FROM THE PUBLISHER | Thanks for the perspective on book-banning, Commissioner Weixelman

Mr. Weixelman, for those of you unfamiliar with him, is a Pottawatomie County Commissioner. Good guy, occasionally a little cantankerous but clearly in the gig to help the public. Sort of an old-fashioned conservative, watching the pennies but not making some big show about social issues.

He waded into the muck at the St. Marys commission earlier this month, playing the common-sense role, looking for solutions rather than political grandstanding. Along the way, he had the guts to say what needed to be said.

If you want to start banning books that address sin and include nudity and so forth, he said, you’ve got a lot of work to do. Starting, for instance, with the Bible.

“One thing I would like to say,” he continued, “that if you’re concerned about a book that has illicit language, the Holy Bible talks about all kinds of illicit sins that took place. There’s pictures of the Sistine Chapel, women’s breasts were shown. Now, what are you gonna do to tell your kids whenever that comes your way? How are you going to explain that?”

Right, commissioner. Thank you for making the common-sense point.

Do we ban “Huckleberry Finn” because it uses the N-word? Do we ban “The Great Gatsby” because it describes extramarital affairs? Do we need to burn “Catch-22” because of its anti-establishment themes? Michelangelo’s David: Blot out the privates, or take a sledgehammer to it? Protect your kids from violence: Ban Wile E. Coyote!

Gotta cut off all pop music, going back to “Tutti Frutti.” You know what that was about, right? Also, dancing leads to carnal desires, and that’s the tool of Beelzebub! Shut it down! Come to think of it, does St. Marys want to jam the Internet? You don’t think kids can operate a cell phone?

You think that one book is going to introduce the entire subject to your kids, and somehow magically convince one of them to switch genders?

OK, now I’m yammering on, and clearly nobody on that City Council wants to listen to anything I’m saying. But Commissioner Weixelman, they might listen to, thank goodness.

He made one more point, in a plea to find some sort of common ground: “I think in the long run, there’s ways to skin this cat without hurting it,” he said, “and I think everybody could be a part of it. I think you’re trying to build a fence between each entity and there’s no compromise. Compromise has gone out the window many, many years ago. That’s what’s wrong with this country, no compromise.”

Hear hear. Thank you.