Patterico's Pontifications

3/2/2021

Neera Tanden: Cancelled

Filed under: General — JVW @ 7:24 pm



[guest post by JVW]

Sorry, I could help but play upon the title of Patterico’s earlier post.

From NRO:

Neera Tanden withdrew her nomination to become director of the Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday after she struggled to receive the support needed for a Senate confirmation in light of old tweets in which she insulted lawmakers.

“Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,” Tanden wrote in a letter to President Biden.

Biden said in a statement he has “utmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counsel” and vowed to find her another position within his administration.

Thoughts:
1. This nomination always struck me as a favor done for Hillary Clinton, and hopefully the President now feels like he has met that obligation and it isn’t his fault that Ms. Tanden’s nomination failed. Clearly it’s the Obamabots and not the Clintonites who are ascendent in the Biden White House. Sic transit gloria Clintonorum.

2. The attempt by certain House Democrats to cast Republican opposition to Ms. Tanden as being anti-Asian is as predictable as it is fatuous, especially since it would appear that woke progressives are dumping all over an Asian female reporter for the Washington Post who showed Senator Lisa Murkowski some pointed tweets directed at her and written by Ms. Tanden.

3. Does Twitter have a function that automatically restores 1,000 deleted Tweets?

4. Finally, I know that many people are questioning how Republicans who put up with Donald Trump’s Twitter escapades the last half-decade can now take to their fainting couches when a Democrat operative turns the fire on them. Fair enough as far as it goes, but I would remind those people that Donald Trump never made a grandstanding promise to require that his staff “treat with dignity. . . all of the folks you deal with.” Yes, it could be argued that Ms. Tanden deserved a fresh start and the opportunity to live up to the King of Blarney’s edict, but it could just as easily be argued that nothing in Ms. Tanden’s history suggested she would be up to the challenge.

Plenty of conservative commentators have worried that by squelching the Tanden nomination, Republican Senators (and Joe Manchin) might be inclined to let an even worse nominee — potential Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra — skate by on a narrow vote. I would agree that I would sooner accept an OMB Director Tanden than I would suffer an HHS Secretary Becerra, but I guess we’ll soon see how Sens. Collins, Murkowski, Portman (who served in the House with Mr. Becerra), Manchin, and Tester feel about it.

– JVW

Dr. Seuss: Canceled

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:29 am



Or at least some of his books have been.

Six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because they “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” the business that preserves the author’s legacy said.

. . . .

Two specific examples, according to the study, are found in the books “The Cat’s Quizzer: Are YOU Smarter Than the Cat in the Hat?” and “If I Ran the Zoo.”

“In (“The Cat’s Quizzer”), the Japanese character is referred to as ‘a Japanese,’ has a bright yellow face, and is standing on what appears to be Mt. Fuji,” the authors wrote.

Regarding “If I Ran the Zoo,” the study points out another example of Orientalism and White supremacy.

“The three (and only three) Asian characters who are not wearing conical hats are carrying a White male on their heads in ‘If I Ran the Zoo.’ The White male is not only on top of, and being carried by, these Asian characters, but he is also holding a gun, illustrating dominance. The text beneath the Asian characters describes them as ‘helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant’ from ‘countries no one can spell,'” the study authors wrote.

The study in question is from the journal “Research on Diversity in Youth Literature.”

Thank God, President Biden has addressed this scourge and “removed mentions of Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day.” If people read books, that would be very meaningful.

Apparently The Cat in the Hat will continue to be published . . . for now.


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