State Rep. Alex Riley has a message for any Missourians who thought they were still living in a democracy. It’s a message that can be succinctly conveyed with a simple hand gesture, consisting of just one finger — the middle one.
You see, it has fallen to the Springfield Republican to decide whether to even bother with public hearings about an Orwellian plan to censor public libraries across the state. Never mind that the proposal is a dangerous solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Or that it defames hardworking librarians as a bunch of sleazy porn peddlers. Or that it’s unconstitutional on its face.
And never mind that record numbers of Missouri citizens have already written to the state about it, the majority in opposition.
People are also reading…
Never mind any of that. Riley is going to take his time deciding whether to allow testimony from a Missouri public that is clearly eager to give it, before the Legislature stamps this toxic mess into law.
In other words: Testify on this, Missouri!
At issue is Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s proposed administrative rule to require all public libraries to file documentation with the state outlining the kinds of books they carry, or face loss of state funding. Ashcroft, who is expected to seek the Republican nomination for governor, has said he’s trying to protect children from “prurient” material and porn, even though there’s been no indication that those shifty librarians are trying to foist these things on kids.
Ashcroft’s cynical crusade should be understood in the context of other Republican culture-war tripe like banning nonexistent critical race theory from classrooms and vilifying almost-nonexistent high school transgender athletes. It’s all performative politics, not aimed at addressing actual issues but rather at whipping up ideological anger among the Republican base. That way, they won’t stop and think before they continue giving their votes to a crowd that, on real issues like taxation, labor and health care, pursues policies that kneecap those same voters.
But unlike the lawmakers who propose most of this nonsense, Ashcroft is required to follow a process that includes inviting public written comments about his proposal. That comment period has drawn some 20,000 pages of reaction. That’s apparently a record response, and Ashcroft’s own office admits the majority of those comments oppose his plan.
Yet he’s pressing ahead with it anyway. How’s that for a “Jersey salute”?
The next step is for the proposal to go before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, of which Rep. Riley is chairman. In that position, he has the option of deciding whether to hold public hearings on the proposal before sending it on to the full Legislature.
You would think that with an issue this controversial, one that the public has already strongly indicated (in writing) it believes is urgent, any elected official would recognize his duty to hold public hearings. You would think that would be a no-brainer.
You would be wrong.
“We’re taking a look at that …,” Riley told Post-Dispatch’s Kurt Erickson last week. “There is no timeline I’m going to announce right now.”
Which is to say: I got yer public input right here, pal!
Why the hesitation, when Riley could just call for hearings at will? Perhaps he and others are uncomfortable about having to defend this indefensible scheme to their constituents’ faces? Some of the testimony would likely come from legal experts who would explain how utterly unconstitutional this proposal is. Others might demand real-life, specific examples of porn-peddling by librarians — examples that don’t exist.
The inevitable image of growly right-wing lawmakers raking bookish librarians over the coals about a nonexistent issue probably wouldn’t be a political winner, even with the base. Better to just get on with the censorship.
Riley’s official contact information is at the bottom of this column. Maybe direct appeals from the public to allow hearings on this important issue will sway him and other leaders to stop circling the wagons.
Or maybe not. Say this for Missouri’s ruling Republicans: They’re consistent in not giving a damn about what most Missourians think. Whether the issue is guns or abortion, Medicaid expansion or marijuana, labor rights or the right to read, they cater to an extremist minority. And with one finger, they’re telling the rest of us exactly what we can do with it.
Rep. Alex Riley’s snail-mail address at the Capitol is: Missouri House of Representatives, 201 West Capitol Ave., Room 201-E, Jefferson City, Mo., 65101.
His email is Alex.Riley@house.mo.gov.
His office phone is (573) 751-2210.
Kevin McDermott is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. On Twitter: @kevinmcdermott. Email: kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com
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