When I was in middle school, our textbook had a bit of a memoir by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. It was a decent piece of literature about his youth and love of the great outdoors. Since justices are appointed for life, I don’t see a problem with using the work of one as an example of a literary form. If, on the other hand, Douglas had been a politician who regularly stood for reelection, I’d argue the position differently – and I say this even though I hold Douglas in great esteem (though I would argue strongly against elements of his jurisprudence).

This brings us forward to the present day, and a choice by a textbook publisher that is rather troubling – the choice of Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father as an example of a memoir in a recently published middle school textbook.

My 8th grade son is in an advanced English class at a public middle school here in Racine, Wisconsin. I just found out that my son's new (copyright 2008) Wisconsin - McDougal Littell Literature book has 15 pages covering Barack Obama.

I was shocked - No John McCain, no Hillary Clinton, no George Bush - Just Barack Obama. I'm wondering how it is that Obama's story gets put into an 8th grade literature book? It would be one thing, if it was just the tidbit about his boyhood days, but 15 pages, and they talk about his "Life of Service". Honestly, what has Obama really done to be included in this book? Not only that, but on page 847 there is a photo of Obama at the 2004 Democratic Convention with at least 8 Obama signs in the background! Front & center is an www.obama2004.com sign.

Now let’s say this up front – Dreams from My Father is a good book, and it is a good example of a memoir. Were Obama not a living politician currently seeking office (and likely to continue doing so for the life of that textbook), I’d probably agree with the choice of the excerpt – though I’d have some concern, given that the book as a whole is written at a 12th grade reading level according to one article I recently saw. But the reality is that we are in the midst of an election campaign and will likely have Obama as a major political figure for the next couple of decades, and the choice therefore raises the specter of political favoritism, whether accidental or intentional.

For the record, let me add that my objection is not about Barack Obama per se. I’d have the same objection if this were an excerpt from Faith of My Fathers by John McCain. We simply need to keep the active politicians out of the textbooks to the degree possible – with the possible exception of history and government books, I don’t see where their presence is particularly appropriate or desirable.

H/T Newsbusters, Malkin

UPDATE -- 10/17/2008: The MSM catches up with this story -- sort of.