Liberal Claims Kid's Bedtime Story Book Contains...Nudity?!
Andrew Sullivan attacks children's book "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed" for containing nudity; later issues retraction but says book invokes memories of Chairman Mao. Joins liberals Ron Reagan, Alan Colmes in denouncing best-selling kid's book.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 27, 2005 -- Liberals on the airwaves and across the Internet have assailed the bestselling new conservative childrens book "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed" (Kids Ahead; hardcover $15.95; ISBN 0976726904) since it was announced several weeks ago, but the criticism took a surprising turn on Monday when prominent liberal Andrew Sullivan waded into the controversy, this according to the book's publisher.
Sullivan - the author of multiple books and a former editor for the magazine "New Republic" - claimed on his popular blog that the book contains nudity, a charge which set off fierce debate across the blogosphere that ultimately resulted in Sullivan issuing a retraction. The allegation nonetheless came as a shock to many and prompted concerned inquiries directed to both the author and the publisher. The book, which contains full-color illustrations, tells the story of liberals taxing and regulating a lemonade stand and features cartoon look-alikes of liberal icons Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy. It is currently ranked #3 in the category of childrens bestsellers on Amazon.com.
"How can you tell when a political ideology has become the equivalent of a religion?" Sullivan wrote on his blog. "When it attempts to indoctinate 4 -- 8 year olds." He went on to instruct readers to "check out some of the illustrations" and provided a link to a website which hosted fabricated images purporting to be from the book. One of the images on the page Sullivan linked to featured cartoon nudity and showed a caricature identified as Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) clad in inappropriate pants.
"National Review" commentators Jonah Goldberg and John Podhoretz criticized Sullivan for his attack, prompting Sullivan to later acknowledge that he had realized that the illustrations were "fakes and parodies." But no sooner had he delivered his mea culpa than the he resumed his attack on "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed," saying it was "ideological fanaticism" that invoked memories of Chinese dictator Chairman Mao Tse-Tung.
Sullivan is just the latest high profile liberal to criticize author Katharine DeBrecht and her popular book. Alan Colmes, co-host of Foxs Hannity & Colmes, called the book "brainwashing." MSNBC host Ron Reagan mused that he should write his own kid's book depicting conservatives as "hat[ing black people." The Democratic Underground website listed DeBrecht on their "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" list and was the source for the phony picture that Sullivan claimed was real. And Daily Kos, the most trafficked left-wing blog, likened the book to Nazi propaganda.
"I'm disappointed in Andrew Sullivan, but I'm not surprised," said DeBrecht, a mother of three. "Left-wing books have been pouring into our classrooms and libraries for a long time. Now liberals are incensed to see a book supporting traditional values come along, sell well, and have a little fun in the process." DeBrecht added that children's books advocating socialism ("Rainbow Fish"), homosexuality ("King & King" and "Daddy's Roommate"), and Bush-bashing ("No, George, No!") have long been in circulation.
"Is being compared to Chairman Mao a compliment coming from a liberal?" quipped DeBrecht. "Last week the liberals were calling me a Nazi, so I'll take this as a sign of progress."
About Kids Ahead:
Kids Ahead is an imprint of Los Angeles-based World Ahead Publishing, the West Coast's premier publisher of conservative and libertarian books. To learn more, visit www.worldahead.com.
Contact Information:
To interview author Katharine DeBrecht, contact Special Guests at (630) 848-0750.
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