Seuss Scholars Criticize Ted Cruz’s “Green Eggs and Ham” Reading

By Marie Plecha, The Dartmouth Staff | 10/3/13 6:10am

Seuss scholars criticized Senator Ted Cruz’s reading of “Green Eggs and Ham” as part of an analogy denouncing Obamacare in his all-night speech last Tuesday, according to an NBC News article last week. “Seussologists” criticized Cruz’s inclusion of Theodor Geisel ‘25’s children’s book in his diatribe, raising the point that the short story features themes of open-mindedness and compromise.

 

Cruz expressed his opposition to the president’s health care law for 21 hours on the Senate floor, including in his speech a dramatic reading of Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham” around his children’s bedtime at 8 pm. Scholars of Dr. Seuss, however, as well as other members of the Senate, have noted that the story describes a stubborn character who claims to hate green eggs and ham until he is convinced to try them. This directly contradicts Cruz’s point about Obamacare, as he has not yet had the opportunity to “try it,” according to the NBC News article.

 

The article references Dartmouth English Professor Donald Pease, who authored a biography of Geisel. Pease suggested that members of today’s Congress could benefit from reading Seuss’s collection of children’s books. “They’re behaving like Sneetches”, Pease said.


Marie Plecha, The Dartmouth Staff