Michael Hiltzik: Book-banning is on the rise, as part of the far-right's assault on democracy

Attacks on books occupy a special place among the signposts of philistinism and anti-democratic suppression.

So it's proper to be alarmed at the upsurge of efforts to ban books from public schools and libraries, largely because they represent political views, lifestyles and life experiences that organized groups characterize as objectionable.

"It's not that book banning itself is new," says Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education at the free-speech group PEN America. "The biggest trend is the force and the coordination around the country. What's different is how school districts are giving in to these demands so quickly, in some cases without much due process whatsoever."

Another disturbing aspect is how campaigns to ban books are linked to partisan political goals. "These are deliberate campaigns being waged with the support of political groups ... who use them as a new and promising front in our political and cultural battles," Suzanne Nossel, chief executive of PEN America, told me.

Nossel ties book-banning campaigns to other efforts to control educational standards — "what we call 'educational gag orders,' bans on the teaching of certain topics, essentially to turn back the tide of demographic change in our country."

Local school authorities have