March 3, 2021

Press coverage of Dr. Seuss, worn at a slant.

I was reading this Vox piece, "Meltdown over Dr. Seuss/Biden didn’t mention Dr. Seuss in his Read Across America Day statement. All hell broke loose from there," and of course, I could see from the title the piece was massively slanted... 

Oh! Maybe I shouldn't use the word "slant" in the vicinity of the Dr. Seuss dispute. It's the worst word he ever used. Oh, no, it's not cute:

That's from "If I Ran the Zoo," a 1950 book that Dr. Seuss enterprises has just withdrawn from publication.  

Vox writes its article at a slant on a website where everything must be a rant. I'm not staying there long. I won't and I can't. But I noticed this one thing that seemed slightly wacky — a press conference question aimed at poor Jen Psaki:

Q A question about Dr. Seuss, since this may be the only day that you can bring up Dr. Seuss in the briefing room. It is National Read Across America Day. It’s also Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Both former Presidents Obama and Trump mentioned Dr. Seuss in their Read Across America Day proclamations, but President Biden did not. Why not?

MS. PSAKI: Well, first, the proclamation was written by the Department of Education, and you could certainly speak to them about more specifics about the drafting of it. But Read Across America Day, which has — you’re right, has not existed forever; it has only been around for a short period of time — elevates and celebrates a love of reading among our nation’s youngest leaders. And the day is also a chance to celebrate diverse authors whose work and lived experience reflect the diversity of our country. And that’s certainly what they attempted to do or hope to do this year. And as we celebrate the love of reading and uplift diverse and representative authors, it is especially important that we ensure all children can see themselves represented and celebrated in the books that they read.

Q So does the omission have anything to do with the controversy about the lack of diverse characters in the author’s books?

MS. PSAKI: Well, again, I think it is important that children of all backgrounds see themselves in the children’s books that they read. But I would point you to the Department of Education for any more details on the writing of the proclamation. 

It was a hot topic and she made it quite dull. If you want to be a press secretary, that's something to mull.

145 comments:

Joe Smith said...

The doc really was a spectacular, and quite original artist.

He had a way with words as well.

Another dilution of the culture.

hawkeyedjb said...

Dr. Suess, like every human everywhere in every time, was a product of his time and place. He reflected the mores of his time and place. Those are no longer acceptable, so Dr. Suess has to be the worstest, most awful, racist, horrible person ever. I mean EVER. If you read his stuff, so are you.

We judge each according to the values of the moment. Five minutes from now, you may be the worstest ever.

Joe Smith said...

"It was a hot topic and she made it quite dull."

Maybe because she is a dullard.

I don't see any light of great intelligence in her eyes.

She is a functionary, no more and no less.

Nonapod said...

I do not like Vox.
I will not read it on a box.
I will not read it with a fox.

But Psaki likes to talkie
Using many words, big and small
Some words are short and some are tall
But all these words, short or small
what do they really mean at all?

MayBee said...

Vox writes its article at a slant on a website where everything must be a rant. I'm not staying there long. I won't and I can't. But I noticed this one thing that seemed slightly wacky — a press conference question aimed at poor Jen Psaki:

OMG Althouse.

This gets the "this is so so so so good" tag.

tim maguire said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim maguire said...

According to the Trademark office, you are allowed to use the word a "slant" so long as you are not Asian. It's only racist if Asians use it.

MayBee said...

Apparently Dr Suess had no lived experience.

MayBee said...

I kind of want to know who is allowed to claim "lived experience" and who has to have just lived.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The actual lack of diversity is given to us by the woke left as they wash and scrub everything to fit their empty-headed segregationist victim-mongering speech-crime
group-think prison.

Mr Wibble said...

So she's saying that Biden didn't have any input into the proclamation which he signed? That's... not the defense she thinks it is.

Ann Althouse said...

The "diversity" books that are being promoted now go out of their way to put racial characteristics on characters in drawings. When are racial characteristics exactly what you want and when are they exactly what you don't want? Does an artist who's drawing creatively and making everything silly really know the way to do it right?

Maybe the drawings in the promoted books of today will be decried 10 years from now. "If I ran the zoo" is 70 years old. I'd like to know which children's book artists of today are making drawings as interesting and funny as what Dr. Seuss did. I suspect that they can't draw human beings in an amusing way, out of fear that they may offend. They can't draw race-neutral people anymore. They must include nonwhite people, but they can't be vulnerable to the interpretation that they are making fun of them. It's the Era of That's Not Funny.

MayBee said...

It is true. If there was anything Dr Suess was not good at, it was diversity. Only red fishes and blue fishes! Just the Lorax and not the Lorana and the Lorano. Only the one color of cat! No Tabbies, no Persians.

Andrew said...

I'm not normally a fan of Jesse Jackson, but his greatest moment was reading Green Eggs and Ham. I wonder if he has apologized yet.

https://youtu.be/A1mqg4C0awA

wendybar said...

So they are letting the corrupt, and uncaring Department of Education ban decide what is okay for us to read now?? When did China take over the USA?? It happened pretty fast. I never thought in a million years, that I would be living in a Country that bans everything that somebody else may be upset about because it oppresses or traumatizes them. Don't read it. Don't buy it. Get over it. I see worse things on line written by "Diverse Progressives" but because they are in vogue now...you MUST sound and act just like them, or you deserve to be cancelled. Especially if you are white.

