“When in the history of the world have the people banning books been the good guys?”
Erin Reed (Erin in the Morning) posts on Threads:
This story got drowned out by the elections yesterday, but I want to make it clear to everyone. A decent sized city in Tennessee has banned public homosexuality. This is the kind of law we have not seen since the 70s. It’s straight out of Orbán and Putin’s government.
Now Murfreesboro has moved on to local libraries “where at least four books, all containing LGBTQ+ themes, have been pulled from the shelves,” Reed writes, describing the ordinance. “Following that, the [city] council moved to enact a tiered library card system, where most nonfiction content will be gated behind the adult-only library card. This system will go into effect in 2024.”
Where have we seen that before?
Reed continues:
On Monday, however, the county steering committee met to discuss a new resolution: the removal of all books in the library that could possibly violate the Murfreesboro ordinance. The fiery meeting featured multiple board members stating that they had the right to “enforce community standards” and ban books.
Local activist Keri Lambert pointed out that city was already being sued over the ordinance. Now you want to double down and invite another? she asked, exasperated?
“Do you know now that if you’re under 18 you can’t access history books?” How does a 16-year-old study for the SAT?
“When in the history of the world have the people banning books been the good guys?”
East of Tennessee
“Democrats yesterday continued to perform better at the polls than in the polls,” wrote Ron Brownstein on Wednesday. It was also true in North Carolina.
We had no statewide contests in North Carolina on Tuesday. Still, Democrats fared better here as well in the mostly nonpartisan local races (WRAL):
Democrats swept the mayor’s race and council seats in Huntersville, in Republican-leaning northern Mecklenburg County — the first time that’s ever happened, according to Catawba College political scientist Michael Bitzer.
[…]
Democrats also won all the open seats in New Hanover County, which is politically nearly evenly divided. They won the mayor’s race in High Point, a seat that’s been held by a Republican for many years. They even swept the town councils in Cooleemee, a tiny town in Davie County, and in Mars Hill and Marshall in Madison County, all typically Republican areas.
Democrats have not engaged much in local races in recent cycles, but longtime Democratic strategist Gary Pearce says that’s changing under new party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton. He credits her for the wins.
“She had made a big thing when she came in about wanting to compete in municipal races,” Pearce said. “Some Democrats were afraid that would take the focus off the 2024 election, but she proved them wrong.”
Watch that space.
Oh, that guy in the White House? Still getting shit done:
The White House announced this week a historic investment in American passenger rail services, advancing the plan put forth in Biden’s signature Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will provide billions of dollars for modernizations in Amtrak’s northeast corridor. The new projects are expected to create over 100,000 new construction jobs.
The law will provide $16.4 billion in new funding for 25 passenger rail projects from Boston to Washington, D.C. The investments will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and, advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays.
Joe knows something about Amtrak, I hear.
(h/t KM for the graphic)