You’ve heard of Steve Bannon. You may not have heard of Todd Wood.
But both of them have heard about Westport.
And — to hear them tell it — our town is one of the main reasons that Connecticut is “the belly of the communist beast.”
Bannon hosts “War Room,” a multi-platform podcast.
Steve Bannon, hosting “War Room.”
Recently, he interviewed Wood. He’s the “founder and editor” of the Connecticut Centinal, though its website says it was “established in 1802.” He’s also editor-in-chief of CD Media — the initials stand for “Creative Destruction” — which, he told Bannon, is “reopening newspapers up and down the Colonies.”
His company, he said, is “known for real journalism, and telling the truth on both sides.”
The truth about Westport, Wood said, is that “the town is run by an unelected Marxist politburo called TEAM Westport. They’re actually injecting transgenderism and CRT (critical race theory) into the schools.
“Now they’re complaining about the uniforms of the police, (saying) they’re too intimidating.”
“It’s over the top, what they’re doing on this gender ideology,” Bannon agreed.
“Yeah,” Wood noted. “They’re showing grooming videos to elementary kids — large, obese women with their breasts flaunting, jumping up and down with their beards to 3rd graders. Literally opening the door to behavior that’s really inappropriate for children.”
Todd Wood, on “War Room.”
Wood continued: “This CRT thing has really blown up in Westport. There’s a lot of angry parents, which have shown up at Board of Education meetings.”
In fact, he continued, “The head of the Board of Education in Westport won’t say the Pledge of Allegiance. You literally have a group of Marxists running the town, and controlling the town.
“Even though we won the election” — presumably referring to 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, a Republican — “they won’t change this TEAM Westport. The guy who is running it has been there like 20 years.
“It’s a real problem, Steve,” Wood concluded. “And it’s been up and down the coast, where they’ve spent a lot of time and money infiltrating with this Marxist ideology.”
Click here for Steve Bannon’s entire “War Room” interview with Todd Wood.
Screen shot of the Connecticut Centinal website.
(“06880” relies entirely on readers like you. Please click here to contribute.)
HELP! Reality check please. I don’t recognise my former home town and live too far away to drop in and see for myself. What’s going on?
Nothing is going on, Debbie, except in the mentally disturbed minds of the Bannons, the Woods and all the Trump cult crazies who are, literally, destroying our democratic republic.
Stupid comments like associating anyone identifying as a republican is bad and dangerous and inappropriate. Danielle u said it best, we have good people from both parties working together in our town. I love this town and all we represent. Ignore the idiocy extremists from both sides and divisive comments that attack a general public. Tooker is an incredible 1st Selectwoman that finds many middle grounds based on common sense. Insulting Republicans is insulting her and that is plain old not nice and dead wrong. Hats off to you Dan, u dont shy from any topic!
I’m left questioning the judgement of anyone who still identifies as Republican. Why would you associate yourself with this?
Can someone ask Jen Tooker and Andrea Moore if they would disavow this attack on TEAM and being considered part of the “we” that includes these guys? This isn’t harmless. This is the kind of stuff that is actively breaking down the democracy and if you don’t fight against what Bannon and the Republican Party are lying about you can’t consider yourself a “reasonable Republican”
Yes, indeed, why?
Perhaps some one could ask Jen herself at the next selectpersons meeting as to why she identifies with a “party” that has declared she is less a citizen than any male in this country and so has no conrol over her own body, her own essential “privacy,” which is the presupposition to exercising “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and permeates every article of our 1787 constitution. (When was the last time any government tried to sequester troops in your home and you didn’t squawk about it, eh? I mean, really, what’s the RTM for?)