Tommy Duncan said...

It's hard to know what my slant on this slippery slope should be. First I lean towards one angle, and then a different angle. Should I tilt right or tilt left? I need something to tip me one way or the other.

Indecision has always been a chink in my armor.

Eleanor said...

Go ahead. Only give kids books to read that fit with their "lived experiences". Don't teach them math because expecting correct answers is racist. Teach them there is no such thing as objective truth. Truth is constructed by the collective. No one is an individual. We each get our identity from the groups we belong to. Then try driving over a bridge one of them has designed. Or maybe it will be safer to just stay on one side of the river.

Lurker21 said...

How much of this is tied to global cultural homogenization?

The Chinese really did dress differently from Westerners when Geisel/Seuss was young.

Global cultural homogenization, but also a decline of national cultural homogeneity.

One can't assume there is a (funny) "them" and a (normal) "us" anymore.

_____

"Geisel" means "hostage" in German. With a double s, "Geißler" means "flagellator." It's also the last name of the villain in William Tell. A digression, to be sure, but it also fits in with the story.

MayBee said...

When my son was in second grade, our school district switched to a new reading program that promised more diversity. The result was the teacher (A Latina!) reading aloud to a group of students who are learning to sound out words, kind of staring at the page and wondering how to pronounce names like Maliaqua and L'Tania. It seemed like such a try hard moment from the school board.

traditionalguy said...

Seuss was word talented. He made reading fun for new readers. Ergo: Seuss like Phonetics must be eliminated so that no children learn to read young.

MayBee said...

I also love the people saying "This isn't censorship! The Geisel foundation decided on their own to stop publishing these books!"

On their own. Ha.

Wonder when "The Story of Ping" gets taken out.

Ice Nine said...

Slant, schmant. Asians do have "slanted" eyes. To mention that fact is not racist - it does not define racism. That garb is historically accurate (I've even seen it in modern China). The man was a cartoonist, so he drew them in caricature. Imagine that!

stevew said...

The defense of Dr. Seuss and his works is quite simple and easy to make, I'm surprised the organization responsible for protecting his works refuses to make it. Perhaps they think that self-identifying these six problematic pieces will protect the rest of the Seuss catalog. If so, I would argue they are wrong; it won't be long until the Dr.'s entire catalog is cancelled.

Nonapod said...

The "diversity" books that are being promoted now go out of their way to put racial characteristics on characters in drawings.

It makes me wonder what those "characteristics" are and if they could be interpreted as stereotypically offensive either now or some time in the future. I think we're all very familiar with the dangers of presenting a racial or ethnic group in a certain way even with the best of intentions.

Obviously one of the advantages (and charms) of the characters in childrens book is they can be raceless (or even genderless). They can be some other thing, a creature of the imagination free of all the baggage good and bad that we otherwise might subconciously assign to such a character. People will inpute whatever they will if you give them a character that's sort of a blank slate. And what is wrong with that?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The left's corrupting woke movement is poison to free thinking and learning. The woke left are the gate keepers and will not allow anyone to ponder and understand that things change as we move into the future.

It is a toxic level of ridiculous to hold up today's woke witch hunt to the historical norms of the past.

We no longer teach children to think for themselves. no no ... no - the toxic segregationist racist left must erase everything and control speech and history to a point of absolute absurdity.

Mr Wibble said...

How much of this is tied to global cultural homogenization?

The Chinese really did dress differently from Westerners when Geisel/Seuss was young.

Global cultural homogenization, but also a decline of national cultural homogeneity.

One can't assume there is a (funny) "them" and a (normal) "us" anymore.


This is a big part of it all. Major cities around the world all look the same. They're designed by a few major firms, whose architects all attend the same schools and hold the same values. They're filled by multinational corporations whose directors and managers also all attend the same schools and move in the same circles.

The result is that much of the progressive base, living in urban areas, have no clue about actual diversity. To them multiculturalism means the ability to choose between Thai food or three pizza places at 2am. Foreigners are merely western liberals in funny hats.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

the collective progressive woke left just banned Dr. Seuss. Think about that.

LYNNDH said...

Ann said "They must include nonwhite people,".
So I am wondering just which shades should be used for People of Color. I mean there are different ones. I understand that in some communities of Color they discriminate based on these shades.
I guess I am being racist.

Nonapod said...

I meant "impute" not "inpute".

hawkeyedjb said...

"Maybe the drawings in the promoted books of today will be decried 10 years from now."

Almost certainly, if someone thinks it serves their interests of the moment.

wendybar said...

Ice Nine said...
Slant, schmant. Asians do have "slanted" eyes. To mention that fact is not racist - it does not define racism. That garb is historically accurate (I've even seen it in modern China). The man was a cartoonist, so he drew them in caricature. Imagine that!

3/3/21, 9:47 AM


Exactly!! God Forbid you draw people to look different than they really look. You would get called out for your whiteness...and trying to make everybody in your image. They are nuts. Period.

M Jordan said...

“We are here today to hear the trial of The Present versus The Past. Present, what are your charges?”

“Everything. The Past is guilty of everything.”

“Past, how do you plead?”

“Guilty.”

“Well, I think that settles it. And thus ends the trial of The Present versus The Past on the date of January 1, 1. Next on the docket: Fine People versus Other Fine People”

Andrew said...

