this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2024
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Bethany Mandel, the controversial right-wing pundit, home-schooling advocate, and prolific social media poster, is running for county school board — as a Democrat.

Though the school board race in deep-blue Montgomery County, Maryland, is technically nonpartisan, Mandel’s campaign published a graphic on Tuesday listing her as a Democrat. The move quickly raised eyebrows online, and prompted a community note on X (formerly Twitter) stating, “Bethany Mandel has identified as a Republican numerous times on her personal Twitter account.”

Those who know Mandel recognize her for writing molten-hot takes and far-right political commentary. The most infamous was a column, published in the wake of the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, titled “We Need to Start Befriending Neo Nazis.” (Mandel is Jewish.) Her content can be cringey, like her column defending Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife: “If Casey DeSantis is a Karen, she’s our Karen.” She’s posted dehumanizing rhetoric, too. “Not nuking these fucking animals is the only restraint I expect and that’s only because the cloud would hurt Israelis,” she’s written about Palestinians.

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[–] lennybird -2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Buddy, if any of these are big words to you, then perhaps that public school education isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Otherwise, do tell if I'm misusing any words, alright? Let's go one-by-one and discuss. But isn't it absolutely remarkable that you have to commit an entire paragraph to make an Ad Hominem attack against me? To nitpick by fucking diction of all things...? With that Masters degree I guess I'd at least expect witty brevity.

Can't win with you folks... If I let loose my Appalachian roots you'd call me simpleminded and my vocabulary weak and a result of my homeschooled education; if on the other hand I respond with a tight comment that predicts arguments, you get defensive that I'm holier-than-thou and condescending. The bottom-line is you're looking for shit, obviously.

Please read the previous user's comment. They literally called what I went through and what I do for my kids, "child abuse." Fucking absurd. As you can imagine this isn't my first rodeo and I kind of figured what I was getting into making such a statement.

That you tell me to calm down as you decide to comment in a filled thread from hours ago just speaks to your own lack of introspection (is that a "thesaurus" word for you, too?)

Honestly, I'm just looking for good debate. I think most people here are far more worked up than I am. I just know how to fight fire with fire and some of you seem to take issue with that.

By the way, evidence was provided below. At this point, nobody gave evidence -- so why am I held to a higher standard than the dude who called it child abuse? lol.

[–] rdyoung 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Ignore them. Some kids just do better homeschooled and it's the lesser of evils, either you sacrifice the benefit they get from socializing or you sacrifice how they do in school because they can't handle being around people like that.

I'm sure I'll get downvoted here too but fuck em. Way too many people are so full of themselves they think they know more about a situation than those who have or are living it.

To be fair though, the majority of homeschooled kids are likely being kept home and forced to learn some religious bullshit and the only socializing they get is with other religious nutjobs doing the same to their kids. Not saying that was your situation, just a statement of fact.

[–] lennybird 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

The most sensible comment yet, thank you.

I've mentioned in another comment or two the same thing: Obviously religious fundamentalism is a major problem. But that's its own problem, not homeschooling.

My upbringing was a little unique in that regard. I was raised in a Christian household but we weren't evangelical, really. By the time I reached my teens my entire family kind of went through a paradigm shift for various reasons away from religion and conservatism and went full-blown progressive-left. Some of that is thanks to the internet; some of that is thanks to my parents' reflection of the US invasion of Iraq and its parallels to the Vietnam War and their hippie days.

Either way I definitely don't see homeschooling as fitting the circumstances of every family, and it certainly has its cons that need addressed as well. For my kids (and with my wife's AP/Honors public school perspective) we think we can do better for our kids.