To say such affiliation is “tribal,” that one continues the attitudes one was born into without thinking, is now an inadequate response to what James Madison would have called a “faction,” which at the national level is in pursuit of power only in and for itself. People like Bannon and Wood and their media-metastisizing ilk are “fire eaters” [borrowing a term from our Civil War history], “rabble rousers” who give no thought to the consequences of their words — and actually don’t care, proving their pyschopathology. Jen, a “victim” of CRT pedagogy herself as a graduate of Staples, might want to re-think that tribalism. After all, “re-thinking” is a skill she and I learned at Staples as part of that critical REALITY thinking “indoctrination” we received. (“Oh, the horror!”)
I believe I can assure her the person asking that question will not, as has happened out here in the southern counties of Oregon, be carrying an AR-15.
The amount of lies Bannon has told in his life, and the amount of rocks at Burying Hill Beach, are exactly the same.
Bannon, and his listeners, could learn a lot from Westport’s BOE – to begin with, how to nurture and support one the finest public school systems in our great country. Moreover, anyone watching our exceptional BOE would see how good people of very different political stripes work together collaboratively and with civility. These times – and interviews like this – leave me more grateful than ever that my boys have the opportunity to be educated in Westport, in a school system guided by our terrific BOE chair and her colleagues. Watching them work together makes me feel very proud to be an American. I won’t dignify Bannon’s ridiculous insinuations about the good people @ TEAM other than to say that we elected officials in Westport are a very independent bunch and anyone suggesting there’s some secret un-elected cabal running town should attend the next RTM or P&Z meeting!!
Clark, How about a massive lawsuit against these two guys? We do a have a few good lawyers in Westport who could represent the town.
Steve Bannon’s “enemy list?!” I have never been more proud of Westport!!
I wonder if these guys have girlfriends?
I assume the Westport connections are Zack Alcyone and Camilo Riano, the plaintiffs in the Team Westport lawsuit.
In response to Ms. Hoult, there’s nothing new about Red-baiting conspiracy wingnuts operating around here.
In the late 60s, early 70s, the local branch of the John Birch Society was peddling their crap via a weekly recording, that began with the words: “Let Freedom Ring” and was available by dialing a local phone number.
Some of the messages were Westport-specific — for example, attacking the Project Concern program bringing a handful of Bridgeport kids into the Westport schools — and I recall a number of these messages being incredibly racist.
Just like today’s extremist groups, the John Birch Society (which still exists) was backed by people with legitimate credentials and wealth accumulated by participating in the very same corporate/government “swamp” they claim to be infiltrated by Marxism.
BTW, get a load of all of the Catholic totems on the fake mantelpiece of Bannon’s set. He is nothing but a big fat phony!
These verbal attacks on various parts of our town leadership are wrong. Jen Tooker heads our town government – not what these two “commentators“ claim.
The comments and horrendous language against TEAM Westport are inappropriate. Can TEAM Westport change and adapt? Every board and organization should. Let me not hedge my words – I am pleased and proud that TEAM Westport is a part of our town.
As a Board of Education member myself – I may disagree from time to time with our chairperson on individual issues (that is democracy and healthy) – but we agree on so much more. She puts Westport’s schools and our students first – not some ideology. This attack on her in this interview is both ignorant and offensive to me as a Westport Republican.
i encourage everyone to watch the video link and judge for yourself.
Mr. Harrington, Westport needs to consider a lawsuit! Don’t let this pass with just an oral rebuttal!
Funniest part of this piece is the “large, obese women with their breasts flaunting, jumping up and down with their beards
Sorry didn’t finish last comment: Funniest part of this piece is the “large, obese women with their breasts flaunting, jumping up and down with their beards.” I bet this did not come from any school curriculum, but from a porn clip passed around by the likes of Bannon and Wood.
Bizarre fantasies about sex and sexuality are popular in the right wing community. Recently a young follower of these kinds of blogs told me that in some California schools, students were required to attend class in the nude. He’d read it online so it had to be true!
