Books and Kooks

I'm glad to hear that the Fond du Lac School District's Reconsideration Committee has rejected an attempt to remove a book from the middle school libraries. One parent complained about the content of of Sonya Sones' "One Of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies" (Sounds like a real uplifting story doesn't it?) and wanted it banned from the library.

As a staunch defender of the First Amendment, I'm always turned off by the effort to "ban" anything related to freedom of expression or thought. And so too apparently is Ms. Sones, who wrote to the district herself in defense of her book. "If Ms. Wentworth thinks the book is inappropriate for her own child, then by all means she should not allow her child to read it. But it would be unfair and inappropriate for her to try to force her own personal beliefs on every family with children attending Theisen Middle School, or any other school in the district."
As Clare Booth Luce so eloquently put it, 'Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there.'"

I should also point out that Fondy schools have a system in place whereby parents can block their child's access to any piece in the library they deem "objectionable". Those same parents should also know that their TV's have settings that will block shows of a questionable or mature nature if they don't want their kids watching such fare. I find it ironic in a society where kids are running around and annoying everyone in a restaurant or a store--we have so many parents who want to tell others how to raise their kids.

On a totally different matter.........

I hope no one tries to portray the guy who flew a plane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas as a member of the Tea Party Movement or as some "right winger who just got fed up with Government." Newly-elected Massachussetts Senator Scott Brown goes on Fox News yesterday afternoon and compares the suicide attack to the "frustration that people are feeling about how government operates". Senator Brown may have broken the record for shortest time in public office before making a stupid comment--previously held by several members of the Obama administration.

Joe Stack was a sick man with obviously no regard for human life. He in no way represents the "frustration" of most Americans with the way the government is operating--and his actions are in no way defensible. Like the Unabomer before him, he is nothing more than a domestic terrorist who can only blame others for problems he created for himself--and he in no way should be a hero to anyone.