Stochastic Terrorism 1, Oklahoma 0
Chaya Raichik belongs in prison, not seeking out "porn" or "woke indoctrination" in Oklahoma...and if Ryan Walters is a Christian, I'm Doris Day
Stop telling everyone that I’m an asshole. I love to see the look on their faces when they find out for themselves.
Me, at some point in the 20th century
He wasn’t the slightest bit rattled. The sociopath always has a story.
Mary Jo Buttafuoco, Getting it Through My Thick Skull: Why I Stayed, What I Learned, and What Millions of People Involved With Sociopaths Need to Know
When I was looking for ways to describe Chaya Raichik of the infamous Libs of TikTok hate site, I was drawn to a phrase used in a comment on one of my previous posts by one of my readers, Andrew Ricks, Jr. He beautifully (and accurately) described Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) as “a skid mark on the fabric of society.”
I was so enamored of that description that I immediately co-opted it, though I’m not about to do so without properly crediting my source. Describing Chaya Raichik as “a skidmark on the fabric of society” might be too kind by a fair piece, but it will have to do for now. There’s nothing socially redeeming or remotely positive about Ms. Raichik. She’s human garbage in every sense of the word…and I don’t use that description lightly. While I usually endeavor to find at least something good in people I profile, there’s nothing good about Ms. Raichik, who is in every sense “a skidmark on the fabric of society.”
Simply put, Ms. Raichik is a worthless piece of human trash who exists primarily to inflict pain and suffering upon those she deems to be “less than.” She brooks no dissent and cares nothing for the reality that her point of view is not the ultimate truth.
If people get hurt because of her often unfounded accusations…well, that’s what happens when they go “woke.” Go “woke,” get broke.
Raichik is a former Brooklyn real estate agent who grew up in Los Angeles. She created the @LibsofTikTok handle on Twitter, now X, in April 2021. "Libs of TikTok" has over 2.8 million followers and reposts TikTok videos of users sharing liberal views while adding derisive conservative commentary.
The account has become a creator of, and a force multiplier for, right-wing outrage, particularly on LGBTQ+ issues. On X, it has been amplified by the platform’s owner Elon Musk, and a hive of conservative politicians, media personalities and far-right online influencers, including former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson and podcaster Joe Rogan.
The people whom Ms. Raichik defines as “less than” include the LGBTQ+ community and anyone she perceives as pushing a “woke agenda,” whatever that might mean on a particular day.
And she’s not above using tactics that may encourage, and even glorify, violence.
Last year, a "Libs of TikTok" post drew attention to a video posted by an elementary school librarian in Tulsa.
In the 16-second video, a librarian enters a classroom with books in her hand and laughs along in a lip sync of a Ludacris song. The caption on the video says, “POV: Teachers in your state are dropping like flies but you are still just not quite finished pushing your woke agenda.”
The video had been edited from her original TikTok to include the teacher's name and school at the end.
After the post was made, the Ellen Ochoa Elementary School in Tulsa received a bomb threat on Aug. 22. That day Ryan Walters had also retweeted the "Libs of TikTok" post.
The threat appeared to have been made in retaliation for a librarian's public post on TikTok.
Of course, her posts often lack evidence supporting her accusations or what she may be inferring. But evidence isn't always necessary when you believe the means justify the ends.
Another "Libs of TikTok" post identified a Western Heights Public Schools principal as a drag performer and accused various Oklahoma school districts of having “pornographic” books in their libraries.
This sort of irresponsibility can inspire the already unbalanced to take action. That it may not necessarily be correct is of no particular concern to Ms. Raichik, who appears to be a sociopath of the first order. She doesn’t care what damage her words may cause others.
Ms. Raichik isn’t a champion of whatever it is she thinks she’s defending. She’s pushing hatred, homophobia, and transphobia as if there are no consequences. At some point, someone will be seriously hurt or killed because of one of her posts or videos…and she’ll celebrate that as a victory.
It should be noted that Ms. Raichik, an Orthodox Jew, is herself a member of a marginalized group. That she sees nothing wrong with demonizing another marginalized group in such a horrific and inhuman fashion is appalling.
Almost 100 years ago, an unspeakable evil marginalized European Jewry, resulting in a “Final Solution” that murdered 6,000,000 Jews. Chaiya Raichik seems disconnected from the history of her own people- something not surprising for a sociopath (“a person consistently exhibiting antisocial, impulsive, manipulative, and sometimes aggressive behavior”).
