Friends, just when you thought wokeness couldn't get any more extreme, absurd, or Orwellian, it does just that. The works of Roald Dahl have been "edited" for cultural sensitivity by Dahl's publisher, Puffin Books. Now, it would be one thing if footnotes were added to Dahl's works to add literary or historical context, but, no, Puffin thinks it's better if we just pretend Dahl is a modern social justice warrior and, if he disapproves, well, he's dead, so who cares? I agree wholeheartedly with this analysis, which says that we all need to stand against this insanity, and posthaste too, before the original versions of our great books are scrubbed from our memories.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/02/19/the-rewriting-of-roald-dahl-should-disturb-us-all/
In other news, one Republican Congressman is claiming that as many as 400 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives are in accord when it comes to showering Ukraine with direct military aid, so as to escalate and prolong the Russia-Ukraine War, regardless of the risks. The sad truth is...he's right. Virtually no one in Washington thinks courting WWIII is a bad idea, and almost every single member of our political establishment has bought into the fantasy that Ukraine can "defeat" Russia, not only in the short term but in the long term too. I tell you: if only Ukraine is obliterated by this idiotic policy, we can count ourselves lucky. I just hope the war doesn't spread.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: In 18th century England a man named Bowdler ventured to rewrite some of Shakespeare's plays in part to make them (yes) more "appropriate" for children. The term bowdlerized, to mean such presumptous alteration, was thereby coined and is pejorative. The left's blithe bowdlerization of children's classics is to be fully expected, since comprehensive leftist assumption of leftist infallibility is abundantly obvious in all it asserts or commands. The next step will be the removal from library shelves of complete works anathemitized by the woke (eg. Twain). Librarians are taught in library school to resist public efforts to remove certain works but the profession and its organizations , being overwhelmingly left wing,will very probably cooperate, in some cases with enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteFrom Jack: Sorry, early 19th century.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: In the name of sparing the young discomfort and , why yes,to "catch 'em while they are young" the left offers and soon would mandate such classics as "No: My first book of protest" or radical feminist primers for justifying early disdain for their fathers. Surely soon it will be "My first book of abortion" or "You should tell on your parents!"
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: It is madness to provoke a nation as violent and powerful as Russia over an issue which need not have been a national security concern. But we went and did it, didn't we; now Ukraine IS such a situation for us. We did not need Ukraine in Nato; Nato had already approached Russia far closer than could have been thought possible and we should have left well alone. Russian history and geography confirm Ukraine's terrible importance to Russia. Of course we may lament Ukraine's great misfortune in its proximity to Russia, especially now when Ukraine's gallantry in the face of the vicious Russian onslaught has won Ukraine much admiration. But to have created for ourselves a fluid situation rife with harrowing possibilities we have allowed "fall of the iron curtain" hubris to get us in a rare old mess. What now? Most of our lawmakers appear to think this now a matter of stopping a Hitlerian outbreak by Russia. Had Russia expansive intent why did it abide the almost incredible expansion of Nato (including a united Germany). Ukraine's defense has now become a vital matter both of national security and honor. Necessary introspection and reexamination are highly improbable with this administration. Speaker McCarthy, you need to launch an immediate, extraordinary reconsideration of this in the House!
ReplyDeleteJack, the removal of "offensive" works from our libraries is already well underway, as you know, which makes it, well, offensive that the Left is pretending that Ron DeSantis invented the practice. So the paragons of cancel culture are now against cancellation??? Yeah, right!
ReplyDeleteThanks for teaching me about Bowdler. That's useful historical trivia. :)
Jack, as horrific as it must sound, there IS already a children's book about abortion, and more to come, undoubtedly!
https://www.whatsanabortionbook.com/
You're right: the West talks as if Putin is "Hitlerian", and it acts, well, like the U.K. and France in the run-up to Nazi Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia. I expect, in the end, the result will be similar: we will someday "give away" a big chunk of Ukraine to achieve something like "peace". Russia probably won't be in a position to capitalize on our weakness and foolishness, but China may be...
Dr.Waddy from Jack: I can just see it: "Mommy could have decided to abort you if she didn't want a child just then and that would have been ok. If anyone told her that would be icky it is just because they hate Mommy and all women. But she loved you so much she decided to let you live and that is ok too."So it might read, if not now, then soon!
ReplyDeleteQuite right! Pretty soon they'll be writing children's books encouraging kids to self-abort (retroactively). I mean, do it for Mother Earth, kiddies!!!
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: Given the past 60 years, there is seemingly no limit to counterintuitive leftist presumption and adventurousness!
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