(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Just when you think the poisonous absurdity boiling out of Florida cannot get any more dangerous, a story pops up such as the one from the Escambia County School District, where five dictionaries, eight encyclopedias and “The Guinness Book of World Records” have been added to its list of more than 1,600 books that could soon be banned.

You read that right. According to a report by CBS News, the Florida Freedom to Read Project obtained the list of books — which also has several that have already been restricted and removed.

“Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary,” “The Bible Book,” “The World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places,” “Guinness Book of World Records, 2000,” “Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus for Students,” and “The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary” are among those making Escambia County school board members fret that students might learn too much. Insane, right?

To be clear, a representative of the district says the list has been compiled to “ensure compliance with the new legislation.”

The legislation school districts fear violating is Florida House Bill 1069, which Gov. Ron DeSantis approved last year. Go look it up. It is nauseating. It is truly an attempt to keep children in the dark and limit their ability to learn about themselves and the world around them. Parents (and voters) there should be livid.

But lest you believe such insanity is localized, bear in mind two things: DeSantis is running for president of the United States; and there are lawmakers right here at home who would love to follow Florida’s lead.

“Florida’s new censorship landscape under laws like HB 1069 is robbing students of all kinds of important books and resources, such as those on major topics like the Holocaust, and shockingly, the dictionary,” Kasey Meehan, program director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, told CBS News.

It is terrifying to realize the number of lawmakers who hope to grab control away from parents and local school districts (and FOR themselves) by seeking to emulate the damage being done to students in Florida. Residents of states where such attempts are being made must make it perfectly clear to those lawmakers that big-government censorship designed to hurt our kids and limit their education will simply not be tolerated.