Melodramatic outrage is the right-wing's stock in trade, but conservative radio host Dennis Prager has taken it to a whole new level with a rant unhinged even for Dennis Prager.
This time, it's words of encouragement directed at children that has the right-wing zealot up in arms.
In a recent episode of his radio program The Dennis Prager Show, Prager went on a bizarre diatribe decrying a sign he saw hanging in an elementary school in a New York Times report which read, "The world is better because you are in it."
What could possibly be the problem with such a sign?
It's best to let him tell you in his own words in the video below.
\u201cDennis Prager complains about a school sign reading 'The world is better because you are in it': "What a stupid message. Plus it's not true. What has any 5th grader done to have made the world better because he or she is in it?"\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
About the sign and its message, Prager ranted:
"What a stupid message. Plus, it's not true."
"What has any fifth grader done to have made the world better because he or she is in it?"
"Boy, again, as I've pointed out, it's the opposite of how many of us were raised."
Prager did not elaborate on "how many of us were raised," but one presumes he's longing for the halcyon days when children were beaten with paddles at school or something.
Given how obsessed Republicans and conservatives are with banning abortion to protect precious children, you'd think Prager would love a poster telling kids they're valued at the most basic level. But as usual with conservatives, Prager seems not to care about children once they're actually born.
Instead, he feels the poster's message is indicative of the ways liberals are destroying America by telling kids they're special instead of calling America special. Or something.
He ranted:
"This country's a different country. It's becoming like other countries."
"The left doesn't believe America is special, that American values are special or exceptional, whichever term you like..."
"...What is special is... They're special, because they were raised by parents and schools that told them how special they are."
Prager missed his pro-life training about suicide and self-harm apparently.
Otherwise he'd be very familiar with the phrase that is often used as part of suicide/self-harm awareness and prevention efforts.
This kind of rhetoric, absurd as it is, is right in character for Prager—who once mocked Anne Frank for being too optimistic and whose infamous PragerU YouTube channel had several videos banned by the platform for their extremist views.
Prager U is lauded by the far-right as one of the largest recruiting tools for the right-wing extremism among young people.
On Twitter, Prager's rant about the idea children are special generated no shortage of eyerolls.
\u201cConservative talk show host sheds light on why it doesn\u2019t seem to bother GOP lawmakers when children are killed inside their schools.\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1663370535
\u201c@JasonSCampbell Maybe talk to their parents..or a friend\u2026this is a profoundly stupid comment.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
\u201c@JasonSCampbell Isn\u2019t this also just a variation on their anti abortion argument? Not that hypocrisy has stopped them before.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
\u201cHow a self described smart, enlightened, religious man sounds after he\u2019s sold his soul. I give you @DennisPrager.\ud83d\udc47\u201d— Joe Walsh (@Joe Walsh) 1663344039
\u201c@JasonSCampbell This reminds me of people who think Mister Rogers was a terrible influence on children because he told them they were special. What is wrong with these people? So much.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
\u201c@JasonSCampbell The "we must protect our children" folks seem eager to insult them.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
\u201c@JasonSCampbell I had to listen to this twice because I could not believe someone who claims to be #ProLife would ever disagree that the world was better with a child in it.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
\u201c@JasonSCampbell 5th graders contribute a lot more to society than Dennis Prager ever has\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
\u201c@JasonSCampbell If every child doesn\u2019t make the world a better place, why is he pro life?\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
\u201c@JasonSCampbell @cmclymer \u201cIt\u2019s the opposite of how we were raised\u201d = exactly why these signs are important. He was not raised right.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663335523
Prager is infamous for his far-right, fascist takes on everything from LGBTQ+ rights to American history and his interviews with alt-right figures like Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka.
And like most conservative social media figures, he's also infamous for telling bold-faced lies, like that Republican President Donald Trump never called neo-Nazi protestors at the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" riot "very fine people."
