surprised. But a decision made this month in a county near Houston left us stunned. The Montgomery County Commissioners Court ordered librarians there to reclassify the nonfiction children’s book “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” as fiction.
The Montgomery County Commissioners Court ordered librarians there to reclassify the nonfiction children’s book ‘Colonization and the Wampanoag Story’ as fiction.
Written by Linda Coombs, a historian who is Wampanoag, the highly regarded book is classified as nonfiction by the Library of Congress and all major Texas library systems. Because that’s what it is: a book about actual historical events and the true story of America from the Indigenous perspective. If government officials can arbitrarily dismiss a well-researched, factual account of history as fiction because it challenges a dominant narrative, then what other truths will they try to silence? If they can decide that a history told from the perspective of an Indigenous writer should be treated like some kind of fabrication, then what other perspectives will they move to disregard?
What prevents them from reclassifying books on other nonfiction topics — politics, health, religion, climate change — simply because they disagree with the ideas or viewpoints presented?
This reclassification decision is a consequence of a contentious policy change in March. Right-wing activists pressured the Montgomery County Commissioners Court to remove librarians from the review process for challenged children’s, young adult and parenting books. Documents obtained through a public information request by Teresa Kenney, a Montgomery County resident, library supporter and local small bookstore owner, revealed that Coombs’ book was challenged by an unidentified individual on Sept. 10.
Shortly thereafter, the newly formed Montgomery County “Citizens Review Committee” reclassified “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” as fiction. The committee reviewed the book in a closed meeting — all its meetings are closed to the public — and it offered no explanation for its decision. The new policy does not allow decisions made by the Citizens Review Committee to be appealed.
Again, we’re rarely surprised by censorship efforts in Texas, but the Montgomery County decision to arbitrarily reclassify the book as fiction sends an unmistakable and troubling message that perspectives different from those of people in political power are not only unwelcome, but may be falsely labeled as make-believe. This decision is viewpoint discrimination, and the implications extend far beyond a single book.
The current censorship movement spreading across Texas and the U.S. is not a grassroots movement, but part of a well-funded, highly coordinated political machine. Far-right political action committees and politically motivated billionaires dominate endorsements and campaign finance reports for candidates across the nation, from local school board races to the presidency. These candidates pledge to “save the children” from “woke indoctrination” by removing or restricting what they deem “inappropriate” or “woke” from libraries. Since the onset of this censorship wave in 2021, the efforts to restrict and remove books have focused on eliminating identities, viewpoints and ideas that oppose the political agenda of those behind the movement.
Also, characterizing censorship efforts as being about “parents’ rights” is deliberately misleading. Parents advocating for censorship argue that it’s their right to restrict what their children are exposed to. But they’re attempting to make these decisions for entire communities and school districts, and they disregard the rights of young people and parents who want their children to have access to diverse and inclusive books.
While it should go without saying, no one is advocating for putting inappropriate materials into the hands of children. Parents have a right to play a crucial role in guiding their own children’s reading choices to ensure they are suitable for their age, interests and maturity level. Students themselves also have a right to access ideas and information. But no individual or political group has the right to make those decisions for everybody else.
Characterizing censorship efforts as being about ‘parents’ rights’ is deliberately misleading.
We believe it’s important that people outraged by censorship efforts like these make their voices heard by supporting candidates who support the freedom to read, especially in local elections. We encourage concerned citizens to join and strengthen local anti-censorship groups and to speak out against censorship and attacks on the freedom to read at school board and local government meetings.
A healthy democracy relies on a well-informed citizenry. We are currently facing a dangerous disinformation epidemic, and public libraries serve as sacred institutional havens where citizens can access resources and information based on centuries of curated collection practices guided by library science — not by the latest viral conspiracy theories rooted in disinformation.
The government should not be declaring what is fiction or nonfiction.
Anne Russey
Anne Russey is a co-founder of Texas Freedom to Read Project, which defends the rights of all Texans, particularly public school students, to access information and ideas freely.
Laney Hawes
Laney Hawes is a co-founder of Texas Freedom to Read Project, which defends the rights of all Texans, particularly public school students, to access information and ideas freely
Frank Strong
Frank Strong is a co-founder of Texas Freedom to Read Project, which defends the rights of all Texans, particularly public school students, to access information and ideas freely.
