"Children’s literature: as didactic* as ever, only with Progressive goals"

*Didactic:  1. Intended to instruct. 2. Morally instructive. 3. Inclined to teach or moralize excessively.

Bookworm Room

Children’s literature once taught children to avoid danger and be good boys and girls; now it primes young people to accept a Progressive political agenda.

. . . "None of the books were my cup of tea because they were all “quality literature.” Or put another way, they were all the kind of books that would end up in Oprah’s Book Club. My rule of thumb is that I will never read an Oprah-recommended book. Her taste in books and mine are so diametrically opposed that it’s a given that, if she likes it, I’ll hate it.

"Oprah likes books that are artsy, meaningful, politically correct, and written in high-brow language. I like thrillers, murder mysteries, romances, and non-fiction. We do not intersect.

" . . .Fairy tales may not seem obviously didactic, but they are — or at least some are. Don’t talk to strangers says Little Red Riding Hood. Don’t sleep with “a prick” when you’re still young says Sleeping Beauty. Be a hard worker of good cheer says Cinderella. Don’t accept food from strangers says Snow White. Throughout the world, fairy tales urge girls to be meek and chaste while urging boys to be brave and adventurous. Those aren’t politically correct messages, but history is what it is." . . . 

"As you may have guessed, I didn’t particularly enjoy the evening. The virtue signalling was constant, the disdain for America and Americans manifest, and the attacks on Trump predictable, boring, and distasteful. But I did at least get to see the books that serve as warm-ups for a future in which these kids grow up and go to an American college or university. Once there, when their professors start revealing the full Leftist panoply that’s the core curriculum of every college course, they are teaching to children who have been made primed and ready by a lifetime of children’s literature churning out Progressive propaganda."

TNT’s ‘Major Crimes’ Smears Priests and Catholic Church

Of course, such a show wouldn’t be complete without having an angry white male who hates illegal immigrants and wants them dead living next door to one of the missing boys:

Newsbusters  "When a show begins with a main character looking at Jesus on a crucifix in a Catholic Church while snidely saying to Him, “Thanks for nothing,” and then remarks, “We found Lucas Garza's body at a Catholic church. You know who hangs out at Catholic churches? Priests,” you know right away that there is a clear anti-Catholic bias and that things will all be downhill from there.

"TNT’s Major Crimes spent most of their Tuesday, November 7 episode, “Sanctuary City: Part 2” bashing priests and the Catholic Church with similarly offensive remarks, and made a priest a prime suspect in the disappearance of three teenage boys, referred to as the “St. Joseph’s Three,” who went missing while on a field trip with their Catholic church and school.

"Father Jonas is a teacher at St. Joseph’s and a mentor to the three boys, one of whom has already turned up dead at the church in a flower bed. One detective notes, “Father Jonas just can’t stop telling us enough how close he was to these boys.” Father Jonas further tells the detectives that he had an “intense” relationship with Ryan, and that doesn’t sit well with them.

"Ryan came from an abusive home and was neglected, which leads main character Sharon (Mary McDonnell) to suggest during Father Jonas’s interrogation, “Neglected kids make better targets for exploitation.” Another detective, Camila Paige (Jessica Meraz), asks Father Jonas, “If you knew that Ryan was getting knocked around, why didn't you report it?” “Apart from the Church's little habit of covering up abuse,” District Attorney Andrea Hobbs (Kathe Mazur), watching the interrogation from another room, adds in another dig.

"When Father Jonas storms out of the room after the interrogation, one detective states, “At least we have a pretty good idea he’s hiding something.” To which another one remarks, “Well, he’s a priest. Of course he’s hiding something.”

"Other characters, such as Ryan’s estranged father, join in insinuating an improper relationship existed between Ryan and Father Jonas, and he’s referred to as “that freaky priest,” and “that asshole priest.”

"Finally, detectives get a tip from an intern working at the Office of the Archdiocese that makes it appear that Father Jonas may indeed be guilty:" . . .

Sorry, Clinton Defenders, That HFA/DNC Agreement Cited by Donna Brazile Applied to Primaries Too

PJ Media  "The liberal establishment media has been working overtime to discredit former Democratic National Committee interim chair Donna Brazile as bombshells from her new tell-all book,  Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House, detonate on the eve of two critical gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey.

