There hasn't been much chatter from the left about conservatives banning books in schools lately. Maybe that's because no such thing ever happened, and their propaganda campaign completely failed to connect with any normal-thinking Americans.
That's a shame. And they even had America's favorite elderly lesbian aunt, Stephen King, on their side.
But before we celebrate this latest failure from the cultural Marxists, it's important to know that there ARE some people who really ARE still trying to ban books.
You'll never guess who they are.
No, just kidding. You know exactly who they are. They're the TRAs in the gender cult, of course.
This week, conservative author and filmmaker Matt Walsh (with whom I once had a fun little trolling war) related a truly Orwellian tale of book banning out of Portland, Oregon (because, of course, it's Oregon).
The incident involves Walsh's best-selling children's book, 'Johnny the Walrus.' What follows is a truly terrifying tale of a school district trying to punish a social worker for wrongthink.
NEW: The Left spent years screaming that conservatives are “book banners” for wanting to remove porn from school libraries. Now they’re banning an actual children’s book—and it’s mine.🧵 pic.twitter.com/gT1QO0a4TP
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
2/ “Johnny the Walrus” has been banned and declared a “hostile expression of animus” by IMESD, an Oregon Education Service District. The licensed social worker, Rod Theis, who displayed it in his office has been threatened with termination. pic.twitter.com/eQ7GkgJabZ
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
They are trying to fire someone for showing a book on his desk.
Not forcing children to read it, not using it as an instructional tool, just displaying it in his own office.
Walsh provided a photo:
3/ While school staff plaster their offices and classrooms with political slogans, sexual content, and pro-trans messaging, Theis added a personal touch to his office desk: a copy of “Johnny the Walrus.” IMESD launched a full-blown “bias incident” investigation. pic.twitter.com/5Adynkj38R
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
WTF? A 'bias incident investigation'? Just that phrase alone raises all of the red flags.
Then Walsh showed the legal documents proving that this was indeed happening.
4/ The district says my story about a little boy, Johnny, pretending to be a Walrus constitutes a “hostile expression of animus” toward students’ “actual or perceived gender identity.” Theis was ordered to remove it or face termination. pic.twitter.com/zuAPjGolOz
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
Of course, it's important to state here that there is nothing 'transphobic' about 'Johnny the Walrus.' It provides a valuable lesson to children -- and, more importantly, their parents -- that having an imagination and a sense of fantasy is fine, but it's not reality. The book doesn't even mention anything about 'gender identity.' It's just an allegory.
Oh, but wait. It gets worse.
Not satisfied with merely threatening Theis with termination, the school district also ordered him to go to Orwell's Room 101 for 're-education.'
5/ Worse still, @ADFLegal says they threatened him with mandatory re-education: a course called “Making Schools Safe and Inclusive for Transgender Students.”
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
What’s the first lesson? That Johnny is actually a walrus? pic.twitter.com/2mZMCRqiVr
Sweet Jesus. They're going to put a cage filled with rats over his face, aren't they?
And even worse than that, this disciplinary proceeding wasn't even based on any complaints the school district received. They simply noticed the forbidden 'contraband.'
6/ To be clear, no student or parent ever complained about Johnny the Walrus, nor would they have reason to. But IMESD apparently still considers the mere presence of this book to be a "bias incident.” pic.twitter.com/ucgqQ9rwTY
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
Big Brother is definitely watching you in Oregon.
You'd better 'trans' your kids, or they will come for you, too.
The good news is that the social worker is not taking this lying down. He is fighting back with the assistance of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which pointed out some of the other content the school district is perfectly okay with displaying.
