Last week a private club having a rich history presented Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis with its highest honor, and the left went crazy.
The Union League of Philadelphia was founded in 1862 : as a patriotic society to support the Union and the policies of President Abraham Lincoln, according to its website.
Its Gold Medal is the greatest honor it can bestow on anyone.
In recent years the organization presented its Gold Medal to former-Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.
But the protesters who gathered to denounce the award to DeSantis neither understand recent decisions the Florida governor made, nor the fact that members of a private organization can honor anyone they choose — the public has no say.
The main bone of contention was DeSantis’ recent decision to reject the College Board’s pilot Advanced Placement African-American Studies (APAAS) course for Florida students.
Not only did that prompt claims that he wouldn’t permit the teaching of Black history in Florida classrooms, but it also brought the promise of a lawsuit against DeSantis by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.
"We’re here to give notice to Gov. DeSantis that if he does not negotiate with the College Board, to allow AP African American studies to be taught in the classrooms across the state of Florida, that these three young people will be the lead plaintiffs in a historic lawsuit," Crump said, referring to the students fathered around him.
And Philadelphians showed up to protest outside the award ceremony.
"The City of Sisterly Love/Brotherly Affection rejects this barely disguised KLAN member, Ron DeSantis," one demonstrator complained.
"Shame on Union League leadership for being OK w/erasing the lives/experiences of Black Americans who are an integral part of our national history. Philly showed up to say #Shame."
But despite their complaints, the Florida Stop WOKE Act, which DeSantis signed into law, actually mandates the study of Black history, including slavery, the Jim Crow era, 1960s civil rights legislation, segregation, discrimination and more.
But the APAAS goes far beyond history, and calls for defunding police, abolishing cash bail, and even ending all pretrial detention. It also promotes Critical Race Theory (CRT), which claims that all whites are born as oppressors, and minorities are born oppressed.
And DeSantis revealed that it goes beyond race by including sections having no relevance to black history.
"This [African American Studies] course on black history — What’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory," he said. "Now who would say an important part of black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids."
Stanley Kurtz, a k-12 education specialist and an Ethics and Public Policy Center senior fellow, concluded that the Florida governor had little choice but to block the course.
"Indoctrination in socialism and CRT have no place in Florida schools," he said.
"Both are rightly prohibited by law and policy."
Furthermore, there could be few public figures who deserve the honor more than DeSantis, standing, as he does, for freedom, as the governor himself noted.
"Honored to receive the Gold Medal from The Union League of Philadelphia," DeSantis tweeted.
"The League was founded in 1862 to preserve & advance freedom. In Florida, we are guided by the same enduring American principles that the League has strived to preserve."
And he’s proven it repeatedly, with anti-lockdown, anti-mask and vaccine mandates, and pro-Second Amendment and anti-woke administration policies.
But even discounting this, the Union League of Philadelphia is a private organization, and as such they can honor anyone they choose and the public has no say.
Ironically, when social media platforms blocked users and censored legitimate news stories, the left said they had every right to do so — they were private companies acting on their own.
That was before we learned that they were actually acting under the direction of federal agencies — especially the FBI.
Now that a private club has honored someone they don’t like, they want to call out the Marines.
Philadelphia-based Greg Price of X Strategies summed it up as follows:
"Multiple members of the Philly City Council attended the protest outside the Union League," he tweeted. "All the drugs and murder in Philly isn't that big of a concern. The real problem is a private club giving an award to Ron DeSantis."
Go figure.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.