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Afternoon Links: Bad Children’s Books, More Bad Pastors, and Stranger Things

By Jim Swift

J is for Jihad, and S is for Stupid Children’s Books. As a new father, I have already seen the crazy amount of stupid products made for children. The biggest offending category is actually children’s books, many of which are terrible. Some are just poorly written, but others are worse: They are political. Sure, books are an easy way to subtly convey values to toddlers. (Though, outsourcing this to others’ writing seems like lazy parenting …)

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Worse than the subtly political books are those that are nakedly partisan. And for some reason, publishers and authors pointlessly send us copies as if we frequently critique them in the the print magazine. We don’t.

Books like Why Mommy is a Democrat, and The Adventures of Pepe and Pede (seriously) got some competition this week with the Internet uproar over P is for Palestine. Here’s the author on why this book, for children, is necessary:

But the author, Golbarg Bashi, a Pace history professor and former Rutgers Iranian-studies instructor, told an audience at a bookstore reading Saturday that she “came up with the idea for this book after I couldn’t find a book about Palestine for children.’’

Never mind that you can’t have a discussion about Israel and Palestine without discussing a whole host of topics that are age-inappropriate for toddlers. Bash addresses this, in part, with: “I is for Intifada, Arabic for rising up for what is right, if you are a kid or grownup!”

Uhhhhhhhhh. Moving on, the author pitches her book this way:

The simple story of Palestine is today shrouded in convoluted misinformation and contested narratives. But at the heart of the matter stands a proud people with a compelling truth which sustain their historic struggles to tell their story of dispossession to the world. Our P is for Palestine is a modest step in that direction. Furthermore, children the world over are increasingly exposed to a barrage of psychologically damaging disinformation that violates the sanctity of their young life and compromises their trust in the world. In this book we tell the story of Palestine in a manner that enriches their hope in our future. As a result, P is for Palestine follows in the footsteps of great many alphabet books about countries, customs and the beauty of the world around us in good ‘ol English and other European languages!

Yes, the way to avoid psychological damage in toddlers is to teach them about the Intifada and conflicts between Israel and Palestine.

Let’s get a little less political, and talk about Stranger Things. It’s a fantastic show, and over at National Review, Heather Wilhelm has a fantastic review:

But when it comes to battling the forces of evil, Stranger Things is never dark, angry, or bitter. Refreshingly, it plays things straight, with heart — and whether it’s dealing with a heated Dungeons and Dragons face-off or tracking the slimy beast known as the Demogorgon, it also carries more than a hint of joy. “It’s not nasty or mean or condescending or ironic or any of those things,” Matt Duffer told Time, “which a lot of content can be right now.”

I reviewed Season One for TWS (can you tell being a film critic isn’t my strongsuit?), and think Wilhelm’s review is just great. If you have some time over the holiday, check out the show if you haven’t already.

Bad Pastors, continued. It’s been a few days since we checked in on Alabama, where Christian pastors are volunteering to look like idiots faster than mushrooms pop up after a rainstorm. The Boston Globe has this report:

“The hypocrisy of Washington has no bounds,” said Franklin Graham, the powerful evangelical preacher and son of Billy Graham. “So many denouncing Roy Moore when they are guilty of doing much worse than what he has been accused of supposedly doing.”

Wow. Surely that’s the worst, right? You’d be wrong!

“I don’t know how much these women are getting paid, but I can only believe they’re getting a healthy sum,” said pastor Earl Wise, a Moore supporter from Millbrook, Ala. Wise said he would support Moore even if the allegations were true and the candidate was proved to have sexually molested teenage girls and women. “There ought to be a statute of limitations on this stuff,” Wise said. “How these gals came up with this, I don’t know. They must have had some sweet dreams somewhere down the line. “Plus,” he added, “there are some 14-year-olds, who, the way they look, could pass for 20.”

There is a statute of limitations, Pastor Earl! But not on talking about these allegations when evaluating Roy Moore as a candidate for office.

Here’s Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson doubling down on Moore in a radio ad:

“Recently I have been dismayed and troubled about the way he and his wife Kayla have been personally attacked by the Washington establishment”

For shame. If he wins, maybe Dobson can update his book Romantic Love: How to Be Head Over Heels and Still Land on Your Feet with a chapter on Roy Moore.

Jake Tapper’s Love of Twitter. At the Atlantic, Adrienne LaFrance has an interesting interview with CNN anchor (and TWS contributor!) Jake Tapper. A prolific Twitter user, Tapper’s office is decorated with posters of presidential losers, and he explains why. He also dishes on his one (and only) date with pre-scandal Monica Lewinsky, which turned into his first cover story for the Washington City Paper.

Making the rounds on the right is the portion where Tapper suggests sometimes President Trump doesn’t get a fair shake in the press:

Goldberg: You think there’s a possibility that Trump is getting too hard a ride? Tapper: Sometimes. Goldberg: You do? Tapper: Absolutely. Goldberg: Give me an example. Tapper: I think there is an inclination of some people to interpret every single thing he says and does in a horrific way, and as if he is without charm. He’s not wrong about everything he says. Washington is a swamp and there are a tremendous amount of conflicts of interest that we’re not outraged enough about. Now, is he doing anything about it? Not really that I can tell. Have trade deals been negotiated with Wall Street and corporate America in mind more than middle-class workers and the working class? Yeah, of course, 100 percent. Is it insane to think that we should have a secure border? I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know if a wall is the right way to do it. Policy-wise, I think a lot of people in the press just act as though everything he wants to do is just based on a falsehood.

Tapper also expresses a lot of disappointment in the status quo of 2017, where people (like Donald Trump Jr.) should act better because, deep down, they should know better. Doing news 24 hours a day, Tapper says, is not easy. Read the article and get to know more about one of America’s best TV journalists.

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