Part of the nature of a typical Democrat is passivity, empathy, acceptance of all and a metaphorical willingness to “share the bounty of life’s pie”. Most Democrats are introspective, often considering ways to make society better for all, true believers in the “rising tide raises all boats” theory. Democrats understand government is not like a business because government involves everyone, not just a limited few customers shopping for a deal. The Republican Party’s nature is conservatism; “keep everything as it is, change is scary and will only make things worse”, and for some, a selfishness that comes with a resistance to pay taxes that would benefit the entire community. Today, the Republican Party has been dangerously radicalized, the complete opposite of the old familiar conservative principles, evidenced by an unapologetic coup d’etat, new legislation efforts to overturn free and fair election results in some States, the removal of women’s reproductive rights, the disregard for the separation of church and state and is now championing an unapologetic fascist behavior. If this were not my country, the country I love, my reply would simply be; you reap what you sow, so good luck with that ! Prominent members of the Republican Party, over the years, have chosen to ride the victorious wave of electoral victories while hiding behind the former president; throughout the Mueller investigation, two impeachments, the destabilization of our government and numerous legal scandals. So now the question is; Our Democracy is under severe attack, authoritarian rule is on the horizon, what are our local Republicans going to do about “their” problem, which has now become “our” problem?
We must be doing something right in our great town of Westport to get the attention and focus of Bannon. And, listen to the language of the interview carefully. Their lawyers have clearly consulted them on how to frame such a misleading attack on our town.
Our elected officials across town dedicate hours and days to running open public meetings with public comment (BOE, RTM, P&Z etc) and working across party lines to make decisions. There is no mudslinging. There is debate. There is disagreement. It can even be messy & heated sometimes. People care about our town. Town leaders, Democrats & Republicans have appointed and support the efforts of TEAM Westport to make our town welcoming to all. They do very important work. There are issues that lead to active participation by our residents eg letter writing, emails, calls, attendance at meetings and, if the support is there, our public officials listen and act. The democratic process works in Westport. I am grateful for our elected and appointed officials willing to serve and for the leadership of TEAM. You do not deserve these attacks. They are harmful and toxic to you, your family, and our very productive discourse.
Dan – good morning. I enjoy your blog and posts everyday as you are a foundational part of our community here in Westport. I was disappointed to see that you are giving air time and coverage to someone like Steve Bannon. To do so is to empower him. His reward for his anti-americanism and hatred should be to be ignored.
Tom Stanford
Hi Tom. I appreciate your comments. Unfortunately, I have to disagree 10,000%. People like Steve Bannon and Todd Wood are out there — on the airwaves, on social media, and absolutely in our community. The last thing we can do is stick our head in the sand and pretend they don’t exist. They are reaching out with their hateful, divisive words (and, perhaps to come, actions), and ignoring them will not make them go away, or disempower them.
Ignoring them will, however, lead to complacency, inaction, and (it sounds alarmist, but perhaps true), the end of American democracy. We have already witnessed an erosion of it. It continues, day after day, small act by small act.
The quote attributed variously to Edmund Burke and John Stuart Mill — “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” — is absolutely true. Although I would add “good women” too.
Thanks, Dan. That was a necessary, gentle and important rebuttal
Beware! Bannon does not stand for democracy. He has been convicted of fraud and criminal contempt of Congress. He is a teump supporter and election denier. This is how it starts folks.
Accusing people of being communists – that is who they are.
Keep them out of Westport/ or anywhere before it is too late.
If you are a Republican you must denounce this!!
VOTE!
In other news, Sarah Palin, who I contend triggered a lot of this mess 14 long years ago, survived her first primary race and is moving on to run for Alaska’s sole seat in the House of Representatives. And also making a comeback… polio.
What I find most disturbing is the first comment appears to actually believe this drivel.
Peter, I do not believe the crap but could/would if I didn’t trust in the Westport I believe it to be (Staples ’73). Others who do not live in Westport might believe it. Dan Woog is correct about free speech BUT a firm rebuttal should be made in some way.
