Parents in Williamson County, Tennessee, have been asked to sign an anonymous petition demanding that the classic To Kill a Mockingbird be removed.

The petition cites profanity in the novel as a reason to can it, as well as its “adult themes such as sexual intercourse, rape, [and] incest.” It also suggests that the book could encourage “racial hatred, racial division, [and] racial separation” and that it “promotes white supremacy.”

Now, I admit that I haven’t read a whole lot of Southern writers. But I have read To Kill a Mockingbird. And while I agree that it has a lot of mature themes in the book, it’s hardly something that a middle schooler is unaware of. And the main character is a child. The book is written from a child’s point of view.

And if whoever wrote the petition feels that this book encourages white supremacy, when the whole crux of the story focuses on a travesty of justice perpetrated against an African American man by a white police and justice system simply because of his race, then they have a severely warped sense of what white supremacy constitutes.

Heaven forbid we ask our children to think about big issues. They already think about big issues. They just don’t necessarily share them with adults.

And shame on the Board of Education if they even consider a ban.

Via Bookslut.

When I read on CNN that FEMA refused federal government offers of help, it boggles the mind and makes me question why we even have a Homeland Security Department.

Somewhere I recall this being suggested post-9/11, that we needed to consolidate government agencies under one group so they would be able to work better, preventing serious gaps in national security.

“Although we attempted to provide these assets, we were unable to efficiently integrate and deploy these resources,” an Interior Department official wrote the Senate committee investigating the government’s response to Katrina.

What was so hard to integrate? Were they sending down unnecessary items? No. According to CNN, FEMA turned down aircraft, boats, and federal law enforcement officers, among other things.

So if FEMA, under the auspices of Homeland Security, refuses offers of assistance from Interior, how are we to believe that other HS agencies aren’t also turning down offers of help — like tips about terrorist threats or airport concerns?

It’s remarkably frustrating to see government waste in the most inocuous of instances. In cases like this, where it cost human lives, it’s irreconcilable.

May changes be made and made quickly.

Nine months before the D.C. mayoral election, we have five candidates for the office. Three are current D.C. Council members, one is the former head of a telecom corporation, and one is the son of a deceased DNC chair.

At last night’s forum, apparently the moderator asked them about civil unions. (Due to our special despised status as a protectorate of Congress, legalizing gay marriage is out.) Three candidates — Adrian Fenty, Marie Johns, and Michael Brown — spoke in favor of legalizing them in the District. The other two were not.

The other two — Council Chair Linda Cropp and Council member Vincent Orange — will not be getting my vote.

Thanks for making my job easier for me, candidates. I appreciate it.

Four years ago we spent Veterans Day in England. Known there as Remembrance Day, the holiday is observed nationwide at 11 a.m. The country goes silent. Not for thirty seconds. But for two minutes. Two whole minutes. Radio and tv goes quiet. No one whispers over the silence. No one explains what’s going on. You just stop. And think. And remember. And think good thoughts for veterans who made it home safely. And for families whose children, friends, siblings, and parents didn’t come home.

When I was young, I thought positive thoughts about my dad and my uncle and my grandfathers who had all served in the army. Veterans were things that older men were. I didn’t understand that veterans still exist, that they were contemporaneous.

Today I am an adult and I still find it hard to remember that some days. That men and women are living and dying on front lines and in iffy situations around the world every moment of every day to keep me safe. And that not only are they not older, these days many of them are younger. Younger even than my brother, who I still don’t think of as grown up. I think of my college interns from my Wesleyan days and the Coast Guard cadets from my Conn College days and cannot superimpose their living, breathing youthfulness over the names and faces of those who die on a daily basis for their country.

So that’s why Veterans Day is so necessary, is still so important. Because people die for me, even if I don’t understand why they’re dying.

Two minutes seems like a long time when you’re still and silent. But it’s not really that long. It’s not long enough to list all those veterans who died this year. It’s not even long enough to name the 92 who died in the line of duty last month. It’s not long enough to count the number of soldiers who’ve been wounded in action. It’s not long at all when you figure that someone who was killed when they were 20 lost 50+ years. What’s two minutes in fifty years? We’ve all got two minutes to spare.

So I’m taking two minutes — 120 seconds — to remember. A nation joining together to honor our soldiers all at the same moments would be powerful. But even honoring them on our own is something.

Thank you, veterans. I honor your memory today with a virtual poppy (worn by most British people at this time of year to remember veterans).

Today is a clear and beautiful Election Day, at least on the Eastern seaboard. If you have an election in your area and are able to vote, please don’t forget to do so. Remember — if you can vote and don’t, you don’t get to complain later on.

D.C. has no election today and is already gearing up for 2006, when we will elect a new mayor and possibly a new council chair. Frankly, I think it’s a little early to start worrying about people who will make promises, but who, generally, don’t have the authority do follow through on them. (Congress technically runs D.C. — and does it poorly.)

So from my point of view, election day cannot end soon enough. Our airwaves have been inundated with ads from Virginia, where the election for governor turned ugly two months ago (the campaigns for attorney general and for lieutenant governor didn’t turn ugly until more recently). We came home from England to smear ads on both sides of the table and plenty of money to run them during every commercial break on every channel on regular tv. Frankly, given the nasty campaigning the two of them have been doing, I don’t think either one deserves to be governor.

In my former home of Middletown, Conn., the mayor is up for re-election. The Republican candidate is the strongest in a decade and the current mayor has experienced some bumps in the last six months. But, by and large, I think she has Middletown’s best interests at heart and the city has prospered under her control. Perhaps a hard-fought election will get the creativity flowing again.

In my hometown of Wallingford, Conn., the mayoral race is an interesting one. The mayor of the last two decades — Bill Dickinson — is being challenged by Jim Vumbaco, town council chairman and the son of the last Democratic mayor. Expansion has run rampant and Wallingford has lost any charm it once held. Dickinson served the town well for a number of years, but in the last decade I’ve thought that his opinions have stagnated. The town could use some fresh blood before the town becomes one huge strip mall surrounded by condo complexes and McMansions.

The most amazing person elected in the last year.

He will one day be president. And I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that.

I told the Bangladeshi man at the restaurant that this man was the future of the party, the presidency, and the country when we were discussing politics with him in London. He wasn’t aware of him, but I bet he’ll check him out and be impressed. I know I was when I first heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

(Thanks to Erik for passing the link along.)