Ivanka Trump's book of platitudes

Tacked on at the end of the book, just before the referral to additional TED talks and self-help manuals, is a nod to the problems confronting single mothers in low-wage jobs and the need for affordable child care and paid maternity leave. Perhaps it is unfair to expect more from what is a fluffy publicity exercise, not a serious policy prescription. But if the quality of thinking and depth of knowledge evinced by this book are any guide, heaven help us.

The argument for swallowing the inherent distastefulness, if not outright brand-building griftiness, of having Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in the White House is that they are behind-the-scenes advocates for moderation. If they are unprepared except by accident of birth and marriage for such exalted roles, at least they are a powerful countervailing voice to the forces of Bannonist nationalism.

Trump told the Times that she was learning "to be a much more proactive voice inside the White House," coyly suggesting that even if she loses a policy debate, she may have value at the margin: "Maybe along the way I've modified a position just slightly. And that's just great."

How great? Look at this past week. Yes, President Trump may have backed off from an offensive order curtailing gay rights. But there was the president rejoicing in House passage of a measure that would cause millions to lose health coverage.

And the week brought news that the president has installed, to oversee the federal family planning program, a woman who apparently believes neither in the mission of her office ("family planning is something that occurs between a husband and a wife and God") nor in birth control itself ("contraception doesn't work").

Maybe it's time for Ivanka Trump to take her own advice. "You don't get what you don't ask for," she counsels readers. But also, "Be prepared to walk away." Is she asking? So she would have us believe. Is she prepared to walk away? Doesn't look like it.

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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.