Welcome or dark, the Orthodox connection between faith and right-wing politics is a subject worth exploring. And that is exactly how my colleagues at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency treated the information that “Libs of TikTok” was run by an activist who identified herself as Orthodox. In a thoughtful article, Ron Kampeas reported on politics in the Orthodox community and discussed whether Raichik is representative or an outlier. Putting Raichik’s religious background in that context gave me, and I hope the article’s readers, a window into how to understand the present political moment and the roles all sorts of Jews are playing.
One could also note that Steven Miller, an ultra-Far-Right adviser to Donald Trump, is a Jew who has opposed immigration of any sort. In Ms. Raichik’s case, though, her being a homophobe and transphobe has more to do with her being a raging asshole. I’m not sure that can be laid to her heritage; it’s more about her being a miserable example of humanity.
So what happens next? Oklahoma Education Superintendent and Supreme Culture Warrior Ryan Walters appoints Chaya Raichik to be a member of the Sooner State’s Library Media Advisory Committee. Right…she’ll be protecting “Oklahoma kids from porn in schools and woke indoctrination.”
Like porn in schools is a YUUUGE problem, yeah? And I seriously doubt either Mr. Walters or Ms. Raichik could define “woke indoctrination” if you held their firstborn over a raging campfire.
Raichik has no background in education and worked as a real estate agent before her rise to prominence online. Libs of TikTok — which has 2.5 million followers on X alone — serves to direct harassment at teachers, doctors, hospitals, and other individuals who support the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and the need for comprehensive education on issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Libs of TikTok is banned from TikTok itself and in the past has been temporarily suspended from Instagram and Facebook.
Libs of TikTok primarily operates by singling out accounts or institutions deemed promoters of “woke,” or inclusive ideology, often reposting videos that have been edited or stripped of context. Despite Raichik’s claims that she simply reposts content that’s already available online to “expose” the “crazies,” threats, hate mail, and intense vitriol against those featured on the account tend to follow shortly after. Raichik’s activity has been linked to bomb threats against schools and hospitals, and intimidation campaigns against those featured in her content. Raichik sees this as a point of pride. After USA Today published an article on a report chronicling Libs of TikTok’s impact, Raichik gloated that she’d made the front page of the paper. Raichik currently uses a photo of herself holding up the paper as the profile picture on her personal X (formerly Twitter) account.
So Ms. Raichik is proud of being a stochastic terrorist? Wow…Mama must be fairly beaming with pride, no? I wonder how they’re going to feel when someone is injured or killed after one of Ms. Raichik’s posts…because it WILL happen. Maybe not today, next week, or next month, but at some point, someone will die or be grievously injured because of her hateful rhetoric.
Being linked to bomb threats is nothing to be proud of. What happens when one of those “threats” crosses that line and detonates, taking lives and limbs with it? Will Ms. Raichik be held responsible for lighting the fire that started the process in motion? Or will she insist that she can’t be held accountable for the actions of those she doesn’t know?
As for Ryan Walters, his claims to being a “Christian” are as tenuous as my claims to being a Premier League goalkeeper. He wouldn’t know how to lead a Christ-like life if someone handed him a Bible and the Prince of Peace himself.
Ryan Walters has too often conflated his Right-wing extremism with his “Christian faith.” The truth is that he can have one or the other, but he can’t credibly plant his flag in both. Attempting to claim the mantle of Christianity and Right-wing extremism is nothing more than Christofascist hypocrisy.
Walters has been working overtime to introduce the influence of extremist right-wing ideologues in Oklahoma’s education system. In September, the superintendent announced that the state had agreed to form a “partnership” with the right-wing media organization PragerU — without subjecting the materials to a state curriculum review. Walters is also overseeing efforts to remove what he calls “woke” ideology from the state’s school libraries, and has accused the American Library Association of supporting the exposure of young children to pornography. Walter’s crusade often conflates “pornography” with literature that references LGBTQ+ individuals….
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson (D-85) wrote that Raichik’s appointment “is not a surprise, but disheartening and dangerous.”
“As each day passes, [Superintendent Walters] becomes more of a threat to the safety of our public school administrators, teachers, students, and families – appointing the person who was behind directing hate and threats to Tulsa Public Schools last year proves my point,” she added. “As the Republican supermajority has dismissed House Democrats’ call for an impeachment inquiry, Ryan Walters has yet to be held accountable and continues to be emboldened to destroy our public schools. What will enough be enough?”
It’s unclear why Mr. Walters appointed Ms. Walters to the Library Media Advisory Committee. Ms. Raichik has never worked in a school or library and doesn’t even live in Oklahoma. Perhaps it’s her unique brand of hatred, homophobia, and transphobia that brought her to the attention of Mr. Walters.
