Drier: Has political correctness gone too far?
Mary Drier, For the Tribune
March 12, 2021
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Mary Drier
There has been a flurry of news articles about companies changing their logos on products or the products themselves because they were perceived as being insensitive to some cultures.
I was rather surprised when there wasn’t the usual fanfare about reading in celebration of Dr. Seuss and his birthday. Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) was born March 2, 1904. There was usually a big deal made about reading on March 2.
Then, I saw a news broadcast that some of his books were going to stop being printed because it was felt the illustrations were racist.
The two sides of Dr. Seuss
John J. Dunphy
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Unless you’re a convict who is currently in solitary confinement, you surely know that Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which oversees the estate of the late Theodor Geisel, a/k/a, Dr. Seuss, will discontinue publication of six of his works. “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement. This decision was reached after consultation with a panel of experts, including educators, who reviewed Seuss’ books. Random House Children’s Books, which publishes Seuss’ books, announced in a public statement that it respected the decision.
Colin McEnroe: Green eggs and ham all over face of those who misread Dr. Seuss decision
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Books by Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, including “On Beyond Zebra!” and “And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street,” will no longer be printed due to accusations of racist and insensitive imagery. The other titles are “If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”Scott Olson / Getty Images
Everybody calm down.
Dr. Seuss is not being canceled, and his books are not being banned. If I had a little more energy, I’d put that in anapestic tetrameter.
Whither news conferences? Step up to the podium, Mr. President
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President Biden speaks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House last month.Samuel Corum / New York Times
Each of President Biden’s last 15 predecessors held a solo press conference at this point in their first terms. Biden’s lack of accessibility is drawing criticism from Washington reporters who have plenty of questions to ask him directly. It also challenges his promise of a new era of truth and transparency after four years of an administration that was deficient on each.
It’s not as if there were a dearth of issues to pursue in Biden’s first two months. The rollout of the vaccine, the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, the air strike on Iran-backed militias in Syria, the administration’s tepid response to a finding that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince authorized the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and Biden’s issuance of executive orders on everything from immigran