The May issue of The Patriot Press Coos News has an unsigned article claiming local Public Schools are, “indoctrination playgrounds” with “kitty litter in the girl’s bathroom, and pornography in the school library.”  The article also claims there are student “furries” dressed as cats in the North Bend Schools who bully other children by “scratching and hissing.”  The author demands that schools “stop becoming drag queen and pedophile playgrounds”. 

            The anonymous writer advocates two remedies for these evils: “If students identify as cats, kick them out of school!” and “The ghastly onslaught of pornography in the library makes this the first time that I have ever considered or thought that we should burn books.”

            In 1821 the German poet, Heinrich Heine wrote, “Those who burn books will in the end burn people.” The poet’s words are a history lesson and a prophesy.

            Diane Rich, an unsuccessful candidate for Coos County Clerk in the 2022 election is the Coos News Editor.  Appearing on the Rob Taylor Report Radio Show she described her paper as “Christian conservative.”  Prior to the show Rob Taylor labeled her critics, “commie nazis.”

            Diane Rich is not a credible person.  During the 2022 election she repeatedly made evidence free allegations of serious misconduct against her opponents.  Ms. Rich also promised to end vote by mail in Coos County if she was elected Clerk.  Ending mail-in voting would violate Oregon Law.

            In September 2022 she and Pam Lewis sued Coos County and three of its officials.  According to the Northwest Observer the suit alleged 11 serious violations of state election law.  A state judge dismissed the case after concluding all of the suit’s allegations lacked any legal merit. 

            Proving pornography to children and pedophilia are serious crimes. If Ms. Rich has evidenced these crimes are occurring in schools, she should turn over this evidence to the Police and the District Attorney. 

            Recently, I talked with a reliable source working for the North Bend School District.  This person has never seen or heard of kitty litter in school bathrooms or observed or heard of children dressed as cats bullying other kids in North Bend Schools. Reuters News fact checked the widespread furry rumors and concluded there is “No evidence that US School children are self-identifying as animals and disrupting classrooms.”

            The Coos News endorsement of Book Burning comes 90 years after the Nazi Party used public book burning as a propaganda tool to build the Third Reich.  On May 1933 a group of Nazi youth trashed the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin.  It contained between 12,000  to 20,000  books and a larger collection of photographs.  The Nazi students vandalized the books and photos while a Nazi band played patriotic music. Four days later stormtroopers burned what was left of the collection. 

            Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld the Director of the Institute, was Jewish and openly gay.  He was an outspoken advocate for abortion rights and the rights of women and gay people.  As they vandalized his institute the Nazi’s chanted, “Burn Hirschfeld.”  Fortunately, he was out of the country never to return. 

            On May 10,1933 Nazi students accompanied by stormtroopers burned thousands of “un-German” books all across the country.  Hitler had been Chancellor since January and the May book burnings was part of the consolidation of his Dictatorship. Book burning pre-dates the Third Reich.  Long ago the Inquisition sometimes burned heretics and books together. Is this history relevant today?  In a February article in The Conversation political scientists Tarah Williams, Andrew Bloesar and Brian Harward said “our research shows that a wide range of the American people, of all political stripes, seek leaders who are fundamentally anti-democratic.” 

            We who cherish Democracy must defend it against those who don’t.