Posted on 05/30/2002 10:01:19 AM PDT by KMC1
How many traumatized children will it take? Evidently this is the question that the politicos in charge are willing to ask.
Chicago has long been thought of as a classic political machine kind of town. Elected officials weighing the potential damage a specific set of circumstances or scenarios will exact before they are forced to make their change. For Mayor Daley of Chicago and his library commissioner Mary Dempsey the conflict here is becoming increasingly apparent. Chicago is the national home for the nationally acclaimed "Pedophiles are us" organization, otherwise known as, the American Library Association. The ALA is committed nationally to the myth that filters somehow damage free speech.
In Chicago, the Harold Washington library in downtown has refused to subscribe to the print publications Hustler or Penthouse magazines. These publications do not reflect the standards of decency for public consumption. Reasonable people understand this. Reasonable people do not understand how or why the library commissioner does not see the on-line version of these publications as being equally indecent.
Sources from within the Chicago Public Library system have reported, from many of its 78 branch locations, the public discomfort from patrons observing men masturbating in computer areas of the library while viewing, "mayor sanctioned" porn. Women who work in the CPL feel intimidated to confront such behavior. Women and children in public libraries nationwide have reported sexual assault, in much higher percentages in libraries who have no filtering system in place.
Last Sunday close to 3,000 protestors rallied and marched on the Harold Washington Library. Considering it to be a holiday weekend, these numbers may have looked small, but make no mistake about it, the will of those attending is resolute. Building a coalition that may be the most diverse - yet unified, that any political movement has ever brought together including, black evangelicals, pro-family civic groups, conservative former candidate for governor Pat O'Malley, the chairman of Operation Push, Concerned Women for America, and two of Chicago's most respected African American pastors James Meeks, Salem Baptist Church, and Bishop Larry Trotter, who oversees 118 congregations. These diverse yet unified voices, made it crystal clear that political prices will be paid by the mayor, if movement on this issue is not tended to.
Evidently, the mayor misunderstood.
Instead of acting quickly and making the phone call that would begin the initiation of getting filters on the computers, the mayor's lobbyists, as well as the commissioner's headed to the state legislature on Tuesday to lobby the Black Caucus for support of their position. Did you get that?
The mayor, of the city of Chicago, is using tax-paid lobbyists, to actively pursue the rights of pedophiles to view porn and endanger kids? Why? Is this the definition of political suicide? Why would a mayor lobby on behalf of pedophiles? Why would he use your tax dollars to do it? Why would any elected official ever want to lobby on behalf of those who would hurt your children?
Bishop Trotter responded Tuesday afternoon by saying it was like, "a slap in the face". Mayor Daley has long been dependent on the African American church to accomplish things on behalf of his agenda. Now the mayor is inching - well maybe sprinting - towards all out war with reasonable people who just want their libraries to be safe havens of study for their kids.
Bishop Trotter presides over roughly 142,000 church members in the Chicago area. Pastor Meeks serves a congregation of 15,000 members. AM 1160 WYLL broadcasts to seven states and parts of southern Canada. When the Bishop talks about multiplying the efforts of the protestors by ten times for the next rally - he certainly has the firepower to do it. The question is, will he need to?
Pastor Meeks turned to me as the March was just beginning and said "Kevin, the sad thing about this, is that the mayor could make one phone call and end it today." Everyone knows Meeks is right, even the pro-pedophile Mary Dempsey.
Wanna make a difference? Call the Mayor of Chicago - 312.744.3300. Call Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey - 312.747.4999. Still not satisfied, go to www.wyll.com, find out when the next rally is, then catch a cab, board a bus, hop a plane, or just drive a car, meet us at city hall, and help us do what the mayor should be doing, taking a stand to keep our kids safe from sexually aroused pedophiles in our havens of higher study!
Contact Kevin McCullough: kmc@wyll.com
Was the rumor that he was a "Friend of Dorothy" who had weekends on Lake Traverse with Joe Bernadin?
I thought justice was blind-- even color-blind. I can't remember-- do HATE crimes really exist in law, or was it all just a bad dream? Hard core and porn on the internet ought to be considered a HATE crime, because it really has nothing to do with sex (speech)-- but a lot to do with hate and violence (the product or result). Right? You know, like rape-- it's not about the sex, it's about the feeling of POWER and making other people feel powerless. Taking a more liberal point of view can be so much more refreshing-- Has anyone ever tried that one on the Supremes? Public libraries could swear to help prevent hate crimes-- you know, like the rest of us swore to look out for terrorists. :-)
And not a bad guy for going to jail for not paying taxes.
Clever idea. But again, nobody is saying that that foul stuff can't be posted on the internet (an abridgement of free speech). But no one should be forced to be a consumer of it (which has nothing to do with free speech). A town library (representing the townspeople) does not have to feel compelled to consume disgusting free speech. I believe the Supreme Court will easily see this.
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