Let’s “Ban” Some Books
10th April 2023
John Hinderaker at Power Line.
Lately, Democrats have tried to posture as free speech advocates by denouncing “bans” of various books. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz went on a tirade at a press conference, claiming that Florida–the Left’s bete noire these days–has “banned” various books like, for example, Of Mice and Men and Lord of the Flies. It turned out that Walz just made it up, as usual.
More broadly, the whole “book ban” controversy is stupid. No one is banning books. The issue, when it comes up, is which books, an infinitesimal number out of the millions that are available, should be selected for placement in school libraries, and thus recommended to our young people. And in fact, decisions made by public school librarians are often highly questionable.
As part of his attack on Florida, Governor Walz established a “lending library” in his office where people can drop off and borrow books. It was intended as a stunt, but Bill Walsh, Communications Director at Center of the American Experiment, took the governor’s offer seriously. He placed a number of books that are grossly inappropriate–featuring, for example, graphic depictions of gay sex–in the governor’s library. This short video is entertaining, but is also a sad reminder of the depravity to be found in many public schools.