Does anyone remember (it seems like a century ago) the white teenager who wore a Chinese dress to a formal school event? All the white progressives were furious, but the majority of Chinese people in this country and abroad who commented were entirely supportive. Some wrote her letters of encouragement.

I wonder if the majority of Asain Americans care about these "racist" depictions in Dr. Seuss at all. My guess is they might even enjoy them.

I've heard Hispanics discuss how much they loved Speedy Gonzales growing up. They didn't agree with guilty white American liberals who complained on their behalf.

Joe Smith said...

"That garb is historically accurate (I've even seen it in modern China)."

One of the most surprising thing we saw after moving to Japan was women wearing kimono as normal, everyday dress. Men and women also wore yukata, a traditional and less formal dress.

Mostly seen on older Japanese (50+?) but often seen on teens and children depending on the time of the year or certain holidays.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

which Dr. Seuss color is bad... green? blue? red? yellow?

Churchy LaFemme: said...

I relooked at McElligot's Pool last night, one of the books cancelled by Seuss's own literary heirs (so I don't feel bad providing that link). The *only* thing I can figure that got this beautiful books in trouble is an incidental drawing of a happy Eskimo:

http://columbiaclosings.com/pix/21/03/mc.jpg

How could anybody reasonably object to that?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

we had to ban the Taco Bell chihuahua - because he was adorable and funny and somehow his Mexican accent was an affront to woke white progressives.

I doubt any Hispanic anywhere gave a hot damn about an adorable and funny chihuahua, and his accent.

Why are some accent's OK and some not? isn't that the real racism? assuming a Spanish accent will be offensive, but perhaps an English accent is OK?

That's racism - straight up. thank you, leftists.

Michael said...

.
In my college Creative Writing class we had a section on Dr Suess. Learned Geisel wrote a lot of other stuff beside his Dr Suess books. One was the script for an Army orientation film preparing troops for occupation duty in post-war Germany. The tone of the film is quite brutal in its depiction of Germans. It was so harsh that even a bloodthirsty warrior such as Patton refused to play it to his troops.

Worth 10 minutes of your time: https://youtu.be/821R0lGUL6A

Darryl Thomas said...

It took me a bit of effort... Going through the Learning for Justice website... to find the "authoritative" study which reveals that Dr. Seuss books are not great and fun tools for getting young kids excited about reading but are, in fact, unredeemable racist bile. Need proof? the Cat in the Hat. An obvious racist black minstrel trope...

From:

The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti- Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books
Katie Ishizuka
The Conscious Kid Library, consciouskidlibrary@gmail.com
Ramón Stephens*
University of California, San Diego, r1stephe@ucsd.edu


"The Cat in The Hat
The Cat in the Hat​ is significant as Dr. Seuss’ most hypervisible and iconic character.
The book ​The Cat in the Hat​ is the second best-selling Dr. Seuss book of all time, after ​Green Eggs and Ham,​ and the ninth best-selling children’s book of all time (​Publisher’s Weekly​). In his article, “Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: Exploring Dr. Seuss’s Racial Imagination,”​ ​Philip Nel presents extensive research on the racialized origins of ​The Cat in the Hat​ as “inspired by blackface performance, racist images in popular culture, and actual African Americans” (71).
The Cat’s appearance in ​The Cat in the Hat ​was inspired by a Black woman named Annie Williams who was an elevator operator at the Boston offices of Seuss publishers at Houghton Mifflin (71). In 1955, Seuss was at their offices to meet William Spaulding, who tasked Seuss with creating a children’s book that was entertaining as well as educational (71). Spaulding and Seuss rode up to the offices in the elevator with Ms. Williams, and when Seuss created the Cat, “he gave him Mrs. Williams’ white gloves, her sly smile, and her color” (71).
The Cat was also influenced by actual blackface performers and minstrelsy, which is seen in both the Cat’s physical appearance, and the role he plays in the books (77). Physical attributes mirroring actual blackface performers include:
The Cat’s umbrella (which he uses as a cane) and outrageous fashion sense link him to Zip Coon, that foppish “northern dandy negro.” His bright red floppy tie recalls the polka-dotted ties of blackfaced Fred Astaire in Swing Time (1936) and of blackfaced Mickey Rooney in ​Babes in Arms​ (1939). His red-and-white-striped hat brings to mind Rooney’s hat in the same film or the hats on the minstrel clowns in the silent picture ​Off to Bloomingdale Asylum ​(77).
The Cat’s mouth is also depicted as open wide on fifteen of the nineteen pages he is present. Nel cites Sianne Ngai’s research that explains, “the mouth functions as a symbolically overdetermined feature in racist constructions of Blackness” (78).
The black Cat mimics the role of blackface performers and his purpose is to entertain and perform tricks for the White children (78): “I know some new tricks,/ A lot of good tricks./ I will show them to you./ Your mother Will not mind at all if I do” (Seuss, ​The Cat​ 8). Although he is there for entertainment value, it is made clear that he does not belong in the White family’s home: “Tell that Cat in the Hat/ You do NOT want to play./ He should not be here./ He should not be about” (Seuss, ​The Cat​ 11). Seuss also participated in minstrelsy and blackface performance in his personal life by writing and performing in blackface in his own minstrel show,​ Chicopee Surprised​ (Nel, “Was the Cat” 72). Minstrel shows exploited Black stereotypes for profit and mocked African Americans and Black culture. They mimicked White perceptions of the attributes and function of Black people as subservient, ignorant, buffoonish, and performing at the pleasure of and profit for Whites. This racist tradition is embodied by the Cat, and is ultimately sustained and carried on through this book."

