Is the 'Cat in the Hat' subversive?

National Review ^ | 11/21/03 | John Miller

[Aquinasfan]

I look at "Horton Hears a Who" as an inadvertantly pro-life story. "A Who is a Who no matter how small." I think he intended it to be about nuclear war.

[KantianBurke]

of course Dr. Seuss would have loved to live in a liberal paradise such as this country:

where the earth was treated much better. (sarcasm off) The environment is better off in the hands of a country with a representative democracy and capitalism such as ours.

[CobaltBlue]

I agree that caring about the environment crosses party lines, but I would go even further and say that environmentalism used to be peculiarly a characteristic of the Republican party from the beginning.

The earliest Republican candidates and presidents supported national parks and conservation, and it was a Republican president (IIRC Grant) who dedicated the first national park.

[Chewbacca]

Green Eggs and Ham was one of my favorites.

[Congressman Billybob]

I had the privilege of meeting and talking with Alexander Kerensky, forty years ago. I know the history of his democratic government, that was overthrown by Vladimir Lenin. The nonsense of this article begins with the implication that Kerensky was on a continuum that lead in a short step from him to Lenin. That is unmitigated twaddle.

As for the rest of the article, I agree with your comment. These are CHILDREN'S BOOKS, for crying out loud. The writer of this article is getting his knickers in a twist over nothing.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, "Double Crossing at the Rio Grande," discussion thread. IF YOU WANT A FREEPER IN CONGRESS, CLICK HERE.

[cornelis]

Thanks for the sanity.

What sanity? Suess characters?

[HitmanLV]

No idea onthe politics of his books, but kids certainly enjoy them. No harm there.

I dislike Geisel for his personal behavior though. Didn't he treat his first wife dreadfully as she was dying for a long illness, carrying on with a mutual friend as his wife lay dying, driving her to suicide? Or am I thinking of another Dr Seuss? ;-)

[CobaltBlue]

I like "Marvin K. Mooney." It's fun.

Towards the end of my Seuss reading years, my favorite was "There's a Wocket in My Pocket!", with the yeps on the steps and the bofa on the sofa.

[Aquinasfan]

The message was definitely one of mushy liberalism, at best, but I think it was just typical of the times in which it was written and the class of people among whom he lived (and probably for whom he was writing).

Try "Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose." The story line should make any conservative stand up and cheer. Thidwick kindly lets an ant take a ride on his antlers. The ant invites his friend the bird, who invites his friend the squirrel, etc., until Thidwick can barely support the group nesting on his head. Eventually, Thidwick is cornered by hunters. He can't escape because of the weight on his head. But then... Thidwick sheds his antlers. It's that time of the year. And Thidwick escapes to join up with the rest of the herd. The freeloaders wind up stuffed, mounted and hung over the hunter's mantlepiece.

[asformeandformyhouse]

I'm reminded of Jesse Jackson reading "Green Eggs and Ham" on SNL. Hilarious.

[cornelis]

These are CHILDREN'S BOOKS, for crying out loud

Is that a crying argument?

[CobaltBlue]

Fooling around while his wife was in bed with cancer? Sure you don't mean Newt Gingrich?

[Aquinasfan]

And if I describe it now I'd say it was the child's version of "Waiting for Godot."

LOL! I had a negative reaction as an adult, but mostly because the ending seemed like a cheap out. My kids liked it though. They saw it as a joke.

[cyncooper]

Our Religious Ed Department recommends "Horton Hears a Who" for "Respect Life" classes.

Because as Horton says: "A person's a person, no matter how small"

...

[WackyKat]

IMO, being against the destruction of the earth's forests, water and air as depicted in the the Lorax crosses party lines, or should. Dr. Suess may have been a liberal but lots of people care about preserving nature where possible.

Of course you're right, but some people here won't be happy until the last tree is cut down to clear space for a restaurant that specializes in endangered species.

[cyncooper]

"Green Eggs and Ham"

And for very young children just learning to read you can't beat "Hop on Pop".

To this day we still fling out little phrases from that book like "Upside down like Mr. Brown".

[bethelgrad]

Ever read "The Lorax?" Paints industry as environmental rapists. But it was written in a time when there were virtually no restrictions on developing land too.

[alloysteel]

Theodore Giesl, "Dr. Seuss", was a master propagandist, and a lifelong admirer of the Soviet Union. He was involved in some of the blackest anti-Nazi diatribes ever launched in the name of the US government under FDR, which expressed most eloquently his admiration of the Josef Stalin who took up arms against Adolf Hitler. And you thought his colorful books were innocent children's tales?

The Seuss books have been around for a couple of generations now. The public school teachers got this indoctrination before they started school themselves, and they have a receptive audience now for the propaganda buried in the pages of "The Lorax" and the "Star-Bellied Sneeches".

[WackyKat]

I'm sorry if some children's books don't meet your test for Ideological Purity

[cornelis]

the like it though

If it's gonna work at all, subversion is likeable and wears a smile.