On yesterday, Donald Trump assigned blame for Exxon leaving New York to Letitia James. Cursory examination would reveal that James was admitted to the bar in 1989. I watched all three network news programs last night and nary a mention was made of the idiotic accusation made by the deranged ex president. I mention that in the context of your piece, Margaret. We are in the midst of continuing attacks on information as illustrated by the lunacy of Florida’s campaign to program student learning. But those attacks are propped up by a mainstream media obsessed with false equivalence. Does anyone wish to venture a guess at what might have been the media response of Joe Biden had made that kind of mistake? Yet, when a certified lunatic like Trump throws his crap at the wall, it’s dismissed as merely another Trumpism. The banning of books is abhorrent and an affront to anyone truly concerned with education. But the book banners are finding an unwitting sidekick in the media too willing to accept and ignore the dementia of a presidential candidate.
Confounding is my response to all of this. Book banning - seems obvious that this is a free speech issue. What happened to "make up our own minds?" And do the "banners" really think that they will keep books and other media content away from young people (or any people for that matter)? Oh, it's just so disheartening to think that critical thinking brought about by alternate perspectives and experience is being taken away. THAT'S THE PROBLEM! The ridiculous reality that the "controllers" want to create is not only boring but it's FALSE. I do think most Americans get it and hopefully the sane can prevail. on the media front, I'm more upset that Kristen Welker, NBC and MEET THE PRESS allowed Elise Stefanie a platform to promote lies and did NOT challenge her...she won't certify a free and fair election when the 2020 election was the most secure in history? Oh no, Welker went right on to the next question... "say, would you serve as Trump's VP if her asked?" - Stefanik was just waiting for that opportunity. I wanted to scream. Exhausting, all of it. That said, I am desperate for democracy to prevail and believe most Americans do as well. Don't we all want to not have to pay so much attention to these needy politicians/government officials who use us as pawns in their power-plays? Come on... do your jobs. We never get to better ideas, strategies or innovations or because we are stuck in gobbledegook, and lies. 2024 needs to be a year where responsibility prevails.
Thanks for this, Margaret. Dictionaries and encyclopedias? Unbelievable. I'm hoping that PEN and friends are successful with pushing back. Movements to broadly ban books usually don't end well.
I'm glad to hear about Pen America's lawsuit. I am very surprised that publishers/corporations have not gotten l very involved in book challenges. It seems obvious that they would want to protect their library revenue, but most book-related vendors have stayed out of the fight. We need to protect the freedom to read. Call your local public library director and ask how you can help. Just showing up at a library or school board meeting, even without speaking, has had an affect.
Even if you don't use libraries, this effort by Christian extremists to turn public libraries and school libraries into Christian libraries affects all of us. Many libraries are not purchasing books that might get unwanted attention. If publishers sell less books, they will have less money to support new authors. Less new books is bad for all of us. Please support your libraries. Free people read freely.
I don't even know what to say about politicians who sell their souls to the devil for hopeful career advancement. Shame on all of them.
PEN and the teachers and librarians in Florida who are refusing to bow to DeSantis and his goons are doing heroes’ work. They’re not only fighting the state government censors but even some of their own colleagues: right-wing educators who are turning them in. I have hope that they will win, but they need help. And this is beginning to spread to other GOP-ruled states, such as my own state of North Carolina. To be honest, I veer wildly between hope and despair these days.
I go back and forth between hope and despair. Sometimes, when I see stuff like the Trump supporter in yesterday's NY Times holding a Bible and talking about Trump's strong "principles," I feel like curling up in a ball. Are we going to lose our democracy because a significant portion of the population is just incredibly dumb?
On yesterday, Donald Trump assigned blame for Exxon leaving New York to Letitia James. Cursory examination would reveal that James was admitted to the bar in 1989. I watched all three network news programs last night and nary a mention was made of the idiotic accusation made by the deranged ex president. I mention that in the context of your piece, Margaret. We are in the midst of continuing attacks on information as illustrated by the lunacy of Florida’s campaign to program student learning. But those attacks are propped up by a mainstream media obsessed with false equivalence. Does anyone wish to venture a guess at what might have been the media response of Joe Biden had made that kind of mistake? Yet, when a certified lunatic like Trump throws his crap at the wall, it’s dismissed as merely another Trumpism. The banning of books is abhorrent and an affront to anyone truly concerned with education. But the book banners are finding an unwitting sidekick in the media too willing to accept and ignore the dementia of a presidential candidate.
Consistency would demand that they ban the Bible as well. Plenty of sexual content there.
Confounding is my response to all of this. Book banning - seems obvious that this is a free speech issue. What happened to "make up our own minds?" And do the "banners" really think that they will keep books and other media content away from young people (or any people for that matter)? Oh, it's just so disheartening to think that critical thinking brought about by alternate perspectives and experience is being taken away. THAT'S THE PROBLEM! The ridiculous reality that the "controllers" want to create is not only boring but it's FALSE. I do think most Americans get it and hopefully the sane can prevail. on the media front, I'm more upset that Kristen Welker, NBC and MEET THE PRESS allowed Elise Stefanie a platform to promote lies and did NOT challenge her...she won't certify a free and fair election when the 2020 election was the most secure in history? Oh no, Welker went right on to the next question... "say, would you serve as Trump's VP if her asked?" - Stefanik was just waiting for that opportunity. I wanted to scream. Exhausting, all of it. That said, I am desperate for democracy to prevail and believe most Americans do as well. Don't we all want to not have to pay so much attention to these needy politicians/government officials who use us as pawns in their power-plays? Come on... do your jobs. We never get to better ideas, strategies or innovations or because we are stuck in gobbledegook, and lies. 2024 needs to be a year where responsibility prevails.
Thanks for this, Margaret. Dictionaries and encyclopedias? Unbelievable. I'm hoping that PEN and friends are successful with pushing back. Movements to broadly ban books usually don't end well.
I'm glad to hear about Pen America's lawsuit. I am very surprised that publishers/corporations have not gotten l very involved in book challenges. It seems obvious that they would want to protect their library revenue, but most book-related vendors have stayed out of the fight. We need to protect the freedom to read. Call your local public library director and ask how you can help. Just showing up at a library or school board meeting, even without speaking, has had an affect.
Even if you don't use libraries, this effort by Christian extremists to turn public libraries and school libraries into Christian libraries affects all of us. Many libraries are not purchasing books that might get unwanted attention. If publishers sell less books, they will have less money to support new authors. Less new books is bad for all of us. Please support your libraries. Free people read freely.
I don't even know what to say about politicians who sell their souls to the devil for hopeful career advancement. Shame on all of them.
Re: Your Guardian article on Elise Stefanik: Every time I see her lately I think to myself "this is what selling your soul looks like".
PEN and the teachers and librarians in Florida who are refusing to bow to DeSantis and his goons are doing heroes’ work. They’re not only fighting the state government censors but even some of their own colleagues: right-wing educators who are turning them in. I have hope that they will win, but they need help. And this is beginning to spread to other GOP-ruled states, such as my own state of North Carolina. To be honest, I veer wildly between hope and despair these days.
I go back and forth between hope and despair. Sometimes, when I see stuff like the Trump supporter in yesterday's NY Times holding a Bible and talking about Trump's strong "principles," I feel like curling up in a ball. Are we going to lose our democracy because a significant portion of the population is just incredibly dumb?