Where would we be without Dan Kleinman?

Our favorite self-promoter & part-time lawyer Dan Kleinman has a post about the recently revived West Bend library issue over on his blog.

Framing this as "Ginny vs. Maria" is just silly.

Maria Hanrahan responds

Maria Hanrahan responds to Ginny Maziarka in the paper today.

Click here to read it.

As Rush Limbaugh would say, "words mean things"

Ginny sure is into the word "bribe" these days. Too bad she doesn't know what it means. First she took to the local newspaper and accused the founder of West Bend Parents for Free Speech of accepting a bribe for simply accepting a $1,000 grant to continue the fight she had already been fighting. See Ginny, a bribe would have been if you paid her $1,000 to stop challenging you.

Today she calls a it a bribe when a woman gives $300 to another woman to be put towards an abortion. Forget the fact that the woman who wanted the abortion already decided to have one when she called asking for the money. Again Ginny, a bribe would have been if you paid the woman $300 not to have the abortion.

"Bribe" is a pretty serious word to be throwing around when you are unclear of its meaning.

Dan Kleinman weighs in

In case any of you haven't seen, Dan Kleinman AKA "SafeLLibraries" has joined us and has been commenting on this thread. This is as close as we will probably ever get to Ginny Maziarka defending her own views, so please take this opportunity to talk to Dan. Maybe he can answer why Ginny tags post about the local YA librarian with "gayporn".

Wikipedia Update

Looks like my little post here set off a flurry of edits to the West Bend, WI Wikipedia page, specifically the "Library Controversy" section. The section currently reads much better than it ever has, with a fair and balanced account of the incident. Sorry Ginny.

Here is how it currently looks:

Library controversy

In 2009, a controversy arose after a local couple, Jim and Ginny Maziarka, sent a letter to the West Bend Community Library complaining about books on a list entitled "Out of the Closet: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Fiction and Non-Fiction" that was published on the Young Adult section of the library's website.^{[5] [6]} The couple then amended their complaint to include objections to the presence of books depicting sex and homosexuality in the young adult section of the West Bend Community Memorial Library.^[7][8] The Maziarkas circulated an online petition ^[9] that called for the books to be labeled as explicit and moved to the adult section, as well as for the library to install Internet content filters and purchase books that represented "a balance of materials related to heterosexuality and homosexuality," complaining that the library had only gay-affirming books about homosexuality.

In the midst of the controversy, the West Bend Common Council, on a 5-3 vote, refused to reappoint four trustees whose terms were ending.^[10] One councilman complained that the board was stonewalling the complaint, while another councilman stated his belief that the board members were not serving the interests of the community “with their ideology.”^[11] The council's actions were widely criticized, and local citizens unsuccessfully sought to have the vote rescinded.^[12][13][14]

On June 2, 2009, the library board held a public hearing to take comment on the Maziarkas' petition.^[15] Following the hearing, the library board voted to uphold its policies and reject any restrictions on young adults' access to books in the library.^[16][17]

The Christian Civil Liberties Union also filed a claim against the West Bend library, asking that Francesca Lia Block's book Baby Be-Bop be "burned or destroyed", drawing further media attention to the local library dispute.^[18][19][20]

On July 30, 2009, the Pew Research Center reported that the library controversy was the third most blogged about topic from July 20–24, behind news about President Barack Obama's first six months in office and gossip about the TV show Doctor Who, but drawing more attention in the blogosphere than the controversial arrest of Henry Louis Gates.^[21]

Here we go again...

Wow. Ginny is at it again! She has an editorial in the paper today that links to a timeline of her version of events (edited by her and Dan Kleinman) that includes this gem:

"Most importantly, this timeline will also confirm the covert involvement of national organizations to oppress small communities, undermine community standards and push the liberal agenda of the American Library Association."

Random thoughts.

1) Ginny, using the word "covert" makes you sound like a 9/11 Truther. Think about that for a second please. There is nothing "covert" about these emails back and forth you trot out as some type of evidence of a scandal. Apparently "covert" simply means "done without Ginny's consent".

2) That gem up there was originally prominently displayed on the sidebar of her timeline website this morning. It has since been removed by Dan Kleinman because he probably also realized it made Ginny sound like a 9/11 Truther. Dan, you are obviously a smart guy. Why do you continue to tie yourself to Ginny?

