Editor’s note: This is an unusually long post but it illustrates the length to which some will go to undermine the First Amendment. Proponents of censorship claim they only want to remove “objectionable material” from libraries but where is the line to be drawn? Who determines objectionability? Who gets to dictate some vague moral code for the rest of us? The bottom line here is control. Please read all the way to the end.
Mayor Martin Behrman, mayor of New Orleans for 18 years, once famously said of the federal crackdown on prostitution in the Storyville section of the city, “You can make it illegal but you can’t make it unpopular.”
This no effort to lobby for legalized prostitution, but the good mayor’s utterance succinctly summarizes the assertion that you can’t legislate morality. If you could a lot of politicians, especially inside the Beltway of Washington, would be out on their ears, a certain former president included. Oh, hell, let’s just say it: at least a dozen former presidents – Republicans and Democrats alike.
But let’s bring that argument down to the local level. We have legislatures in several states like Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana who, in their desperation to appeal to the vocal minority affectionately called evangelicals, are doing their dead-level best to dictate their own moral code – or at least a moral code that they’ve plagiarized for their own political perpetuation.
Yes, I know that plagiarize is a strong term, but when you’re examining the motives of those who are incapable of thinking for themselves, those who must take direction from more assertive individuals, when originality has taken leave, then plagiarism is the most fitting noun I can call to mind.
pla·gia·rism
noun
- the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.
Take the sudden interest in parishes throughout Louisiana in the content being offered in our public libraries. Do you really think it’s a coincidence that the issue suddenly erupted in Lafayette, Livingston, Caddo, Bossier, St. Tammany and other parishes simultaneously and without any outside influence? Do you actually think that local politicians just overnight discovered the existence of so-called “objectionable” material in our public libraries?
Take for instance, one David Cougle, the gunslinging councilman from St. Tammany’s District 9. He claims it was out of self-defense that he toted a concealed, loaded weapon into a parish council meeting last month on the advice of the council chairman but without bothering to actually research the actual law on the books which said it was illegal to carry a weapon into a parish building.
He attributed his actions to fear of threats he received over his stand against “sexually explicit” materials available in “our taxpayer-funded library system.” He said in an open letter to his constituents that the matter of protecting children from those materials has been one of his main issues since 2022.
I wonder what his concerns were before that time and why he only became alarmed two years ago. Could it have been because some person from St. Martinville named Michael Lunsford, representing an outfit called Citizens for a New Louisiana told him he should be campaigning to rid libraries of such trash? Could it be that it took some holier-than-thou, sanctimonious outsider from halfway across the state to remind him that he should be offended?
Here is Cougle’s letter to the voters of his district:
The thing that concerns me about this John Wayne wannabe and all those others who strut their manhood by walking around with a gun hanging from their belts is if something did occur which they perceived to be a threat, a lot of innocent people would die – because for the most part, these macho concealed carriers are not properly trained, have never been in an actual fire fight and would panic in a moment of peril.
That said, let’s return to the Hon. Mr. Cougle. Like the revelation that DJT’s Republican National Committee, Cougle has distributed a litmus test questionnaire for prospective members of the St. Tammany Parish Library Board of Control.
Oh, did I mention that Cougle is leading an effort to remove all the current library board members and replace them with those who share his “concern” for the children. Here is the 12-question survey he is asking all prospective members to complete and return – to him, of course:
St. Tammany Parish Library Board of Control Nominee Questionnaire
Instructions: Please fill out the following questionnaire to the best of your ability. If you have no opinion about a particular question, you can just write, “I have no opinion.” The same questions will be asked of all nominees. For purposes of these questions, the term “sexually explicit” refers to that which is described in La. R.S. 25:225(B)(4).
- Please provide your name, information about your background, why you want to serve as an LBOC member and why you believe that you are qualified to do so.
- The general view is that the library should respect “community standards” in how it purchases and otherwise handles library materials. What do you consider “community standards” for St. Tammany parish?
- What are your thoughts about whether the library’s current policies for acquisition and distribution of sexually explicit and violent materials are representative of St. Tammany community standards?
- Article 5 of the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights states that there should be no age restrictions on any library materials. What are your thoughts about this?
- What do you see as your role as an LBOC member?
- In December of 2023, the Lafayette Library Board of Control passed a resolution in regard to the American Library Association. A copy has been attached to this questionnaire. What are your thoughts about this resolution?
- What do you think about which restrictions, if any, should be placed on sexually explicit materials in order to control access by minors (physically accessing within the library, accessing electronically and through checking materials out to take home)?
- What is the library system’s role in our community?
- Do you believe the library and the LBOC have a responsibility to identify what is sexually explicit in the acquisition and distribution of new materials, or should the burden be on the parent prior to their child accessing materials?
- There has been a lot of controversy over different types of materials in the children’s section in our library system. That being said, historically, we know sometimes appropriate materials still cause controversy. What, if any, materials should be in the children’s section that might be seen as controversial to residents of St. Tammany parish and why?
- Considering the current controversies and the upcoming millage renewal, are there any reforms or changes that you would propose to ensure St. Tammany residents have confidence in their library system and desire to continue funding it?
- What relationship, if any, do you think the St. Tammany Parish library system should have with the American Library Association, EveryLibrary or their affiliates and other organizations outside of the state of Louisiana?
Do you have any other comments
Again, I have to wonder if he came up with this all by himself. Did he originate the idea for this questionnaire? Or, is he again taking his marching orders from someone outside St. Tammany and with no interest in the parish other than to create an issue to instill confusion and resentment among its citizens?
In fact, if Mr. Cougle is so concerned about the children’s welfare and undue influence on their little minds, he might wish to take a look at one book in particular. One passage in the book reads, “She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse.” Elsewhere in that same book, it suggests that infants shall be “dashed in pieces” and pregnant women “shall be ripped up.” It also orders in another chapter that all males are to be killed along with every woman who has slept with a man but that virgins may be taken for yourselves.
Those passages are from, respectively, Ezekiel 23:20, Isaiah 13:16 and Numbers 31:18, in a book we know as the Holy Bible.
Now we wait to see if Cougle, Lunsford and their ilk would suggest removing that publication from our libraries.
People who want to force a moral code on others are scared to death they’ll be revealed as having none of their own or one so weak it can’t resist temptation. Also, the MAGA Fascist party has nothing to offer non-MAGA fascist voters except denial (elections, science, climate, reality, etc.) and so wallows in manufactured culture war hysteria over things that aren’t happening in their communities. Need I even say no child is going to the library for a sneak peek at something they can find quicker and more explicitly on the internet?
Wow. Glad to see that David Cougle has put out a survey that I hope the nominees will answer. That way, the Parish Council as well as the citizens of St. Tammany will be able to take a look at who they should vote for and support. At least we have a Parish Council person who has some real concern for children not to be exposed to sexually explicit material in the Public Libraries.
Thank you Mr. Cougle!!
Concern for children as opposed to say, scoring easy political points. Sure, that’s it.