Rob said...

Dr. Seuss doesn’t have a Chinaman’s chance of surviving in today’s woke culture.

n.n said...

A decade from now, they will be talking about Planned Population (e.g. Great Leap); about one-child (i.e. minority Choice); about selective-child (i.e. wicked solution); about Planned Parent/hood (e.g. social cost of age, clinical cannibalism). A decade from now, they will talking about trans/neogender indoctrination and medical corruption, the loss of prides; the progress of political congruence; the symbols of exclusive inclusion. A decade from now, they will be talking about wars without borders, coups without cause, transnational terrorism, and [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] immigration reform. A decade from now, they will be talking about scientific prophecies (e.g. [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] climate cooling... warming... change) for profit. A decade from now, they will be talking about the Twilight faith; the Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic, relativistic (e.g. "ethical") religion; the liberal ideology (e.g. behavioral protocols with diverging principles); social justice; social progress and collateral damage. A decade from now, they will be talking about diversity dogma (i.e. color judgments), not limited to racism, that deny individual dignity, deny individual conscience, deny intrinsic value, while normalizing color blocs (e.g. "people of color" (POC), "people of white" (POW), Fetal-Americans and capital punishment), color quotas, and affirmative discrimination. One step forward, two steps backward.

Mr Wibble said...

I doubt any Hispanic anywhere gave a hot damn about an adorable and funny chihuahua, and his accent.

I knew a few who love him.

Lucien said...

The woke didn't like the character Apu on the Simpsons, either. You can see why: he was a hardworking immigrant owner of a small business who was kind, polite ("Thank you, please come again!"), and even vegetarian -- but he spoke English with an Indian accent (My Urdu is perfect, how about yours?). Clearly a hateful, hurtful, negative stereotype. A lot of his characteristics fairly reek of (ugh) Whiteness.

Fortunately we now have a President who once said you couldn't go into a convenience store in Delaware without speaking in a slight Indian accent. He will lead the way to EQUITY!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

He is a victim; she is a victim. All those people over there are victims, too.

Everything is offensive... all of the children must be shielded. Even Math is racist.

tim maguire said...

MayBee said...I kind of want to know who is allowed to claim "lived experience" and who has to have just lived.

Different fields use it to mean different things, so take this for what it's worth: I work for an organization that researches new medical technologies to try to determine whether they work, how well they work, how much they'll cost, etc. Because most treatments are incompletely effective and often have side-effects, it's not always easy to know what the answer is. We seek feedback from as many different types of people as possible--not just what the double blind study reveals, or what the doctor's experience is, but also what life is like for the patient before, during, and after. What are the most bothersome practical day-to-day problems?

So, to your question, in our work, doctors have clinical experience. Patients have lived experience.

Howard said...

April: The Taco Bell Chihuahua was banned because he made fun of Che Guevara. I still have the red beret wearing stuffed pooch who spouts "Viva Gorditas"

n.n said...

woke culture

Semantic games, conceptual corruption, conflation of logical domains ("Twilight faith").

Woke and drowsy that liberalizes over a progressive path and grade under the Pro-Choice religion, its relativistic cousin "ethics", and political congruent nephew "law", of the State-established Progressive Church/Synagogue/Temple/Mosque/Office/Clinic/Chamber/Colander etc.

That said, diversity of individuals, minority of one.

Lurker21 said...

It was a hot topic and she made it quite dull.

Puts me in mind of what Brian Stelter did with his own hot potato. Our Minister of Public Enlightenment led off his show complaining that he had been compared to an asexual Mr/Ms Potatohead. But he wasn't going to dignify such distractions by tweeting back. Instead he was going to spend fifteen minutes of TV time talking with panelists about how horrible it was.

Birches said...

Think about how lovely a book like Corduroy was. I suppose it's an issue now because there's no race conscious moment in the book. The woke wouldn't want kids to just be normal now would they...

Browndog said...

Tucker Carlson did a wonderful segment on Dr. Seuss last night. He made the case he's being cancelled precisely because he's not racist.

Sounds crazy, huh?

Find it and watch. He's spot on.

Kay said...

Dr. Suess’ illustrations are one of these things that got me interested in art and painting.

Matt said...

Categories of recommended books: African American authors, African American booklist, American Indian/Alaska Native/First Nations Titles, Asian American and Pacific Islander Recommended Titles, Diverse Books with Trailblazing Women, Great Poetry to Read Aloud, Hispanic Heritage Booklists, LGBTQ Recommended Reading, Read Across America: State by State, and Spanish/English Bilingual Booklist.

Notice the one group that is absent: straight white males. I guess the half-wits and wokesters at the NEA hold us in contempt. Well, the feeling is mutual.

Howard said...

Why does "Woke Culture" suffer from narcolepsy?

n.n said...

Everything is offensive... all of the children must be shielded. Even Math is racist.

And the most offensive of all, is what the consensus brays with pride. Anyway, leverage games, past, present, and progressive. Nothing will change, because nothing has changed.