Westport is a soft target and we should be aware that we are no longer a leafy hamlet and suburb of the city. This was made very clear when I was sitting outside having coffee at Gig & Joe’s. A red MAGA truck, flag waving, bold lettered cap in the driver’s seat, attitude came honking, slowly looking for a confrontation. Dan was absolutely right in posting the link to this broadcast because we are not immune. Locally there are residents who thoroughly buy into Trump’s incessant lies for whatever reason they choose—success financially, religious beliefs, or just plain, as Bill Maher said: “I don’t know it for a fact, but I just believe it.”
I want to say as a elected official in this town we all work together Democratic or Republican we on rtm work a lot together but I also think the rtc in Westport should make a statement I do not like the attack on our boe chair o do hope other boe members stand just like Rob has
And also I think team Westport does a great as Harold does and our select women and all of us work rely hard yes I agree with Danielle and Adam I hope this kind of stuff has to stop from that news source I do not like the attack on out wonderful town
It’s so funny to me that so many MAGATs, are not very smart. I am noticing that the title of the online magazine Todd Wood has created is spelled incorrectly. I would imagine he meant “sentinel” but he spelled it “centinal” which as far as I can see isn’t a word, isn’t a thing, whereas a sentinel is a guard who stands watch—which, in all his hubris and delusional thinking, he must imagine he’s doing.
The word “Centinal” in the title of a newspaper or pamphlet has been used since at least 1800. (www.wordaz.com/centinal.html) Todd Wood was using it correctly in this instance — patriotic propaganda (or at least what he considers “patriotic.”)
Thanks, Bobbie. I couldn’t find the word but I admit I didn’t look very far. Looking for the definition kept taking me to “sentinel”. I stand corrected, though I still stand by my remarks about MAGATs and hubris, and delusional thinking. But appreciate the correction.
Dan is 1,000.00% correct in reporting what Steve Bannon is reporting. We must be aware, alert and ready to speak up. While I no longer live in Westport, I still have friends in Westport and Fairfield County. I appreciate the strong values I grew up with and those character values are alive and well in my hometown. I am appalled at the different things I hear here that some of the people who I have called friends believe. I won’t state them publicly here. That would only give them more press but Dan is right to point out what has been spread to so many via Steve Bannon and Tod Wood. Keep up the good work Dan and Westport. We need you.
WTF????
Serious question… what was so offensive about the interview? The characterization of certain members of our community as Marxist? The suggestion that TEAM has been exceedingly influential? Please be very specific as it is not clear to me. If he had used more subdued language like “radical progressive” or “overly influential” would it be okay?
You’re joking, right? Do you know what a groomer is? “…large, obese women with their breasts flaunting, jumping up and down with their beards to 3rd graders…”
People hear what they want to, I guess.
The objection is the word “groomer” then which the right is using to characterize those who present inappropriate sexual content to young children? (As sexual predators do with children.) Is that the problem, the metaphor? The heavy set bearded woman was in fact part of a video shown to Westport elementary kids- the description is accurate.
Gosh, thanks for coming here to help us better understand. Your sincerity is obvious…….
Maybe the solution here is to use more subdued language? The left seems to be inflamed by words like Marxist and groomer. I don’t think the right appreciates being called crazy or nut. There is room for philosophical disagreement on how we present race and gender to our children, is there not? Let’s have those mature discussions and not demonize anyone who holds a different view.
Yes, because it’s not like the current right wing isn’t built on sophomoric insults and dog whistles towards minorities, Jews, gays and any other outsider group….
The cats out of the bag on demonization.
As far as being labeled as “nuts,” wear it.
If you still support a party that continues to undermine our Democratic system, supports a man who stole classified information, committed election fraud, committed tax fraud, committed insurance fraud, and now wants to defund the FBI, than you deserve the label “nuts” and more.
