I dunno why it crossed my mind. Perhaps its was this whole Weinergate bullshit Breitbart cooked up, perhaps it is the lying about minority groups thing, perhaps its the fact that the man targeted an innocent organization who did nothing wrong besides get caught up in a fucked up trap set up by right wing shills and hacks, perhaps I was a little grouchy for having to wait an hour in a Borders while my fiancee met with her biology "ecology project" group, but when I saw Andrew Breitbart's new book "Righteous Indignation" in the non-fiction section, it got my dander up.
Normally I am a mild mannered type guy who doesn't like to make a lot of trouble. I am not one to march up to a cashier and become visibly angry, I am not the type of guy who creates trouble for those who have a hard enough job already. But I couldn't believe that this serial liar is being taken seriously enough to have a book in the non-fiction section. I know, its not a big deal, someone probably stuck it in the non-fiction section because its a book about politics in the United States, and all such books get categorized in that fashion. Look, I completely understand that, but I have a real problem with Breitbart being labeled "non-fiction". His entire career is fiction. His entire body of work is fabricated. How can anyone take him seriously? In a "non-fiction" type fashion?
So...I decided to fix the egregious mistake made by whomever decided to stick this book of lies into a genre that is supposed to represent factual and truthful statements. I stuck the five or so books I found at the front of the store in the "Fantasy" section. Because that is what his body of work represents - a fabricated fantasy out of the crazy minds of the right wing, where good organizations whose purpose includes signing up otherwise disenfranchised and downtrodden people to participate in our most time honored and cherished tradition, voting, are castigated as safe-havens for "prostitutes". Where the skill of "creative editing" is taught and celebrated, and attacks on decent, hard working people are cheered on by callous, uncaring dolts. Where context goes to die. "Fantasy" represents everything that Breitbart & Co do, everything they are. So I thought the his "book" belonged there.
Whatever it is, it doesn't belong in the "non-fiction" section. Neither does Glen Beck, Bill-O the Clown, Hannity, Limbaugh, and all the other idiots, shills and twits out there. None of them belong in the "non-fiction" section, because the right wing is invested in creating their own reality -- their own "fiction" -- which they foist onto us and expect us all to believe. If we don't believe, or challenge their creative revisions, we get attacked, we get smeared, we get lied about, we get "creatively edited", our social networking accounts get hacked and all of a sudden a penis pick shows up on yfrog. All because we reject the shit that they write and call "reality"
Well guess what, no more. I am fighting back against this shit. I know, so what, I moved a book, but more than that: I voiced an opinion. It wasn't a message for anyone else but me, an act of rebellion against the idiocy. If someone happens to get it and get a chuckle out of it -- awesome. If no one notices and the books have been moved back in the morning -- I'll accept that too. But I won't stand idly by and accept that his books are "non-fiction". They aren't. They are lies.
Quick Update:
Yes, I understand I made some work for a book clerk. I am sorry to whomever that clerk is. You do not get paid enough, your employer most likely treats you like crap, and I added nothing but an annoyance to your day. For that I sincerely apologize. I have been on the other end of people being slobs -- having to work at a KFC will quickly teach you about the true nature of a human being.
That being said, I wasn't really thinking about the Unnamed Book Clerk when I re-shelved Breitbart's piece of shit book. I was frustrated and impatient, and just wanted to vent. I had been wandering Borders for an hour, and they kept calling out to me. So I moved them.
Another Quick Update:
There were more than 5 copies up at the front of the store in the section labeled "non-fiction". There were more in the regular "non-fiction" section. I wasn't preventing anyone from finding the book, more of making a statement on where the books should belong. I reread my diary and it does kind of give the impression that those were the only 5 copies in the store. Sorry about that.