Kevin McCarthy Reads a Book!

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Republican politicians aren't typically thought of as consumers of great literature, and if a group of voters went looking for their local GOP chieftain, they probably wouldn't waste time searching through libraries or bookstores.  But there are times when literature can become relevant - even to Republicans.

A controversy involving books arose this week at the perfect moment for the GOP to grab onto it as a cultural wedge issue to detract from the personal and political successes of Joe Biden.

Earlier this week our nation, and particularly its schools, celebrated "Read Across America Day," a day designated to promote children's reading activities, and a day which also happens to be the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.  That special reading day is March 2nd.

But this year was a bit different than in the past.   Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the body that governs the legacy and publication of the Seuss books, announced that it would no longer be publishing six titles in the series, some of which went back more than ninety years, due to caricatures in the books that are deemed racist by today's standards.  Some libraries had already eliminated all or part of the Suess catalogue of books from their shelves, and eBay announced that it would no longer sell the six books highlighted by Dr. Seuss Enterprises on its auction platform.  (As a measure of public reaction, by mid-afternoon yesterday eight of Amazon's top ten sellers were Dr. Seuss titles.)

The six books which Dr. Seuss Enterprises will quit publishing are:  "And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street," "If I Ran the Zoo," "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra," Scrambled Eggs Super!", and "The Cat's Quizzer."  The cancellation statement said that those titles would no longer be published due to their "hurtful and wrong" character portrayals. 

Then the US Department of Education released its annual proclamation regarding "Read Across America Day," and failed to mention Dr. Seuss at all in its statement.

At that point Fox News and several Republican politicians began protesting the savagery of Democrats in "cancelling" poor Dr. Seuss!

Yesterday House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy waxed oratorical as he released a video of himself reading the Dr. Seuss classic "Green Eggs and Ham."  It's good to know that McCarthy, who has fallen into a miasma of insignificance while trying to appease both the Trump Camp and the Cheney Camp within his party, can still be counted on to slosh out the party slop when the need arises!

"Green Eggs and Ham" may not be "The Grapes of Wrath," but at least Kevin is reading something!

How long will it be before Republicans discover that the "Little Black Sambo" books are no longer in most elementary school libraries?   All hell will probably break loose when that happens!