7/ Meanwhile, here’s what @ADFLegal says the school is allowing: Books featuring violence, suicide, drug abuse, domestic violence, and sexual content—all available to kids.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
But “Johnny the Walrus?” That’s apparently where the line must be drawn. pic.twitter.com/uTvksxldrU
8/ Let’s not gloss over the seriousness of that list. @ADFLegal didn’t just pull terms like “gore” out of nowhere. Author Kalynn Bayron, to her credit, admits and actively warns about this content in her books: pic.twitter.com/vIUQArbx2g
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
9/ Beyond their sexual and violent book collections, @ADFLegal says school staff display political messages including pro-Obama slogans, “Pride” flags, BLM propaganda, and push the idea that schools should be able to secretly trans kids behind parent’s backs. pic.twitter.com/Mfcldk68dU
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
Kids having sex with each other? Violent and bloody carnage? And, of course, leftist political content?
Those are all wonderful for children.
But if you tell Johnny that he can't actually be a walrus, you get sent to the Ministry of Love.
Walsh then -- as he is known to do -- decided to fight fire with fire, exposing the school officials who are behind this nightmare in Oregon.
10/ School and education service districts aren’t faceless entities. They’re public officials who answer to taxpayers. Representing Theis, @ADFLegal is now suing the IMESD board, Superintendent Mark Mulvihill, and Assistant Superintendent & HR Director, Aimee VanNice. pic.twitter.com/we1OfQBO23
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
11/ Superintendent Mark Mulvihill is one such official accusing Theis of “bias.” Mark doesn’t appear to have Facebook, but his wife does. Might it be possible he shares her worldview? Might Mark be the one in need of a “bias investigation”? pic.twitter.com/CUd10yuqpe
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
12/ As for Assistant Superintendent Aimee VanNice, we need not track down her social media. Her idiocy was on full display when interrogating Theis. She asked, “Why can’t Johnny be a walrus?”
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
These are the people shaping the education of 20,000 children in Oregon. pic.twitter.com/4AFdZi5Nxy
Make no mistake. In addition to the lawsuit from Alliance Defending Freedom, in these posts, Walsh is explicitly calling for these officials to be publicly shamed.
Good. They should be.
But he is not doxxing anyone. This is just public information he pulled from the Internet and social media.
Finally, Walsh had some words of advice for anyone who is too fragile to even see a copy of 'Johnny the Walrus,' let alone read it.
13/ If a cartoon boy pretending to be a walrus is a threat to your worldview, maybe the problem isn’t my book. Maybe the problem is that your ideology can’t survive even a drop of truth, humor, or dissent. And that’s exactly why Johnny the Walrus must be read.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 22, 2025
This, of course, is the fundamental truth about the gender mob and the trans acolytes. Their cult cannot stand up to even the mildest of scrutiny; it never could. And they cannot stand even the slightest bit of opposition or self-reflection.
Everything they believe -- and want to force everyone else to believe -- crashes down under such circumstances. That's why they bully everyone into submission.
They used to get away with this, but no longer. The people they try to bully are fighting back.
There is no such thing as a 'trans kid.' Period. That is the ultimate, albeit unspoken, lesson of 'Johnny the Walrus,' and that is why the TRAs in Oregon cannot even allow it to be displayed anywhere in public.
While conservatives never tried to ban books, that is exactly what cultural Marxists want to do. It's straight out of the playbook: 'Always accuse your enemies of that which you are doing.'
Well, America is not putting up with them any longer.
Of course, there will always be pockets of insanity, and Oregon is one of the worst. That's why they are persecuting this social worker there. In most other parts of the country, they'd never even try anymore, given the cultural shift back to normalcy that has taken place across America recently.
But even in Oregon, we can find some nuggets of good news out of this story. Most importantly, the social worker, Rod Theis, is refusing to comply. His legal battle shouldn't be necessary, but it's important that he and the Alliance Defending Freedom are waging it.
Secondly, just the fact that there even IS a social worker in a place like Oregon who proudly displays 'Johnny the Walrus' on his desk is a fantastic sign. A few years ago, that would have been unthinkable.
The cultural dominance of leftists in fields like counseling is cracking, and that is outstanding.
Who knows? Maybe in a few more years, Oregon might even understand that men shouldn't play in women's sports.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves with that kind of crazy talk.
