Sen. John Kennedy’s recitation of a pair of explicit passages from two books school districts across the country are scrutinizing was the focus of much progressive outcry this week.
The excerpts the Louisiana Republican read from “Gender Queer” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing were assuredly jarring.
“I put some lube on and got him on his knees. And I began to slide into him from behind. I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated.”
“I got a new strap-on harness today. I can’t wait to put it on you. It will fit my favorite dildo perfectly.”
“I can’t wait to have your cock in my mouth. I’m going to give you the blowjob of your life. Then I want you inside of me.”
One witness speaking in favor of the literature no doubt thought himself clever when he conceded to Kennedy that his words were “disturbing — especially coming out of your mouth.”
A surplus of left-wing crusaders piled on, with some clutching their pearls and others opting for mockery.
“Sen. John Kennedy having a very normal one,” jeered Aaron Rupar.
“Didn’t know Sen. John Kennedy was an ally!” scoffed NBC’s Ben Collins.
“The real story here is: the paper is blank, Kennedy’s reciting from memory,” offered Keith Olbermann.
Incredibly, the irony of their revulsion at Kennedy’s performance never dawned on them.
They were both appalled by the words rolling off his tongue and outraged at the thought of schoolchildren losing the opportunity to take in the very same passages.
The cognitive dissonance would have been too much for anyone but the most blindly partisan parrots to handle.
Americans are admirably, instinctually wary of censorship; living in the land of the free under the protection of the First Amendment will have that effect.
But that vigilance against tyranny is sometimes weaponized; such is the case with the left’s book-ban bogeyman.
The American public-education system is meant to provide a trustworthy environment where students can learn and grow.
And everyone agrees there are limits to the range of acceptable ideas that should find their way into our schools.
Take, for example, progressives’ chafing at the idea of pupils in Florida learning about how American slaves developed skills in the face of unimaginable cruelty and hardship.
Their fear, however unreasonable, was that students would take this lesson to mean that slaves benefited from slavery.
Yet this same group, so certain of students’ inability to learn real history without falling to the dark side, is ready to go to the mats to keep the likes of “Gender Queer” in their easy reach.
That may be a defensible position on slippery-slope grounds, but the shrill voices pretending we’ve reached its bottom already are worthy of ridicule.
The New York Times ran a fawning profile about that text, its author and how it became the “most banned book” in the country.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid has compared those engaged in efforts to remove books from libraries to the Nazis and Soviets.
And NBC News lamented that parents objected after a teacher offered a “bestselling LGBTQ-themed book to students.”
Of course, it didn’t cover the content of the nonfiction title, which asserted that “gay men have slightly longer and thicker winkies.”
The examples go on and on and on.
In truth, local school districts exercising control over what is available in their buildings is not exactly the stuff of a “Fahrenheit 451” chapter — it’s democracy at work.
Some efforts to police the literature available to students doubtlessly go too far.
But as progressives’ reaction to Kennedy shows, some do not.
Isaac Schorr is a staff writer at Mediaite.
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