7. Teachers now quitting over Florida’s new anti-indoctrination bill (not really)

• NBC News is reporting that teachers are now leaving the profession in Florida after Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed a controversial bill forbidding teachers from teaching gender and sexual orientation to young children. The reporting is questionable at best, highlights complaints of teachers about parents raising issues in the past and includes quotes from teachers who think the law will allow bullying and teachers who already quit before it passed.
• Andy Blalock, a congressional candidate in Alabama’s fifth district and teacher, has criticized Disney’s stance on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and said that the company played into the “woke culture of the radical left.” Blalock, who is openly gay himself, said, “I know this firsthand. This debate is not about protecting a class of individuals. It is about what is appropriate to teach children. It is about freedom for parents’ rights in education. We don’t need to be sexualizing children at the kindergarten level. Disney is wrong to cave to the wokeness culture that is not helping children and instead negatively exploits the LGBT community.”

6. Biden isn’t doing enough to help inflation

• President Joe Biden’s economic “accomplishments” have been called “largely irrelevant” by Axios reporter Hans Nichols as inflation continues to rise. These comments came after Biden discussed his economic victories in a speech on Friday, where he specifically mentioned job creation.
• Biden noted, “Record job creation. Record unemployment declines. Record wage gains.” Nichols said, though, “There is one number they can’t really change right now and that is what the placard says at the local gas station and that number is high and that’s a daily jobs report that voters, that Americans, consumers see every day – and there is nothing the White House can do about it other than bring down the price of gasoline.”

5. Russian brutality on display in Ukraine

• As the battle in Ukraine rages on with reports of Russia’s offensive possibly changing direction continuing, mass graves being found, Kyiv being abandoned by invading forces and peace talks ongoing, new images of dead civilians from the recently recaptured city of Bucha are making international headlines.
• Claims of Russian war crimes are everywhere after photos of bodies with bound hands, gunshots and claims of torture abound. More sanctions are being called for by European leaders, and there are calls for more robust intervention from Europe and the United States.

4. Shelby will vote against Supreme Court nominee

• As the vote to confirm U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson gets closer, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) has announced that he will not vote to confirm her nomination. Shelby said that he met with Jackson, where they spoke about “her judicial philosophy, position on court-packing, and prior sentencing record as a judge.”
• Shelby outlined, “While I enjoyed meeting Judge Jackson, her answers did not sufficiently alleviate my concerns. As such, I am unable to support her nomination to the Supreme Court.” U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has announced that he will vote against confirming Judge Jackson, while U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) has said she will vote to confirm her.

3. Education Trust Fund budget gets approved in Senate

• The $8.26 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget has been approved by the Alabama Senate. It was sponsored by the chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur).
• Orr advised, “This ETF budget allows for those critical investments to be made and enables Alabama to be competitive with neighboring states in the recruiting process, as well as growing and expanding in other areas to help improve education overall.”

2. Tim James’ new TV ad focuses on drag show at school

• Gubernatorial candidate Tim James has released a new campaign ad where he focuses on a charter school in Alabama, the Magic City Acceptance Academy, that held a drag queen show in Birmingham.
• In the ad, James says of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, “Come on. That’s a man in a woman’s bathing suit.” Then the ad transitions to focusing on the school, where James adds, “And now, right here in Alabama, millions of your tax dollars are paying for the first transgender public school in the south. Enough of this foolishness. I’m Tim James. Male and female – He created them. It’s time to fight back.”

1. Mike Durant previously spoke in favor of gun control

• U.S. Senate candidate Mike Durant previously advocated for disarming citizens in a 2011 speech that has recently resurfaced. The speech was given at the U.S. Army War College, where Durant said, “From a military perspective, the first thing that needs to be done is disarm the population.”
• Durant went on to say, “[I]f we could do that in some of our U.S. cities, that would be a pretty good step toward law and order…But for some reason, we sort of hand-wave all that kind of stuff and go head and hand all those missions down to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. And that’s what happens here.”