Geezers in Florida Lose Library Privileges...

Because They Can't Hold Peaceful Political Discussions:

The source of their ire was the library's decision to cancel the Current Events discussion group that has been meeting weekly for the past 10 years. Group members said the library made a unilateral decision to cancel the group after a complaint about a discussion turned heated.

"It was so undemocratic," said Loise Cammorata, 72, who held a yellow sign outside the library. "They never got the other side of the story."

Picketers wanted library officials to hear their side of the story and to restore the program that services hundreds of seniors during season.

For their part, library officials say the program has a long history of unruly behavior. Participants have been told to shut up for their opposing points of view, there's been name calling and once there was a fist fight in the parking lot.

"What happened last week was not an isolated incident and it was the last straw," Library Director Alan Kornblau told the seniors Tuesday morning while those in the back of the auditorium shouted they couldn't hear. "Unlike any of the other 300 other programs, the current events group has a long history of unacceptable behavior."

Witnesses described what happened at that final meeting: Chuck Lehmann, known as one of the few conservatives who attends the group, was talking about foreign money coming into the country to fund the election campaigns of many Democratic candidates.

A woman, whom no one in the group could identify, told the 75-year-old Lehmann to shut up.

"I said, 'Hey lady, I have the floor here,' " said Lehmann. "She said it again, and I said, 'You sit down, you old hag.' She sat up and she flipped me the bird."

Kornblau, whose comments were met with dismissive laughter and hissing, said he has warned the group and its moderators about maintaining decorum and civility.
...
Bonnie Stelzer, library director of community relations, said it was not a decision that library officials took lightly.

"I understand this is reflective of what's going on today in the country, but the library is not the place we come to yell at one another," she said.

Good Grief!