Right-Wing Political Dramaturgia

The constant spectacle of reactionary far-right politics

Created by author on Canva

Here they go again

Earlier this week Wally Daudrich, a candidate for leadership of the Progressive Conservative (PC) party of Manitoba, (falsely) claimed there’s “pornography in schools” in our province.

A very small number of parents (“local moms”), who I would argue are being encouraged and manipulated by certain political actors behind the scenes, have apparently been contacting their MLAs with concerns about the content of books in school libraries.

In particular, a certain local conspiracy theorist — one who claims climate science is climate “alarmism”, that bodies of children found on the grounds of former residential schools are “hoaxes”, and actually believes in “chemtrails” — is cherry-picking the most provocative content she can find to convince parents their children are being exposed to “pornographic books” in public schools.

(TW — I don’t advise viewing her content, but if you do, be warned it is hateful, rich with disinformation and bigotry, and will possibly incite rage at the ignorance and harmful ridiculousness that unfortunately exists in our world. Also, giving her attention is like feeding the trolls. Would not recommend.)

During the debate, Daudrich made outrageous claims about books containing pedophelia, incest, and beastiality. He confidently stated he had “seen the books” to which he referred, but could not name their titles, nor specify which school libraries they were from.

Another parent approached a CBC reporter after the debate, showing them a copy of Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationship, and Being a Human, a graphic novel with sketches that include depictions of genitals, intercourse and masturbation. Turns out the book was taken from a South Central Regional Library, which has five branches in southern Manitoba but none in any schools.

---

This is so predictable

These are very worn tactics, overused by politically-motivated actors (mostly from the far-right). They’re so formulaic, there are literally names for these actions, and blueprints for how they are generally employed to further one’s political agenda.