"Democrat operatives and Clinton loyalists in the media have been pushing back hard against her most damaging claim, published in an excerpt at Politico, that the DNC  “rigged” the 2016 primaries for Hillary Clinton through a joint fundraising agreement that gave Clinton control over key decisions at the DNC.

"Brazile wrote: "The agreement--signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias--specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party's finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings."

"NBC published an article "debunking" Brazile's claims, arguing that the agreement between the DNC and "Hillary for America" applied only to "preparations for the general election” and had nothing to do with the primary season." . . .

Tucker Carlson: CNN Management Ordered Hosts to Go After Donna Brazile

"On his Monday evening Fox News show, Tucker Carlson reported that "top management at CNN directed its employees to undermine (Donna) Brazile’s credibility" after she revealed on Friday that Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign had "rigged" the Democratic Party nominating process in her favor.

"One would think that CNN's left-leaning, Hillary-loving hosts and guests didn't need to be told, but it appears that management wanted to be sure that the attempt to discredit Brazile was carried out with sufficient persistence and enthusiasm." . . .

Melania is one amazing first lady

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "Let me say a good word about Melania Trump.  She has turned into one heck of a diplomatic asset for President Trump.

"On Monday, Mrs. Trump spoke to South Korean girls, and she was just fabulous: 

Melania Trump used her visit to South Korea to encourage more women to take up sport as she met with her counterpart in Seoul on Tuesday. 

The First Ladies were pictured touring the ground of the presidential palace Blue House before Melania spoke with a group of schoolchildren who had been invited along for the day.

Melania used the occasion to promote her Girls Play 2 initiative, which aims to ensure that boys and girls have equal access to sporting facilities. She said: 'Sport teaches children about teamwork, dedication, discipline, and how to succeed under pressure. 

'When we assure girls and boys have equal access to sports we are ensuring they have an equal chance to gain these valuable skills.

'Girls Play 2 reminds people that girls love to play sport just as much as boys do. Girls wants to play basketball and hockey, and snowboard and ski. 'Some girls want to become Olympians and many girls simply want to be active and enjoy sport for the fun of it.

'The Olympics are just around the corner. I am sure you are all very excited about next year's games. It will be an amazing opportunity to bring the world together through our shared loved of sport.

'As we look forward to the Olympics I call on all of us to ensure girl and boys are given equal access to facilities equipment and to coaches. Let's remind the world that girls play too.'

"Again, what else can you say but super, Mrs. Trump?  Yes, she is a beautiful and elegant woman, but she is also extremely charming, especially with children.

"Years ago, I was having dinner with a businessman in Mexico.  His wife recalled the story of President Kennedy's visit to Mexico City.  She related that she and her school friends were in the crowd that waved at President Kennedy driving by.

"I asked her: What was it like?  And she said: All my friends were crazy about Jackie's dress.  Then the lady laughed, and the rest of us did, too.

"I guess the moral of the story is don't underestimate the impact of an elegant first lady with a beautiful dress!  They love that around the world!

When The Saints Of First Baptist Church Were Murdered, God Was Answering Their Prayers

The Federalist  . . . "When we pray these words, we are certainly praying that God would deliver us from evil temporally—that is, in this earthly life. Through these words, we are asking God to send his holy angels to guard us from those who would seek to destroy us with knives and bombs and bullets. It may seem, on the surface, that God was refusing to give such protection to his Texan children. But we are also praying that God would deliver us from evil eternally. Through these same words, we are asking God to deliver us out of this evil world and into his heavenly glory, where no violence, persecution, cruelty, or hatred will ever afflict us again.

"We also pray in the Lord’s Prayer that God’s will be done. Sometimes, his will is done by allowing temporal evil to be the means through which he delivers us from eternal evil. Despite the best (or, more accurately, the worst) intentions of the wicked against his children, God hoists them on their own petard by using their wickedness to give those children his victory, even as the wicked often mock the prayers of their prey.

