RAISING CHILDREN (FAR) RIGHT

Over the weekend, Yastreblyansky noted the existence of a children's book by Kash Patel, a former Trump administration official and apparent conniver with Rudy Giuliani on the Trump White House's efforts to find dirt on political enemies in Ukraine. Patel's book -- a picture book -- is The Plot Against the King, the king being "King Donald."

Full of fake heralds and keeper Komey’s spying slugs, this is a story of daring and danger. But never fear! Kash the Distinguished Discoverer will win the day.

Hillary Queenton and her shifty knight had spread lies that King Donald had cheated to become King. They claimed he was working with the Russionians! But how could that be? Join Kash, the Distinguished Discoverer as he uncovers the plot against the King, and who was really behind all the lies.

This book is currently #51 on the Amazon bestseller list, whether because of genuine sales or bulk buys I'm not sure.

The publisher, Brave Books, is worried about Culture. According to Brave Books, Culture is bad. Culture is a vulture.

The head of Brave Books tells us this and explains how right-thinking parents can protect their kids from Culture and other evils:



Every Brave Book is designed to prevent Culture from harming precious right-wing children:

There's a lot of this going around. A children's book called Johnny the Walrus hit #1 on the Amazon list last month -- again, perhaps because of bulk buys, perhaps because of legitimate sales. The book, written by the Daily Wire's Matt Walsh and published by the Wire's DW Books, is a parable about transgenderism, as this Focus on the Family writer explains:

... the colorful board book tells the story of a boy with a powerful imagination.

“One day he’s a dog, the next day a crustacean,” the book says. But things begin to go south for young Johnny when he waddles downstairs as a walrus one morning.

Pro-trans-walrus activists on social media encourage Johnny’s mom to stop being so “literally walrusphobic” and “let Johnny transition.” After all, “marine mammals are people too!”

Mom succumbs to social media pressure, and she and a “woke doctor” encourage Johnny to become the walrus he really is.

The reader will hasten to finish the story, eager to learn: Will Johnny go live with the pinnipeds? Does he have his feet surgically altered into flippers? Do his newly grown vibrissae become a permanent facial feature?

Spoiler alert: There is one level-headed adult character, looking suspiciously like Walsh – albeit with bulging forearms, who helps Johnny’s mom see reality.

They'll tell us that they're doing this because Woke Culture Is Indoctrinating Children and because Politics Is Downstream Of Culture, but I think they're really doing it because Rush Limbaugh seems to have made a great deal of money from his Rush Revere series of children's books. (As depicted on the book covers, Rush Revere is Limbaugh in a tricorn hat; notice that both the Walsh and Patel books feature a character based on the author, although the Walsh character appears to have bigger muscles.)

Is publishing right-wing children's books a shrewd business move? Will the children of wingnut parents grow to adulthood and harbor resentment that their parents forced Brave Books on them rather than letting them read about Captain Underpants? We'll see.