"Who's going to criticize a veteran's organization" For Destroying Books? Me.
4 Oct 2005, 4:35:13 pm
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The American Veterans in Domestic Defense is cutting up so-called "perverted" books -- as a sensible alternative to burning them, no doubt. The group has no information on their website about the book-destruction planned for Saturday in Montgomery, Ala...but at least they waited until the ALA's Banned Books Week was over. Or maybe that was an oversight; they could have gotten LOTS more media attention by coordinating schedules.
Despite espousing 1st Amendment rights as justification for at least one of their programs, they've picked out 70 books to take out their rage on, since books (not the readers, nor the writers) fit their definition of "domestic enemies." On top of this, they have the utter gaul to hide behind the label of "veteran." This heavily Christian organization, no doubt, isn't all that interested in the Jewish, Hindu, or Muslim veterans (godless heathens!), nor those interested in protecting people's right to free spech and freedom of the press. Oh, and don't get them started on the "unlawful" IRS. I shouldn't criticise too much, though -- "Who's going to criticize a veteran's organization?" Well, me, for one: veterans who fought to protect our freedoms shouldn't be violating them, nor defining what the government (whom they so diligently acted on the behalf of) is or is not doing right.
Books are an easy target: They can't fight back. They are full of words and feelings, yet cannot expound, recant, or explain their intended meanings. They, often, are used to communicate radical forms of thought from one person to another: long after Hitler and Marx had decayed into dust their works are still surpressed throughout the world -- rightly or wrongly. Should they be? No. Parents lead their children, teachers guide their students, society shows its boundaries and expectations....but books are merely the tools used to do so. It's far more difficult to a group of censors in dress blues to challenge teachers and parents to change their ways than it is to cut up a few books in front of the TV cameras in the guise of patriotism.
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