West Virginia House passes bill allowing prosecution of librarians
West Virginia House passes bill allowing prosecution of librarians
CHARLESTON — The West Virginia House of Delegates debated the merits of removing protections for public librarians and school librarians from criminal prosecution in the off chance a minor encounters books and content some consider to be obscene.
My wife is a public library administrator. We are in Indiana, not West Virginia, but I could absolutely see the same thing happening here and I'm terrified. Between this, me being Jewish and having a queer daughter, I feel like my whole family is so fucked.
My mother is a librarian past retirement age in Iowa. She's the director and has been running the library for probably around 30 years. The state is working on killing library boards and giving all control to local government. It would be absolutely terrible for libraries. My mom won't retire because she's standing up for the library and can't do the same in retirement, and she can't find a replacement with the same passion to fight.
Republicans are doing everything in their power to hurt people, take away freedoms, and keep the population poorly educated. They are literally the worst thing for this country. I'd say pedophiles are worse, but they're the same thing, so...
I'd encourage your mom to consider retiring and then running for local office.
We need the custodians of the public good to be in positions of authority. It's scary to give up control you know for a long shot, but at the same time, if enough people make the leap and give us solid options in every jurisdiction, we might be able to get out ahead of the regressives' next attack.
Be sure to vote I guess
No worries there. I always make sure to vote. And if my health allowed it, I'd be on the streets too.
I'm saving up to buy Nebraska and turn it into a third temple for all of us.
Is there a gofundme page for this yet?
There's room for you in Illinois.
I live in Ohio, my husband is a librarian in a small-ish town. He's had to start looking for jobs in Columbus and out-of-state, which sucks because he really loves his community and knows most of the patrons by name. It's maddening watching people actively campaign and vote against things like library funding, then turn around and complain that programs are being cut and service quality is dropping..
I am so sorry this is off topic. You're not a woman? (I ask because you said wife and only specifying your daughter as part of the LGBTQA community)
Seriously was convinced you were a woman because everything I ever see you say is much more aligned with a woman's perspective than I'm used to seeing on the internet.
That said I'm sorry you don't feel secure and safe in your home state. I hope this backsliding ends soon
Just for the record, I voted against every one of those dipshits I could.
Thank you for trying. Seriously. Sometimes trying is all you can do, but at least doing it is better than doing nothing.
The day I stop trying is the day I just give up and move. If I were less stubborn of a person, that would have been years ago; now it's "why should I leave when they're the ones who suck?"
Not that we were ever great, but we didn't used to be this bad. So sick of this goddamned culture war bullshit.
Not always correct when dealing with constipation.
Republicans: The government needs to stop trying to be our babysitter
Also Republicans: this
Yeah, that is fascism.
We ALL know they are hypocrites.
THEY know they are hypocrites.
And every time we point it out they get a shiver of illicit arousal.
But it is a meme now to act shocked about it.
Enjoy your internet points I guess.
The US is going to need some kind of second reconstruction era and de-nazification once it gets out of this insanity. IF it ever gets out of this tailspin.
My halfway-optimistic view is that fascism is doomed to fail. It's just too stupid not to, and the stupidity is core to the entire movement.
...but the half-way pessimistic part of me has to bring up that they're going to do as much damage as they can on the way down. Hopefully that's kept to a minimum.
Oh it's doomed to fail of course but a shitton of damage is going to be done, to people, to society, and to world peace.
All because a bunch of angry whiny children want to rule over brown people and women.
And we have to pretend their political opinions are reasonable and normal.
Some part of every generation reacts with panic to changing culture, politics, media, etc.
It's also why it's fucking stupid to be conservative, because recorded human history is literally ten thousand years of conservatives panicking about some stupid shit and getting proven wrong.
Texas: "What am I, chopped liver?"
Nah, something Mexican.
West Virginia: hold my corn liquor
FTFY
A headline from the future:
"The final public library closes its doors today in West Virginia closing one of the remaining few avenues for its population to climb out of poverty."
