Put Some Wheels on Those Goalposts

Listening to the Clean Up Samels (CUS) speakers during the public comment portion of the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday night was like playing Book Banners Bingo. “Pornography” — cover a space.“Elites” — cover a space. “Marxists” — cover a space. “No taxation without representation” — cover a space. Y’all really should have mixed it up a little so it wasn’t so obviously scripted and coached.

Somebody put some wheels on those goalposts because they are moved so often they’re gonna wear a trench in the ground. First, it was “remove the pornography” — not a problem, since there isn’t any actual pornography in the children’s section, or even in the adult’s section, of the library. Next, it was all about “saving the taxpayer” from having their money spent on books the CUS/CSL doesn’t like (never mind the tens of thousands they have cost the county and library in administrative time with this nonsense). When that didn’t gain traction, they attacked the library’s budget, successfully demanding that the board withhold funding from the library. But now it’s, “No, no, we never wanted the library defunded, we just want control over what the library has in it.”

A hostile takeover, in other words.

Anybody who is interested in the actual facts of what has transpired in this hostile takeover effort of your local public library should visit the Save Samuels website. I found it very enlightening. They bring the receipts.

And let me just close with some thoughts on this new “No taxation without representation” hobby horse CUS is riding. Breaking news! They have representation. It’s called the Board of Supervisors. But guess what? The rest of us have representation too. It’s called the Board of Supervisors. I said it in a previous submission, and I’ll say it again — a fanatical few do not represent the views of the moderate majority in Warren County. And the moderate majority doesn’t want a handful of citizens deciding what we or our children check out at the library.

L.A. Kelly
Warren County, Virginia