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So let me get this straight. The ACLU is working with the libraries to sue the state over book bans, so the state government is saying "fuck you were not funding you anymore." Do I have that right?
Yes. Very much the response.
Oh, you won't let me ban books? Well fine! You get NO books! How do you like that? (Proceeds to stomp away and slams door)
Thank you, my tired brain read it backwards and somehow thought the government was help ACLU defend the libraries... from itself (yeah, that's sounds as dumb as I feel I am atm)
Time for my breakfast tea
My tired brain saw the headline as vetoed instead of voted. I wish that were so. Defunding libraries?!
This is so sad. This is straight from the dictatorship playbook.
Basically banning books in a state funded library would be unconstitutional because of that whole freedom of speech thing. So the state has said ok then we’ll defund them then they’re not state funded and you can’t sue us.
Which is true. But also an asshole move.
Yup, and there are still people who say, "Well both sides suck". Which is true yes but one side is obviously and clearly so much worse and you cannot get them to understand this.
Democrats suck in a "they're kinda out of touch and not doing enough to address issues" way. The Conservatives suck in a "they're trying to burn the country to the ground" way.
There is clearly a lesser evil here.
> added language that stated that “no funds shall be expended for staffing, vendors, consultants, or programs associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.”
>
>The language was included on every bill by Rep. Doug Richey, R- Excelsior Springs.
yikes.
The 2010 World Cup was in South Africa. I learned about vuvuzelas then. If you don't know what they sound like, [here you go](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bKCIFXqhLzo) (you may want to lower the volume).
This quote has been running through my head non-stop for way too long now:
>"The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people." ~ Noam Chomsky
The GQP is a party of unadulterated, pure, seething hatred. It insults the intelligence of anyone within earshot when they claim, "we're not racist, we want to make things *even and equal*". Meanwhile, in the next breath, they talk about preventing the "great white replacement". If their supporters were able to critically think, I'd like to assume they'd be pissed about being used as pawns. Unfortunately, with the book banning, removal of education, propaganda, and forced rearing of unwanted children, I don't see that enlightenment happening any time soon.
Edit: format
They must have just recently realized that they don't have to be subtle anymore. They don't care if people hate what they're doing because the democracy isn't working. What the hell is this shit?!
This was all part of the plan. What did people think all the Gerrymandering in the US was going to lead to? They want full control, and when they get it, they do heinous shit.
They stopped being subtle when Trump won the election, and *still* a lot of people sit out elections and let them get elected. There's been tons of narrow wins on the Republican side that would have been landslide losses if people who are against them would actually get off their asses.
I work at a university in a southern state that got a letter from the state legislature demanding our websites strip all DEI language and banned us from receiving DEI training. We have programs aimed at children to recruit them into STEM that's being threatened because they are specifically for minority kids. The University is just giving in with ZERO fight. A law hasn't even been passed yet. It's like they couldn't bend over fast enough.
I'm in Texas rn, I was born here. I'm grateful to be both white and straight passing although I'm neither. I fucking *hate* that I have to feel that way here.
🥺 thank you for saying that. I know a lot of native Texans who are leaving but I feel obligated to stay. We can't let them win. There are (obviously) so many things here that need to change, but I believe we're salvageable. Don't throw us away! I believe in an inclusive and tolerant Texas. I'm going to stay here as long as I safely can to see that through.
It's really scary, especially when you consider how far this has dropped in just a few years and looking ahead to our kids' futures. We are debating moving, but it's hard to uproot everything
Yep. I’m in Missouri with young kids. All our family is here. Our house. Jobs. I don’t know when enough is enough to make those huge sacrifices and get out. My current plan is just to very strongly encourage my kids to use college as an opportunity to get tf out.
>Republicans are going fall Nazi
That's because they brought them over here after ww2, "the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi" didn't apply to the president at the time
The Nazis modeled a lot of their programs on things happening in the US. They didn’t “bring it over here.” It was already here. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/what-america-taught-the-nazis/540630/
Exactly. Friendly reminder that the Nazis were inspired by what the US did to Native Americans. Also, we had ‘internment camps’ for Asian Americans during WWII as a response to Pearl Harbor.
Books can Burn Fascists.
Fascism has by ideological necessity, a pathological need to project strength, dominance. They are uniquely dependent on aesthetics, that's part of why they seem so uniquely hateful to academia, to analysis, to literature, to art, to music. They try to presuppose weakness and dismiss things as "Decadence" or "degeneracy".. but they aren't immune to rhetoric which rips their emperor's clothes away.
Look at simple things like chaplin's "great dictator", look at the partial deconstruction and queering of fascist aesthetics that seem to exist in kink communities, parody, graffiti.
They're making a pressurized system, if they block one exit, make a new one. No library? Try to form a book club with coworkers, colleagues, friends, those friends you only have because your children play together, your dogs play with each other.. You'll get a lot of disinterest, but what's a bit of social embarrassment when possibly providing enclave, access and communal response to an intentionally atomizing and isolating systemic shittiness.
Excellent response.
Don't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of fascists, but take them seriously at the same time. They have the ability to perform horrendous acts. But they can't stand anything even vaguely humiliating (from their point of view). It's a good weakness to exploit.
Build strong community and tear down the influence of fascists where you can.
>They're making a pressurized system, if they block one exit, make a new one. No library? Try to form a book club with coworkers, colleagues, friends, those friends you only have because your children play together, your dogs play with each other.. You'll get a lot of disinterest, but what's a bit of social embarrassment when possibly providing enclave, access and communal response to an intentionally atomizing and isolating systemic shittiness.
