... I've been waiting a month to say this (I dedicated all the Saturdays in April to raves instead of rants -- which had its place, but made me bite my tongue for over 30 days on this one).
I am PROUD to have gotten a liberal arts education from Lebanon Valley College, located in Annville PA (next to Lebanon, which I consider to be my hometown, despite the fact that I've been domiciled in Bethel, Elverson, Fredericksburg, Jonestown, Schuylkill Haven, Cologne, Uniontown, Harrisburg and Chicago during my 40 years). [And in this partisan political year, that's "liberal arts" as a concept of a post-graduate education that provides "chiefly general knowledge ... and general intellectual capacities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills" {courtesy of the online Merriam-Webster dictionary}instead of something that might get me mocked on Fox News.]
And I am SHOCKED to hear that said town of Annville is now known as the place where the school library bans books. The book in question? The Dirty Cowboy. The reason? The school board voted 8-0 to remove it after a parent complained about the illustrations that were in it. Those illustrations? They're of a dirty cowboy who strips naked to take a bath while his dog holds on to his clothes (and the comic twist -- apparently the dog won't give the clothes back to the cowboy, because he doesn't recognize him once he's clean) -- and although the cowboy is "naked" in the illustrations, all of his bits and pieces are artfully covered.
[You be the judge -- the pictures are found at the link below.]
Since this is a bit controversial, I'll provide my final thoughts in varying degrees:
MY FINAL LIGHT-HEARTED THOUGHTS: This controversy could all pass and even make complete sense to me, if the family that complained came forward and it was headed by Tobias Funke (he who suffers from the "never-nude" syndrome, and who always wears denim shorts under his underwear [and a tube sock under those denim shorts] -- even in the shower). Full disclosure: if you're not a fan of Arrested Development, this paragraph will make even less sense than the others might.
MY FINAL MODERATE THOUGHTS: If only I knew the name of the parents that complained. Since most of the illustrations in question cover up the ass crack area [tangent: Happy Super Moon tonight!], I would gum up their plumbing and send in plumber after plumber to expose the lowest part of his backside to their children while making repairs as a form of revenge.
MY FINAL EXTREME THOUGHTS: 79 years ago this week, another book banning initiative reached its frenzy -- as Nazis rallied around book bonfires in Berlin and other German cities of items they declared to be "un-German" -- a conflagration of hatred and ignorance and evil that took millions of lives to douse. Too far, you say? A conflagration starts with one small spark -- it has to start somewhere (might it be in Annville)?! Silence over censorship can have disastrous results.
Support the reinstatement of the Dirty Cowboy! Sign this e-petition here: http://anncle2012.epetitions.net/
THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN QUESTION:
http://us.macmillan.com/flickr/index.html#65410188@N06&set=72157629145914377
THE CONTROVERSY EXPLAINED:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/04/nancy_eshelman_banned_book.html
MAY 10 1933's BOOK BURNINGS IN NAZI GERMANY:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005852
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