WITH JACK FOWLER

March 06 2021

WITH JACK FOWLER

March 06 2021

Horton Hears a Load of Hooey

Dear Gentle Reader,

This Jolt you read, this Jolt you read — do you like this Jolt you read?

Whether you do or don't, you are here, and for this tiny crumb of Who Hash appetizer presented before you get your taste buds on the copious and bursting main courses, let us make note of several pieces on the raging cultural controversy — the disappearing of some six books by the beloved (by many) Dr. Seuss for offenses undefined.

Truth be told, he was quite the liberal in his day, so Your Humble Author does not like him, not in a box, with a fox, in a house, with a mouse, not here nor there nor anywhere. Regardless, this stunt has merited responses of incredulity and opprobrium and snorfledoodle as the Things One and Two of America's Cancel Culture cause their chaos. There are excellent responses by NRniks. Some:

Dan McLaughlin provides the latest of breaking news about Ebay's Thought Police preventing the resale of the six books in question . . .

Dan had previously taken on the lunacy more broadly. From that piece:

On Beyond Zebra! is perhaps my personal favorite Dr. Seuss book, one I read countless times as a kid and countless more to my three children. It takes the exotic-menagerie concept, crosses it with the traditional alphabet book, and asks the question: What if there were more letters in the alphabet, known only to a select, inquisitive few? What if you needed those letters to spell the names of creatures that were truly unique and foreign to most people's experience? It is a brilliant concept for a children's book, and it genuinely encourages not only a spirit of openness and adventure and intellectual curiosity, but also a broad-minded way of thinking about language. So far as I can tell, it is "canceled" for a vaguely Arab-looking character on one page, the "Nazzim of Bazzim."

Recall that one of the charges against Seuss is that his books feature too few non-white people, and you can understand the inherent absurdity of also banning his books for depicting non-white people. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Kyle Smith reminds us of the once-upon-a-not-so-long-ago Piss Christ heady days when lefties were insensitive to sensitivity. From the piece:

So, what changed? The Left used to be against banishing books, banning books, burning books. Now, scarcely a week goes by without some breathtaking new advance in its campaign to bury this or that book in order that the public might never be infected with its ideas. Just six years ago, when Barack Obama was publicly praising Dr. Seuss on March 2, Read Across America Day — a day specifically chosen by the National Education Association to honor Theodor Geisel's birthday — you would have called me a paranoid wingnut if I had told you that books such as On Beyond Zebra! would soon be yanked from bookshelves across America at the behest of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Yesterday, that's exactly what happened.

The memory of (perhaps) the single most beloved author in America was insulted by having that title and five others pulled as an anti-birthday present and the traditional presidential mention of Dr. Seuss on a day built around his work was absent. It was as if all mentions of George Washington were scrubbed from the official celebration of President's Day. (That'll never happen, though. Not until at least 2022.)

And Kevin Williamson responded Seussically. You'll find his piece here.

Who knows though — maybe from his Lefty Central lair George Soros will see the destruction of the madness he bankrolls and his heart will grow three sizes by our next edition.

Now on with this one. We hope you have brought a ravenous appetite.

NAME. RANK. LINK.

Articles

John Thune and Tom Cotton: Becerra Misleads on His Treatment of Nuns

Alex Baiocco: The Democrats' New Schemes to Control Political Speech

David Harsanyi: Pelosi's H.R. 1 Is an Authoritarian Outrage

Mario Loyola: Bipartisan Danger to the Constitution: Expanded Federal Government and Presidency

Ryan Mills: Keystone Pipeline: Rural Montana County Counted on Economic Benefit

Jack Butler: American Moment's Complaints about Conservatism Are Self-Serving

Joseph Loconte and Samuel Gregg: Future of Conservatism and the Nation Depends on Restoring Faith in American Story

Mark Krikorian: The Human Cost of Open-ish Borders

Steven Camarota: Is Biden Losing the Immigration Debate?

