The mask is off.
‘No Book Deals For Traitors‘ is a letter directed to big, American publishing houses to not publish any upcoming memoir by the US president, Donald J. Trump. The letter details his ‘crimes’: caging children, not believing and scoffing at ‘science’, performing involuntary surgery on captive women and supporting a coup attempt. I’m trying my hardest not to laugh at these so-called ‘publishing professionals of the united states’ because they are utterly clueless.
Let’s go through Trump’s ‘crimes.’
Caging Children: The housing for illegal immigrants existed for security purposes. It is, under US law, illegal to enter the United States of America without the proper visa or authorisation. If you are a genuine refugee, you can take proper legal recourse without breaking the law of the United States. This is normal in the 21st century. Regardless, you know who build the cages? Barack Obama. Who just enjoyed a massive book deal and launch from Penguin Random House. The hypocrisy is outstanding here. Keep in mind: the publishing professionals who believe this are deciding what you can or cannot read.
The only question now is whether these publishing professionals are idiotic or malevolent. Either way, they are proof of human mediocrity.
Scoffing At ‘Science’: This is also hilarious. Science is not religion. You do not ‘believe’ it. The very best scientists always have doubt, alternative hypothesis, experiments, data collection, testing, etc. Science is a field constantly questioning itself and evolving. The truth is scientists disagree with each other all the time, particularly when it comes to newly discovered diseases. My point is there is no all-consuming, all-agreeing collaberation of ‘experts’ on science. Rather, there is debate and disagreement, and yes, even scoffing.
Also, an ‘expert’ in science doesn’t automatically translate to policy and law. A qualification in Virology does not mean the President of the United States has to do your bidding. With COVID-19, it’s not just science that’s on the line. It’s education, it’s commerce, it’s politics, it’s the police department. Scientists should not be the only people shaping COVID-19 policy. This is a weak point of the letter, and unfortunately, Barry Lyga provides no examples to contextualise the claim.
Trump made mistakes with Coronavirus in regards to national policy. But that’s not the same as committing a ‘crime.’ I can point out the mistakes of every US president. Doesn’t make them ‘criminals.’ Also, if we are punishing Trump for his COVID-19 response, I hope the same treatment is given to Andrew Cuomo. Remember the nursing home disaster in 2020? But of course, Cuomo gets an Emmy because he has the ‘correct’ politics. This letter is pure political theatre.
Performing Involuntary Surgery On Women: What makes this letter unprofessional is the lack of clarification or examples given for its outrageous and false claims. I’m assuming this refers to the allegations of hysterectomies at ICE facilities. Although Trump is conflated with ICE, he did not give the order for women to undergo involuntary surgery. I urge anyone to show legal proof that he did. Also, the evidence of this occuring consists of whistleblower accounts and Democrat letters. All we have are allegations, which is not enough to make the bold legal claim of Trump performing involuntary surgery on immigrant women.
The parent agency for ICE is the United States Department Of Homeland Security, and Trump does not manage every decision made.
Supporting, Instigating A ‘Coup’: What happened on January 6th at Capitol Hill was not okay and it’s disgusting how violent it was. But it wasn’t a ‘coup’ or an ‘insurrection.’ A coup is an ‘illegal seizure of power from the government.’ There is no proof that Trump intended to stage a coup on that day, with those protestors and that location. Also, we must note Trump’s condemnation of the violence, and telling the protestors to go home with ‘love’ in their hearts.
Because of this, we can’t assert Trump as a criminal. Why should he not get a book deal, then? From my perspective, he has over 70 million supporters (and potential book buyers). Presidential stories sell well. Economically, a Trump memoir makes sense. I actually think there is a demand for Trump’s side of the story, because it is unique and remarkable. The letters mention of ‘Son of Sam’ crimes is comical, because Trump has not committed any of the mentioned crimes.
What is striking about the letter is its delusions about how publishing works. Publishing is not activism. I hate this expectation of businesses acting ‘woke.’ It’s unsufferable because consumers do not necessarily share the same passions as a NYC publisher. This letter is also cowardly. It says ‘our country (USA) is where it is in part because publishing has chased the money and notoriety of some pretty sketchy people, and has granted those same people both the imprimatur of respectability and a lot of money through sweetheart book deals.’ I ask: who are these ‘pretty sketchy people’? The list is afraid to answer or strengthen its own claim.
Publishing houses are for-profit businesses, and of course they ‘chased the money.’ Why wouldn’t they? There is a demand for books by conservative, libertarian and populist writers. It’s insane for a publishing house worth billions to not fulfill obvious demand for political books. The people who signed this list don’t have to read Trump’s memoir. Plenty of books I don’t like are published every year, but I’d never stop anyone from reading or enjoying them. Maybe that’s because I believe in diversity of thought. How controversial, in the age of censorship and collective conformity.
This letter shows how low American publishing has gotten. There’s no mention to free speech or liberty anywhere. As a writer myself, this is scary. Hardly anyone protects the free speech of writers in big publishing. And thus, the only end result is tyranny. Those who signed the list already have the ‘correct’ opinions and conform to the publishing houses expectations. Note: This won’t stop with Donald J Trump. Those who signed this letter will not stop with him. They will go after other writers, because why wouldn’t they? In their minds, no one should get mainstream book deals if they defy their progressive overlords.
I ask: Whose next? How many books will get cancelled in the future? This will not stop, until the publishing industry grows a spine. However, the letter is right about one thing. I too, am tired of an industry enriching the ‘monsters’ around us. We happen to disagree on who the monsters are.
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