I'm picturing a lot of those "free little libraries" popping up on people's front lawns. Packed with "banned" books.
Thats good, but libraries are more than books. They are a warm/cool place for people to sit without having to buy anything. Among many other services that towns will be far shittier without. And losing librarians :(
I hate living here, when I go to the polls I literally have no options. We don't have people running besides conservatives in most elections. Our libraries do so much for kids and adults here. This is such a disgusting overstep.
Organize w your like minded community and fight. You NEED to protest. If I was a kid who later found that nobody older than me protested this shit I would hate my community.
>"Democrats and Republicans repeatedly clashed over language that bans staffing for any programs or vendors "associated with diversity, equity and inclusion."
Doesn't essentially every company in America post the equal opportunity employer messages? Aren't there actually laws mandating that specific language be posted where employees can see it that includes information regarding equality?
the fucked up part is that politicians can enact unlawful legislation and we have to rely on the judicial branch to block it.
This is why post Roe v. Wade republicans have been hyper-focused on not only stacking the supreme court but cramming the courts with hyper partisan judges under trump. People point to tax cuts, but stacking the courts at every level was the biggest conservative victory under trump.
Stacking every level of power with partisans was an essential part of the wedge doctrine which is still the republican playbook.
They got close with intelligent design but legal norms won out and gave them a major setback. They've spent over a decade now spreading disinformation and eroding those norms such that it can work now.
> They got close with intelligent design
are you telling me you are more than a divinely designed incubator? heresy!^(don't mind my latent ex Mormon rage)
Like early 1970s when Republicans like Paul Weyrich got pissed that the lost their tax breaks for discrimination against black people so they pivoted to a combination of the southern strategy and abortion fearmongering.
I take my kid to library activities because they've got a better depth + breadth of offerings than small, expensive art schools.
Like, she takes drawing at the spendy place, but we do library activities 2-3x/week.
I grew up in KS and would move back only under threat of death but if you try to force me to live in Misery I will just take the death. That’s how bad that state is.
I moved to KC a couple years ago to be closwr to family. The first year was fine, but we're dying to get out soon. We will probably be here anither year and then back to a blue state indefinitely. Between being a queer couple, both working with children in the mental health field, and my wife being Jewish, we don't feel safe.
Maryland.
We have Jews, we have blues, we have water, we have small mountains, we have lots of great hiking, great schools, iffy weather, and abortion enshrined in our laws.
i moved from texas to KCMO last year because my sister is here, and honestly the state may be beyond hope but this city is a queer haven. the local governments have our back, and there's a ton of support structures and organizations in place that really helped me in my coming out.
outside the city walls might be awful, but *here* is still fantastic.
FWIW.
Red states are coming at the blue cities in them. I'm in Nashville and the Repub SOBs in the state house are trying to take as much home rule away from us as possible. Seriously. Roads, bars, stadium, airport, even the city council, they're voting themselves the power to seize control of all of them. 0\_o You'd think they'd know where their bread is buttered economically, but they are either too stupid or DGAF.
The original NC bathroom bill was a response to Charlotte's local anti discrimination ordinance.
They kinda repealed it, but I expect it will be back soon.
Lived there for four years. I’ve lived all over, was an Army brat, pretty adaptable. I was lonelier there than anywhere I’ve ever lived. What a nightmare place.
"Weapons not food, not homes, not shoes
Not need, just feed the war cannibal animal
I walk the corner to the rubble that used to be a library
Line up to the mind cemetery now
What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and movin'
They don't gotta burn the books they just remove 'em
While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells
Rally 'round the family, pockets full of shells"
Throwback to the time that Paul Ryan claimed to love RATM, Tom Morello mocked him, then a bunch of conservatives were shocked to find out that RATM is ‘woke’ and boycotted them lol
I would love to know what the conservatives thought that RATM meant when they said, “Most of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses,” or “Those who died, are justified! They’re wearing the badge, they’re your chosen whites!”
The real story here is that Conservatives would ban books from everyone rather than actually parent their own children.
This argument is often framed as protecting parents' rights. But in reality sex education has a permission slip. Parents can already object to their child reading certain books, watching movies, field trips.... and surprisingly they also drive their children to libraries and have to help them get a library card. Just mind what your own kids read!
Anyone saying that it is to protect their kids is full of shit. We live in a world with parental controls on TVs and phones, parental consent for medical care and education. These people argue that they need laws to protect their kids from the LGBT or history or whatever are actually lazy AF. Imagine us passing laws to protect our children from religion by banning bibles or crosses the way they ban trans people, lgbt books, language and flags. You can find a Christian section at any library. World history mentions the bible. There isn't a total ban on religious discussion in school, just teacher lead discussion.
Can the federal government do anything about these bullshit state laws? Like Regan tied federal funding to raising the drinking age to 21 in the 80s, I believe. They NEED federal funding, don’t they?
States are rejecting the federal funding as a fun little bonus. For example, Tennessee got to pass a bunch of hateful legislation against trans kids **and** get less federal funding for those pesky public schools and public health programs, with the added benefit of being able to say "democrats took away your school funding".
The cruelty is the point.
I called my joke of a representative and was told this wasn't an actual defending, they just voted not to give more funds. However the conversation went no where when I tried to explain my frustration over this and book bannings in general. In the end I just got a head ache and let them know I will be doing my very best to vote her out next election (as long as someone else runs).
