And now in New Hampshire there's a bounty on teachers. Because of course there is.

Just in case you haven't heard, the hilariously named "Moms for Liberty" (apparent motto: "Liberty for me, but not for thee") is offering cash for complaints filed through the shiny new NH Ed Dept website. It's a reeeeward of five hundred bucks for vigilante snitches who think they've caught a teacher telling the truth about race and racism in the Granite State. 

In a typical perversion of language, the whole thing revolves around New Hampshire House Bill 2, sections 297 and 298, passed in June and referred to as  "Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education" , which sounds pretty good, actually, and kind of like it should have been the law already. Apparently, though, the legislation needed a booster shot, so here we are.

This freedom from discrimination law prohibits schools from "teaching and/or advocating that one identified group is:

        [*]Inherently superior or inferior to people of another identified group 

        [*]Inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously 

        [*]Should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment 

        [*]Should not treat members of other identified groups equally"  

I may be missing something, but other than I'm pretty sure "inherently" doesn't mean what they think it means I don't see a whole lot to argue with there. The last two are decidedly "not racist" rather than "antiracist," but if you turn your head to the side and squint a bit, you can see that antiracist discrimination is actually anti-discrimination and not adverse at all if justice is what you're after. And "equally" really just depends on where you start the clock; start it in 1619 and "equal" does not mean impartial. In fact, it requires a hell of a lot of partial to get to equal. But of course, that's naive. People who think that way are not the ones in charge.

Anyway, the law is not the real issue and that is by design. It's the enforcers who matter, and the official ones reveal their intentions immediately. The law comes with its own questionnaire (!) focused exclusively on schools. Just fill it out and anybody can turn anybody in to the "Investigator."  

The fillable form contains multiple disclaimers such as the vehement "THIS IS NOT A CHARGE OF DISCRIMINATION" in the heading followed by "This is a questionnaire, not a charge of discrimination" which in addition to being like, "Hey, we're only asking questions here," is also like, The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Not to worry, though. They use the prime real estate at the end of the form to launch the missile you knew was coming as they encourage these guardians of the realm to "[p]rovide details such as names and dates, etc." You know, just in case. 

In that spirit of plausible deniability, opinions about the new law vary, as you might expect.  "Republicans cast the law as an effort to strengthen anti-discrimination laws" which only goes to show, once again, that casting is everything. On the other hand, "Democrats argue it will prevent teaching about implicit bias and structural racism and sexism." To "Democrats" I would also add anyone with a functioning cerebral cortex and any remaining honest Republicans, all of whom know that this is the purpose of the statute. 

If there were any doubt--and there isn't--what finally gives the game away and blows up the con for good is the suggestion from those "Moms" that in order to build the honey pot of reeeeward money, all true believer donations should include "CRT bounty's [sic]" in the PayPal notes. Cue the unofficial enforcers.

So the law in Texas New Hampshire deputizes the whole state (at least) and sends the posse out to impose their values and version of history on heretics and waverers. The law gives out badges and guns, and the "moms" put up the reeeeward money. To review: "New Hampshire House Bill 2, sections 297 and 298 Right to Freedom etc." points the mob at teachers and schools and says "Go get 'em!" 

What happens next is what always happens.