As if the owner class manipulating their political leadership actually wants their indentured serfs climbing out of poverty.
"Residents of Bezonia and Muskville say quality of life is very good. Bubbafred McSisterfucker said: "I get paid 450 Bezobucks a week I can spend at any Bezomart on the compound, have a 20 square foot sleeping' space, and get to watch Musk News any time I want on my 8 hour daily leave. I have everything I need. Ya'll have to excuse me, I'm almost late for the weekly Corporate Citizen Contract meeting."
I’m struggling to decide if the headline is positive or negative
This is a general frustration, so not at all about you specifically, but: we can't keep condemning a whole state for the actions of their shitty government, even in a "haha West Virginia is full of republican hicks" or "can someone saw Florida off the mainland like Bugs Bunny already" or "Texas can just secede if they want, I don't care".
Painting these entire states by the brush of their elected government lowers our empathy for the people there, and that includes the people who didn't vote for these gerrymandered fucks, children who are affected by these policies without their input, and people who can't leave even if they wanted to. Those are real people who deserve to have things like libraries and the chance to escape poverty.
When we oppose policy decisions like this, we can't leave behind people who agree with us but are in terrible circumstances that they have no control over. Statistically the people who are going to make the West Virginia state government any better are already living there, and we need to be in community with them rather than pushing them away.
How could it possibly be positive?
So West Virginia politicians figured that literacy rates are just too damn high and they need to prioritize attacks against information? I mean, WV ain’t in a great place right now and are actively shooting themselves in the foot right before they set out to blame Democrats for the hole they dug themselves.
Maybe it's all the Mt Dew.
Like the Bible?
Especially the Bible!
Don't mess with librarians. They look mousey ... but they take their jobs really seriously and will fuck your shit up.
This is one of their favorite tactics. Pass a bill they know is going to rile up the Left. Use taxpayer money to fight the case as long and as slowly as possible, and sap as much money from Democratic campaigns as they can.
Almost hell, West Virginia, right-wing grifters, hateful ignoramuses
Entering the Cool Zone of history, as my nation's state legislators start doing the kind of things that end up as footnotes in the "Decline of The Empire" chapter.
Mein Fuhreer..
Take me hoome..
To the plaace..
We ban boooks..
Where's RTGame with a meteor strike when we need him?
I remember the assholes last year saying that this was just about elementary school kids.
Every librarian in West Virginia needs to resign in protest.
Thats probably what they want. Less education seems to be what they are working towards.
sigh Criminal prosecution when someone gets offended for someone else.
Knowledge is scary. Those perky folks down at the reference desk need to stop corrupting with fricking ideas. IDEAS!
I've never quibbled, if it was ribald, I would devour, where others merely nibbled! As the judge remarked the day that he acquitted my Aunt Hortense, "To be smut it must be utterly without redeeming social importance."
Everything is lewd, when correctly viewed, I could tell you things about Peter Pan, Or the Wizard of Oz, there's a dirty old man.....
When does the GOP outlaw literacy?
or anything a reasonable person would find lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value
But where can they even find a reasonable person in West Virginia? Sydnee McElroy is pretty busy with being a full-time doctor and science communicator. I'm not sure there are any others.
I consider book banning to be obscene. Checkmate fascists!
I am so glad I left that hell hole when I was a kid.
Sorry WVirginians, but you're ass if you like that and you're ass if you, don't because you voted them or you did not even vote. If you voted against those morons, then do something, voice your protest, don't just like some post on the web
Lefties here in WV.
There's only like three of us total.
Do your best, don't run away
Are you trying to be ironic?
Cuz like. You know? You’re ranting on the internet.
I'm sure they'll get to addressing political bribery soon. Right after all the big problems are squared away.
The stupid and corrupt blame those who are not.
Meanwhile in the hillbilly State...
"Ban books. Jail librarians." - the bad guys in every epoch of history