Virginia Now a Soviet-Style Police State

CNN's “Democracy in Peril” host Jim Acosta charged that “Virginia's new Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is turning the state into a Soviet-Style police state.” As evidence, he cited “the Governor's bizarre notion that parents ought to have a say in what their children are taught in the public schools. The whole point of public school is to liberate children from the domination of their parents.”

“Take the teaching of critical race theory as an example,” Acosta said. “When telelearning enabled more parents to observe what was being taught they caused a ruckus at school board meetings. The response under the previous Democratic governor was to silence the criticisms and call for the arrest of the dissenting parents. Now, Gov. Youngkin is asking parents to inform him of their concerns so he can guide the schools toward a focus on basic skills and knowledge that will help students get jobs and lead productive lives—as if these objectives are somehow better than instruction in the correct progressive ideology.”

“Another example is Youngkin's insistence that it is parents who should decide whether their children should or shouldn't wear masks in school,” Acosta fumed. “He is denying school officials' freedom to impose their will on the students under their care. I can't imagine a more Stalinistic form of oppression. Youngkin should be impeached.”