Amadeus 48 said...

They want old Doc Seuss stuck in a box.
But Team Amadeus is wise--like a fox.
We've got all those books. Go ahead throw your rocks!
We'll keep them forever. We'll ignore all your mocks.
We meant what we said, and we said what we meant.
Team Amadeus is faithful 100 percent.


Howard said...

Matt: Quit being a catty attention whore. It's weakness showing jealousy and envy for giving up an insignificant fraction of the limelight to the formerly repressed.

Amadeus 48 said...

There is a great profile of Theodore Giesel in the New Yorker in 1960--you can read it online without subscribing. It gives you a picture of the man when he was just a cartoonist and author. I did not realize he created Gerald McBoing-Boing for the cartoon movies.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"And the day is also a chance to celebrate diverse authors whose work and lived experience reflect the diversity of our country."

Really? What was the representation for the "white" kids?

Or, that's right, "whites" aren't real people, so they don't matter.

Nope. No racism there

Leland said...

I never saw myself or others in a Dr. Seuss book until I read "The Places You Will Go". I got plenty of copies of that book and a collection of Mel Brooks movies. I'll continue to enjoy these works and share them with like minds.

n.n said...

African American authors

One-half Americans, and a notewothy conflation of billions of people in a color bloc.

Diverse Books with Trailblazing Women

Yes, numerous carbon pollutants with the first of second leaders.

LGBTQ

Transgender spectrum including a colorful ensemble of genderphobes.

tim maguire said...

Howard said...Why does "Woke Culture" suffer from narcolepsy?

Because it likes to dig up the dead and masturbate over them?

Ice Nine said...

>>BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said...
I doubt any Hispanic anywhere gave a hot damn about an adorable and funny chihuahua, and his accent.<<

Just like Indians (casino, not call center) don't give a damn about sports team Indian names.

n.n said...

Really? What was the representation for the "white" kids?

People of White (POW).

On a related note, I wonder what came first, the goat or the Juvenile-American.

Howard said...

Touche, tim

DavidUW said...

The simplest answer is Seuss is too hard for Slow Joe to read.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Michael said... [hush]​[hide comment]

In my college Creative Writing class we had a section on Dr Suess. Learned Geisel wrote a lot of other stuff beside his Dr Suess books. One was the script for an Army orientation film preparing troops for occupation duty in post-war Germany. The tone of the film is quite brutal in its depiction of Germans. It was so harsh that even a bloodthirsty warrior such as Patton refused to play it to his troops.

He was also a political cartoonist. A lot of this cancel effort started about 15 years ago because during the war some of his cartoons had depicted Tojo (and other Japanese) as squint eyed, buck toothed and wearing thick glasses.

Chuck said...

Althouse wrote:
...That's from "If I Ran the Zoo," a 1950 book that Dr. Seuss enterprises has just withdrawn from publication.


Untrue. From the Associated Press:
The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company, which was founded by Seuss’ family, told AP.

Link:
https://apnews.com/article/dr-seuss-books-racist-images-d8ed18335c03319d72f443594c174513

Ignorance is Bliss said...

So does the omission have anything to do with the controversy about the lack of diverse characters in the author’s books?

I thought the controversy was over the inclusion of diverse characters in the books.

GMay said...

"I'm not normally a fan of Jesse Jackson, but his greatest moment was reading Green Eggs and Ham. I wonder if he has apologized yet."

That one was good, but I thought his performance on the "gameshow" The Question Is Moot was great. It's actually great to hear the lefty talking points of today being used back in '84 almost to the word, but it's worth sticking with it until the end, where it gets perhaps a little too self-aware.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x54vjte

gilbar said...

Ice Nine said...
Slant, schmant. Asians do have "slanted" eyes. To mention that fact is not racist - it does not define racism.

what's The Most Common plastic surgery in Korea? come on, Guess!

GMay said...

"Matt: Quit being a catty attention whore. It's weakness showing jealousy and envy for giving up an insignificant fraction of the limelight to the formerly repressed."

Poe's Law here?

Dave Begley said...

Omaha and Creighton are engaged in a big race controversy. After a road loss, head men's basketball coach Greg McDermott told his players in the locker room that they needed to "stay on the plantation."

He's since apologized. Supposedly he's offered to resign. The long and woke knives are out for him. Players allegedly thought of boycotting tonight's game but thought the better of it.

I'm sick over this. By all accounts, he's a great guy and a very, very good basketball coach.

Joe Smith said...

"Everything is offensive..."

You get cancelled, you get cancelled, and you get cancelled! All of you get cancelled!!

(Said in an Oprah-giving-away-cars voice).

Joe Smith said...

"Omaha and Creighton are engaged in a big race controversy. After a road loss, head men's basketball coach Greg McDermott told his players in the locker room that they needed to "stay on the plantation."

Blacks are happy to remain on the Democrat Plantation.

Why would this be offensive?

MayBee said...

Althouse wrote:
...That's from "If I Ran the Zoo," a 1950 book that Dr. Seuss enterprises has just withdrawn from publication.


Untrue. From the Associated Press:


The announcement was made yesterday. Geeze oh Pete.

Sebastian said...

"she made it quite dull"

Sure, progs lying about what they are up to, since some of the things they are up to can still stir outrage, is dull, very dull.

