Http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/21/ru......r-award/

I wonder if it's any good.

Well, I just looked at the outline on Amazon.com and it's supposed to be written by "Rush Revere" who says he named himself after his long time idol PAUL Revere who loved this country so much he went riding out in the rain yelling; "The British Are Coming" at the top of his lungs. First off, does anyone know if it was actually raining on that night? Secondly, we've established that Paul went house-to-house to warn the founding fathers of the British coming. http://www.amazon.com/Rush-Revere-Brave-......76755868

OK, I'm sorry. I'm trying very hard not to be pre-judgemental due to this being a book by Rush Limbaugh, but this is just BADLY written;

http://www.amazon.com/Rush-Revere-Brave-......76755868

If your first issue is, "How do we know it was even raining?" I don't think you're trying all that hard.

From the Introduction:

"Our country is the first country ever to be founded on the principle that all human beings are created as free people. The Founders of this phenomenal country believed all people were born to be free as individuals."

Sweet. It's a fairy tale.

My issue was, in reading the description from the Amazon ad, Rush Limbaugh made a point of commenting on the weather for Paul Revere's ride. Did he or did he not get that fact straight since he made a special mention of it? If the first two facts he brings up (the rain and Paul riding through the town shouting "The British Are Coming") are incorrect, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the book.

"Artistic license is permitted in regard to presentation and subject matter, so long as it does not deviate in significant ways from established history."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_fiction

Moreover, it's a children's book. Not to spoil Charlotte's Web for anyone, but pigs and spiders don't communicate with each other in English, either.

From Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution:

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

Charlotte's Web is not trying to tell up about American history either.

It's not a history book. Time machines don't exist, either.

My original post in this thread was going to be that the two things I knew about this book without having read it are that it would be hailed by conservatives here and attacked by liberals.


Halfway home!

Off topic a bit, but this reminds me of when Sarah Palin supporters went on a rampage editing the Paul Revere Wikipedia page to make it conform to Palin's uninformed misstatements about the event.

They actually had to close the editing function on the page for a while due to the vandalism.

No, Bob, it's exactly on topic. The main purpose in ventures like this is to distort history in a particular way. Yes, Lobo, even in a children's fantasy book. The purpose of the book is to continue disseminating the lie about American Exceptionalism. That's explicit in the Introduction. That's why I provided two quotes above--one from the book, and the other, the truth from the Constitution about the intentions of the Founders.

Thanks Ed.

The acknowledgments section says:

"For years, people were telling me I should write another book. I would shrug them off, giving one excuse after another. I just wasn't inspired to write more political commentary. Then my wife, Kathryn, suggested an entirely different idea. She reminded me how often I talked about the importance of young people learning the truth about American history. She knew my frustration with what many kids are learning today and suggested that I tell the amazing stories of our country's founding in an easy to understand way."

What history are kids being taught today that so frustrates Rush? What "truth" aren't they getting?

Also, at the end of Ed's link, there is a "How smart are you" section where it asks questions of the readers to test what they've learned. And then it says, "Looking for answers? Visit www.twoifbytea.com under Tea The People!". Apparently, Rush is selling his own brand of iced tea. From the website:

Rush and Kathryn started Two If By Tea® to understand first-hand the myriad challenges faced by American small business owners. They wanted to manufacture a product from scratch, within the United States, while creating jobs. Their mission from day one was to cut no corners and produce the best possible product on the market, demonstrating their belief in American Exceptionalism!

Rush and Kathryn love iced tea and thought a patriotic beverage would be ideal! They set out to taste test hundreds of samples to ensure they selected the best possible blend of natural ingredients. Rush was determined to make the Original Sweet Tea taste just like his mother used to make when he was growing up in the great state of Missouri. Both thought why not be modern day milkmen and deliver the finest iced tea in America right to your front door step?


But it won't take a genius to figure out that the website is Rush's thinly veiled Tea Party indoctrination site. There is a Hall of Patriots section where it honors a "Patriot of the Month". Here is their write-up of the latest honoree:

Meet our latest Patriot of the Month – Christie S. from California! Christie is an 18-year old senior in high school and grew up listening to Rush in the background at her home. Her family uses Rush’s program as a conduit for everyday discussions in their home and Christie quickly learned the importance well informed when considering controversial issues. The knowledge gained from the show has helped her tremendously in her classes and in her conversations with peers at school. Her family loves tea, so they were happy to try out Two If By Tea®. Christie is inspired by the success of Two If By Tea®, saying it is, “A little reminder that Paul Revere’s spirit and the Founding Fathers’ dream are still alive through Mr. Limbaugh and his many listeners.”


So Rush's hidden (or not so hidden) agenda is to start with an innocent enough book and then direct young readers to his Tea Party website. I guess they're never too young to start on the path of homophobia, misogyny, racism, and greed.


Ron

It seems to me to be a parody, or a mockery, of the thinly veiled communist manifesto found in most children’s books today.

Made "from scratch, within the United States" except for some of the main ingredients like the imported tea etc. Nothing wrong with that, just funny to me how the advertising sort of glosses over that.

It seems to me that you're making a rather different criticism than the one to which I was responding, unless you think that whether or not it was raining is relevant to the "particular way" the main purpose is to mislead.

Now if you're suggesting that having a political motivation means that a book is not a good children's book, then You probably have at least some common ground with Limbaugh, who I'm sure isn't a big fan of "Heather Has Two Mommies."

Paul Revere? He was a lazy jerk who couldn't be bothered to go knock on more than a few doors before getting back to dinner. We only remember him because his name happened to rhyme with "Hear".

Seriously.
http://www.cracked.com/article_18755_5-f......ass.html

Everyone knows the rain shrank the Red Coats, so much so that we could not move our arms, otherwise we would have won.