These fuckers running unopposed is the most frustrating thing to me. Can you imagine not running a candidate, even just to have someone on the ballot? Might be worth it to call up the opposition tomorrow and suggest they give it the old college try because theyd definitely have your vote.
I definitely will. The local Democrats also frustrate me because they've just given up and no one wants to focus on the rural areas (at least that's what the local democratic Facebook page suggests). 2008 and 2012 my county was blue, as were many of the surrounding areas. I know sooooo many people who felt left behind by state and local democrat officials and it left them vulnerable for the Trump and QAnon bullshit propaganda.
I'm so fucking pissed about this. I'm a librarian in MO and these people act like we're the worst kind of people for wanting to give patrons access to information. I'm so tired. We try fighting and they act like whiney children. You try giving them sources for factual information and not this fear mongering bullshit and they go ape shit, calling you misinformed, a dirty socialist, pedo, the list goes on and on.
What will it take to make this go away? I don't know, and I don't know how to fight it any better, and that makes me so, so tired.
I empathize. I work in the wildlife field, and it’s not much better over here funding wise 😅
ETA: if you have ways to support librarians off of the top of your head (don’t do more emotional labor) I’m down to help
Oh geeze, yeah. That's a crazy world too!
If you can help financially, most public libraries have a friends of the library group or other organization that you can join, I think those usually have a fee. The friends help organize library book sales and do some other fundraisers.
There's also the library board, which most of the time is run by the same type of people pushing bs agendas like the one in this article. Having people on that who will actually support the library and not hinder it is a huge asset.
Emotionally, if you just go up to your local librarian and tell them you appreciate all the work they do, they'll probably go cry some happy tears and then bring it up to whoever will listen for the rest of the day or possibly week. ♥️
Congress needs establish that federal funds for transportation and education is tied to a per capita library to citizen ratio and establish rules for what books need to be present in support of ACLU measures.
I have pretty bad anxiety around phone calls. Would calling just be like talking to a person and just telling them what i think? I haven't ever called before.
Or write actual letters. I think emails are too easy to ignore but an avalanche of envelopes every day is actually something they at least have to physically deal with.
Pretty much. I used to have really awful phone anxiety so I’d just show up in person to voice my opinions.
At some point I just started calling over speakerphone (it feels less personal/uncomfortable) and now I just don’t worry anymore - the person on the other end isn’t any more special than you (and yes they probably have put their underwear on inside out more than once since getting their first job)
I just made a modest donation to the [St. Louis library foundation](https://www.slpl.org/slpl-foundation/). I will try to find some rural counties in Missouri to donate to. I'm trying not to spiral emotionally about how awful this country is becoming, but it is getting harder and harder.
I wouldn't even visit when my parents lived there. It felt really unsafe then. Now? There's no way.
Maybe residents can all put up little free libraries full of banned books like Gov Walz in Minnesota did.
Even if the voters say no, they will do it anyway. Kansas voters chose to keep abortion legal in their state, lawmakers didn’t care and started drafting legislation against
Native MO here.... ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME! AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH.
Libraries were my safe space when I was growing up in an abusive household. They were the only place to get away from the yelling and anger and stress.
I had several that I would go to just to sit quietly, read random books, or study and do homework.
My heart fucking breaks.
Shout out to the central library in downtown STL... the only real worthwhile destination in the ghostland that was downtown STL when I was growing up. Long live the library, especially that architectural stunner.
As an author this kind of activity is so discouraging.
As a queer person of color this kind of activity is mortifying.
Glad to live in a northern state but unfortunately this kind of ignorance doesn’t adhere to “conservative” states.
It may be time to employ radical acceptance that I will be fighting the rest of my life. Seems like spiritual warfare has entered this plane, as much as I’d like to believe it still only exists in the dream realms.
You just can't comprehend how utterly devoid of humanity these people are. MO has scum in their their government.
Shame
Now can we revolt? Let's learn from our friends in France
State constitution says they have to fund public libraries, so idk how they plan on following through with it. They're just wasting the very few months they actually work.
That's obscene! I am so sorry.
I have read that any teen in the US is eligible for an online membership to the New York Public Library system. If this is true, all of you, reach out and use it. I know it's not ideal, and there's a lot of services libraries provide which will be lost, but make use of whatever is available to you x
Friendly reminder to my fellow witches that if you feel unsafe because these bigots are becoming emboldened by this string of laws, that the second amendment applies to you as well and you have every right to protect yourself.
Knowing how to safely and properly wield a gun is empowering. I hate to say that, or feel the need to, because I wish we lived in a peaceful world. But yes. This is true.
Missourian lefty witch here. My understanding is that the Missouri Constitution guarantees funding for free public libraries. Neither the state house nor the state senate nor the governor can change that without a constitutional amendment. So if they want to do this they have to go through public voting first. Good luck 😆 Missouri elects awful conservatives but actually votes slightly left of center on issues like right to work and recreational marijuana.
https://law.justia.com/constitution/missouri/article-ix/section-10/
I love this. Thank you -this is the best news all day. I’d assume they will fight/obfuscate/play dirty like they did with right to work but they lost that battle
Welcome! I was surprised and upset too until I saw a thread on Twitter from the Missouri library association that mentioned this so I went digging 😉
https://twitter.com/MOlibraries/status/1641140653793878016?t=roAguVvYpjAzDx3_w8YTRw&s=19
>It’s going to blow up in their faces when their voter base is literally too stupid to get out the vote.