"During Christ’s crucifixion, for example, the same chief priests, scribes, and elders who conspired to put Jesus to death mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God’”

"Yet God proved his son’s divinity by, three days later, lifting him up out of the death those men gave him. Despite the chief priests, elders, and scribes doing all they could to silence the one who claimed to be the savior of the world, God turned their hatred into the catalyst of the world’s salvation." . . .

Exiled Drexel prof blames 'whiteness' for Texas massacre

Campus Reform  "The Drexel University professor who tweeted “all I want for Christmas is white genocide” recently blamed “whiteness” for the Texas massacre that killed 26 people.

"George Ciccariello-Maher, who is currently in exile from Drexel’s campus and is only teaching online classes, argued in a Democracy Now! interview Monday that “whiteness” and white “entitlement” is the motivating factor behind mass-shootings.

"Whiteness is a structure of privilege...that, when it feels threatened, you know, lashes out."  

"Although he noted that mental illness is a factor, Ciccariello-Maher argued that “we can’t lose sight of these broader questions,” asking “[w]hat is happening with regard to not only white people, but white men, in particular?”

"Ciccariello-Maher argued that there is an “institutional apparatus” that trains white men “in violence and that encourages them to feel as though they’re on the losing side of history,” adding that many white males feel like “victims” of society.

"When white men feel like victims, he contended, they lash out.

" 'You know, Trump makes hay out of the fact that white men, in particular, feel as though they’re the victims of this society, despite being in absolute control of it," he said at the end of a lengthy statement regarding the Texas church shooting. "And this is something that is powerfully dangerous, and it’s why we’re not seeing only the rise in violent attacks, more generally, and the rise of far-right movements, but we’re certainly seeing, you know, clearly, sort of some very serious incidents of mass violence, as well."

Apparently There Was One Defender of that Horrid Latino Victory Fund Ad

Townhall

"The Latino Victory Fund is guilty of creating one of the worst, most disgusting ads in campaign history. Last month, the group, which has endorsed Democratic candidate and Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, released a TV spot that depicted an angry, Ed Gillespie-supporting truck driver seeking minority children to run over.

"We're not kidding."

"The liberal group took the ad down shortly after the terror attack in New York City, in which the assailant used a truck to mow down several pedestrians.

"Asked to respond to the controversial ad, Northam insisted it did not originate with his campaign and he would not have approved it.

"Defending the ad would be a tall task for even the most liberal of Democrats, yet DNC Chair Tom Perez managed to do it." . . .

Brazile Blowback: Democrats Circle the Wagons and Defend Their Party

Jonathan S. Tobin

"They’re focused on their main goal: the ‘resistance.’ Republicans should emulate their discipline."

 "Donna Brazile probably wasn’t seeking to start a revolution in the Democratic party when she wrote her new book Hacks, whose excerpts published last week in Politico unleashed a bitter controversy about the 2016 presidential election. In telling her story, perhaps she was, like most authors of political memoirs, mostly interested in settling scores and making money. But the blowback from her dishing on the Clintons provides some important lessons for both Democrats and Republicans. 

"By revealing how the Democratic National Committee sought to steer the nomination toward Hillary Clinton at Bernie Sanders’s expense, Brazile set off a storm of bitter commentary about the 2016 race. Left-wingers such as Senator Elizabeth Warren were ready to accept the notion that the party establishment had cheated liberal insurgents and “rigged” the nomination process. At the same time, President Trump was happy to proclaim Brazile’s book as yet more proof that Hillary was “crooked,” as he has long described her. 

"Brazile’s willingness to further damage the already tattered reputation of her party’s 2016 nominee is rightly seen as proof that the Clintons are finished as a force to be reckoned with in American politics. But anyone who thought the story was going to lead to serious strife in the Democratic party was bound to be disappointed.  . . .   More...

Inside the Texas church, she thought it was her turn to die. Then outside, a man appeared.

 SF Gate

"As Farida Brown lay on the floor in the last row of pews in Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, the 73-year-old woman felt certain she would be the next one killed.

"And she almost was.

"The gunman had fired numerous rounds into her legs. She was shot four times, but they all struck soft tissue. None of her bones were broken, and no arteries were hit, her son said. But the man was revisiting those he had shot to make sure they were dead and if they weren't, he was shooting them once more.

