Florida public schools will be required to teach students from kindergarten through 12th grade about the history of communism under a bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday.

The lessons will be required to be “age appropriate and developmentally appropriate” for each grade and will be developed by the Florida Department of Education. Among the required instruction, which would begin in the 2026-27 school year: lessons on the history of communism in the United States, the “increasing threat of communism in the United States” and the “atrocities committed in foreign countries under the guidance of communism.”

Here, in the Bay of Pigs Museum on the 63rd anniversary of President John Kennedy’s reneging on promised air cover for Brigade 2506’s attempt to cast out Fidel Castro, is what it looked like.

Governor DeSantis Signs Legislation to Strengthen Florida's Curriculum to Teach the History and Dangers of Communism https://t.co/SE6VfYQTBQ

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 17, 2024

Your money quote from DeSantis: 

"The truth will set us free," DeSantis … said in a statement. "We will not allow our students to live in ignorance, nor be indoctrinated by Communist apologists in schools. To the contrary, we will ensure students in Florida are taught the truth about the evils and dangers of Communism.”

That’s a good thing … right? Maybe not, because here are examples of the ensuing meltdowns in Progressiveland.

So, there’s this.

I'm sorry. Is this the 1950s? Late-stage capitalism has been way more crushing in the modern era than this imaginary "communism" that DeSantis is fear mongering about. The fascism that DeSantis has inflicted on Floridians is also more relevant. At this point, Cuba is more free. https://t.co/qKm6FM6dLK

— X Is a Stupid Name (@KevStevenson21) April 17, 2024

And this.

We have blinking neon signs and alarm bells loudly ringing about what Florida has become. I've been sounding them for years now. No one is paying attention! Mandating teaching communism starting with kdg? Are you 'effin' kidding me? FLORIDA WAKE THE HELL UP & VOTE THEM ALL OUT! https://t.co/50AUXqI70Q

— Laura👠Marlin (@GiGicmka) April 17, 2024

And also, so very instructively, this from the owner/operator of an influential political website in Florida.

Teaching five-year-olds about communism is performative and unnecessary.

Beginning to think that the worst thing that ever happened to Florida school children is @CommMannyDiazJr losing his bid for @FLSenate President... https://t.co/C05BsG9Dof

— Peter Schorsch (@PeterSchorschFL) April 17, 2024

Yes, performative and unnecessary. No doubt, respecting that point of view about the tender sensibilities of 5-year-olds, the likes of Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, assorted Kims, and all those members of the Castro crime family withheld instruction on revolution, collectivism, loyalty to the party and ratting out mom and dad if they grumbled at the dinner table.

Wait. There’s also this from someone who apparently doesn’t understand moving companies are allowed to cross state lines.

We can't talk about gay people or systemic racism in Florida schools, but we want to teach kindergarten kids about the evils of communism. Embarrassed to live here.

At least 29 bills sent to DeSantis, including teaching history of communism in schoolshttps://t.co/iqyncYag5M

— ResisterRod☮️SUPPORT FL AMENDMENTS 3 & 4!!!!!! (@ResisterRod) April 17, 2024

Notably, we’re slightly more than halfway through a must-binge series of fireworks-worthy, or seizure-inducing (depending on your leanings), bill signings. You know where we stand. Where’s my trusty Aim N Flame? As for the other side, you read a few of these X posts and wonder whether Florida progressives will survive to sunset Friday with some fraction of functionality intact.

Listen. Stuff happens. Elections matter. But how you react is in your control. Meanwhile, center-righties who are paying close attention can see a theme emerging. And it’s exquisite.

Included in the legislation is the creation of the Institute for Freedom in the Americas, housed in Miami Dade College. The goal: “[P]reserve the ideals of a free society and promote democracy in the Americas.

Also potentially in the works: a museum on the history of communism. Recommendations from the Department of State and the Department of Education are due to the Legislature Dec. 1.

The bill signed into law today does not stand alone. Rather, it is part of a larger tapestry meant to remake the instructional infrastructure of Florida’s schools, which, in turn, should guide students toward a more Western/classical/Enlightenment frame of mind. This remaking of Florida’s schools, boldly channeling the ways in which Florida’s students pursue K-12 education, is precisely the elixir necessary to cure 60-odd years of liberal indoctrination brought about by the insidious influence of teachers unions acting out the designs of colleges of education.

DeSantis drew back the curtain on other significant education reforms in Jacksonville Tuesday, and it’s not a stretch to suggest they emerged from the same philosophy that endorses teaching anti-communism.

One provision speeds up the timetable for school districts to convert failing public schools into charters. Hand-in-hand with that is an eye-popping provision directing state educational officials to develop a “classical education teaching certificate.”

This is no small thing, notes Education Commissioner Manny Diaz.

“[Classical certification is] going to create more and more momentum for the classical movement in Florida,” … Diaz said. “This is going to allow us to enhance that teacher development and that teacher recruitment.”

Hand-in-hand-in-hand. With DeSantis’ determined mold-breaking an a willful GOP-dominated legislature, Florida is showing, well, you know.

Veo un par de capítulos de The Mandalorian y estoy todo el día "this is the way" como un pelotudo pic.twitter.com/0hSXk2lUfU

— Gabriel 🧉😌 (@Gabmeza77) April 15, 2024