So far this winter, Republicans have introduced multiple bills in the Iowa General Assembly designed to battle a fever dream of conservative buzzwords and bugaboos, most pumped with disinformation and exaggeration from politicians and pundits.
The latest, education bills House File 2330 and House File 2329, are smorgasbords of right-wing resentment and grievance. The original bills took on the largely mythical Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools, plus social emotional learning (SEL), a longstanding and successful technique that prepares children to learn. SEL is the latest target for conservative demonization. (The House, thankfully, dropped the CRT and SEL bans from the bill it passed on Feb. 28.)