Put Meridian libraries to a vote? Yes, to send a message to book-ban culture warriors | Opinion
The Ada County Clerk’s Office approved 93 signatures from residents in the Meridian Library District to put a measure on the ballot asking voters to dissolve the district.
It’s now up to the Ada County commissioners to hold a public hearing and determine whether to put it on the ballot.
I say put it on the ballot and let the voters in Meridian clearly and loudly swat down these so-called “Concerned Citizens of Meridian,” the Facebook group with 200 followers responsible for the petition.
The group’s leader, Phil Reynolds, is a failed candidate who ran for Congress in 2020 in California and lost with just 8% of the vote. He’s been in Idaho for just a couple of years and already knows what’s best for us and wants to close down our libraries.
A ballot measure to dissolve the Meridian Library District would go down in flames, hopefully sending a clear message to this small vocal minority.
They’ve latched onto the nationwide hysteria over what they say is pornography in libraries. People like them got the Nampa school board to foolishly remove 22 books from library shelves, including such great works of literature as Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”
But is it all about “pornography”?
One of the Meridian group’s leaders, Jon Eisfelder, testified at a recent Meridian library board meeting, “We want to protect our kids from the Marxist indoctrination that seems to be sweeping our country.”
Catch that?
That doesn’t sound like he’s talking about pornography. He’s talking about a political ideology. Not only that, he’s talking about a right-wing fever dream that Marxists are trying to destroy the United States. What falls under that umbrella is anything guys like Eisfelder don’t like, which could include diversity, equity, books about systemic racism and gay rights.
When they talk about “sexually explicit content,” they tend to lump any reference to homosexuality in with it. So, for example, if a book contains a gay couple, that’s “sexually explicit content.”
Just take a look at a library ban bill making its way through the Idaho Legislature right now: It includes just “homosexuality” as a determinant for obscenity. It’s clear what their motives are: Back in that closet.
Keep in mind, too, that this is the same group that wanted to ban “The Adventures of Captain Underpants.” If there’s any indication how far these folks will go, banning a harmless kids’ cartoon book says it all.
As tends to be the modus operandi with these folks, if a board makes a decision that they don’t like, they shout “taxation without representation.”
No, board members heard you, they listened and then they made their decision, which you don’t like. The Meridian Library board members were duly elected by the people to represent them and make decisions, whether you agree with those decisions or not.
Go try to get your book-banning candidate elected in the next election. But don’t burn down the whole library district.
Frankly, it’s kind of surprising that the Facebook group was able to come up with 93 signatures to get this on the ballot.
If this does make it to the ballot, the measure likely won’t get many more votes than that.
Then we’ll finally have a true measure of support for the library district, and maybe the “Concerned Citizens of Meridian” can lick their wounds and finally put an end to their cockamamie culture war.
