The real ‘sinister agenda’ is in the Legislature

Sen. Jake Chapman is right, there is a sinister agenda going around in Iowa and it is no longer hidden. But it’s not the one he says it is. It’s not book selection in school libraries. And it’s not teachers who are trying to address the real emotional needs of the students they see every day. No, the sinister agenda has broken into the open in the Legislature itself and Chapman is leading it. The agenda is thought control and the tactic is gaslighting — the practice of, among other things, continually denying reality while accusing others of the very thing the accusers are doing. We certainly got an education in how that works during the Trump presidency. And we saw it last year when Republicans outlawed honest discussion and learning about racism as if enforcing their own (white) sugarcoated fantasy, saying it doesn’t exist, would make it go away.

Now the long Republican arm wants to reach into the minds of our children on the most personal of subjects — gender and sexual identity, making even the simple availability of books a felony. The saddest thing is that the kids won’t stop looking for answers — but they won’t find them in libraries where adults with training and experience carefully choose what’s offered. All this from the Republicans in our legislature who are always complaining about “government overreach.” The agenda and the irony are in the open for all to see.

Bryan T. Davis

Cedar Rapids