Jocelyn, Here is what is transpiring- Among Republicans is Florida Republican congressional candidate, Anthony Sabatini, who in a TV interview, deemed the FBI “totally useless.” He also wants FBI agents to be arrested. Congressman Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) tweeted, “We must destroy the FBI. If there are those willing to destroy the FBI, and “ Hang Mike Pence, as the chanting said, it wouldn’t be too ridiculous to think some whacko would come to Westport to drive his vehicle into a crowd to kill Westport communists! Westport has a target on its back!
Westport better hope that some nut doesn’t drive to Westport and drive his pickup truck into a crowd of people, in downtown Westport, to teach you Communists a lesson! Westport now has a big target on its back!
Marxist or groomer are not backed up by facts
Crazy and nuts are.. mildly put. (Jan 6/ election deniers etc)
Jocelyn, you don’t show up on any local databases, you don’t own property in Westport, nor is there a motor vehicle in Westport under your name. How do you know so much about Westport and which school showed that video?
Jack, that’s kinda creepy….just sayin’.
Public knowledge.. plus I’m interested what school this supposedly happened in.
I want to see the video too she said was shown. Let’s bring it out in the open!
It is so sad that there are so many who have lost the ability to understand what they are seeing with their own eyes. Starting just at January 6- called by DJT a love fest! A Big Lie. The election was stolen- “Just find me 12,000 votes!” Who was lying!!
And now the lies about our town- to our faces. Don’t believe what you see our kids accomplishing or the effect of input from TEAM Westport, believe what a pair of deniers and liars are saying on a grifting radio show selling hats and t shirts!
If some people calling themselves Republicans are so fixated on being Trump Republicans existing in an alternate reality and think abolishing the FBI, dissolving TEAM Westport, giving our kids that old time unquestioning religion in school and on the playing fields will solve all of life’s problems like COVID, climate change, women’s right to safe abortion or Putin’s threat to the world- they are not in touch with the actual reality the Town of Westport exists in!!
They exist in a Twilight Zone that Rod Serling might have imagined when he lived in Westport.
I just tried to verify “Jocelyn Crandall”s email above. There is no such person. It bounced back. I could not confirm her identity, but I am leaving her comments up because so many people responded to them.
Dan, Please leave her comments up! I want everyone to be able to read every comment! There was no video shown to grammar school children with a woman’s breasts showing with her hairy beard or mustache as she jumped up and down! If I’m wrong, give the video to Dan so he can post it. But don’t hold your breath. This came from Bannon and the one comment that supported Bannon was a phony one.
Just two idiots trying to be relevant. To a whole group of other idiots. Please keep them far far away from Connecticut!
Painting all Republicans with the same brush does nothing towards unifying our Country.
Well, the GOP seems pretty united around the Big Lie. Not sure what it stands for aside from lies and deception and provoking a civil war
And the Westport Republican Town Committee DID contribute to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee in 2020.
It makes it difficult to say that this is not what Westport Republicans support when it is clearly… what they support with the RTC’s money.
Jack Backiel: There is indeed a bearded, mustachioed, dancing woman, who has large breasts, who appears in a video shown to Saugatuck Elementary School students in June. (The video depicts a scene from the movie “The Greatest Showman.”)
http://www.wevideo.com/view/2732021995
I found this information through a Google search, where I discovered a letter written to the Westport Board of Education by a Westport parent:
https://creativedestructionmedia.com/investigations/2022/06/20/westport-ct-parent-shocked-at-child-grooming-happening-in-westport-schools/
Please know that I have no connection whatsoever to the parent who wrote the letter to the BOE.
Elaine Marino
I stand corrected. There is a video. Now, here’s a story. In January 2019, we were staying in a motel in “Lauderdale by the Sea”Florida. I went to a Publix grocery store on North Ocean Dr. in “Lauderdale By the Sea” 33308. I bought some items and when we were checking out, the young woman who was bagging our groceries had a beard. I started talking to her and found out she came from an Arab country. As I left, I commented on how pretty she was, and she smiled at me. The woman who made the comment supporting Bannon didn’t have the guts to give her real name. She hid behind a phony name. So my final comment states there was a video. I also stand by my first comment about the rocks on Burying Hill beach. Bannon is a liar.
