Republicans Try to Deny Muslims “School Choice” Voucher Bucks
Latest fake thing we are monitoring.
-Tommy Paine
The Texas Republican establishment is trying to normalize discrimination against Muslims, but the policies they promote are consistently incoherent.
Such is the case with the school choice debacle. It was revealed that Islamic jihadi schools were already applying for Abbott’s new school vouchers. So Abbott quickly declared the Muslim non-profit group CAIR to be a “foreign terrorist group” in an effort to block the Muslims from their school choice bucks.
Many critics now say the chickens are coming home to roost. Politicians are scrambling to distance themselves from schools accused of jihadist or CCP ties.
Meanwhile, Texas Republicans promise that their poorly designed laws will fix the problem.
Is labeling every Muslim as a “terrorist” supposed to be a serious long-term strategy?
Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday partially sided with acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock in his push to ban some private schools from the state’s new voucher program over alleged terrorism or foreign ties.
Paxton confirmed in a non-binding opinion that the state comptroller “unambiguously” has the authority to block or remove schools from the program if they violate other state laws, including the support of transnational criminal networks or terrorist activity.
These issues were glaringly obvious, yet lawmakers now expect us to believe their solution is simply labeling Muslim groups one-by-one as terrorists to prevent taxpayer-funded jihadi schools.
This make-it-up-as-they-go approach has led to an apparent ban on school choice funds for schools affiliated with groups “like CAIR” or countries “like China.”
Oh, ok.
It’s not really clear how this CAIR group is linked to terrorism more than any other Muslim group. Governor Abbott dropped his proclamation labeling CAIR a terrorist organization on some random Tuesday. In his declaration, he pieced together a dossier that wildly connects all sorts of unrelated people across several decades and the globe, like the paranoid conspiracy meme with the yarn everywhere.
One guy was said to have spoke at a CAIR rally in 2000 but who was later arrested for terrorism. Most of the people listed are not involved in CAIR currently. The biggest issue seems to be that CAIR’s current Executive Director said he was “happy to see” the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
In Texas, this is one of the few types of speech that is actually illegal and it is enforced aggressively under Governor Greg Abbott. Saying you don’t support Israel is against several laws in Texas.
I have no idea why anyone would fall for politicians saying they will fight against the Muslim takeover by declaring them to be terrorists, while secretly using their statements against Israel as your only leverage. This seems childish and strange. However, that seems to be what is going to happen.
India is somehow not listed as a terrorist organization despite their constant, state-sponsored disruptions to my cell phone.
In fact, one might call it “state-sponsored transnational organized criminal activity,” what has taken place with the scam calls to everyone’s cell phone from India.
UPDATE: Abbott apparently has issued a “directive” on H-1B’s
The pressure seems to have worked in the usual way.
This appears to be something that will halt about 3% of future H1-B’s. So, it’s not really a ban on 3% of H-1B’s, but more of a theoretical 3% ban on an assumed future H-1B.
Feeling conservative yet?
It’s the same playbook with these Texas politicians, I tell you hwhat.
It’s sad that Greg Abbott may ultimately be remembered as the man who created taxpayer-funded jihadi schools, only to panic later and try to shut them down by accusing them of saying mean things about Israel. It’s cartoonish, but hey, that’s Texas politics.
I assume CAIR will just rebrand to a slightly sharper name, and then nothing will happen to them as long as they don’t criticize Israel.
By that rationale, no public school in Texas should receive school “choice” funding since they pretty much all teach woke crap, have DEI policies, and do not outrightly protect girls’ restrooms as it’s still “case by case” overall.
You're so right and thanks for the correction. Private schools aren't "safe" either--the catholic schools in Dallas required CV19 jabs. Ew