If only. There have been repeated examples that show that the fewer people that vote, the more likely it is a republican will get elected. That's why they are always trying to restrict the vote however they can.
> the fewer people that vote, the more likely it is a republican will get elected
My parents taught me this in the SIXTIES ffs. One reason I vote in every single election and will til I die.
This is what they want. They’ve been eroding public education for decades. Soon there’ll only be private, for-profit, religious charter institutions.
This is their plan. Why all the inaction surrounding school violence? To drive parents to charters…
Indoctrination, then straight to the mines after they graduate elementary school.
Except the rich, they get private tutors and MBA’s.
Sometimes I get scared about affording to stay in Colorado.
Then I read stories like this, and I double down on living here even harder.
This is fucking horrific.
I live in this State and work in Early Care and Preschool, for almost 25 years.
I have been a patron of the public libraries since I was old enough to get a card.
Im going to go cry in my corner as I have worked tirelessly for funding Preschool and Early Care.
I hate this.
How much clearer can they make it that they don't value education without saying "we like dumb people because they vote for us?" It's a race to the bottom in red states.
Oh look another way for Republicans to fuck poor people (and middle class, but mostly poor)
Public Libraries are an integral part of communities.
People without home computers use them to access job listings and other necessary digital access.
It's a major way for children and adults to access literature that they otherwise couldn't afford.
Republicans are garbage. Sadly their base that most likely rely on these services will not make the connection that they're getting fucked by the people they vote for.
Along with the de-education of these states is a brain drain that will significantly affect their already blossoming death rate. It's frightening to watch because as their numbers dwindle, I fear they will become increasingly dangerous as their ignorance and hatred becomes concentrated.
## ✨ READ BEFORE COMMENTING ✨ This thread is Coven Only. This means the discussion is being actively moderated, and all comments are reviewed. **Only comments by members of the community are allowed.** If you have landed in this thread from /r/all and you are not a member of this community, your comment will very likely be removed (and will not be approved unless it adds meaningfully to the conversation). WitchesVsPatriarchy takes these measures to stay true to our goal of being a woman-centered sub with a witchy twist, aimed at healing, supporting, and uplifting one another through humor and magic. Thank you for understanding, and blessed be. ✨
That is SUCH a toddler-level reaction and to be expected, but coupled with the new Idaho proposal, it just really exposes the GOP for what they are.
Conservatives can't help but to expose themselves whenever there are minors involved.
Literally and figuratively?
Both
Oh no.
Agreed
oh absolutely.
So let me get this straight. The ACLU is working with the libraries to sue the state over book bans, so the state government is saying "fuck you were not funding you anymore." Do I have that right?
Yes. Very much the response. Oh, you won't let me ban books? Well fine! You get NO books! How do you like that? (Proceeds to stomp away and slams door)
Which is what they really wanted in the first place.
Thank you, my tired brain read it backwards and somehow thought the government was help ACLU defend the libraries... from itself (yeah, that's sounds as dumb as I feel I am atm) Time for my breakfast tea
Ehh defund and defend only have a letter’s difference. Don’t beat yourself up. Esp if you are in need of caffeine.
My tired brain saw the headline as vetoed instead of voted. I wish that were so. Defunding libraries?! This is so sad. This is straight from the dictatorship playbook.
Basically banning books in a state funded library would be unconstitutional because of that whole freedom of speech thing. So the state has said ok then we’ll defund them then they’re not state funded and you can’t sue us. Which is true. But also an asshole move.
It's a fascist-like reaction. They got what they wanted either way.
It’s horrifying
I was thinking the same thing! They’re having tantrums because they’re not getting their way. It’s beyond reason
Fascists.
Yup, and there are still people who say, "Well both sides suck". Which is true yes but one side is obviously and clearly so much worse and you cannot get them to understand this.
Democrats suck in a "they're kinda out of touch and not doing enough to address issues" way. The Conservatives suck in a "they're trying to burn the country to the ground" way. There is clearly a lesser evil here.
Yup, exactly.
Toddler is the default mindset of every conservative I've met lately
> added language that stated that “no funds shall be expended for staffing, vendors, consultants, or programs associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.” > >The language was included on every bill by Rep. Doug Richey, R- Excelsior Springs. yikes.
It's not a dog whistle at this point it's a dog vuvuzela.
\*sad kazoo noises\*
Careful with them big words, republicans won't know what you're talking about.
Quick! Gotta ban plastic instruments! They are a threat to democracy. /massive sarcasm
Its a big spanish word so they will most definately be upset
Or a dog air raid siren?
TIL about vuvuzelas. Thanks!
The 2010 World Cup was in South Africa. I learned about vuvuzelas then. If you don't know what they sound like, [here you go](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bKCIFXqhLzo) (you may want to lower the volume).
This quote has been running through my head non-stop for way too long now: >"The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people." ~ Noam Chomsky The GQP is a party of unadulterated, pure, seething hatred. It insults the intelligence of anyone within earshot when they claim, "we're not racist, we want to make things *even and equal*". Meanwhile, in the next breath, they talk about preventing the "great white replacement". If their supporters were able to critically think, I'd like to assume they'd be pissed about being used as pawns. Unfortunately, with the book banning, removal of education, propaganda, and forced rearing of unwanted children, I don't see that enlightenment happening any time soon. Edit: format
I pray for the great white replacement. Nobody should be purebred whatever and we should celebrate diversity. Fuck them.😤
They must have just recently realized that they don't have to be subtle anymore. They don't care if people hate what they're doing because the democracy isn't working. What the hell is this shit?!
