Ben Baker whines about overwhelmingly negative response to his library bill

Ben Baker's whining again.

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with a local politician whining, especially when he is as good at it as Ben Baker, who has developed his responses to any criticism at all into a fine whine for the ages.

His latest display of Charlie Brown Syndrome (why's everybody always picking on me) came after the Turner Report publicized a bill the Neosho Republican filed last week in the Missouri House of Representatives calling for special parental oversight committees to be mandated at public libraries to determine what materials are appropriate for children.

Under Baker's bill, HB 2044, the committee would be selected by those who attend a public meeting and its decisions could not be reversed by publicly elected library boards or by boards appointed by publicly elected officials.







The bill also calls for fines and/or possible imprisonment for librarians or employees who violate its provisions.

Since the Turner Report posted information about the bill and a link to it, local television stations have reported on it and on Tuesday, this latest legislation from the pride of Newton County achieved national recognition in the Washington Post.

The response to Baker's bill, both locally and nationally, has been mostly been negative and comes from people who have the ability to put two and two together and have it add up to four.




So poor, put upon Ben Baker, who cannot understand why people would not love a bill that was created after he consulted with his most valued constituents during a meeting in front of his mirror, responded on Facebook:

The hypocrisy of the left astounds me. I introduce a bill allowing local parental oversight of sexual content and events at libraries available to minors. The media go crazy and falsely claim I want to ban books and censor literature. I get called a Nazi and a fascist pig (and other names I can’t mention here) for trying to protect our children. Another State Rep introduces a bill to MANDATE LGBTQ curriculum in our public schools and the media loves it and thinks it’s a great idea. Unbelievable.

Baker linked to an article about a bill proposed by Rep. Martha Stevens, D-Columbia.

And I will admit, I see Baker's point.

If a Columbia Democrat is allowed to propose a crackpot bill, then why can't Ben Baker?

We don't need a mandated curriculum about LGBT history any more than we need the elective Bible classes proposed in bills Baker has filed during his first two years in the legislature.

I am not going to compare Ben Baker to a Nazi or call him a Fascist pig. I will simply point out that these committees consisting of like-minded individuals could make the same decisions made in school districts and in public libraries across the United States- decisions that have removed books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Harry Potter series from the shelves.

In other words, any small group of people can make sure they attend one public meeting and wrest control of decisions on all material that will be made available to children. That could be material about sex, it could be material like Huckleberry Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird that have the use of a racial epithet that is not used in polite society or it could be materials that offer positive stories about Christianity.

It all depends on who shows up for that one meeting.

I will concede that the left is irrevocably opposed to Ben Baker's library legislation, using Ben Baker's definition of the left, which is anyone who disagrees with Ben Baker.

And if that's the case, a lot of people on the right are on the left.