So, Althouse, is prog dullness boring enough for you?

cfs said...

What is going to happen to the infrastructure of this nation when all learning is found to be racist? Old books with illustrations showing white people installing electrical or data lines? Those must be destroyed. Learn math and calculations for determining road construction? That is racist!

Another few years of hiring and promoting based on checking off identity boxes then planes will no longer be able to fly because no one will be able to do the maintenance. Same for trains and large trucks. What then? Falling bridges everywhere!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The dirty secret is the Woke White left are the real racists and segregationists.

Content of character? nah.

When with the corrupt Woke left cancel MLK?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Howard said...
Matt: Quit being a catty attention whore. It's weakness showing jealousy and envy for giving up an insignificant fraction of the limelight to the formerly repressed.

Thank you Howard.

Whenever we need an evil racist pig to step up and show us how it's done, you never fail to deliver

rhhardin said...

Same for trains and large trucks

Locomotives are already just large laptops with software problems. There's a radio helpline to the software desk about how to get the red crosshatching out of this or that option box. Usually it's throw all the computer breakers and let it sit for five minutes, then boot it all back up and see if the brakes work.

It does go to failsafe pretty reliably. Train stops while the problem is worked out.

Positive Train Control has most of the problems.

rhhardin said...

Offensive is domesticated violence. Suppress it and you get the non-domesticated kind instead.

Dave Begley said...

Addendum to previous comment.

Creighton Coach McDermott was urging his team to stick together. He probably meant to say "stay on the reservation."

rhhardin said...

Strictly speaking it's not slanted eyes. Asians lack the ingoing eyelid fold at the top of the eyeball.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Chuck said...
Althouse wrote:
> ...That's from "If I Ran the Zoo," a 1950 book that Dr. Seuss enterprises has just withdrawn from publication.

Untrue. From the Associated Press:
The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company, which was founded by Seuss’ family, told AP.


Whatever they may claim, the announcement was very recently made.

So, Chuck, thank you for exposing your idiocy

Fernandinande said...

LIkeks had some nice commentary on this silliness (partial repost from cafe)
++

The year is 2031. Speaker: “In the past, Chinese people were often depicted in cartoons as wearing shapeless smocks with wide-brimmed hats and two flopping pigtails.”

That’s insulting. Show me an example.

“I can’t.”

Why?

“We eliminated most of the images. A few were saved for historical purposes.”
++

DanTheMan said...

Speaking on behalf of all Zoomba-ma-Tantians, I am outraged by the horrible racist imagery shown in the illustration.

Zoomba-ma-Tant lives, however imaginary and fictional they might be, matter. Let's all go burn a federal building in Portland in the way of explanation.

narciso said...

the crazy years annotated,

Fernandinande said...

proclamation was written by the Department of Education,

Biden signed the Seuss-free proclamation:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2, 2021, as Read Across America Day. I call upon children, families, educators, librarians, public officials, and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.

Rabel said...

It's not cool.

Howard said...

Let's not forget about white adolescent male fantasy of the orientation of Oriental snatch.

tcrosse said...

Let's not forget about white adolescent male fantasy of the orientation of Oriental snatch.

Are you a harmonica player?

rhhardin said...

Charlie Chan movies

Chinese audiences also saw the original American Charlie Chan films. They were by far the most popular American films in 1930s China and among Chinese expatriates; "one of the reasons for this acceptance was this was the first time Chinese audiences saw a positive Chinese character in an American film, a departure from the sinister East Asian stereotypes in earlier movies

He who fling mud lose ground

rehajm said...

BBC canned Jeremy Clarkson ultimately because of his double entendre There's a slope on it referring to the crooked angle of a bridge with a man of asian heritage walking across.

Chuck said...


TrumpWorld seems to be having fun with the Dr. Seuss story. It is hilarious, looking at the Fox News screen-caps of all of their breathless coverage. We're laughing at it; having every bit as much or more fun with the story, at the expense of right-wing media.

rhhardin said...

I never cared for Babar, probably spotting offense to large animals.

narciso said...

Horton hears a rune, i mean if the most impeccably prog childrens book writer isn't safe, it's like with the muppets, what ethnicity was Animal, romani,

chickelit said...

Are the Chinese now dictating our likes and dislikes in children's literature?

chickelit said...

I'm just getting the pile-on Suess mania. Is Althouse bored?

chickelit said...

The Geisel Library on the UCSD campus is kind of ugly; that it stops and starts again underground is subliminal I suppose.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Up Chuck E Cheeze reveals he's a full tilt proggy now. Laughing at cancel culture and the left's toxic destruction of all the things... while the Lincoln Project abuses young boys and rapes his wallet. That's particularly funny.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Chuck - your obsession with Trump is just like I-nag's obsession with Trump.

btw- the issue of banning books has NOTHING the fuck TO DO WITH TRUMP.

GMay said...

"btw- the issue of banning books has NOTHING the fuck TO DO WITH TRUMP."

TDS is apparently a thing.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said...
...while the Lincoln Project abuses young boys and rapes his wallet.

As much as I hate to defend the Lincoln Project, Chuck's wallet consented.

Skippy Tisdale said...

Oh, the Books You will Burn!

Skippy Tisdale said...