WASILLA, Alaska — Three weeks out from Election Day, President Donald Trump took a helicopter to a plane to another helicopter to a motorcade to an ice hockey rink in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Valley, traversing nearly 4,000 miles over more than eight hours to turn out his base here to help Republicans defend the Senate.
But Trump’s trek might not be enough to save Sen. Dan Sullivan, who’s running in a tougher-than-expected race against Democrat Mary Peltola in a state where the president’s approval rating is underwater and independents outnumber both Republicans and Democrats.
Alaska strategists and voters who spoke to Blue Light News acknowledged that Sullivan faces a difficult path to reelection, despite Trump’s time investment and the outside money pouring in.
“Very conservative MAGA voters can’t vote for you harder,” said Scott Kendall, a veteran political strategist who worked on two of Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaigns and was chief of staff to former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker. “Donald Trump’s support in this current climate is both a blessing and a curse.”
Even some Trump supporters at the Tuesday night rally admitted the outlook appeared bleak.
“I think Alaska’s turning blue,” said Matt Niessink, a 45-year-old general contractor from Wasilla. He said he had voted for Trump three times and planned to support Republicans this year.
What did he wish the president would do differently? “I wish he’d shut his mouth sometimes and not be such a pompous ass,” Niessink said.
The president was in Wasilla — population 10,556 — because the outlook is darkening for his party in a state he carried by 13 points just two years ago. In a midterm year defined by the cost of gas and groceries, the Last Frontier has been hit particularly hard, with the average price of diesel nearing $7 per gallon. In the Senate race, Peltola is flush with cash and leads Sullivan in most polls. MAGA Inc., the cash-rich Trump-aligned super PAC, is increasingly focusing on Alaska as one in a slate of states that can help Republicans hold the Senate.
Enter Trump, who has been spending the cycle’s crucial final weeks holding rallies in red states to juice support among his base, which tends to see depressed turnout in years when he’s not on the ballot.
“That was a lot of flying,” the president said at the top of his remarks. “In fact, they were thinking about canceling. They said, ‘Sir, you’re very busy, this is very tough.’” But, Trump continued, he refused to cancel for a state he won three times.
Echoing his comments at other red-state rallies, Trump asked the roaring crowd for “one big favor” — to “pretend that I’m on the ballot, because every time I’ve been on the ballot, we win.” He repeated his promise that Americans will receive $5,000 dividends if Republicans hold both chambers.
“What this is about is getting out the vote,” Sullivan told reporters before Trump’s speech. “A rising tide of enthusiasm lifts all the candidates.”
Unlike some other Republican candidates in tight races, Sullivan has shied away from distancing himself from the least popular aspects of Trump’s presidency.
Sullivan proclaimed on stage at the rally that “the conflict in the Middle East is temporary. The true forever war is the national Democrats’ war against Alaska oil and gas and our jobs.” And although a campaign aide released a statement condemning Trump’s move to import Russian diesel, Sullivan did not join four of his Republican Senate colleagues, including Murkowski, who called on Trump to reverse the decision.
Art Hackney, a veteran Republican strategist in Alaska, said that “most of the people who support” Sullivan “think that he should” break more with the president.
Hackney, who runs a pro-Sullivan super PAC called “We Stand with Dan,” attributed that choice to loyalty — but suggested the president’s demand of fealty, and treatment of frequent dissenter Murkowski, could also be part of Sullivan’s calculus.
“A lot of his longtime supporters and the people who are in the industries that would benefit from that wish he would be more blunt,” Hackney said. “But with what Murkowski has done, if Dan did something considered a disrespectful trigger or something, what do you think would happen? It could well have implications for things that affect Alaska’s economy.”
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Some top congressional Republicans have privately concluded that it is likely impossible for them to keep control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, and they are now focused on limiting the scale of the defeat and salvaging the party’s Senate majority.
Five senior Republican lawmakers, all granted anonymity to speak candidly about their party’s dire position, told Blue Light News the House had all but slipped away.
One senior House Republican said the GOP’s goal at this point was to “save as many Republican seats as we can.” The president, this person said, was not helping.
“President Trump has made this election all about himself,” the lawmaker said. “Now we have to survive that political storm.”
