Baby Friggin' Einstein?!?!

WTF?! I'm so glad I'm not the only person who is completely baffled by Bush's Baby Einstein shout out toward the end of the State of the Union the other night. I wish somebody on YouTube had a video of that portion of the speech, but here's the transcript if you missed it:

After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her
love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began
filming children's videos in her basement. The Baby Einstein Company was born,
and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. In
November 2001, Julie sold Baby Einstein to the Walt Disney Company, and with her
help Baby Einstein has grown into a $200 million business. Julie represents the
great enterprising spirit of America. And she is using her success to help
others -- producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new project: "I believe
it's the most important thing that I have ever done. I believe that children
have the right to live in a world that is safe."

Again: WTF?! Sandwiched between Dikembe Mutombo, an NBA player from Africa who is now paying it forward with various humanitarian charities, and Wesley Autrey, a man who risked his freaking life for a complete stranger who fell from a subway platform as a train was entering the station, we have the woman who is teaching babies to love TV. (Speaking of children's television, "one of these things is not like the other...")

Ignoring the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero TV for children under 2, Baby Einstein is a sham! There is no evidence to support the fact that babies are smarter if they are exposed to classical music. (However, it may be that parents who listen to classical music tend be more educated and thus more likely to have smarter children, but that's a different fish.) Also, babies learn from interaction, and there is no interacting with a TV (even if it does ask you what color the block is, pauses for an answer, and then cheers whatever you've said or haven't said).

In short, I don't like Baby Einstein or the make-your-kids-smarter-by-doing-nothing approach to parenting it sells.