Barack Obama has a fondness for lecturing others, often scolding others, because his ego tells him that he is a superior human being. It’s time for Old Yeller’s re-election so his bff, Barack, is helping out. He’s tsk-tsking Republicans for intolerance and book banning.

This time the lecture/scolding has to do with book banning and it is those icky right-wingers he alleges are banning books in America that must be educated. Obama is promoting what is being called book access.

Obama’s effort to promote book access comes amid a right-wing effort to ban some books from public libraries, such as those that include teachings about critical race theory, gender identity and sexual orientation and the history of racism. In 2022, 2,571 books were challenged for removal, according to the American Library Association. At least 19 states have passed or considered legislation to impose jail time for librarians who allow minors to read books deemed “harmful, obscene or sexually explicit,” according to a Washington Post analysis.

It’s the same narrative that progressives have been pushing to fight red states protecting young school children from inappropriate material in the classroom. Storybooks with sex education and gender identity lessons are inappropriate for grades K-3, for example. Parents are actively monitoring books in school libraries and making sure that the shelves devoted to the youngest students contain appropriate children’s literature.

Progressives don’t want to give up control of public school children. One way that they are promoting progressive politics on children is through the books they read. Books normalizing the transgender agenda may show up with drag queens on the cover and include interactive songs. A founding member of the Drag Queen Story Hour wrote a book called “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish.” The song is set to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.

In June, Illinois became the first state to block book bans in public libraries. In order to qualify for state funding, libraries must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. This is a declaration prohibiting book bans.

Obama makes a cameo appearance at the end of a video posted on TikTok Monday by the Kankakee (Illinois) Public Library. The video shows him opening a book and sipping from a mug with the library’s logo printed on it. The video is a montage of people reading books allegedly banned in some places, including “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker. Naturally, there are hashtags, which include #FreedomTo Read and #LetFreedomRead.

Obama also appears in a video on TikTok for the Harris County (Houston) Library. It features the library’s character named “Curbside Larry.” Obama tells Curbside Larry to be quiet in the library. “I’m sorry, Mr. President . . .I’m just so excited about how the Harris County Public Library is making all kinds of books available to the community!” Curbside Larry replies.

Librarians are “on the front lines,” he says. In a letter to the nation’s librarians, he praised them for ensuring that the “widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas available to everyone.” Most people agree with that sentiment. However, parents have had enough and now are saying that adults in schools and public libraries should just leave their kids alone. There is no real book banning going on, that’s the Democrats’ scary talking points. Demanding that inappropriate books be moved to different shelves and sections for older readers is not banning books.

Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. And librarians are on the front lines, fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and… pic.twitter.com/txhCTfH3Gh

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 17, 2023

Many book bans have targeted works featuring LGBTQ themes, sexual content, profanity or critical race theory.

The impulse to suppress works that feature ideas or perspectives that someone personally disagrees with is “contrary to what has made this country great,” Obama wrote.

“It’s not just about books. You also provide spaces where people can come together, share ideas, participate in community programs, and access essential civic and educational resources,” he said.

He calls out Republicans as intolerant in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. He’s doing some politicking on behalf of Democrats. Funny how he’s suddenly so public in his support of librarians. I remember some trips to upscale book stores on Martha’s Vineyard during his summer vacations for photo ops during his time in office but I don’t remember him being big on literacy. I do remember two Republican first ladies making literacy their focus during their time in the White House – Barbara Bush and Laura Bush. As a matter of fact, Laura Bush was looked down upon as “just” a librarian and school teacher when she first entered the White House by Democrat women. Now that Jill Biden is in the White House, she is hailed as a great educator because she teaches English in a community college in Virginia and is a cheerleader for teacher unions.

Times change. Double standards remain.