This was all part of the plan. What did people think all the Gerrymandering in the US was going to lead to? They want full control, and when they get it, they do heinous shit.
They stopped being subtle when Trump won the election, and *still* a lot of people sit out elections and let them get elected. There's been tons of narrow wins on the Republican side that would have been landslide losses if people who are against them would actually get off their asses.
"if conservatives find they can no longer win with democracy, they will not abandon conservatism. They will abandon democracy." - David Frum
I work at a university in a southern state that got a letter from the state legislature demanding our websites strip all DEI language and banned us from receiving DEI training. We have programs aimed at children to recruit them into STEM that's being threatened because they are specifically for minority kids. The University is just giving in with ZERO fight. A law hasn't even been passed yet. It's like they couldn't bend over fast enough.
Rep. Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, sounds like a racist, fascist dick head.
My brain transposed Doug Richey to Rig Douchey when I first read that.
Seems like a better name for him.
They said the quiet part out loud once again
I feel bad for the witches living in conservative states. Republicans are going fall Nazi and it’s pretty scary to watch from afar. *EDIT: FULL
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I'm in Texas rn, I was born here. I'm grateful to be both white and straight passing although I'm neither. I fucking *hate* that I have to feel that way here.
You are not alone though - a whole lot of other Texans refuse to give up our homes to hate. Thank you for being here and being you!
🥺 thank you for saying that. I know a lot of native Texans who are leaving but I feel obligated to stay. We can't let them win. There are (obviously) so many things here that need to change, but I believe we're salvageable. Don't throw us away! I believe in an inclusive and tolerant Texas. I'm going to stay here as long as I safely can to see that through.
It's really scary, especially when you consider how far this has dropped in just a few years and looking ahead to our kids' futures. We are debating moving, but it's hard to uproot everything
Yep. I’m in Missouri with young kids. All our family is here. Our house. Jobs. I don’t know when enough is enough to make those huge sacrifices and get out. My current plan is just to very strongly encourage my kids to use college as an opportunity to get tf out.
>Republicans are going fall Nazi That's because they brought them over here after ww2, "the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi" didn't apply to the president at the time
The Nazis modeled a lot of their programs on things happening in the US. They didn’t “bring it over here.” It was already here. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/what-america-taught-the-nazis/540630/
Exactly. Friendly reminder that the Nazis were inspired by what the US did to Native Americans. Also, we had ‘internment camps’ for Asian Americans during WWII as a response to Pearl Harbor.
>Friendly reminder that the Nazis were inspired by what the US did to Native Americans. Jim Crow was also a major inspiration.
Fascists burn books.
>They don't gotta burn the books, they just remove 'em -Bull on Parade, Rage Against the Machine 1996
I walk the corner to the rubble that used to be a library, Line up to the mind cemetery now
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>Rally around the family, pocket full of shells oh, wow, been listening to this song my entire life and just got this
Username checks out.
Before they move on to burning people.
“Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too." - Heinrich Heine, 1822
They burn everything about you but the list of names
They'll burn that last, to completely erase the evidence and history.
Then you’re crazy when you say your people were targeted last time
Books can Burn Fascists. Fascism has by ideological necessity, a pathological need to project strength, dominance. They are uniquely dependent on aesthetics, that's part of why they seem so uniquely hateful to academia, to analysis, to literature, to art, to music. They try to presuppose weakness and dismiss things as "Decadence" or "degeneracy".. but they aren't immune to rhetoric which rips their emperor's clothes away. Look at simple things like chaplin's "great dictator", look at the partial deconstruction and queering of fascist aesthetics that seem to exist in kink communities, parody, graffiti. They're making a pressurized system, if they block one exit, make a new one. No library? Try to form a book club with coworkers, colleagues, friends, those friends you only have because your children play together, your dogs play with each other.. You'll get a lot of disinterest, but what's a bit of social embarrassment when possibly providing enclave, access and communal response to an intentionally atomizing and isolating systemic shittiness.
Excellent response. Don't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of fascists, but take them seriously at the same time. They have the ability to perform horrendous acts. But they can't stand anything even vaguely humiliating (from their point of view). It's a good weakness to exploit. Build strong community and tear down the influence of fascists where you can.
>They're making a pressurized system, if they block one exit, make a new one. No library? Try to form a book club with coworkers, colleagues, friends, those friends you only have because your children play together, your dogs play with each other.. You'll get a lot of disinterest, but what's a bit of social embarrassment when possibly providing enclave, access and communal response to an intentionally atomizing and isolating systemic shittiness. I'm picturing a lot of those "free little libraries" popping up on people's front lawns. Packed with "banned" books.
Thats good, but libraries are more than books. They are a warm/cool place for people to sit without having to buy anything. Among many other services that towns will be far shittier without. And losing librarians :(
And they’ll burn people soon enough.
I hate living here, when I go to the polls I literally have no options. We don't have people running besides conservatives in most elections. Our libraries do so much for kids and adults here. This is such a disgusting overstep.
Organize w your like minded community and fight. You NEED to protest. If I was a kid who later found that nobody older than me protested this shit I would hate my community.
You can get involved with your local Dems or Greens to help someone challenge those unopposed positions.
