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 @ISIDEWITHNewseducationUnited StatespoliticsScandalInvestigationOklahoma•••2mos ago

Oklahoma Education Chief Faces Porn Probe After Nude Images Appear During Board Meeting

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters is under intense scrutiny after multiple members of the State Board of Education reported seeing images of naked women displayed on a TV in his office during an executive session. The incident has sparked outrage among lawmakers and board members, with calls for Walters to turn over devices and fully cooperate with an official investigation. Walters, a prominent conservative figure known for his opposition to sexual content in schools, faces accusations of hypocrisy and potential misconduct. State leaders, including the House Speaker and Senate officials, are demanding transparency and a thorough third-party review. The controversy has ignited a political firestorm, raising questions about Walters' conduct and the standards expected of public officials.

4 Replies

 @SnipeDeanConservatism from Idaho  commented…2mos2MO

If Walters is truly innocent, he should have no problem being transparent and cooperating with the investigation—our leaders need to be held to the same moral standards they preach. This is exactly why conservatives have been calling for accountability and higher ethical standards in public office. If it turns out he was involved in any wrongdoing, he needs to face the consequences just like anyone else.

 @Tr3atyJackSocial Democracy from Illinois  commented…2mos2MO

Honestly, this whole situation just screams hypocrisy to me. Walters has made a career out of policing what students can see in schools, yet here he is at the center of a scandal involving explicit images in his own office. Public officials, especially those making big statements about “family values,” need to be held to high standards and investigated thoroughly when something like this happens. I’m glad there are calls for transparency and a third-party review—accountability shouldn’t just be a talking point, it should be real. Maybe this will be a wake-up call that we need less moral grandstanding and more focus on real issues facing Oklahoma’s education system.

 @5SK2JRXLiberalismfrom New York  commented…2mos2MO

It's honestly wild seeing a guy who’s made a name for himself policing what kids read now caught in a scandal like this—talk about hypocrisy. Maybe it's time Oklahoma focused less on manufactured outrage in schools and more on holding their own officials accountable.

 @SomberMusselProgressive from California  commented…2mos2MO

It’s honestly wild how the guy who’s been crusading against “porn in schools” is now caught up in a scandal like this—talk about total hypocrisy. This just shows why we need real transparency and accountability from officials, not culture war distractions.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…1yr1Y

Biden retaliated against a Dem who called for him to step aside

Rep. Hillary Scholten, a first-term Democrat who flipped a traditionally Republican seat in 2022, was booted last week from from a coordinated effort between the the Biden campaign and the state party to elect candidates up and down the ticket, according to four people with knowledge of the situation, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about private discussions.It happened soon after she called for Biden to step aside, those people said, which angered many Democrats behind the scenes. The Biden campaign was contacted by POLITICO Wednesday evening; Scholten was reinstated Thursday morning.“Rep. Scholten is welcome at the coordinated campaign and we look forward to campaigning with her this fall,” said Mia Ehrenberg, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, when asked about Scholten’s removal from the coordinated campaign.The initial decision to remove Scholten from the joint effort — which would have essentially cut her off from the combined field effort between the presidential, Senate and House races — came from the Michigan state party, according to two people familiar with the discussions. If she had remained excluded from the coordinated effort, it could’ve meant that when Democratic organizers were campaigning in her district, they would tout Biden and the party’s Senate nominee — but not Scholten.The Michigan Democratic Party declined to comment. But two people familiar with discussions said Scholten had specifically infuriated state leaders when she spoke out against Biden — on the same day that the president was already visiting Michigan — without informing them of her plans, according to the two people.“This decision was made in Wilmington, full stop,” a Democratic operative who’s worked on competitive House races said. “Punishing her isn’t just petty and vindictive, it’s self-defeating.”An official for the Biden campaign denied that: “This did not come from Wilmington.”

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…11mos11MO

Trump’s Doom vs. Harris’s Hope as America Decides Its Fate

Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris closed out their campaigns in the final hours before Election Day in starkly different moods: The former president, often appearing drained at arenas that were not filled, claimed that the country was on the brink of ruin, while the vice president promised a more united future as energized supporters chanted alongside her, “We’re not going back.”In stop after stop, the presidential rivals essentially offered up two competing versions of reality on Monday and into early Tuesday. Mr. Trump repeatedly raised the specter of unchecked immigration and the dangers of Democratic policies as he spoke to crowds in North Carolina and Pennsylvania before closing with a midnight rally in Michigan.With a comparatively more optimistic message, Ms. Harris crisscrossed Pennsylvania, which holds 19 electoral votes that could decide the race. Stopping in Scranton, Allentown and Pittsburgh before a nighttime rally in Philadelphia, Ms. Harris talked about bolstering the economy and restoring federal abortion rights. She asserted that Americans were “exhausted” and ready to move on from the politics of the past decade.About 30 miles to the southwest, Mr. Trump was in Reading, Pa., broadly portraying undocumented immigrants as mentally ill criminals and calling those accused of crimes “savages” and “animals.”Both leaned on Hispanic supporters as they tried to rally Latino voters. The pro-Harris rapper Fat Joe, who is Puerto Rican, practically shamed his fellow Latinos in Allentown as he asked, “Where’s your pride?” Mr. Trump, still facing fallout from his rally in New York at which a comedian called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” brought Roberto Clemente Jr., the son of the Puerto Rican baseball legend, to the stage at a rally in Pittsburgh.But Mr. Trump, reaching the end of a grueling marathon of a campaign that began in 2022, looked visibly weary, battling fatigue in front of listless crowds, though he was relatively more upbeat and energized in Michigan. Ms. Harris, still appearing fresh after a three-month sprint, appealed for unity and pressed the contrast to her rival without uttering his name.“The measure of a true leader is based not on who you beat down,” she said. “It is based on who you lift up.”Despite the sharply different tones, polls suggest the race remains tight, with the final New York Times/Siena College surveys showing the candidates tied or holding only narrow leads in all of the seven battleground states.

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