The Dr. Seuss Museum doesn’t seem to have a problem with the First Lady

Earlier this week John touched on the festival of hot takes surrounding Liz Phipps Soeiro, the librarian at Cambridgeport Elementary School who attempted to refuse a donation of Dr. Seuss books from First Lady Melania Trump. I specify “attempted” because it turned out that the school board stepped in and said it wasn’t her call to begin with. That hot mess should have come and gone fairly quickly, but it turns out that there was another chapter of the story to be written.

The Mayor of the town where Dr. Seuss (actually Theodor Geisel) was born decided to add some balance to the equation. They have a museum honoring the author in Springfield and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has invited the First Lady and the President to visit. (Boston Globe)

“One fish — two fish — red fish — blue fish’ — I think her comments ‘stink’ and are ridiculous towards our beloved Dr. Seuss,” Sarno said in a statement on the city’s Facebook page.

Sarno said that Phipps Soeiro’s claims that Dr. Seuss’ books are riddled with racist propaganda is “political correctness at its worst.”…

Sarno gave “kudos” to Trump for her donation and invited the Trumps to stop by and check out the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss, the first museum dedicated to the author and illustrator.

“We’re extremely proud to be home to the one and only Dr. Seuss Museum in the world,” he said. “[We] would be honored to have the First Lady and President Donald J. Trump to visit.”

First of all, that was very nice of the mayor. (And it was a lovely gesture on the part of the First Lady to begin with, regardless of what the spiteful little wretch of a librarian thought.) It may also turn out to be possible that, if the the First Couple chooses to come by, Melania Trump could read to some of the children.

One thing which would make an event like that interesting would be the almost unavoidable public relations debacle to follow. Remember that this is Massachusetts, one of the bluest states in the Union and full of avowed opponents of the President. You’ll recall what happened when a conservative group wanted to have a free speech event there, right? The streets were flooded with angry liberals trying to shut it down.

Can you imagine what will happen if they hear that the First Lady is coming to Springfield? It’s almost too delicious for words. Armies of angry liberals, possibly with some Antifa reinforcements, flooding the streets with signs and angry protest chants, all to try to stop the First Lady from reading to some children from a Dr. Seuss book. In a more sane world you might imagine that they would realize precisely what a bunch of monsters that would make them look like, but I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel on it. I’m guessing they’ll show up anyway and prove yet again precisely how unhinged they are.

With luck, the Governor and the Mayor of Boston will show up as well, talking about how hateful it all must be. The downside is that there will be at least some cable news talking heads nodding sagely and agreeing with them.

Whether or not you’re a fan of the President, it’s hard to argue that the First Lady has been exemplary so far. She’s mostly behind the scenes, isn’t trying to rewrite the nation’s health care laws or force schools to feed students free range kale or anything of the sort. She visits children in hospitals, hosts the occasional guests and generally sticks to traditional East Wing duties. And reading to some students from a beloved children’s classic would be right up her alley.