Quotes. People love putting quotes out there on social media. But part of the context of quotes is not the quote borrower, but the quote originator. Like George Elliot. But I am getting ahead of myself. First we need to consider the borrower of a George Elliot quote, a politician running for DASD school board named Professor Christopher Bressi formerly known as Christopher Bre on Facebook.

Dear Professor Politician changed his profile before running for DASD school board. As in his old profile was made to poof disappear.

He talks about censorship, yet he censors comments he doesn’t like and yet he’s a politician running for public office? Quite amusing, yes?

Above is something the learned professor candidate posted yesterday. Ironic statements are highlighted. Why? Again….because before he launched his public page he deleted his old profile so that none of his old comments could come back to haunt him. So yeah funny ironic that he talks about hiding and trust, etc?

In this post are some screenshots his old profile, Christopher Bre. See how he talks about censoring in the one, which is also ironic given that he picks and chooses the comments he allows to post on his public politician page, right? And why is it politicians think that they can censor and ban although case law now dictates otherwise? Have they met Montgomery County’s Joe Gale?

Gosh and check out above for that old post, a classic, right? And again, what could be said about nouveau politicians who delete their old profile immediately prior to launching a campaign for school board? Below screenshot on the left was taken prior to him deleting his old profile. The one on the right is from today. His comment is gone because he deleted his old profile and made an entirely new one before he launched.

Now my personal favorite about this political candidate for Downingtown’s school board isn’t just new profiles and censorship. It’s who he quotes at the top of his “group” which to me is an amusing conversation in and of itself.

George Elliot was prolific writer of the Victorian era. Only George was not a George, that is to say he was a she. Mary Ann Evans. George Elliot was her pen name or pseudonym. She was a writer and poet. Creator of 7 famous novels : Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, The Radical, Middlemarch ,and Daniel Deronda. A lot of these books have been movies or PBS series.

She was born on the estate where her father worked as a miller. She was born Mary Ann Evans but wrote as George Elliot? Was that merely because in Victorian times it was unseemly for a woman to be a writer?

Before she became a writer, amusingly Evans/Elliot was the editor of what was then a radical left wing periodical called the Westminster Review, which existed to promote political and social reform. She was born the same year as Queen Victoria, so this was definitely not the era of women of independent thought.

Now here’s why I find it interesting other than this school board candidate is quoting a Victorian author who was a woman but masqueraded under a male pseudonym. Evans/Elliot also did not adhere to the rules of the day with acceptable relationships.

Evans/Elliot actually created scandal in the accepted mores of society. Her first relationship was with a guy who contributed to that Westminster Journal named George Lewes. Mr. Lewes was in an open marriage with a woman named Agnes Jervis. It was Victorian England so open marriages? Most definitely NOT a thing. Lewes was not divorced and could not get a divorce because although he and wifey on paper hadn’t lived together for years, he condoned her adultery after a sense because he allowed all of her illegitimate children to have his name and have their birth certificates all have his name, not the actual baby daddy’s name.

Following? Ok so messy non-divorce means that Evans/Elliot lived in sin with Lewes until he died.

Evans/Elliot was a fascinating writer. She called out anti-semitism before it was talked about for example. That was evident in her novel Daniel Deronda. But she was a writer who hid her true self from the public at large because society would not have approved or accepted her truth, would they?

So is this why this political candidate for school board seemingly hides who he is? Perhaps he is not even what his Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism fan base thinks he is?

Color me amused that this guy quotes George Elliot. Because if you follow the pretzel logic of these people, one would expect that her books would be on a banned list and her lifestyle and life would not fit their narrative.

Truthfully I am not sure George Elliot books are in public school libraries any longer. By the time I hit high school she was mostly taught in private schools, and if George Elliot were alive today you would probably find her writing about topics that are part of why banned book lists are popular with certain segments of society, right? So yup, a politician pandering to extremist groups who represent some of the worst theories of bigotry and hatred is quoting George Elliot, a dead Victorian author who was a woman named Mary Ann Evans who lived a lifestyle they would not approve of along with her belief system and writing subject matter.

Food for thought. Food for thought.