Phil West
Is Dr. Seuss the latest author to be “canceled,” and is President Joe Biden to blame?
Conservatives would have you think so, but conservatives might not be as right as they think they are.
Six of the children’s author’s books are going to be pulled from publication — And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, The Cat’s Quizzer, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, and Scrambled Eggs Super!
But as an AP article from Tuesday clarified, it’s a decision that Dr. Seuss Enterprises came to themselves.
“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises concluded in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrator’s birthday.
“Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process,” the statement said in part. “We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles.”
But as GDD observed, “Conservatives immediately linked the news to their previous claims that Biden “canceled” Dr. Seuss by not including his books in his Read Across America Day proclamation this year, a date that coincides with the author’s birthday and has therefore historically involved mentioning him.”
“So that’s it,” the site huffed. “Biden simply didn’t mention Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and therefore conservatives are now holding him responsible for ‘canceling’ the author entirely.”
Among the most groan-worthy tweets came from Errol Webber, a gubernatorial candidate in California:
“Joe Biden has just removed Dr. Seuss from ‘Read Across America’ because he thinks the books are racists.” Then he added, “Joe, just because you can’t read them doesn’t mean they’re racist!”
Tim Murtaugh, who still has “former Trump 2020 comms director” on his bio, went bold with “Joe Biden is a prisoner of leftist extremists, and if that means throwing Dr. Seuss down the memory hole, then that’s what he’s gonna do.” He then throws in, “Can’t open schools, but will cancel Green Eggs and Ham.”
(Note: No one cancelled Green Eggs and Ham.)
Ted Cruz wandered into the fray with what appeared to be a screenshot showing an Amazon run on Dr. Seuss books.
Cody Johnston was among those going in (and there were plenty, because this is Ted Cruz we’re talking about), with the observation, “Literally none of these are the books that aren’t being published anymore. This is like if they discontinued the Toyota Corolla so everyone went out and bought a Camry.”
And Chris Bish, a Congressional candidate who is primarying House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, wove a narrative in which Biden is giving the green light to naughty hit songs by Black female artists but it putting the kibosh on Dr. Seuss.