Greene Embarrasses Herself at Hearing; DeSantis Tries to Out-MAGA Trump: A Closer Look...
Seth takes a closer look at Trump and DeSantis competing to see who can be more extreme on culture war nonsense in their appeals to the MAGA base and Marjorie Taylor Greene claiming elementary schools are spending billions on critical race theory...
A QUOTE F.T.C. - "The book banning is by far the most horrendous thing Desantis has done. I grew up on books. My parents once freaked out because I went out to "play" as a child and they couldnt find me for hours. Truth is, I'd walked myself to the library, sat there and read through the new Animorphs.
I also read about many subjects well before I'd been exposed to them in other ways. Because I was allowed to read whatever I wanted pretty much, when I was 11 and bored and stuck at my aunts I found her copy of romance novels. I picked one up and read it, including a scene in which the heroine is raped. I had no concept of rape, but I have to say, of all the ways to be exposed this had to be easily the least scarring. I knew it was wrong, obviously, because it hurt the main character, and I felt bad for her. I had questions, but over all I came out of it knowing that rape was a crime, that people who are raped deserved empathy, and that you should never, ever force someone to "love" you (I was 11).
Of course, that's exactly WHY Desantis takes such issue with books. They can introduce you to new subjects, good or bad, and help teach you empathy and morals. Not only that, but critical thinking skills are strengthened by reading. How dare they have books with gay characters that may cause children to empathize with LGBTQ individuals! How dare they nuture a child's ability to think critiyally and form their own opinions, their own moral compass!? These things can't be allowed!
Chuldren should have access to all sorts of books, even ones we disagree with. Yes, some should come with context, but thats what annotations and classes are for, but we do far more damage to children when we "protect" them from books than we do good."