Call it a culture war. Or call it where “Flori-duh” meets Trump World. As we–and many around the country–have noted, the Citrus County Commission formally announced recently that it would not fund its library with digital subscriptions to the New York Times. The commission balked at spending $2,700 annually to enable library cardholders to access something other than paper copies of various newspapers, including the NYT.
This wouldn’t have made news beyond Inverness had not the commission vote highlighted, so to speak, the new normal of divisive invective, partisan chasm and media demonization. “Fake news, I agree with President Trump,” declared Commissioner Scott Carnahan. “I don’t want the New York Times in this county. I don’t agree with it, I don’t like ’em, it’s fake news and I’m voting no.” Yeah, he actually said that; would that it were fake news.