Conservatives have spent the last week up in arms about a very pressing issue. No, they’re not desperately trying to get stimulus checks to struggling Americans in the middle of a pandemic. They’re worried about Dr. Seuss books. After the late author’s estate announced they would no longer be publishing six (out of over 60) of his books, not wanting kids to be exposed to racist content, Republicans went ballistic. Now House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has recorded a video in which he reads Green Eggs and Ham…which isn’t one of the books that have been pulled from circulation.
I still like Dr. Seuss, so I decided to read Green Eggs and Ham.
RT if you still like him too! pic.twitter.com/2pbRbSiJD6
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 6, 2021
What was the point of a five-minute video in which one of the top-ranking Republicans read a children’s book? Beats us! Again, Green Eggs and Ham contains no racist content and is one of the many, many Dr. Seuss books one can still purchase. Whatever McCarthy’s reasoning, it got a lot of people wondering what he was thinking.
Some pointed out that McCarthy seemed to intentionally choose one of the non-racist Seuss books, and not, say, If I Ran the Zoo or And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
One of the weirdest parts of this culture war is that the self-styled “warriors” aren’t willing to stand by the empirically racist images they’re supposedly defending. Green Eggs and Ham is not one of the books the @DrSeuss Foundation has decided to stop publishing. https://t.co/OMXqHz11Vf
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 6, 2021
They did not ban Green Eggs and Ham
I’m full of crap I am I am
So I will grandstand in a box.
And I will bullshit with a fox.
And I will showboat in a house.
And I will have ethics the size of a mouse.
And I will cry wolf here and there.
Say! I’m an asshole anywhere! https://t.co/PYT7dsBalI— Triumph® ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴsᴜʟᴛ ᴄᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴅᴏɢ
Headquarters
(@TriumphICDHQ) March 6, 2021
I hate Republicans so fucking much. They aren’t stupid.
They KNOW Green Eggs and Ham isn’t a book that they stopped printing. They KNOW no one on the left actually hates Dr. Seuss (or if they do, numbers are low). But they want to push this bullshit and milk it dry. https://t.co/7QwQLv57IL— Chongo (Professional Dingus) (@ChongoTweet) March 6, 2021
I loved reading this book to my kids. My kids loved it too. But this is not a Dr. Seuss book that has racist images and is no longer printed by the publisher. It’s available anywhere. So what’s the point? Forgive me if I am confused. https://t.co/3Wgxwru2le
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) March 6, 2021
He also failed to point out that it wasn’t some progressive “cancel” campaign that got the books yanked from shelves. It was the Dr. Seuss company itself.
This Dr Suess thing is one of the most disingenuous attempts at constructing a culture war battlefield in recent memory
Nobody “cancelled” Dr Suess, his estate decided to stop selling books containing racial caricatures which he himself had apologized for and did not stand by https://t.co/qI3Nm6H1xa
— Nicole ‘NilkadNaquada’ Carter
(Carrd in bio) (@NilkadN) March 6, 2021
Ya know who likes #DrSeuss even more than @GOPLeader?
The executors of his estate-The people in charge of managing his library & legacy post-mortem & they chose not to publish a few old books
The @GOPLeader isn’t reading a kids book. He’s pushing a lie to deepen a cultural divide https://t.co/2TuSKanA1J— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) March 6, 2021
Others pointed out that he was reading children’s books on the taxpayer’s dime.
Don’t elect representatives that think doing this is funny. He gets paid $175K plus benefits to “act” like a comedian. Time to shut down his act. Elect @BrunoAmato_1 https://t.co/VvaQ2uTIaH
— Regina Marston for Congress CA 42 (@Marston4ca42) March 6, 2021
He gets paid like $20k a year extra for being minority leader. https://t.co/ZaHb5AUFXc
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) March 6, 2021
And that he probably has other things to do — like get that $1.9 trillion relief package passed.
2,000 people are dying daily of COVID-19 and you pull this @GOPLeader
The GOP can’t be entrusted with *any aspect* of his nation’s future https://t.co/Qk30zwCXRd
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 6, 2021
Congrats! You just solved exactly zero real problems your constituents in California are facing! https://t.co/YEPQCpIqmz
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) March 6, 2021
Dems are focused on getting stimulus checks, unemployment benefits & small business loans to the American people.@GOPLeader is focused on Green Eggs and Ham, a book that continues to be published and accepted by the free market.
There is a difference between the two parties. https://t.co/XfMchW9xoL
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 6, 2021
Some suggested McCarthy read other books.
Now do The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. You can read the part of the Cowardly Lion. https://t.co/CrvP5uPxfX
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 6, 2021
Some pointed out that Republicans will only listen to “doctors” who aren’t real doctors.
The right is suddenly okay with a “Doctor” with only English degrees.
(Stares Jill Bidenly) https://t.co/D69qOCFkyi
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) March 6, 2021
And others reminded McCarthy that Republicans don’t tend to listen to the message of Green Eggs and Ham, which is to be open to new experiences.
Green eggs and ham?
The one about being open to trying new things and expanding your worldview rather than rejecting anything that doesn’t match your prejudices? Yeah, that’s a good one.
Now do The Lorax. https://t.co/LuyVlZy3vY
— Daniel Abraham (@AbrahamHanover) March 6, 2021