Probably because Ed has finally pissed me off to the point of no return.

If you recall, the flashpoint for this discussion was a bunch of non-credentialed people trying to crash a professional conference -- not merely to attend, but to demand representation on a panel discussion -- with the assistance of a group that has heavy association with a US-government sponsored propaganda group.

Ed managed to connect the ALA's reluctance to let this group dictate the organization's conference agenda with the ALA's well-known opposition to the Patriot Act's intrusion on confidential patron records. Because, of course, anyone who opposes any portion of the Right's agenda must be a traitor or an idiot, and is probably both. I have heard this in many forms here over the years, and I am so sick of it that I have no words left to describe my contempt for this attitude.

And yes, there are state certificates for librarians. They are usually issued by the state's department of education. The curricular standards for a certified librarian in the US are set by the ALA. There is, however, no political litmus test.

Management positions require a certain number of credit hours in the discipline. School librarians, also known as media specialists, must either be certified or be issued an emergency certification, with the understanding that the credits will be obtained in whatever period of time the state designates. Private libraries are pretty much free to hire whoever they want, but businesses being what they are, they are likely to go for credentials as a way of assuring a certain minimum standard, just the way engineering firms require degrees in engineering or some sort of documentation indicating a number of years of practical on-the-job training. Anyone can attend a professional conference if they pay the money, but not just anybody can present at one.

I venture to suggest that people who have spent decades doing a particular type of work have a better handle on what it entails than people who have not. Whether or not I personally agree with some of the political positions taken by the ALA is for me to talk to my colleagues about. But when it comes down to whether or not I will close ranks in public against an attack mounted by people who try to bully their way into a conference, and are supported by people who don't know shit from shinola, guess what?

If it's OK for anyone on the Right to try to crash a conference because they have something to say, I don't want to hear ONE WORD from you the next time somebody on my side of the aisle protests outside an event to which they were not invited, because they, too, have something to say.