Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken recently had some good advice to the legislators who will be meeting in January to focus on actually governing. Instead of devoting their time to expanding the nanny state:
When responding to a question about one thing the city as the whole would want from the state Legislature in the next upcoming session, TenHaken said he’d like to see state lawmakers stay out of “culture war issues.”
and..
“We’re in a divisive time right now. Politics is gross and people are mad,” TenHaken said. “How do we put just put some of that anger aside, culture issues aside, what’s the basic tackling and blocking we have to do to keep up with a city growing 5-6,000 people year. Keeping a couple books out of our library is not high on our priority list.”
Read the entire story here at KELOland.com
That might be some of the best advice I’ve heard in a while.
Is the Mayor on their Blacklist? Sound pragmatic advice will most likely fall on deaf Wackadoodle ears
so anyway, related to tenhaken’s comments – i was browsing my email a few days ago, and i saw substack moved me from a thing i signed up for, over to this blog called “south dakota voices.” in fact they were proud to have done it, and told me so.
this “south dakota voices” column bravely declared “the ‘give me your money’ era is over!” and took tenhaken and others to task for deigning to exercise their office-granted responsibility to govern, and decide issues, in favor of the writers’ own populist wisdom and frugality.
according to the email, “south dakota voices” is headquartered in an office somewhere in san francisco california. (South Dakota Voices, 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104.) it’s probably in the cubicle next to “new hampshire voices,” and around the corner from “rhode island voices.” with a little rewriting, any “south dakota voices” piece could easily be a “wyoming voices” screed. just pour in 10 percent more populizm-y crazy juice.
you are free to have any opinion you want on taxes, and tenhaken, and dusty, and former governor rounds, and pipelines, and whatever – – just be clear on whether your anger is from something real, or something whipped up by a smart young hacktivist seven states away. or by john dale.
half the anonymous posts in this thread could have come out of that building too for all we know.
Does the admonition go both ways: less focus on putting in controversial books AND taking out controversial books?
Or is it just one side that has to submit?
Ah yes because Anne Franks diary and 1984 are newly published. 🙄
And you wonder why people are sick of you people and your smug arrogant elitism?
Read what I said. Does it go both ways? Can we agree there should be a more thoughtful canon for what is appropriate in schools that considers what certain themes might do to less developed minds and emotions?
Librarians are not child psychologists or social scientists or parents. As great a book as the Diary of Anne Frank is, it isn’t appropriate in an elementary library (not suggesting it is in elementary library but your statement inferred it was always appropriate), especially in light of the prevalence of the breadth of mental and emotional challenges and anxieties being experienced by our young people.
We have lots of teen mental illness and certain literary themes feed unhealthy ideations which at minimum puts some books where higher up approvals are required. You wouldn’t be so flip if you worked with children or teens suffering from certain mental or emotional challenges.
PS. This is the same reason we have to have thoughtful controls and protocols regarding internet and social media access before adulthood. We need to have as much concern for the unwell and challenged youth as we do for those who are well and able to discern certain themes in context. If we treat this issue as a political and culture war matter, we once again throw children and teens under the bus.
Calling this guy a smug arrogant elite is so MAGA 2024. Call them all the names you want, it doesn’t change REALITY, you are trying to ban the books that paint capitalism, free thought, and freedom in a positive light because it goes against your theocratic autocratic desires. It isn’t for you to decide if the diary of Anne Frank is appropriate for someone else. What makes MAGA people feel they need to dictate the lives of other people so much? If a guy wants to dress up as a girl, it doesn’t affect you, or those imaginary kids you are trying to protect. The point of us coming together and working as a society is not to control each other and fill up your new shiny billion dollar prisons.
OK, I won’t call you smug and elite but you certainly shouldn’t call me MAGA. I couldn’t care less what adults consume from what source or medium.
However, not all content is appropriate for general consumption by all non-adults. Your reckless disregard for the mental challenges and capabilities of under developed minds or those suffering emotional or other mental illness issues is deplorable. These are not imaginary kids and just because you don’t care about them, I do.
Frankly, whether it be the extremists who take simplistic attitudes toward banning books or the extremists like as demonstrated by your above screed, you both part of the problem. Our children and young adults (both healthy and those suffering with a challenge) need and deserve thoughtful consideration and protection from content in libraries, television, on social media or on the internet which is beyond their capacity to process because of their age or emotional/mental condition.
So, upon reflection, you are not only smug and arrogant but you are also cold-blooded and indifferent to vulnerable others.