I would not eat them on the floor,
I would not eat them with a whore.
I would not eat them in a rage,
I would not eat them with my gage.
I would not eat them with a bitch,
I would not eat them with a snitch.

Skippy Tisdale said...

You know who else hated the Japanese? Americans circa 1941. Ever wonder why?

Gusty Winds said...

So does the omission have anything to do with the controversy about the lack of diverse characters in the author’s books?

These reporters are morons. Diverse characters? The Grinch was green and furry. The Sneeches with stars upon thars were yellow and furry. The Cat in the Hat was a Cat in a Hat. Thing 1 and 2 were things.

Not diverse enough???

Skippy Tisdale said...

Indecision has always been a chink in my armor.

Have a nip or two and you'll forget all about it.

Jim at said...

Lileks nailed it in his Bleat today.

KellyM said...


Andrew said...
"Does anyone remember (it seems like a century ago) the white teenager who wore a Chinese dress to a formal school event? All the white progressives were furious, but the majority of Chinese people in this country and abroad who commented were entirely supportive. Some wrote her letters of encouragement."

Hubby and I were invited by our Chinese neighbors to the wedding of one of their children. It was a great honor to be asked. I wore a jacket/tunic in a lovely patterned Chinese silk. It got a bit of attention when we arrived but hubby explained that I had made it myself and that brought smiles and compliments galore, particularly from the elder generations. I think the younger ones were a bit more “sensitive”. Whatever, sheesh.

rhhardin said...

What will happen to the Library of America edition of Seuss

Skippy Tisdale said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Skippy Tisdale said...

Do Progressives not realize that etymologically, the word woke is Germanic in origin?

KellyM said...

Blogger rhhardin said...
"Charlie Chan movies

Chinese audiences also saw the original American Charlie Chan films. They were by far the most popular American films in 1930s China and among Chinese expatriates; "one of the reasons for this acceptance was this was the first time Chinese audiences saw a positive Chinese character in an American film, a departure from the sinister East Asian stereotypes in earlier movies

He who fling mud lose ground"

I still watch Charlie Chan movies on YouTube. I love them all. I suppose one could kvetch that a Chinese actor was not used for the part, but the actors who played "Number One Son", Keye Luke, and Victor Sen Yung, both went on to have long careers as actors.

And let us not forget Anna Mae Wong, considered the first Chinese-American movie star. A real femme fatale....

Blogger rehajm said...
“BBC canned Jeremy Clarkson ultimately because of his double entendre There's a slope on it referring to the crooked angle of a bridge with a man of asian heritage walking across.”

Really? Wow, there were so many things Clarkson said/did that it’s a wonder the show made it as far as it did. Does anyone recall their road trip to Burma where Clarkson lashed a beat up teddy bear to a tree and covered it with jam? He did a whole riff on the British Army’s use of “jam boys.” I think it was a complete fabrication. Highly insensitive but hilarious.

Skippy Tisdale said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Skippy Tisdale said...

Last night, I watched Dick Cavett interview Tom Selleck. Taped in 1992, Selleck was promoting his film Mister Baseball, which was filmed in Japan. We learned Japanese baseball can be traced back to 1873 (three years prior to the Little Big Horn), is not considered American, has many different rules and is huge there.

A good deal of the conversation revolved around how racist the Japanese were to all non-Japanese. What they discussed was both fascinating and honest. Selleck even used the word xenophobic.

Several times during their discussion one of the two quipped, "Is it still okay to say that?", the point being that their speech was subject to external policing and they reflexively were aware of it. That was damn near 30 years ago. Let that sink in.

wildswan said...

Bartholomew and the Five Hundred Cancels.

Every time Bartholomew removed a BadThink before King Cancel, it was replaced by a new and bigger BadThink. When he took off his General Lee BadThink it was replaced by a George Washington and All the Founding Fathers BadThink. And so he ran and he is still running, up the tower stairs, and unfortunately, he's flung off his Author BadThink and so how can this story end

Joe Smith said...

"We learned Japanese baseball can be traced back to 1873 (three years prior to the Little Big Horn), is not considered American, has many different rules and is huge there."

Do you mean traditional American baseball?

American baseball is huge in Japan and the rules are essentially the same.

I have never heard of an older, native Japanese game that is also 'huge' there.

But high school baseball might be more popular than the pro version.

If you ever get a chance, attend a baseball game in Japan. It is a completely different (and really fun) experience.

Go, go, Swallows!

Skippy Tisdale said...

**** ***** ******NEWS FLASH****** ***** ****

NEW INFORMATION REVEALS GIFT-GIVING GRINCH FORMER MYSANTHOPIC FELON!

Jon Burack said...

This line from Psaki makes my skin crawl.

"Well, again, I think it is important that children of all backgrounds see themselves in the children’s books that they read."

She said it twice! This line sums up everything that is wrong with American culture and education today. To which I respond with this from Fran Lebowitz:

"A book is not a mirror, it's a door."

Skippy Tisdale said...

Let's not forget about white adolescent male fantasy of the orientation of Oriental snatch.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks

Skippy Tisdale said...

TrumpWorld seems to be having fun with the Dr. Seuss story. It is hilarious, looking at the Fox News screen-caps of all of their breathless coverage. We're laughing at it; having every bit as much or more fun with the story, at the expense of right-wing media.

Ever notice how ladies go to the bathroom in pairs?