Or perhaps it’s just that Ryan Walters is so extreme that directing hatred and threats at marginalized communities comports with his “Christian faith.”
[T]hat may be her entire appeal to Walters, who like Raichik is far more interested in shit-stirring than in actual education. He called the state’s teachers’ union “a terrorist organization,” believed the dumb myth that children who “identify as cats” are pooping in litterboxes in schools, and suggested that the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 be taught without referring to “skin color,” because why make a big deal out of race? Heck, Walters even retweeted Raichik’s edited video of the teacher in Tulsa, gravely warning:
Democrats say it doesn’t exist.
The liberal media denies the issue.
Even some Republicans hide from it.
Woke ideology is real and I am here to stop it.
The teacher, for the record, had posted a silly TikTok video claiming she was ‘pushing a woke agenda,” but noted in the caption, “My radical liberal agenda is teaching kids to love books and be kind.” No, Raichik didn’t include that, why would she? At least Walters later condemned the bomb threats.
In a Facebook press release announcing the appointment, Walters explained that Raichik is “on the front lines showing the world exactly what the radical left is all about —lowering standards, porn in schools, and pushing woke indoctrination on our kids,” and that’s apparently why she’ll be perfect in the job. “Her unique perspective is invaluable as part of my plan to make Oklahoma schools safer for kids and friendly to parents," he added.
When your “radical liberal agenda is teaching kids to love books and be kind,” that’s precisely the sort of thing Chaya Raichik is campaigning against. WTF? Why? What is so radical about teaching children to love books and to be kind? Is the expectation that children are to be taught that the world belongs to White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexuals (odd for someone who’s Jewish)? And that those who don’t belong to that “club” are to be harassed, beaten (or worse) until they accept their place?
Porn in schools? Tell me, what is “pornography?” And where, precisely, is it to be found in public schools? Is Pornhub now part of the curriculum? I’d defy anyone, especially Ryan Walters and Chaya Raichik, to produce a definition of “pornography” that fits the definition of the “crime” they claim is being committed. Not only is there no fire, there’s no smoke to be found.
And “pushing woke indoctrination on our kids?” What could that be but teaching children that the world isn’t the property and playground of White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexuals? Or that being kind and compassionate are good qualities?
Chaya Raichik and Ryan Walters are crying “FIRE!!” in a crowded theater. They’re creating fear of a non-existent problem. Thanks to rabble-rousers like them, parents are frothing at the mouth over non-existent issues in our public schools.
We’re honestly hoping it’s nothing but a publicity stunt that won’t have any actual influence on Oklahoma schools. But maybe it’s a real job, and maybe Raichik really will be empowered to make decisions about what can and can’t be shelved in Oklahoma school libraries, which ought to terrify any parent who isn’t already a big fan of censorship.
NBC News notes that when it requested comment on the appointment from the Libs of TikTok account, it replied with
a compilation of drawings seemingly from young adult novels that depict sexual encounters and asked: “Do you think this is appropriate for kids in school?”
Raichik later called the NBC News story “libelous,” posted screenshots of at least part of reporter Matt Lavietes’s texts, and complained that Lavietes “didn’t include my full response with the image for this libelous piece because these books are too inappropriate to show his readers.” You can go look if you wanna, it’s the usual mix of out-of-context images from Gender Queer, This Book is Gay, a graphic novel titled Flamer, and the sex ed book Let’s Talk About it, none of which are books for young children.
Yeah, it's always nice to have the voice of reason on board, eh? Raichik doesn’t even live in Oklahoma and, until Walters called her, probably couldn’t have found the Petroleum Stench State if you gifted her a gigolo from Tulsa.
If Ryan Walters was looking for someone whose special skill is ferreting out those whose “radical liberal agenda is teaching kids to love books and be kind,” Chaya Raichik is the sociopath he’s looking for. With a hatred of “porn” and “woke indoctrination” (and the inability to clearly define either) and a disdain for compassion and kindness, Raichik is just the person to make Oklahoma schools “safer for kids and friendly to parents.”
God forbid that Oklahoma’s children should learn to be kind and compassionate.
Of course, when you consider that Walters “believed the dumb myth that children who “identify as cats” are pooping in litterboxes in schools,” appointing Chaya Raichik to Nazify Oklahoma schools kinda makes sense.
It’s PRECISELY what Jesus would do, no?
Well…no.
Then again, what else could you expect from someone who believed that Oklahoma school kids are pooping in litter boxes? It also explains why he’s not intelligent enough to define “porn” or “woke indoctrination”…but he knows them when he sees them.
Involving Chaya Raichik in that lunacy should terrify every lucid American.
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