3) The top of the timeline reads "Anyone with knowledge may help on this page-just send us a request for access. Pages editors include Ginny Maziarka and Dan Kleinman. More are welcome. " Really Ginny? I'd love to have a crack at editing it! I promise not to try and erase it form the history books, like you tried to do at Wikipedia.

4) Ginny, do you really think anyone other than you, Dan and Mary are going to read all this?

I may take a crack at reading through all this. I may not. Depends on if I need to punish myself for not going on a run later today.

**UPDATE** You know, the more I think about it, I think the paper should give Ginny a regular column alongside Owen and Mark. The most effective way for Ginny to lose what little support she has left is for her to open her mouth on a regular basis to as big an audience as possible.

Ginny Maziarka attempts to rewrite history?

I stumbled upon the West Bend, WI Wikipedia page today and on a whim looked at the history of the edits. For those of you who don't know, anyone can edit Wikipedia. Anyone. Even, apparently, someone who I can only assume is Ginny. A user called "Non-Censor" (a red herring obviously) has only ever made very amateurish edits reflecting Ginny's version of events and has only ever edited the "Library Controversy" section of the "West Bend, WI" entry.

As recently as today, "Non-Censor" changed "in 2009, a controversy arose after a local couple complained about the presence of "homosexual themed books"", to "in 2009, a controversy arose after a local couple complained about the presence of "sexually explicit books"".

Click here to see all the edits made by "Non-Censor". Click on "prev" to compare "Non-Censor"'s edits with what was previously written - you will have hours of fun.

Click here to read Wikipedia smacking down "Non-Censor" for continuing "to blank out or delete portions of page content", including this gem: "This is the last warning you will receive for your disruptive edits. The next time you delete or blank page content or templates from Wikipedia, as you did to West Bend, Wisconsin, you will be blocked from editing."

Why is "Non-Censor" even trying to - literally - rewrite history? As much as "Non-Censor" tries to scrub the internet, the top hit on google for "Ginny Maziarka" will be the Lesbiatopia story "15 Minutes of Stupid: The Continuing Saga of Ginny the Christian Censor Wannabe" for a looooong time.

Why are CSCWC in bed with Ginny Maziarka?

Given that most conservatives I know think Ginny is a total nut-job, I wonder why the "Common Sense [sic] Citizens of Washington County" trot her out like a prized racehorse on their "testimonials" page. Do the CSCWC, who I'm sure are otherwise decent folks, really want to lead with a quote by Ginny? Is that really the first impression they want to give? She is the best they've got?

Ginny Maziarka's True Colors

***UPDATE: In a break with the past, Ginny actually allowed someone to comment who disagreed with her. As per usual, Ginny's responses to the commenter make no sense at all.***

In case you had any doubt about Ginny Maziarka's true motivation in her whole library folly, her post yesterday over at WISSUP ought to clear it up. Read her post here, then come back....

A few thoughts.

1) Ginny is looking up Kristin Pekoll on Facebook a year after this whole incident? Really? The fact that Dave/Mary are not working fast enough to insert creationism into the curriculum leaving you bored?

2) Ginny, I thought you had no issue with the fact that the YA books had gay characters. Remember how your initial complaint was only about "the gay", but then you changed your tactics and said it was only about sexually explicit material? If that really is the case, why do you care one way or another if Kristin supports the gay community?

3) Why on earth are you still on this train? The library board clearly put the ball back into your court and gave you instructions on how to challenge each book you had a problem with. You have been too lazy to do so. Until then you really have no beef with the library. If anything, the people who supported you have beef with you for not following through on your promises.

4) Speaking for myself, I can say that your bigoted actions have only energized my support for the gay community. Of course I still hold the same beliefs I have for years, but seeing gay friends of mine tormented by people like you has only made me devote more time to defending and supporting them.

5) Ginny, would Jesus hate gays? Maybe yours does, but mine doesn't. My Jesus wouldn't spew hate against people He made in His own image on a blog.

6) Ginny, are you really leaving West Bend? Can you hurry up and make up your mind please?

Totally unrelated, but this never ceases to crack me up. http://ginnymaziarka.com/

I have to get back to work. Any more thoughts? Please leave them in the comments.