The song in question is “This Is Me,” from the movie “The Greatest Showman” (about the life of circus manager and former Bridgeport mayor) P.T. Barnum). It was written by Staples graduate Justin Paul. It won a Golden Globe award.
Thanks for providing the link to the SES video. What a wonderful way to start the school day. Proud to be an SES alum and to have sent my kids there.
Just a guess that the video from the PG-rated “The Greatest Showman” was “This is Me,” where the side show personnel sing a song about being accepted as they are instead of being gawked and sneered at as freaks. There is indeed a bearded lady with big boobs (any flaunting is left to one’s personal taste IMO), but I see the number as a self-affirmation that isn’t transgender specific. Any student who feels marginalized by their classmates or society – because of a stutter, because they wear different clothes, because for whatever reason they just don’t fit in — might feel empowered by this song and find some strength in it. Which may not be a bad thing, in my opinion.
Jack. Keep to the story. Let’s hear all the liberals try to twist the article that was just put up. What a disgrace to Show that video to kindergarten kids.
Your party wants the parents to be silenced and teach all this crap. Not going to happen.
Parents need to stand up to the school boards and be advocates for the children. This current administration and the DOJ wants to call the parents that stand up terrorist at the meetings.
So Jack, tell me about the video you said doesn’t exist.
Just as a side note, the song — which has inspired people of all ages worldwide — was written by Staples grad Justin Paul. It won a Golden Globe award.
Jack A., Read my 8:45 comment. Also, I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I’m an Independent. Bannon will be getting sentenced to spend some jail time, in a month or so. He’s a pathological liar. I’m not sure the best way to teach kids tolerance, but in my years in public school in Westport, overweight kids and effeminate boys were brutally teased. When I taught school, one kid was teased so much that he committed suicide. So, in conclusion, kids need to be taught tolerance. Jack, when you were in grade school, did you have any low self esteem? Were you self conscious about yourself? Did you have doubts about yourself? Did you know anyone like that, Jack A.? Were you ever teased? Ever get called a name that begins with the letter “G” due to your ethnicity?
1. Our First Selectwomen, once again, find themselves being asked to stand up to their party, which must be very tiring but that’s what Republicans need to do if they are going to keep aligning themselves with these ridiculous people.
2. Why is it that the far right always so pervy? Their fantasies – in this case about the grotesque videos shown to children in school – make me wonder why they are allowed near children at all, ever.
To be clear, it is Bannon’s depiction of the video that is so disturbing and grotesque. The actual video is not disturbing in the least, and in fact anyone familiar with the movie and with Justin’s beautiful song knows it’s an artistic interpretation about standing up to intolerance. Pretty much the opposite of the “communism” accusations aimed at TEAM Westport or our schools.
Jack A, When you teach for three decades, almost every day you see this! I know you were teased, right? Teachers are just trying to mitigate it as much as possible!
I meant Jeff A. and not Jack A.
Absolutely disgraceful. Someone commented about Alycone and Riano who had threatened a lawsuit previously about TEAM. There is most definitely a connection to this as Riano is the “editor” of this “news site” the centinel.
The video of the greatest showman also wasn’t shown to Kindergartners. As Riano (who was ALSO the parent who wrote to the board that Elaine referenced) it was shown to 3rd graders.
Lauren MacNeill: The letter sent by Camilo Riano to the Board of Education mentions that some third graders commented on the video. The letter does not say that the video was shown only to third graders. The “SES Principal’s Message” for June 13, 2022, which contains the clip from the movie “The Last Showman,” begins with (teacher) Eric Lawrence saying, “Good Morning, Saugatuck!” Mr. Lawrence then introduces the students from “Miss Howland’s Class” to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Miss Howland is a Kindergarten teacher at SES. The next segment of the video features SES Principal Beth Messler, whom I know personally from Long Lots School and for whom I have the utmost respect.