Marcus said...

Why is Chuck still here?

THEOLDMAN

Matt Sablan said...

Poor Psaki. Can't even answer a basic question without some sort of failure. Where does the buck stop?

Skippy Tisdale said...

@ Joe Smith

It was just on last night.

JackOfClubs said...

Anyone who can call the author of Horton Hears a Who a racist doesn't know what the word means and isn't worth my time. Dr. Seuss made me laugh in a good way. These people also make me laugh but not in a good way.

Michael said...

I ordered the Zoo book yesterday. The other racist books were not available. But supreme as I am I will hunt them down. I will own them. My grandchildren will read them. With all the power of my whiteness I will secure those books.

Francisco D said...

Marcus said...Why is Chuck still here?

I cannot imagine that he has anywhere else to go, can you?

Joe Smith said...

"It was just on last night."

It's on my DVR until it rolls off.

jim said...

My grandkids, on their 1st day back to school in a year on Monday, were instructed to wear horizontally striped clothes, in honor of YOU KNOW WHO.

They happily complied, being blissfully ignorant of this HUGE controversy. As a card carrying libtard I am SO offended.

course, our backwoodser school is so damned ignorant they had it Monday instead of Tuesday. I'll have to go to a school board meeting, sometime after the pandemic, and make stink about THAT.

Owen said...

"Vox writes its article at a slant on a website where everything must be a rant. I'm not staying there long. I won't and I can't. But I noticed this one thing that seemed slightly wacky — a press conference question aimed at poor Jen Psaki: "

O fun! A game!

Vox writes its item at such a slant
On a site where all is rant
Staying there? I won't and can't!
But as I go I note what's wacky
--Although to point it out is tacky--
A presser pressing poor Ms. Psaki

Drago said...

Marcus: "Why is Chuck still here?"

His pedophile club doesnt meet until 8pm.

Drago said...

I wonder if any of LLR-lefty Chuck's pedophile heroes ever used Dr Seuss materials to entice underage boys?

Chuck said...

Behold; "moderation" of the commenting at the Althouse blog.

Drago said...

Racist and Violent Poster Who Was Banned For Serial Lying And Blog Disruption LLR-lefty Chuck" "Behold; "moderation" of the commenting at the Althouse blog."

I wonder if pro-pedophile-organizations-Chuck really believed the use of "Behold" would add gravitas to his post?

Topical and Timely Note: Just yesterday LLR-lefty Chuck launched a desperate attack against real Doctor (not LLR-lefty Chuck's adored Jill Biden fake "Doctor") Congressman Ronny Jackson because Jackson has made it clear he does not approve of the Lincoln Project Team Pedophilia, an organization for which LLR-lefty Chuck has proclaimed is in alignment with his every view.

Again, I believe it is "healthy" from a blog transparency perspective that LLR-lefty Chuck now proudly embraces his fully exposed pro-democratical-marxist policy outlook and support for his pedophiliac pals at The Lincoln Project.

It helps explain so much of Chuck's posting behavior at Althouse blog over the years...a blog from which he was repeatedly banned.

Drago said...

I suspect very soon LLR-lefty Chuck will be vomiting up the musings of other fully exposed democraticals like David French, the anti-pro-life Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes et al who post their democratical aligned views at The Facebook Dispatch and The National Facebook Review.

n.n said...

Diverse characters? The Grinch was green and furry. The Sneeches with stars upon thars were yellow and furry. The Cat in the Hat was a Cat in a Hat. Thing 1 and 2 were things.

Not diverse enough???


One, two, three, hah, hah, hah. Three diverse individuals, minority of one.

MayBee said...

Very interesting, Tim Maguire.

effinayright said...

Skippy Tisdale said...
Indecision has always been a chink in my armor.

Have a nip or two and you'll forget all about it.
***************

Headline reporting first Japanese astronaut put into orbit"

"There's a Nip in the air!"

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

wholelottasplainin',

"There's a Nip in the air!"

Well, if said Japanese astronaut is actually in orbit, he's a Nip where there isn't any air, possibly the first such for so long a time. (Japanese dive, but not for days on end.)

effinayright said...

Ice Nine said...
>>BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said...
I doubt any Hispanic anywhere gave a hot damn about an adorable and funny chihuahua, and his accent.<<

Just like Indians (casino, not call center) don't give a damn about sports team Indian names.
***************

What? Why I'm SURE there's a contingent of Injuns who have agitated to change the names of half the states, and places like Chicago, Detroit, Chattanooga, Seattle, Tuskegee, Tuscaloosa, and on and on.

Thus Milwaukee, Wisconsin would become "City A, Sector R."

MUCH better!

robother said...

There's a certain Slant of light
In Biden's Woke goons,
That oppresses,
Like the heft of Cathedral tunes

daskol said...

If I Ran the Zoo is my (non-white, mixed race) 5 yo's favorite, after To Think I Saw it All on Mulberry Street. I prefer the sleep book, where the racism is more deeply encoded.

Rusty said...

Chuck said...
"Behold; "moderation" of the commenting at the Althouse blog."
Nobody's keeping you here. The level of dialog improves when you're not around.

Lurker21 said...

Ebay Pulls 'Mein Kampf' Upon Discovery Hitler Doodled Chinese Man With Chopsticks In Margins -- Babylon Bee