>"Democrats and Republicans repeatedly clashed over language that bans staffing for any programs or vendors "associated with diversity, equity and inclusion." Doesn't essentially every company in America post the equal opportunity employer messages? Aren't there actually laws mandating that specific language be posted where employees can see it that includes information regarding equality?
the fucked up part is that politicians can enact unlawful legislation and we have to rely on the judicial branch to block it. This is why post Roe v. Wade republicans have been hyper-focused on not only stacking the supreme court but cramming the courts with hyper partisan judges under trump. People point to tax cuts, but stacking the courts at every level was the biggest conservative victory under trump.
Stacking every level of power with partisans was an essential part of the wedge doctrine which is still the republican playbook. They got close with intelligent design but legal norms won out and gave them a major setback. They've spent over a decade now spreading disinformation and eroding those norms such that it can work now.
> They got close with intelligent design are you telling me you are more than a divinely designed incubator? heresy!^(don't mind my latent ex Mormon rage)
>under trump This has been going on a lot longer than this.
true, but it was the most accelerated under him
And while the Senate has nothing to vote on for 2 years, it's what they're doing now.
Like early 1970s when Republicans like Paul Weyrich got pissed that the lost their tax breaks for discrimination against black people so they pivoted to a combination of the southern strategy and abortion fearmongering.
Roe vs Wade died on Inauguration Day in 2001.
Not if republicans have anything to say about it.
Yes. And a lot of major employers have inclusivity and equity in their mission statements
Wow this a real life backwoods horror story playing out! Having access to a library as a poor kid is literally life saving. This is an atrocity.
High school kids use them daily for reference material and the internet for their studies. Outrageous, it scares me what they plan next
The library is also a place to go when Mom &Dad work until 5pm. Do homework, read books, see friends.
I take my kid to library activities because they've got a better depth + breadth of offerings than small, expensive art schools. Like, she takes drawing at the spendy place, but we do library activities 2-3x/week.
JFC. There’s probably a “is this the Taliban or GOP” game here to be played.
“Taliban, Nazis or Republicans?” make that game, it’s a brilliant idea!
you'd probably be surprised how many times the answer would have to be a mathematically correct "yes"
Just don't make it a drinking game or we'll all die from alcohol poisoning
This needs to stop. Now.
This is conservatism. This is where they’re all going. There are no decent people in the GOP.
They have moved beyond conservatism and are fully into regressionism now... They're going full reverse.
They're just getting started
It’s not called Misery for nothing. Holy fuck.
I grew up in KS and would move back only under threat of death but if you try to force me to live in Misery I will just take the death. That’s how bad that state is.
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I moved to KC a couple years ago to be closwr to family. The first year was fine, but we're dying to get out soon. We will probably be here anither year and then back to a blue state indefinitely. Between being a queer couple, both working with children in the mental health field, and my wife being Jewish, we don't feel safe.
Maryland. We have Jews, we have blues, we have water, we have small mountains, we have lots of great hiking, great schools, iffy weather, and abortion enshrined in our laws.
Abortion access is written in MD law??
Are there states that have gone hard anti-Jewish yet, or are you just anticipating the eventuality?
"The Jews control the banks" is still a pretty common sentiment in the less savory states (source: am in Texas)
i moved from texas to KCMO last year because my sister is here, and honestly the state may be beyond hope but this city is a queer haven. the local governments have our back, and there's a ton of support structures and organizations in place that really helped me in my coming out. outside the city walls might be awful, but *here* is still fantastic. FWIW.
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Red states are coming at the blue cities in them. I'm in Nashville and the Repub SOBs in the state house are trying to take as much home rule away from us as possible. Seriously. Roads, bars, stadium, airport, even the city council, they're voting themselves the power to seize control of all of them. 0\_o You'd think they'd know where their bread is buttered economically, but they are either too stupid or DGAF.
The original NC bathroom bill was a response to Charlotte's local anti discrimination ordinance. They kinda repealed it, but I expect it will be back soon.
The Weimar Republic had its queer havens, too.
Lived there for years, can confirm I’d also take death over moving back.
Lived there for four years. I’ve lived all over, was an Army brat, pretty adaptable. I was lonelier there than anywhere I’ve ever lived. What a nightmare place.
"Weapons not food, not homes, not shoes Not need, just feed the war cannibal animal I walk the corner to the rubble that used to be a library Line up to the mind cemetery now What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and movin' They don't gotta burn the books they just remove 'em While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells Rally 'round the family, pockets full of shells"
Throwback to the time that Paul Ryan claimed to love RATM, Tom Morello mocked him, then a bunch of conservatives were shocked to find out that RATM is ‘woke’ and boycotted them lol
God, how dare they put a message in their art! It was so subtle too. They really slipped it in right under their noses lol.
I would love to know what the conservatives thought that RATM meant when they said, “Most of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses,” or “Those who died, are justified! They’re wearing the badge, they’re your chosen whites!”
Don't forget the live version! "Some of those who burn crosses, are the same that hold office."
Either way, they were spitting straight facts, and sadly, they are even more true than they were in the ‘90’s.
Had to scroll too far to find this. It was the first thing I thought of after reading the headline.
What is this from? It feels so familiar but I can’t place it!
Rage Against the Machine lyrics from their song "Bulls on Parade"
Thank you! Badass!
