From small acorns, can great oaks grow?

April 4, 2006 8:08 PM

Why Mommy is a Democrat— a self-published children's book by Jeremy Zilber (sample pages here.) Warm fuzziness, left-wing nuttiness, or squirrely propaganda?
posted by cenoxo (45 comments total)

Wow, the nanny state in giant, skywritten letters. Sheesh.
posted by Malor at 8:16 PM on April 4, 2006

All of the above. I like how the squirrel "mommy makes sure we're all safe" from the elephant walking down the path.
posted by Devils Slide at 8:17 PM on April 4, 2006

"democrats promise the sun and the moon and then take your money, just like mommy does," daddy explained
posted by pyramid termite at 8:20 PM on April 4, 2006

Democrats do that annoying thing where they spit on a napkin and then rub your face with it, just like Mommy does.
posted by jenovus at 8:21 PM on April 4, 2006

is that a joke? i can't believe it's real. Mommies usually don't go to school, and college doesn't cost $160,000.
posted by amberglow at 8:22 PM on April 4, 2006

Democrats fuck your daddy, just like mommy does.
posted by ColdChef at 8:26 PM on April 4, 2006 [2 favorites]

Saw this a while ago on Hit & Run. Pretty creepy, yet... boring. I have to say, I can think of no Democrats who would buy this for their child. I don't doubt they're out there, but most Dems I know would laugh their asses off if they saw this.

Then again, I ain't a Dem. Maybe they dig this. I just know that my Dem mother would find this laughable. As subtle as a Rove talking point.
posted by brundlefly at 8:27 PM on April 4, 2006

My college would have, if not for a scholarship, amberglow.
posted by jenovus at 8:29 PM on April 4, 2006

really, jenovus?

Indeed, Why Mommy Is a Democrat, though ostensibly written by "lifelong Democrat and political activist" Jeremy Zilber has the feel of a being a GOP black-bag job.
I'm with Gillespie on that.
posted by amberglow at 8:30 PM on April 4, 2006

democrats screw around in the office and then lie about it, just like mommy does
posted by pyramid termite at 8:33 PM on April 4, 2006

really, jenovus?

Yeah, but it's a private school, so it's not like THE STATE SCHOOLS ARE KILLING EDUCATION OMG!! I could certainly have gone to college in my home state (go UNH) for much less.
posted by jenovus at 8:38 PM on April 4, 2006

i'm willing to bet that the adults of the future will have LESS lifestyle choices. the choices will be sooo limited that everyone will be a clone, all homogeneity, no real differences. none of this is good. the further mallification of america.
posted by brandz at 8:39 PM on April 4, 2006

As am I, amberglow. Pass me the tin foil hat. This is a cartoon version of exactly what liberals have been (fairly) criticized for... Big Mommy Government, and whatnot... and I'm suspicious of it.

Or maybe it's propped up as a target for modern, Big Daddy Government Republicans, as a way to expose their hypocrisy. "Small government" conservative my ass.
posted by brundlefly at 8:40 PM on April 4, 2006

Republicans invade random countries and kill innocent, brown-skinned children, just like Mommy does.
posted by brundlefly at 8:41 PM on April 4, 2006

I have to admit that even as a Democrat I find this a bit too much.

If we're into fairy tales, I'd rather read a kid Grimm's fairy tales. :)
posted by bim at 8:46 PM on April 4, 2006

HOLY SHIT THAT IS HORRIBLE
posted by jimmy at 8:48 PM on April 4, 2006

Oh...is there a page that says: Democrats sell out the gay folks just like everyone else?
posted by bim at 8:48 PM on April 4, 2006

Democrats will take Daddy's money and go shopping, just like Mommy does.
posted by Malor at 8:53 PM on April 4, 2006 [2 favorites]

Saw this a while ago on Hit & Run. Pretty creepy, yet... boring. I have to say, I can think of no Democrats who would buy this for their child. I don't doubt they're out there, but most Dems I know would laugh their asses off if they saw this.

Which is likely the same reaction from the right from those dumb "Help, Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!" books. These are coffee table gag gifts.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 8:57 PM on April 4, 2006

Is this a companion volume to "Help! Mom, there are liberals under my bed!"?
posted by Biblio at 8:58 PM on April 4, 2006

Which is likely the same reaction from the right from those dumb "Help, Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!" books. These are coffee table gag gifts.

Absolutely. That's probably where most of their business comes from, on both sides.
posted by brundlefly at 9:03 PM on April 4, 2006

Is this a companion volume to "Help! Mom, there are liberals under my bed!"?

no, the companion volume to that is, "HELP! Dad, there are gays in my ass!"

i know, i'm so going to hell for that ...
posted by pyramid termite at 9:03 PM on April 4, 2006

God bless America. Equal opportunity crapola!
posted by bim at 9:03 PM on April 4, 2006

From Biblio's* link:

"Brainwashing!"
--Alan Colmes, co-host of Fox News "Hannity & Colmes"
(Note: Coming from a liberal like Alan, we take that as a compliment!)

Is Alan Colmes the only "liberal" they could come up with to trash the book? They didn't have to leave the building to get that quote!

