Craig Licciardi

I know people are entitled to their opinions, and they don’t have to line up with reality. People are easily deceived when they’re not grounded in truth. Opinions are sometimes like certain body parts – we all have them and quite often they stink.

Such is the case with the laughably erroneous mischaracterizations of the activities of a certain group of concerned taxpaying citizens regarding taxpayer-funded X-rated books in the library, available to children. I will address just two of the many sadly mistaken notions presented in an opinion piece published in the Oct. 20 edition of the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

First, regarding those who oppose pornographic sexualization of children, the author states, “They seem to lack the maturity to accept the hardest but most fundamental truth about parenting: we cannot choose who our children will become.” Unfortunately for the author’s children, the author seems to lack the maturity to realize that her job as a mother is exactly that – to help guide children into who they ought to become. Allowing children to be exposed to pornographic content is child abuse.

Second, she asserts that, “The debate over banning books is divisive.” If the discussion were about banning books, that would be an accurate assertion. However, she is either 1) ignorant of the definition of “banning” or 2) she is intentionally being mendacious by putting forth such a spurious argument.

I have been in the thick of this issue for two years. Not once has anyone offered a serious suggestion that the authors of this prurient diabolical gutter trash be forcibly restricted from conjuring up whatever fetid, violent, incestuous, sexually perverse vomit they choose to plaster across the pages. Not once has anyone offered a serious suggestion that publishing companies ought to be fined, or closed, or forcibly prevented from producing these graphic instructions on how to perform oral sex, anal sex, normal sex, masturbation, how to rape little girls to prove one’s manhood, how to murder their sex abuse victims to cover one’s crimes, how to get high on drugs and be as much of a promiscuous whore as one wants, among other salacious and debauched perversion.

None of that is technically illegal to imagine, write, or publish. When people wipe their rectums with their conscience, and flush it down the toilet, the empty vacuum left is easily filled with the stubborn depravity we see. That said, just because there isn’t an affirmative restriction in the law from producing it doesn’t mean it’s right to do so.

Oh wait. There are legal statutes criminalizing the intentional dissemination of obscene and pornographic content to children. If a regular citizen were to hand these books to a child, for example at a park, there is a very clear and compelling case for criminal prosecution. But when a library does it, it’s “educational” and suddenly it’s OK.

Since we can’t prevent the degenerate from spewing hypersexualized and pornographic puke onto pages, we’re left with option of asking nicely if the fine people at our Tyler Public Library would be so kind as to reshelve this content where children at least have to climb stairs before accessing it.

What people in my camp desire is that the adults in the room act like adults, instead of pedophilic groomers intentionally raping the minds and stealing the innocence of children, and put the books in the part of the library intended for “mature adult” content.

Of course, “mature adult” is an absurdly laughable misnomer, but that’s a topic for another discussion.