“You’re on the front lines – fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas available to everyone,” Obama tells librarians in a letter. “Your dedication and professional expertise allow us to freely read and consider information and ideas, and decide for ourselves which ones we agree with.”
Guest Columns
Harsher Drug Penalties Aren’t Helping Addicts Recover
A former drug addict who now helps others overcome their addiction describes his experience: Compassionate treatment and care make it possible to recover. Putting punishment before healing does not. But state laws are getting harsher, at addicts’ expense.
The Apostle Ron DeSantis
Is anyone surprised Ron DeSantis said recently he wished he could have been one of the Apostles? Here’s the Good News, Ron. You don’t have to sigh moonily in a TV interview about what could’ve been.
Ms. Cheryl: Why I Am Leaving the Flagler Youth Orchestra
“As of today I am no longer the director of the Flagler Youth Orchestra,” writes Cheryl Tristam, ending an 18-year relationship with the school district program she led since 2005. “It isn’t what I wanted to do. But the conduct of some of our school board members toward me personally and toward the program leaves me no choice.”
Moms for Bigotry Quoting Hitler Is an Example of the Right’s Embrace of Extremism
Last week, an Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty, a nonprofit organization that advocates for “parental rights” in education, ended up apologizing and condemning Adolf Hitler after previously using a quote from the racist and anti-Semitic Nazi leader in its newsletter.
Brendan Depa’s Mother Tells Her Son’s Story
Brendan Depa, a 17-year-old severely autistic student, attacked his paraprofessional, Joan Naydich, at Matanzas High School in February, and faces a first degree felony charge as an adult. His mother, Leanne Depa, speaks for the first time, detailing Brendan’s personal and medical history and his almost intractable challenges that pre-dated the horrific incident.
Anti-Trans Politicians Take Pages from Nazi Playbook
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other GOP leaders are following the Nazi playbook, substituting transgender youth for the Jews. They industriously promote hatred, fear, and physical revulsion of this small group — also barely 1 percent of the population — and pretend it’s out of concern for children.
The American Way of Woke
What is truly perverse today are those who actively seek to infringe upon the liberties of others while masquerading as defenders of liberty, argues Brad West. We are not perfect, and will always be a work in progress, even in wokeness. But we get better because of those who have been, and are, woke.
The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
Raymond Warren, a retired assistant public defender who practiced in Flagler County and the rest of the Seventh Judicial Circuit for decades, reviews the reaction to the hung jury in the Monserrate Terron case and argues why the jury got it right.
To Survive Poverty, Prayer Helped. But So Did Government.
In Florida, I worked three jobs — not enough to make ends meet, but enough to disqualify me from food stamps and cash assistance. Politicians who cut our safety net say these strict rules encourage work, but for me it was the opposite.