In a move that should surprise absolutely nobody, Republicans in the Un-Free State of Florida are now realizing that they “may have gone too far” by trying to tell people what they can and can’t read, according to an article in Politico. As a reminder:
Florida’s Legislature in 2023 expanded education transparency laws by requiring books considered pornographic, harmful to minors or that depict sexual activity to be pulled from shelves within five days and remain out of circulation for the duration of any challenge. If school officials deem a book inappropriate, it can be permanently removed from circulation or restricted to certain grade levels.
This led to a frenzy of book banning in the state, more than any other state, with more than 1,400 books banned in the state so far, including well-known titles like Ernest Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “And Tango Makes Three,” a popular children’s book about a penguin family with two dads. Books with LGBTQ+ characters and content are the top books being banned, which is ironic since the state’s book-banning craze is being fueled by Moms for Liberty, a group co-founded by a Florida woman, Bridget Ziegler, who likes to engage in bisexual threesomes (not that there’s anything wrong with doing that, but the hypocrisy burns).
Anyhoo, Florida Republicans’ fascist book-banning craze has led to a national backlash. Even wingnut Bill O’Reilly has criticized the state’s book-banning law after school officials in Escambia County (that’s in the conservative Panhandle region) removed two of his books — Killing Jesus: A History” and “Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency” — pending a review for possible sexual conduct. LOL, gotta love that karma.
O’Reilly told Newsweek he implored the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis to take action because the policy is “far too nebulous in Tallahassee” and needs to be “tightened up.”
Sooo, in a first sign that they realized they’ve messed up here, Florida Republicans aren’t moving to reverse the book-banning law, just slow things down. You see, they still don’t really have a problem with a handful of wingnuts in the state deciding what others in the state can read, it’s just that the wingnuts have gotten carried away and created “a logistical nightmare” according to some Republican lawmakers. So their weak-tea response is to introduce a new law that authorizes local districts to collect a $100 fee for each book objection that comes from anyone without a student in the district. The fee would kick in only after the complainant challenged five books and the money must be returned if the objection is ultimately withheld.
Frankly, I can’t see this helping much at all, and it will just add to school districts’ logistical burden. But it’s interesting to see that even in Florida there are still some limits to what DeSantis and his fascist Republican minions can get away with. Florida Republican’s book banning campaign is a component of an anti-woke overreach by DeSantis that I believe is part of the reason why he’s flailing right now in his GOP presidential primary campaign.