And, there’s another one. This time it’s a library banning a book. Nudity. Specifically, nude Supreme Court justices.
On one hand, the lack of muscle tone and physical fitness (and, frankly, lack of endowment) is pretty obscene. If we’re going to be subjected to naked men, we want them to look good. On the other hand…it’s a joke. A parody. An example of humor. Presumably the justices themselves figured that one out.
Now, we get the idea of protecting children, but they’ve seen naked bodies. At least we assume all children bathe — though some may avoid the task as long as possible. They’re not going to be looking at naked justices for titillation. The kids probably even get, given the nature of The Daily Show, that the justices didn’t pose for these pictures. Of if they did, you go, judges!
- Mississippi libraries ban ‘Daily Show’ book: Objection to nude depictions of Supreme Court justices
Update: Secret Agent #1 has sent us an update on this story, and the book has been replaced on library shelves:
“There were 12 to 15 people in the audience and most spoke up in defense of the book,” he said. “The board responds to community input and they made that decision.”
He said majority of the messages criticizing the move came from out of state.
“We got some absolutely nasty e-mails and telephone calls that you would not believe,” [Robert] Willits said.
“We were communists and fascists at the same time.”
Now that that’s resolved, we’d like to have a small discussion about free speech. We encourage you to speak up, but, as with all things, use the privilege wisely (not that we have any doubts about our audience, good citizens one and all). If one is writing to protest an action or to discuss something that makes them unhappy, it is often more effective to write (or speak) clearly and concisely. Name calling and personal attacks are not necessary. Disagreement does not have to be accompanied by loud voices or nasty attacks. Let’s save those for talk radio, why don’t we?
