The new Democrats -- book burners

Well, the personification of the new Democratic Party is out of the closet as a BOOK BANNER!

You tell me how else to explain this story: The vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee is asking Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos to stop the growing retail monopoly's "sale of literature and music published by entities identified as 'hate groups' by the Southern Poverty Law Center."

Think about this – carefully – before you cast your vote in this year's mid-term elections. Very carefully.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who is running for state attorney general though he allowed his law license to lapse, wrote a letter to Bezos appealing to him about concerns regarding "neo-nazis and white nationalist writers," but those people represent a tiny minority of the SPLC-designated "hate groups." Most are simply right-of-center traditionalists like me, Dr. Ben Carson and President Donald Trump, whom the SPLC daily labels as a "fascist," "racist" and "hater."

Hat tip to courageous author Robert Spencer, an expert and author on radical jihadists – with whom neither the SPLC nor Ellison has a problem.

"Clearly Ellison wants Amazon, which has (with Barnes & Noble) a virtual monopoly on book sales in the U.S., to stop selling books by people designated as 'hate groups' by the Southern Poverty Law Center," Spencer writes.

Ellison characterizes the SPLC, which inspired an armed attack on the Family Research headquarters in Washington a few years ago, as a "reliable, unbiased arbiter of what is and isn't a hate group."

The FRC and, yes, WND have also been labeled as such by the SPLC – not to mention the White House.

Keep in mind, even the American Civil Liberties Union would adamantly oppose such an action by Amazon. That's how radical, and off the wall, the new Democratic Party is – the one currently vying to take back control of the House and Senate in November.

Also keep in mind, Amazon currently counts the SPLC among the groups it relies on to determine which charities its users can choose from to support with their purchases.

WND reported the Religious Freedom Coalition was dumped from the AmazonSmile charity program because SPLC labeled it a "hate group." When RFC questioned Amazon about the decision, a lawyer issued a statement saying the company "relies on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Southern Poverty Law Center to determine which registered charities fall into [the category of excluded] groups."

I strongly suspect Amazon is not yet ready to follow Ellison's advice. It would be a bridge too far for the richest man in the world at this time. But the day is coming. For now, this story is more about the Democratic Party – the one realistic alternative Americans have to the Republicans that control the White House, the House and the Senate as of today. But that could change in November. We could theoretically have a party in charge of Congress that is reflective of Ellison's values – as we did through 2010.

RFC, contrary to Amazon's characterizations, is a nonprofit that "advocates in Washington, D.C., for the defense and preservation of America's Christian heritage."

And that's what's really at stake here. Ellison and the new Democrats hate conservatives and Bible-believing Christians. They have contempt for free and open debate – not to mention the First Amendment and its protections of freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

It's worth noting that Amazon, as mentioned in its lawyer's statement, has already given the SPLC a prominent gatekeeper role – as have Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Ellison claims in his letter to Bezos that since the election of Donald Trump, "hate groups have been on the rise, and racist violence has swelled in this country."

Is the First Amendment important to you? Do you welcome free and open debate? Or do you want to live in a closed society in which the SPLC decides what you can say, think and read?

It's time to consider this seriously. November is less than four months away.