Good Heavenly Days! When Senator John Kennedy (R), the Junior Senator from Louisiana, wants to teach a lesson, he sho’nuff can. He got his chance yesterday in the Senate Judiciary’s Hearing with the deceptive title “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature”. As if Conservative and plain old, concerned parents want to will-nilly ban books. The Senator read passages from two of the books in question. The condescending tones of the panelists told us everything else that we needed to know.

To be clear up front, I am against government banning any book. That’s not what this is all about. There are evil adults with certain proclivities actively working to put porn in children’s libraries. Communities have the right and the duty to ensure that children are protected from predatory adults inculcating children with inappropriate information. Period.

This hearing, chaired by hack Dick Durbin, had a panel of five people:

1. Max Eden
Research Fellow
American Enterprise Institute
Arlington, VA

2. Nicole Neily
President
Parents Defending Education
Arlington, VA

3. Cameron Samuels
Student, Brandeis University
Co-Founder, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas
Katy, TX

4. Emily Knox
Associate Professor
University of Illinois
Bloomington, IL

5. The Honorable Alexi Giannoulias
Secretary of State
State of Illinois
Chicago, IL

Warning! Not Safe For Work (NSFW). Strong language. Keep in mind that while you are diverted by Kennedy’s drawl, he graduated from the University of Virginia Law School and Oxford University. Here is the video of John Kennedy reading these “library” books:

Y’all okay? If you need to call a Deacon from your church, I understand. Did you notice how condescending Secretary Giannoulias was? From Townhall:

“What are you asking us to do? Are you suggesting that only librarians should decide whether the two books that I just referenced should be available to kids? Is that what you’re saying,” the Republican asked Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.
“With all due respect, Senator, the words you spoke are disturbing, especially coming out of your mouth, it’s very disturbing,” Giannoulias responded. “But I would also tell you that we’re not advocating for kids to read porn.

“We are advocating for parents, random parents, not to have the ability under the guise of keeping kids safe to try and challenge the worldview of every single manner on these issues,” Giannoulias continued. “When individual parents are allowed to make a decision of where that line is and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ which involves a rape scene, should that book be pulled from our libraries? I think it becomes a slippery slope.”
While Kennedy agreed with the witnesses that “censorship is bad,” he said the point is about the books he referenced, not “Catcher in the Rye.”
“So tell me what you want, who gets to decide? And all I’ve heard is the librarians. And parents have nothing to do with it. And if that’s your response, what planet did you just parachute in from?” Kennedy said.
“Senator, with all due respect, parents absolutely have a say. My parents were immigrants, came to this country. We never checked out books without our parents seeing what books we’re reading,” Giannoulias replied. “They encouraged us to read books.”

“Random parents”? “..especially coming out of your mouth, it’s very disturbing.” I never checked out book without my parents seeing what I was reading either, but today schools want to trans kids without parental notification, why would parents be allowed to know what books their cherubs are checking out?

Speaking of cherubs, here is Mx Cameron Samuels reading their opening statement:

Cameron Samuels is a student at Brandeis University and graduated high school in Katy, Texas.

They’re working to protect access to books for young people in Texas.

“We must recognize the decisions of individual families do not supersede students' rights to our own education.” pic.twitter.com/FP80OnPICR

— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) September 12, 2023

Cameron is/was/will be able to read any book “they” wish. The government is not banning a book. Cameron is free to buy or borrow books of this type from anywhere but the school library. Censorship IS undemocratic. Parents do not want to censor or ban books. We do not want children indoctrinated with porn. Who is not teaching the full extent of the Holocaust? I want names? If the book Flamer was banned, how did “they” read it? “They” must have found it outside the school library, which means it wasn’t banned. I don’t think the “witnesses” at the hearing understand the concept.

Mr. Giannoulas struck back at John Kennedy in Newsweek:

Giannoulias wrote in a statement to Newsweek that Kennedy’s “stunt” shows that “Republicans know this is a losing issue for them.”
“Instead of defending our fundamental rights as Americans, they attempt to distract and employ shock tactics, claiming anything they don’t like or agree with is pornographic or obscene. As a result, children are the ones who lose out by the political games that Republicans are playing. Our legislation, the first-of-its-kind in the nation, unites and supports librarians while preventing extremists from banning a book they disagree with,” he wrote.

Stunt, huh? Sounds like Giannoulas is a bit embarrassed that he got owned by a “good ole’ boy”. I swanee (Southern for swear). Slow talking and packing a draw does not mean lacking in intellectual capacity. Children won’t lose out if instead of reading “Genderqueer” in middle school, they read “To Kill A Mockingbird” or “Catcher in the Rye”. Although to be honest, I found Catcher not that well written.

I am sorry that John Kennedy had to read that NSFW dreck, but I am grateful he did. He exposed the Left. We need more of that. Our children are not your sexual experiments.

Featured Image: C-Span/Wikimedia Commons/cropped/Public Domain