Illinois Bans Book Bans

Public and school libraries are protected from pressure to remove or restrict access to books based on “partisan or doctrinal disapproval” in legislation signed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) Monday. There were 67 attempts to have books removed from library shelves in Illinois, including books about LGBTQ+ youth, the Black experience and racisim, Pritzker said in a ceremony to sign state House Bill 2789 held at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, The News-Gazette of Champaign reports.

HB 2789 makes it the policy of Illinois to “encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials.”

Book bans are at the center of the Culture War dividing the U.S. According to The Hustings’ first report from Stacker, book ban efforts reached record levels in 2022. Scroll down from the trackbar on the far right to read the story.

Whether you come to this issue from the right or left, we encourage you to go to the Comment section in this column or in the right column to voice your opinion. Or email editors@thehustings.news and indicate in the subject line whether you lean liberal or conservative.

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Too Loud to be a Dog Whistle

The pertinent quote from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) attacking Democrats for being weak on crime, at Donald J. Trump’s Minden, Nevada rally Saturday night: Democrats “want crime because they want to take over what you’ve got. They want reparations because they think that the people who do the crime are owed that.”

No subtlety there by the former Auburn University head football coach. The NAACP defines reparations, according to Newsweek, as “a financial recompense for African-Americans whose ancestors were slaves and lived through the Jim Crow era.”

Certainly leaders in the party of Lincoln were quick to condemn Tuberville’s remarks, right?

“I’m not saying he’s being racist. But I wouldn’t use that language, be more polite,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told NBC News’ Meet the Press (per The Hill). “But the fact is we can’t ignore we have a 40 to 50% violent crime increase.”

Comments: Are Tuberville’s (and Bacon’s) comments simply another example of the racism surrounding the ex-president and his followers, this time just over-the-line blatant? We want to hear from you on this issue – especially if you lean right, and whether you are a never-Trumper or pro-MAGA. Go to the Comment box below (if you lean left, please use the comment box in the left column). Or email editors@thehustings.news.

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Pence Attempts to Overtake Debate Rules, but Harris Drives Home the Democratic Message

By Michelle Naranjo

The debate between Vice President Pence and Senator Harris in Salt Lake City was distinctive for many reasons. Both are the running mates to the oldest presidential candidates in history. Separated by protective plastic panels designed to provide a COVID-safe distance, Harris, and Pence remained seated, instead of standing per the usual.

But these contrasts were the least notable aspects of Utah.

What became clear is that the traditional debate format voters have long expected has dissolved into a spectacle and proved itself outdated. Sure, this disruptive format has been coming for several election cycles now, but the structure in which candidates respect the debate rules while making their political distinctions clear has dissolved into a chaotic rumble.

A friend wondered pre-debate if we would see the politician-side of Harris or the fighter version.

What we got was a well-prepared, self-assured candidate who wasn’t about to allow her opponent to walk over her words, dismiss her professional record, or steal her appointed speaking times. And, while she brought her politician side to the dais, she also began with a statement that was an apparent slight to Pence, the czar of COVID-19, without being a direct, personal attack.

Harris set the fighting words tone in her response to moderator Susan Page’s opening question about the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. She declared it ”the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.”

What followed was Pence never directly answering any of Page’s remaining questions. Instead, he repeatedly spoke over both Harris and the moderator. Would this have been Candidate Pence speaking for any other election and not one led by Trump, he might have been perceived as extremely inconsiderate and even dishonest. But Pence’s slights failed to faze the former prosecutor, who drove home the Biden/Harris platform of raising up all Americans. She confidently topped off her arguments with the expert voice of a woman acclimated to facing male authority that talks over and steals her air time.

It is 2020. Racism, women’s rights, the economy, and the ever-present pandemic are at the forefront of this presidential election. Harris showed what led Biden to choose her as a running mate who can speak with confidence to all of these issues -- and even have a plan to address them.

Pence brought a fly.

Naranjo is a freelance writer based in rural Pennsylvania.

Please address your comments to editors@thehustings.news

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