The More Things Change...

Jack Stephens at Conservator brings word that the keynote speaker at next year's American Library Association/Democratic National Committee annual conference will be Madeleine Albright.

Nothing against Ms. Albright, whom I'm sure will be an interesting speaker, but this is par for the course. This will be the third straight year in which an anti-Bush partisan will deliver the keynote address at ALA Annual (Richard Clarke in 04, Barack Obama this year). There's really no need for me to repeat what I've already said here and in the Infamous Chronicle Article. I'll simply refer you to an article by Steven Bell that I referenced both on this site and in the Chronicle piece:

As a profession, does our hunger for recognition and positive reinforcement compel us to subject ourselves repeatedly to the same “you’re so special and yet so underpaid” spiel? Sitting through these politically overt keynote addresses feels eerily like listening to a Presidential State-of-the-Union address. Librarians stand, cheer, and clap wildly with every word of praise for our causes and every denouncement of conservative policies and practices. Obama barely had to work to get more standing ovations than a classic rock group giving their final reunion concert. Librarianship is supposed to be about balance, recognizing divergent viewpoints, and providing a platform for all sides of issues. But, given ALA’s reputation as a bastion of liberalism, I can’t imagine any conservative speaker (and please, let’s stop shuffling out Colin Powell as an example of our open-mindedness) daring to step into the ALA lion’s den. For what? A healthy chorus of boos, catcalls, and derision?