I read Anne Frank as an adolescent AND, furthermore, went to the place where she hid in Amsterdam. My conservative parents also walked me through the red light district (oh my!).
Social media has far greater impact on the anxiety level and mental issues in our kids than any book does. Expanding their horizons by sharing with them how people have been treated over the years and how we (hopefully) don’t want to treat people going forward is a good thing.
Jewish CHILDREN like Anne Frank suffered horrible treatment during WWII. Other CHILDREN world wide have and continue to suffer similarly They starve, watch their family members be dragged away and murdered, and face countless other injustices daily. If they can go to lead successful lives after that, certainly our children can READ about it and be successful as well. Shielding kids from the world’s suffering is not the path forward.
“Shielding” is not my attention. I too read this book as a teen as well as Elie Weisel’s “Night.” Most older teens are very capable to handle them appropriately.
But a child/teen who has certain anxieties like claustrophobia should have approval to read the Diary to insure the book doesn’t worsen their condition.
All i am saying is those who suggest children and teens should have unfettered access to all content are as extreme as those who want to “shield” all children/teens from all controversial content.
In this complex world, it takes hard work to do right by our children and teens and the simplistic declarations by both extremes demonstrate a disregard to these people’s well-being, short and long term.
Our kids don’t have unfettered access because we do this thing called parenting. I don’t need your help and I don’t need more big government shoving your beliefs down my throat because you think you know better. Leave the books alone and do your job as a parent.
Upon further reflection, my children need protection from people like you. They are my kids, not yours, not governments. Just because we live together doesn’t mean you get to tell me how to parent or tell them how to live. People like you are why the US was created, and you want to try and take it back to the control of King George III, no thanks.
Democrats ban “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Huckleberry Finn.” Republicans ban “Heather has Two Mommies” and drag queen story hour. Yeah, they’re all the same thing.
Sorry, Cliff, those are books that the MAGA crowd wants to ban, the dems don’t want any books banned.
“the dems don’t want any books banned”
Really? How about the Bible?
The Bible (esp the Old Testament) contains no more sex, violence, or descriptions of depravity than any book that MAGA and other Big Brother totalitarians want banned. Maybe try living your own life rather than spreading your ideological tendrils where they are not needed or wanted.
Nice try at deflecting. You are denying that libturds have tried to ban the bible? Get a clue.
When the Mayor terms out, my guess is he will not be elected to the county commission in Butte County or named assistant director of Homeland Security. .
He will be a very formidable candidate for governor. He will easily win if he runs in a crowded field.
With his mask mandate and his covid shutdown push I don’t think he could win a head to head but in a crowded field of 3 or 4 or 5 he wins easily.
not a chance, he is to liberal to be the governor of one of the most conservative, constitutionalist states of the union.
So, in this crowded field, what % gives the Mayor this easy win?
He’s more talented could be a reason. He might be more liberal but he’s the only one selling his positive message.
35%
Don’t ban books, but don’t allow the porn books be read aloud at a council meeting.
Hypocritical.
I am in total agreement with the Mayor and hope that our new Governor Rhoden agrees as well. There is no dead horse a certain faction of legislators won’t flog. Rhoden needs to take a primary role in getting essential legislation through the House and Senate.
Governor Rhoden may name himself his own Lt. Governor, and wield the big hammer from the big chair for another 2 years, while glowering down the whackadoodle clowns.
any bills involving bathrooms or libraries need to die in committee
Have you read the list of new house legislators? Nothing is off the table. Wait and see.
Only a person who thinks the status quo is perfect and close minded would say this. You aren’t any different than those you oppose.
It is our duty every session to find solutions to problems that do not exist!
We must have total control in order to have our freedom! May the 100th South Dakota legislative session begin!
Mayor, with all due respect, it is never well received when people are told to sit down and shut up. It ends up having the opposite effect. It wiser to say we need to let all sides express themselves and it is the job of elected leaders to navigate solutions. We don’t need you to make the easy decisions. We need you to make the hard ones.
All sides can express themselves….in a local school board meeting. “Local control” should mean something and if parents aren’t showing up to school board meetings, then they need to start parenting so that big government isn’t leading parenting disaster.
Are we Republicans or what?
We need to keep appropriate books in our children’s hands. If parents want their children to read smut, they can buy those books for their home library. Schools and Public libraries should be safe zones. I have watched video of people reading from a school library books in front of the School Board. It was graphic gay sex. Straight or gay…this kind of book is not appropriate. Kudos to our SD government for putting kids, faith, and family first. Thankfully, they are not too busy to care. Mr. Mayor seems to have his hands full with the new people moving in.