"Brown's recollections of the horror that she and others in the church experienced, as told to her son, are among the first offered by one of the 20 wounded Sunday in the rampage that killed 26 churchgoers. The son, David Brown, told her story to reporters Monday, including CNN and The Washington Post." . . .

Liberals' reaction to the Texas church shooting is not about gun control

Earick Ward

Democrats are framing the narrative.  They are the good guys.  We are standing in defense of guns and killers.  Neither the merit of their subsequent proposals nor the merit of our argument in opposition will mean a hill of beans.  Perception (that they craft) is reality.

"The current clamor for sensible gun control legislation is not about gun control.

Don't get me wrong – the left will take any and all advances against the Second Amendment, and our constitutional right to bear arms, but that is not what is advancing the current narrative.

"No, division and deflection are fomenting the current gun control narrative.  By getting out in front of the narrative, and the facts, leftists are attempting to secure the moral high ground.  They, and they alone, care about these victims. 

"Republicans, by deduction and assertion, are responsible for the deaths.  This is a despicable political ploy, but sadly, we need to come to terms with the fact that nothing is below the Left.  Nothing.  (See this story, for example.)

"Within minutes of the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Chelsea Handler tweeted:

Innocent people go to church on Sunday to honor their God, and while doing so, get shot in killed. What country? America. Why? Republicans.

. . . "The (real) reality, though, is, as evidenced by this shooting, Steve Scalise's shooter, Rand Paul's attacker, and almost certainly the Las Vegas shooter, that the divisive narrative itself and not guns is what is motivating these almost exclusively leftist shooters to target those they've been convinced (by the media) are the enemy of the people.  Aren't these activists justified if Republican policies are killing people?" . . .

Poll: Views of Democratic Party hit lowest mark in 25 years

Trump's record unpopularity, now down to just 36% approval, also bleeds into the midterm elections: Roughly the same number, 35%, say they'd be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports Trump over one who opposes the president, down from 41% in April.

CNN  "Washington (CNN)Favorable views of the Democratic Party have dropped to their lowest mark in more than a quarter century of polling, according to new numbers from a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

"Only 37% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Democrats, down from 44% in March of this year. A majority, 54%, have an unfavorable view, matching their highest mark in polls from CNN and SSRS, CNN/ORC and CNN/USA Today/Gallup stretching back to 1992.

"The rating includes low favorable ratings from some core Democratic groups, including nonwhites (48%) and people under 35 years old (33%). The numbers come amid recent feuds and divisions in the Democratic Party, as former interim chair Donna Brazile's new book has unveiled new questions about infighting during the 2016 presidential campaign.

"But the Republican Party isn't doing any better, with just 30% of Americans holding a favorable view. That's essentially the same as September, when the rating hit its lowest point in polling back to 1992, but down from 42% in March. A broad 6 in 10, 61%, have an unfavorable opinion.

"Read the full poll results

CNN Publishes Op-Ed Over Racist Fear-mongering In Virginia Race, Targets Only Republicans…

 Weasel Zippers  "Of course they did. When the Democrats have been guilty of a ridiculously offensive race-baiting ad.

"Via Daily Caller:

A CNN op-ed lambasted Virginia Republicans for “fearmongering” during the state’s gubernatorial election Tuesday, but offered no criticism of Democrats for doing the same.

Author S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, a public policy professor at the University of California, railed against Republican candidate Ed Gillespie’s campaign for airing ads about MS-13’s gang presence in Virginia, but he had no criticism for Democrat candidate Ralph Northam. While supposedly critical of “fearmongering,” the op-ed was devoid of any reference to the infamous pro-Northam ad which portrayed Gillespie supporters as confederate-flag-toting Nazis who want to run over minority children with trucks.

Gillespie has centered his campaign on Virginia’s violent crime and high number of members of Latino gang MS-13. And while it is true that police in Virginia’s wealthiest county are equaled–if not outnumbered–by MS-13 members, Ramakrishnan nevertheless pounced on the ads, claiming Gillespie was actually pushing hatred of Mexicans and residents of South America.

Keep reading…