*Very appropriate name.
posted by brundlefly at 9:06 PM on April 4, 2006

I don't know how any of you are able to pick apart the content. My eyes are too busy bleeding from the art.
posted by furiousthought at 9:32 PM on April 4, 2006

Agree with furiousthought. Those are some creepy, consistently off-model squirrels.
posted by jenovus at 9:43 PM on April 4, 2006

I'm still stuck on the gender stuff. I think the girls have tops but no pants, the boys have pants but no tops, yet the boy in the purple pants has bows in his hair. I think there may be a message here. :>
posted by bim at 10:07 PM on April 4, 2006

Why does every illustration seem to include a flasher in a raincoat? There's got to be some kind of demented subtext there.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:10 PM on April 4, 2006

Bim, all of the WMD squirrels have tufted ears, but the girl squirrel has blue bows on hers and wears blue bib overalls. The boy squirrel wears a striped green and brown t-shirt.

Perhaps the mouse is either a playmate or part of an inter-species blended family...
posted by cenoxo at 10:26 PM on April 4, 2006

Why Mommy is a Democrat

How very ironic - married women with children are probably the most reliable demographic of Republican voters.
posted by dgaicun at 10:32 PM on April 4, 2006

I think trying to indoctrinate children so young is fucked up, personally. But whatever.
posted by delmoi at 11:33 PM on April 4, 2006

Bim, all of the WMD squirrels have tufted ears, but the girl squirrel has blue bows on hers and wears blue bib overalls. The boy squirrel wears a striped green and brown t-shirt.

Dear god. Now I've got gender confusion issues! :) Just don't tell me that Barney and Spongebob aren't gay. It will ruin my day!
posted by bim at 6:15 AM on April 5, 2006

Well, the artwork is true in one respect, elephant comes walking down path, democratic mommy squirrel's eyes bug out, urinates self, then scampers off. . . Perhaps if she just stood up to the elephant like, say a mouse? Everyone knows elephants are afraid of mice. Perhaps dems should change their symbol from a donkey to a mouse?
posted by mk1gti at 6:52 AM on April 5, 2006

I like animals and Democrats, but these pictures make me want to knock some fat bucktoothed squirrel's teeth out. This has to be Republican propaganda. They aren't even common American gray squirrels, they're red (red!) squirrels like you find all over Europe (the artist is Russian?), and their ear tufts are like creepy alien antennas.
posted by pracowity at 7:16 AM on April 5, 2006

My college would have, if not for a scholarship, amberglow.

Sorry, I'm calling B.S. on this, unless you went to some kind of very specialized school. My alma mater, Columbia, is one of the more expensive schools around, but full-time tuition, housing, and full meal plan still come in well under $30k/year.

Not that college isn't a frickin' fortune...
posted by mkultra at 7:32 AM on April 5, 2006

Present cost of tuition, room and board at Harvard:

$43, 656.00
posted by briank at 7:55 AM on April 5, 2006

Oops, $43, 655.
posted by briank at 7:55 AM on April 5, 2006

briank, don't forget the overhead costs for running those "Liberals don't really like affirmative action" bake sales. They take a loss on most of them, so it bumps the effective cost of college up quite a bit.
posted by verb at 8:58 AM on April 5, 2006

It's exaggerated, but four years of college can run, say, $100k ($120k, based on Columbia's numbers).

Still, I'm with Amberglow on "black bag job."
posted by klangklangston at 9:15 AM on April 5, 2006

The perplexed-looking WMD college graduate on the steps wears a gown with a big "Y," and stands next to the sign "Admission: $160,000." The March 27, 2006 issue of the Yale Daily News reports:

The Yale College term bill for the 2006-07 academic year will increase 5 percent to $43,050, according to a University press statement scheduled to be released today.

This year's term bill increase is lower than last year's increase, which was the highest since 1993... Last year's term bill rose 5.5 percent to $41,000...

Multiply the 2005-06 bill by four and you've got $164,000—close enough.
posted by cenoxo at 9:57 AM on April 5, 2006

yeesh, this is embarrassing. it is self-righteous, poorly drawn/written, and has all kinds of apparently unintentional negative connotations like the nanny state & the 'red' squirrels. I can't believe that page of testimonials...

the right wing equivalent is much more blatant & mean, but it seems to be more intentionally a joke as well... I dunno, I didn't see sample pages - both illustrate the problem of the two party/go team mode of politics, tho'.
posted by mdn at 10:11 AM on April 5, 2006

yeesh, this is embarrassing. it is self-righteous, poorly drawn/written, and has all kinds of apparently unintentional negative connotations like the nanny state & the 'red' squirrels. I can't believe that page of testimonials...

the right wing equivalent is much more blatant & mean, but it seems to be more intentionally a joke as well... I dunno, I didn't see sample pages - both illustrate the problem of the two party/go team mode of politics, tho'.
posted by mdn at 10:11 AM on April 5, 2006

verb - I guess I wasn't clear. That's $43K per annum. Harvard does indeed cost $160K + for four years.

Of course, the guy in the illustration has a big "Y" on his gown, for Yale (GWB's alma mater), but I'll bet it's about the same.
posted by briank at 11:24 AM on April 5, 2006

(or, now that I see it, what cenoxo said)
posted by briank at 11:24 AM on April 5, 2006

Once again, squirrels lead the way!
posted by squirrel at 1:49 PM on April 5, 2006