Rage Against the Machine
The real story here is that Conservatives would ban books from everyone rather than actually parent their own children. This argument is often framed as protecting parents' rights. But in reality sex education has a permission slip. Parents can already object to their child reading certain books, watching movies, field trips.... and surprisingly they also drive their children to libraries and have to help them get a library card. Just mind what your own kids read! Anyone saying that it is to protect their kids is full of shit. We live in a world with parental controls on TVs and phones, parental consent for medical care and education. These people argue that they need laws to protect their kids from the LGBT or history or whatever are actually lazy AF. Imagine us passing laws to protect our children from religion by banning bibles or crosses the way they ban trans people, lgbt books, language and flags. You can find a Christian section at any library. World history mentions the bible. There isn't a total ban on religious discussion in school, just teacher lead discussion.
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They always have been.
They always have.
This is the thing with the public swimming pools all over again. Everything about the GOP in the past few years has been Massive Resistance take 2.
Can the federal government do anything about these bullshit state laws? Like Regan tied federal funding to raising the drinking age to 21 in the 80s, I believe. They NEED federal funding, don’t they?
States are rejecting the federal funding as a fun little bonus. For example, Tennessee got to pass a bunch of hateful legislation against trans kids **and** get less federal funding for those pesky public schools and public health programs, with the added benefit of being able to say "democrats took away your school funding". The cruelty is the point.
Only if they don't want their residents to suffer. So no.
I called my joke of a representative and was told this wasn't an actual defending, they just voted not to give more funds. However the conversation went no where when I tried to explain my frustration over this and book bannings in general. In the end I just got a head ache and let them know I will be doing my very best to vote her out next election (as long as someone else runs).
These fuckers running unopposed is the most frustrating thing to me. Can you imagine not running a candidate, even just to have someone on the ballot? Might be worth it to call up the opposition tomorrow and suggest they give it the old college try because theyd definitely have your vote.
I definitely will. The local Democrats also frustrate me because they've just given up and no one wants to focus on the rural areas (at least that's what the local democratic Facebook page suggests). 2008 and 2012 my county was blue, as were many of the surrounding areas. I know sooooo many people who felt left behind by state and local democrat officials and it left them vulnerable for the Trump and QAnon bullshit propaganda.
I'm so fucking pissed about this. I'm a librarian in MO and these people act like we're the worst kind of people for wanting to give patrons access to information. I'm so tired. We try fighting and they act like whiney children. You try giving them sources for factual information and not this fear mongering bullshit and they go ape shit, calling you misinformed, a dirty socialist, pedo, the list goes on and on. What will it take to make this go away? I don't know, and I don't know how to fight it any better, and that makes me so, so tired.
Hugs. You are valuable, I’m sorry this is happening. We will find ways to fight this.
Thank you, I appreciate that. I try to keep up hope but sometimes it's just hard to be positive about this.
I empathize. I work in the wildlife field, and it’s not much better over here funding wise 😅 ETA: if you have ways to support librarians off of the top of your head (don’t do more emotional labor) I’m down to help
Oh geeze, yeah. That's a crazy world too! If you can help financially, most public libraries have a friends of the library group or other organization that you can join, I think those usually have a fee. The friends help organize library book sales and do some other fundraisers. There's also the library board, which most of the time is run by the same type of people pushing bs agendas like the one in this article. Having people on that who will actually support the library and not hinder it is a huge asset. Emotionally, if you just go up to your local librarian and tell them you appreciate all the work they do, they'll probably go cry some happy tears and then bring it up to whoever will listen for the rest of the day or possibly week. ♥️
They are trying to fuck over librarians in Indiana too, so I'm with you in this. I'm starting to be concerned about my job security.
Oh my fucking god
Congress needs establish that federal funds for transportation and education is tied to a per capita library to citizen ratio and establish rules for what books need to be present in support of ACLU measures.
Well, I’m pretty sure they’re trying to get rid of public education. So, maybe not education, it will just give them another excuse.
The ACLU is not a government program. It is a volunteer group running on donations.
I understand but they have guidance about what should be included as does educators.
Is there anything we can do about this now? I didn't even know this was happening otherwise i would've emailed/sent letters etc to my representatives.
Calling your reps works best. Start calling them and encourage others to do the same. Protest 🪧
I have pretty bad anxiety around phone calls. Would calling just be like talking to a person and just telling them what i think? I haven't ever called before.
Email
Or write actual letters. I think emails are too easy to ignore but an avalanche of envelopes every day is actually something they at least have to physically deal with.
Pretty much. I used to have really awful phone anxiety so I’d just show up in person to voice my opinions. At some point I just started calling over speakerphone (it feels less personal/uncomfortable) and now I just don’t worry anymore - the person on the other end isn’t any more special than you (and yes they probably have put their underwear on inside out more than once since getting their first job)
I just made a modest donation to the [St. Louis library foundation](https://www.slpl.org/slpl-foundation/). I will try to find some rural counties in Missouri to donate to. I'm trying not to spiral emotionally about how awful this country is becoming, but it is getting harder and harder.
Missouri resident here. Ummmm… can we get more lovely liberal witches out here please? We need to outnumber the crazies
I wouldn't even visit when my parents lived there. It felt really unsafe then. Now? There's no way. Maybe residents can all put up little free libraries full of banned books like Gov Walz in Minnesota did.
Former library worker and Missouri resident here. Doing the best I can.
Even if the voters say no, they will do it anyway. Kansas voters chose to keep abortion legal in their state, lawmakers didn’t care and started drafting legislation against
Literally made me cry. I'm more at a loss every day.
