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Baby Einstein's Quasi-Recall
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| Contributor | Penguin |
| Last Edited | Penguin Oct 25, 2009 08:33pm |
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| Category | General |
| Author | Timothy Noah |
| News Date | Monday, October 26, 2009 02:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | In a January 2007 column ("Bush's Baby Einstein Gaffe") I argued that the Bush White House blundered badly when it singled out Julie Aigner-Clark, founder of the Baby Einstein Co., to sit by First Lady Laura Bush as President George W. Bush rhapsodized, in his State of the Union address, "Julie represents the great enterprising spirit of America." A tradition dating to the Reagan administration required the president to recognize a few American heroes during his annual speech to Congress. Seated alongside Aigner-Clark in the House visitor's gallery were Wesley Autrey, who had leapt in front of a New York City subway train to rescue a complete stranger, and Army Sgt. Tommy Reiman, who had repelled an enemy attack in Iraq with two legs full of shrapnel and bullet wounds in his arms and chest.
Aigner-Clarke's act of heroism had been to get rich marketing "educational" DVDs for an age group (zero to 2) that, pediatricians agreed, shouldn't be watching TV at all. Baby Einstein videos were at best devoid of their promised education benefits ("your child will learn to identify her different body parts, and also discover her five senses … in Spanish, English, and French!") and at worst actively harmful to brain development. Bush's own Federal Trade Commission was at that very moment weighing a complaint against Baby Einstein for making false and deceptive claims. |
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