A second Republican member of Congress said the movement of campaign advertising made plain which side was in control of the midterms. This lawmaker predicted Democrats would pick up about 10 seats, more than enough to take control of the chamber.
Even in newly redistricted red states like Florida and Texas, this person said, Republican candidates were “hanging on with their fingernails.”
Republicans have already fallen back from several contested House districts that they feel are no longer winnable, including those held by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey. Trump carried their districts just two years ago. The party last week gave up on an Omaha-based district held by retiring Rep. Don Bacon.
Trump officials and other top GOP operatives say more candidates may be cut off in the coming days, in order to shift advertising money to races where it can make more of a difference. Republican groups have already given up on multiple races where they once hoped to unseat Democratic lawmakers.
The Republican Party is under extreme pressure across the Midwest, where it is now spending heavily to defend Senate seats in once-reliably MAGA states like Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.
Bacon, a maverick often at odds with the White House, said there was no mystery in his party’s political tribulations.
“I’ve talked to some who are making these decisions: The biggest problem is the president’s polling numbers and unfavorables,” Bacon said.
White House officials insist they’re not giving up on either chamber of Congress. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said Trump remained “committed to maintaining Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.”
As he departed on Tuesday to campaign in Alaska for embattled GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, Trump professed optimism about the midterms but acknowledged that sitting presidents typically see their party lose seats in the off year.
“But I’m doing a tour right now and I’m doing rallies,” Trump added. “The level of enthusiasm for the Republican Party is way up.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson went even further, flatly declaring during a campaign stop in deep-red Texas that “the polling is wrong” in showing his party on the brink of a broad defeat.
Yet at a tactical level, the Republican Party’s moves to shift money away from defending the House and toward saving the Senate are clear enough. In recent days, the Congressional Leadership Fund, the top super PAC for House Republicans, canceled advertising for key House candidates in Nebraska and Iowa and allowed the Senate Leadership Fund – a Republican group focused on the upper chamber – to swoop in and claim the airtime to support Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for Senate in Iowa.
“These are not the moves of a party that’s going to keep the House,” a third Republican lawmaker said.
In statements to Blue Light News, both CLF and the National Republican Congressional Committee said they had no intention of giving up on the fight for control of the House.
NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said districts are won “one by one,” and that the GOP has “the financial firepower and ground game needed to win.”
Chris Winkelman, president of CLF, said his group would keep moving money around to maximize the impact nationally.
The goal, he said, was to “keep the pressure on the most vulnerable Democrats and preserve a path to 218 seats.”
Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Florida Republican who lost his swing seat in Trump’s first midterm election eight years ago, said his former colleagues were clear-eyed about where the election seemed to be headed.
“The environment is about as tough as one could expect,” Curbelo said. “There is no one who has privately stated that they believe Republicans can hold the House — not in recent weeks, anyway.”
Megan Messerly, Lauren Fedor, Lisa Kashinsky and Myah Ward contributed to this report.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff said Tuesday he will not run for president in 2028 and committed to serving a full six-year Senate term if reelected.
“I have zero interest in running for president. I’m not running for president. I’m running for reelection to the Senate,” Ossoff said during a Georgia Senate debate against Republican Rep. Mike Collins.
Asked by Greg Bluestein of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution whether he would serve his full term if he wins in November, Ossoff replied: “Yes, I will.”
The remarks are Ossoff’s most forceful rejection yet of a potential 2028 presidential bid even as his name has repeatedly surfaced in national Democrats’ conversations about possible contenders for the party’s nomination. His public commitment to a full Senate term on Tuesday is the latest of his campaign’s many efforts to tamp down that speculation.
Ossoff gained national attention this year given his strong fundraising numbers, his consistent lead in public polling against Collins and his ability to generate viral moments on the campaign trail, particularly through his attacks on President Donald Trump. Democrats are bullish about Ossoff’s ability to hold onto his Senate seat — so much so that the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC said Tuesday it was removing its ad spending in Georgia for the week.
He’s also taken steps to boost the state Democratic party in Georgia, a perennial battleground that has been and will be key to winning the presidency. If November brings historic wins up and down the ballot, Ossoff will get some of the credit — and he’ll have confirmed his status as a leader in the swing state.
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