Tobias Hoonhout: The Brothers Cuomo — CNN Misleads Viewers on Interview 'Rule'

Jimmy Quinn: Trump's Uyghur-Genocide Recognition Spurs Canada, Netherlands to Act

Rich Lowry: Alzheimer's Can’t Fully Extinguish the Human Personality

Tim Kelleher: Staten Island Boyhood: Marvelous, Melancholy Memories

Cameron Hilditch: Parton and Progressives — Leave Dolly Alone

Andre Archie: Here's Why the Classics Are Worth Studying

Joseph Loconte and Nile Gardiner: Churchill and the Cold War: 75th Anniversary of His 'Iron Curtain' Speech

Capital Matters

Joni Ernst and Tom Schatz go whole hog: Budget Earmarks: Corrupt, Costly, and Inequitable

Benjamin Zycher pulls the plug on idiocy: Electric Vehicles: Mandates Push to Consumers Who Don’t Want Them

Brad Palumbo says oh mama: Why a $15 Minimum Wage Will Hit Parents the Hardest

Andrew Stuttaford shops in the nag aisle: Socially Responsible Investing a Tesco Supermarkets — Policing Your Plate

Lights. Camera. Review!

Kyle Smith looks at Henry's daughter through the crosshairs: Jane Fonda's Vietnam Actions Were Worse Than You Think

More Kyle, who goes underground: The Truffle Hunters Explores Strange Subculture

Armond White has both open: Keep An Eye Out Examines Social and TV Habits

More Armond, who's not buying what they're selling: United States vs. Billie Holiday Is a Salacious BLM Scam

Podcastapalooza

Capital Record Episode 7: David talks taxes with Arthur Laffer.

The Editors Episode 307: Rich, MBD, Jim G and Maddy discuss cancelling Cuomo.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen Episode 302: Charlie and Kevin reach into the grab bag.

The McCarthy Report Episode 118: Andy and Charlie discuss Merrick Garland as Attorney General.

The Great Books Episode 169: John Miller and Matthew Continetti discuss Saul Bellow's Ravelstein.

The Bookmonger Episode 341: JJM and C.J. Box discuss his novel, Dark Sky.

Political Beats Episode 92: Mark Hemingway joins Scott "Spinmaster" Betram and Jeff "33 1/3 RPM" Blehar to talk Nirvana.

Radio Free California Episode 162: David and Will spotlight Stanford lefties.

The Victor Davis Hanson Podcast Episode 57: VDH discusses COVID's neutron-bomb effect and lefties efforts to de-cable the Right.

HEAPING PLATES OF GREEN EGGS, HAM, AND SO MUCH MORE

A Gajillion Suggestions of Conservative Wisdom and Provocation

1. No, say senators John Thune and Tom Cotton — Biden HHS nominee Xavier Becerra is fibbing about his nun-hate. From the piece:

A number of senators asked Becerra about this at his confirmation hearings. "I've never sued any affiliation of nuns," he said, choosing his words carefully. "My actions have always been directed at the federal agencies."

His misleading answer ignores the basic truth: Becerra took legal action for years intended to strong-arm Catholic nuns and others into complying with a federal contraceptive policy that violates their religious beliefs.

It's a matter of public record that cannot be erased, and it's just one example of Becerra taking religious liberty and freedom of conscience to court.

He vigorously defended a California law that targeted pro-life pregnancy centers and forced them to advertise abortions, arguing it all the way to the Supreme Court, which overturned the law because it violated the free-speech protections of the First Amendment.

2. When it comes to controlling political speech, Alex Baiocco knows that Democrats never stop scheming. From the piece:

Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to get us halfway there. H.R. 1 (S.1 in the Senate), takes aim at your "outside" voice, which Biden wants to silence. The bill also demonstrates how efforts to silence independent groups won't stop at speech urging fellow Americans to vote for or against candidates. H.R. 1's provisions for "Stopping Super PAC–Candidate Coordination" reach far beyond super PACs and would capture speech that has nothing to do with elections. Any organization that discusses policy issues could trigger the sweeping "coordination" standards. Communications about legislation made routinely by advocacy groups today would be illegal under H.R. ... READ MORE