Rachel Maddow & Daniel Handler Toast (Image Courtesy of Robert Gray|Flickr)
My daughter has been bugging me for the past two days to get her one of the Lemony Snicket books for the book club she’s in. I’m a notorious procrastinator, so I hadn’t gotten to it yet, and then I read this:
American author Daniel Handler, popularly known by his pen name Lemony Snicket, tweeted recently that he and his wife, the illustrator Lisa Brown, have decided to donate $1 million to Planned Parenthood.
.@lisabrowndraws & I are giving 1 million dollars to @PPFA. We’ve been very fortunate, and good fortune should be shared with noble causes.
— Daniel Handler (@DanielHandler) September 28, 2015
The Planned Parenthood Twitter account replied to Handler’s tweet with thanks, and many fans of both Handler and Brown responded in kind.
@DanielHandler @lisabrowndraws Thank you so much for your support!
— Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) September 28, 2015
Aside from the glaring stupidity of a children’s author donating money that will be used to kill off his future customers, the timing of this donation makes clear that Handler is perfectly OK with everything depicted in the Planned Parenthood videos.
Handler’s wife, Lisa Brown, explained their decision this way:
My husband and I have supported Planned Parenthood for years, for obvious reasons: It’s a great organization that has provided top-quality health care for countless women and families in our lives. This year, Planned Parenthood has gone through a series of unfortunate events, and it felt right to make our support more public and more dramatic.
Didja catch that? Cute product tie in, Lisa! Maybe we could line up a bunch of dead babies from a Planned Parenthood clinic all in a row and reference that series of unfortunate events.
Not that it would matter. If those videos didn’t do it, nothing will.
I don’t normally do boycotts, but for heaven’s sake, don’t buy these books. Tell everyone you know. Handler no doubt already has more money than he can spend, but he should never make another dime selling books to our children.
Lord, have mercy on us for the horrors that we glibly commit.
Steve Skojec is the Founding Publisher of OnePeterFive.com. He received his BA in Communications and Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2001. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, Huffington Post Live, The Fox News Channel, Foreign Policy, and the BBC. Steve and his wife Jamie have eight children. You can find more of his writing at his Substack, The Skojec File.
Talk about gross and inexcusable ingratitude! This man has been enriched by writing for children beyond what most people can even imagine, and he uses some of that wealth to fund ripping babies from their mother’s womb?
Lord, for the sake of your sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!
I am glad that this is the very first time ever I have heard of this bird, his wife, or his pseudonym. When it comes to pop culture, apparently it pays to be stupid.
#DefundPlannedParenthood now has a companion:
#BoycottDanielHandler, popularly known by his pen name #BoycottLemonySnicket, and his wife, the illustrator #BoycottLisaBrown, Abortion is murder.
I wonder if Snicket and Company would refund the purchase price of their books, movies and other product tie-ins upon request. That might be one way to Defund Planned Parenthood.
Disappointing and disturbing. We can’t have anything nice.
Agree. Unfortunately, we live in an age where our consumer dollars are being used against us in the culture wars.
I’m with Mr. Skojec on bot being a boycott kind of guy but I think that is increasingly a mistake. Keeping money out of the hands of liberal ideologues is necessary.
Aside from the glaring stupidity of a children’s author donating money that will be used to kill off his future customers…
This irony could stand to be repeated about 50 times. But as we know, it’s not the first time that ideology has trumped monetary gain.
Man, his books are great. Too bad he’s sold his soul.
You’d think he of all people would be able to see Count Olaf’s eye tattoo on Cecil’s ankle. PP is part of Olaf’s troupe.
Do you think he’s the only one?
…pearls before swine…