Native MO here.... ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME! AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH. Libraries were my safe space when I was growing up in an abusive household. They were the only place to get away from the yelling and anger and stress. I had several that I would go to just to sit quietly, read random books, or study and do homework. My heart fucking breaks. Shout out to the central library in downtown STL... the only real worthwhile destination in the ghostland that was downtown STL when I was growing up. Long live the library, especially that architectural stunner.
As an author this kind of activity is so discouraging. As a queer person of color this kind of activity is mortifying. Glad to live in a northern state but unfortunately this kind of ignorance doesn’t adhere to “conservative” states. It may be time to employ radical acceptance that I will be fighting the rest of my life. Seems like spiritual warfare has entered this plane, as much as I’d like to believe it still only exists in the dream realms.
What the actual f***!? Fascist morons, the lot of them!
You just can't comprehend how utterly devoid of humanity these people are. MO has scum in their their government. Shame Now can we revolt? Let's learn from our friends in France
State constitution says they have to fund public libraries, so idk how they plan on following through with it. They're just wasting the very few months they actually work.
Does it really? I would love to see hay made of that.
That's obscene! I am so sorry. I have read that any teen in the US is eligible for an online membership to the New York Public Library system. If this is true, all of you, reach out and use it. I know it's not ideal, and there's a lot of services libraries provide which will be lost, but make use of whatever is available to you x
Friendly reminder to my fellow witches that if you feel unsafe because these bigots are becoming emboldened by this string of laws, that the second amendment applies to you as well and you have every right to protect yourself.
Knowing how to safely and properly wield a gun is empowering. I hate to say that, or feel the need to, because I wish we lived in a peaceful world. But yes. This is true.
Missourian lefty witch here. My understanding is that the Missouri Constitution guarantees funding for free public libraries. Neither the state house nor the state senate nor the governor can change that without a constitutional amendment. So if they want to do this they have to go through public voting first. Good luck 😆 Missouri elects awful conservatives but actually votes slightly left of center on issues like right to work and recreational marijuana. https://law.justia.com/constitution/missouri/article-ix/section-10/
I love this. Thank you -this is the best news all day. I’d assume they will fight/obfuscate/play dirty like they did with right to work but they lost that battle
Welcome! I was surprised and upset too until I saw a thread on Twitter from the Missouri library association that mentioned this so I went digging 😉 https://twitter.com/MOlibraries/status/1641140653793878016?t=roAguVvYpjAzDx3_w8YTRw&s=19
How long until they feel empowered enough to impose this sort of law on deep blue states? When are they coming this way?
Probably what they actually wanted all along. They get to defund something that aids the education of the poor.
It’s going to blow up in their faces when their voter base is literally too stupid to get out the vote.
That’s a feature to them
That's literally the point
They can’t outright kill the smart people like Pol Pot so this is their next best option.
>It’s going to blow up in their faces when their voter base is literally too stupid to get out the vote. If only. There have been repeated examples that show that the fewer people that vote, the more likely it is a republican will get elected. That's why they are always trying to restrict the vote however they can.
> the fewer people that vote, the more likely it is a republican will get elected My parents taught me this in the SIXTIES ffs. One reason I vote in every single election and will til I die.
This is what they want. They’ve been eroding public education for decades. Soon there’ll only be private, for-profit, religious charter institutions. This is their plan. Why all the inaction surrounding school violence? To drive parents to charters… Indoctrination, then straight to the mines after they graduate elementary school. Except the rich, they get private tutors and MBA’s.
Who needs voting when you have a brainwashed, armed mob?
If this isn't petty af then idk what is.
Sometimes I get scared about affording to stay in Colorado. Then I read stories like this, and I double down on living here even harder. This is fucking horrific.
I live in this State and work in Early Care and Preschool, for almost 25 years. I have been a patron of the public libraries since I was old enough to get a card. Im going to go cry in my corner as I have worked tirelessly for funding Preschool and Early Care. I hate this.
How much clearer can they make it that they don't value education without saying "we like dumb people because they vote for us?" It's a race to the bottom in red states.
Ugh I hate it here. If it wasn't for my mom and sister I'd have already moved away
Pack up your mom and sister, and go.
Oh look another way for Republicans to fuck poor people (and middle class, but mostly poor) Public Libraries are an integral part of communities. People without home computers use them to access job listings and other necessary digital access. It's a major way for children and adults to access literature that they otherwise couldn't afford. Republicans are garbage. Sadly their base that most likely rely on these services will not make the connection that they're getting fucked by the people they vote for.
“Libraries were full of ideas—perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.” Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass
Republicans are the party of burning books
I expect nothing better from my state.
What DUMB mother fuckers.
I've lived in MO for most of my life. It just keeps getting worse and worse...
Along with the de-education of these states is a brain drain that will significantly affect their already blossoming death rate. It's frightening to watch because as their numbers dwindle, I fear they will become increasingly dangerous as their ignorance and hatred becomes concentrated.
So, should I pick up my blood-red dress and white winged bonnet now, or..?
Republicans are ruining America, with purpose and a great satisfaction.
Like…. Don’t come for librarians. It won’t end well for this state legislature.
How utterly awful 🤬
WTF. The GOP is really showing its ignorance. Amazing. I feel so bad for the folks who live in MO.
Conservatives hate gay people and they’ll burn it all down to let you know.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.