My feeling is that the SES Principal’s Message is a daily message shown to all students at SES but I could be wrong. That said, I find it improbable that the SES Principal’s Message is shown only to certain students at SES.
When I taught for 30+ years, I never gave out an F for a final grade for the year, to any student. An F like that meant I failed. I failed to motivate and teach. And my feeling was building a person’s self esteem was as important, or even more important, than subject matter. I never taught lower grades like Kindergarten or Third grade, but I’m 75 and still certified in three areas, in the state of Connecticut, until June 30, 2024. Building self esteem in young people is what’s critical! Everyone reading this post had their self doubts in middle school or high school. Low self esteem, for a kid, is a cancer that eats away at him or her. (Jeff, remember kids having zits on their face and they felt like they were ugly, and tried to cover them up because they were so self conscious about their looks?) To all those reading this, remember trying to ‘fit in’ when you were in high school? Maybe you didn’t feel cool like the other kids? Maybe you had some low self esteem?
Dan – a decision to deny people like Steve Bannon and Todd Wood air time and coverage is not the same as doing nothing. This is a false equivalency. We can be advocates for a better community, vote, support causes that we care about, respect law enforcement, raise our children with the right values, respect the rule of law and still choose to ignore people like Steve Bannon and Todd Wood every time they crawl out from under the rocks they live under. The best remedy for grifters and false patriots like them is irrelevance.
Thanks, Tom, but I respectfully disagree. I think people can become complacent, and not feel the need to advocate, support, respect, etc. — or vote. “It can’t happen here,” they’ll think if they don’t realize it already is.
I totally understand your point. I agreed with it a couple of years ago. I no longer do.
In response…
https://connecticutcentinal.com/westports-dan-woog-gives-the-connecticut-centinal-free-publicity-thanks-dan/
Wood writes: “ We are two thirds of the nation.” Perhaps 2/3’s of his nation, which may. be 1/3 of our nation, which —mathematically — equals 22%. Certainly not two thirds but regardless, still too high for a democracy.
Google “opensecrets.org” and “advanced search” and plug in a few variables and you can see some of the esteemed Westporters who donate to Trump, McConnell, Gaetz, Scalise, Nunes, McCarthy, Rubio, Paul, and the other little sunbeams of truth and the American way. I avoid their businesses and projects. More people should know about the haters who walk among us.
I did not see the Bannon interview 🤮but did read the script that was provided. This is how it starts, by infiltrating wonderful todns like ours which are open minded and welcoming (although not perfect ).
The clips ftom SES are above reproach/ the woman who spoke about celebrating and reminding the children that there is much variety among our families and that we should respect all as we would like to bd respected ( Do unto others..)
Bannon snd his ilk know very well that their accusations of Marxism/communism are untrue. Countries under those philosophies do not celebrate Gay Pride. Being is punishable by law.Read up! This is just a ploy/ a trigger to turn neighbors against neighbors ( like Texas with abortion now).
Do not be complacent- free speech is fine except when it is a lie.
We must fight the bannons, Giulianis and trumps as well ss thise who swear fealty to them- it is a cancer.
The Westport school system is a fabulous example of what an open minded, science based education should be. Our teachers and administrators deserve tons of credit and gratitude.
Elaine, It was pretty hard to follow letter to BoE and I feel badly our hard working BoE members have to spend their time on the nonsense. But I am very familiar with the SES morning news. I was part of the team that nominated Mr. Lawrence for teacher of the year 2 years ago – which he won – and I am so grateful to Ms. Messler, Mr. Lawrence and Ms. Howland for the 6 years that my son had at SES and what learned from all 3. As another commenter said, the video clip and our educators are above reproach and shame on those who imply otherwise.
I thought people posting comments had to use their real names- please reject those who do not.
They do. Occasionally one slips through. It’s been deleted.