Club America in Corvallis

by David Leslie, Corvallis

On December 9, the Corvallis School Board approved the establishment of a club at Corvallis High School called “Club America,” acknowledged to be part of a Turning Point USA effort across the country to indoctrinate youth into a far-right political philosophy.

Pete Joseph, the superintendent, was clear from the outset that, due to a 1984 law, they had no choice but to approve/accept this club. He did note that the Board was free to require and enforce their rules that governed the new club’s behavior.

So, to the Corvallis School Board: What if the club seeking establishment had been “Slavery USA” or “Human Trafficking for Fun and Profit”? What would the Board have done or decided?

Both Turning Point’s strategy and the Board’s inability to say no illustrate two important problems we face in our potentially seismic political debates these days:

First, we have learned how much of our democracy is shaped by and functions on norms and on loose consensus positions that fill the voids in strict originalist readings of the Constitution or a law. If Congress had to specify every tiny detail of their intentions in a law, likely none would ever get written. Unfortunately, President Trump, MAGA, and some in our own community have used that elasticity in our system to undermine, hobble, or reverse our decades-old way of life. They lose in the courts, both judicial and public opinion; and yet they persist. They believe the population is too uninterested or unwilling to resist. A mistake.

Secondly, as confirmed in the Supreme Court decision on Texas redistricting, there seems now to be a presumption of legislators “acting in good faith.” I am unaware of any such expectation in the Constitution. It, and the structures of our country, allow for change and have established processes for our society to debate issues and make decisions. They do not, however, assume good faith. In corollary writings, the founders worried about bad actors taking advantage of loosely written laws, hence the separation of powers into three branches of government, the checks and balances among the three branches, and the laborious processes to effect change. Features, not bugs.