Cover Art Simon & Schuster [retrieved 11-Nov-2021]
Republicans pounce!
A headline in a newspaper or other article that describes Republicans (or other right-leaning individuals) attacking a Democrat (or other left-leaning individual) when that Democrat commits a misdeed. Always written by a reporter with left-wing political views, it will attempt to frame the Republicans as overzealous, and will either downplay, ignore, or excuse the Democrat’s misdeed. Commonly done by the New York Times or Washington Post, it is often viewed as a sign of the bias within the media.1
In other words, the focus of a negative articles about Democrats is not on the story but rather on the Republican reaction to the story.
In this case, the story is about several inappropriate books in school libraries.2 Here’s an illustration from Gender Queer, one of the books in question – Warning: Explicit Content.
The American Library Association recommends Gender Queer for young adults, ages 12 through 18. The School Library Journal recommends Gender Queer for grades 9 and up.
Instead of titling the article “Parents challenge graphic book content in school libraries”, the title is “[Republicans] latest effort to remove LGBTQ titles from school libraries”. See a difference?
There are quite a few topics deemed not appropriate for school libraries. Could this be one of those? Could the message of this book be appropriate for school libraries without the explicit content? Is it appropriate for parents to reject strangers providing this material to their children, unsolicited?
Those favoring the inclusion of this book might have a stronger case if school libraries were promoting heterosexual erotica and were selectively censoring LGBTQ material.
Also note the lack of balance in the article. No doubt there are objections to these books by Democrat politicians, parents, and educators, but the author doesn’t provide any information on that, framing it as a Republican problem.
The article then adds anti-minority sentiment to the supposed anti-LGBTQ sentiment with a quote from an American Library Association official. There’s nothing in the article that supports that assertion. But, hey, when you’re not fact-based, why not throw that in as well?
As with other ‘Republicans Pounce’ stories, the lesson is to never to be drawn into defending yourself against the liberal premise, in this case, that Republicans are anti-LGBTQ. Instead, you need to question the premise. Are these books appropriate for inclusion in government school libraries regardless of sexual orientation? That’s the real story, no matter how the liberal media would like to frame it.