Red-state Republican lawmakers, always looking for new ways to prove what complete assclowns they are, have come up with a new one:
South Carolina lawmakers voted Wednesday to withdraw about $70,000 in funding from two public colleges that included books with gay themes on their freshman reading lists.
The Columbia State reported that state House budget writers took away $17,000 from the University of South Carolina Upstate for teaching “Out Loud: The Best of Rainbow Radio,” a book about the state’s first gay and lesbian radio show. They also withdrew $52,000 from the College of Charleston for teaching “Fun Home,” which describes the author’s growing up with a closeted gay father and her own coming out as a lesbian. Those amounts were based on the amount of money spent on the required-reading books last year.
Yes, “Fun Home,” the graphic memoir by Vermont’s own Alison Bechdel. The book that was a surprise best-seller, was mentioned on numerous lists of the best books of 2006, was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award and multiple Eisner Awards, and, as its Wikipedia entry notes, “has been the subject of numerous academic publications in areas such as biography studies and cultural studies.” And inspired a successful Broadway musical.
That’s the book deemed unworthy of college students’ attention by the literati of the South Carolina legislature.
Assclown-In-Chief Garry Smith, the state representative who pushed for the defunding, said:
“I understand academic freedom, but this is not academic freedom. … This was about promoting one side with no academic debate involved.”
Well, actually, sir, you just proved that you DON’T understand academic freedom. But hey, the dynamics of red-state Repubicanism boil down to this: the bigger ass you make of yourself, the better for your career. If the good citizens of South Carolina ever come to their senses and remove Rep. Smith from office, he can probably get a nice gig commentating for Fox News or, failing that, maybe World Nut Daily or Breitbart’s Corpse.
I’m glad I live in a state that reads books instead of trying to ban them.
This guy doesn’t even get that what he is trying to do is the equivalent of micromanaging lesson plans, at the very least. It might even be viewed in the same light as book-burning.
Somehow I don’t think the good people of SC want their legislature doing those things!
But then again, book-burning might be just the thing to court the crazies.
How about giving the funding back but only if USC adds a Bachelor of Creationism to their curriculum?
As these guys become further and further marginalized by the inevitable winds of change, they come up with some pretty desperate and ugly gestures.
Witness the rebirth of race-baiting.