Report from library rally

I attended today's rally against the Tea Party's war on our libraries. This demonstration took place across from the Campbell County Courthouse in Newport, and it was organized by Occupy Cincinnati and Occupy Campbell County.

We got gobs of support. I can't count all the thumbs-up we got from passersby.

Only 2 people argued with us. A man pulled up and said of the library, "Rely on private donations." Another bloke pulled up and declared, "Libraries aren't supposed to be coming from public funds. They're supposed to be coming from private. You know that, don't you?"

They missed they whole point, they did. It just goes to show that the Tea Party's frivolous lawsuits against local libraries aren't about saving tax dollars. If the Tea Party was interested in saving money, why didn't they go after wasteful government spending like Bush's Iraq War? If they expect the library to have to rely on private funding, why isn't that good enough for right-wing pet projects? Imagine somebody making the following statements...

"Illegal wars aren't supposed to be coming from public funds. They're supposed to be coming from private. You know that, don't you?"

"Bank bailouts aren't supposed to be coming from public funds. They're supposed to be coming from private. You know that, don't you?"

"Salaries for do-nothing members of Congress aren't supposed to be coming from public funds. They're supposed to be coming from private. You know that, don't you?"

I also find it interesting that those who attack the Campbell County Public Library praise the county's broken school system. I've seen them doing this on Facebook. They assail the library for levying a tax that was approved by voters in 1978, but they think it's just fine that the Campbell County Schools were allowed to impose a tax on phone bills without bringing it to a vote. That's because the Campbell County Schools are their favorite public school system, since "they don't take crap off punks." This just drives home the point that the War on Libraries is ideological. I've even seen them advocating that control of the library be turned over to the school district. (I wonder if my expulsion would still be in effect if that happened.)

Later, I plan to post a couple photos from today's rally. There may be more events like this as long as the War on Libraries continues.