Saint Patrick's Day was always a fun day for our children when they were small. A good friend who had children of similar ages is Irish American. She always filled her house with shamrocks, leprechauns and other cute decorations. Green was seen everywhere! She made traditional Irish soda bread and other tasty treats. Our children loved to go to her house around the holiday. I swore that I gained 2 pounds by just breathing the air in her kitchen.
At our house, we didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in quite the same way. For one thing, we hardly decorated at all. However, February is the anniversary of the birth of Theodor Seuss "Ted" Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. Seuss was a family favorite, and the kids loved hearing “Green Eggs and Ham”, especially when their Uncle Patrick read it in his deep voice. Therefore, I sometimes made green eggs and ham for our St. Patrick’s Day breakfast. The green eggs were just ordinary scrambled eggs with a couple of drops of blue food coloring added.
The kids thought the idea was funny, but eating that stuff was another matter entirely. The sight of a strangely-colored mound on the plate seemed to make them shudder. Usually after breakfast, the ham was eaten, the juice was all gone, but the eggs ended up in the dog's bowl.
A few years ago, one of the brands of catsup came out with a dark green variety. One of our sons promptly had me buy a bottle for our friend. He presented it to her on St. Patrick's Day. She asked if the taste was any different. Since we'd already done a taste test, I was able to assure her that it tasted the same as always, "as long as you close your eyes!"
To help tie all this personal nostalgia to something that would fit in at a political site, please consider that according to political columnist Art Buchwald, Seuss had sent him a copy of his book "Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!" In it every instance of "Marvin K. Mooney" was replaced it with "Richard M. Nixon." Buchwald was so delighted, that with Seuss' consent he printed the text as his column for July 30, 1974:
Richard M. Nixon will you please go now!
The time has come.
The time has come.
The time is now.
Just go.
Go.
Go!
I don't care how.
You can go by foot.
You can go by cow.
Richard M. Nixon will you please go now!
You can go on skates.
You can go on skis.
You can go in a hat.
But
Please go.
Please!
I don't care.
You can go
By bike.
You can go
On a Zike-Bike
If you like.
If you like
You can go
In an old blue shoe.
Just go, go, GO!
Please do, do, do, DO!
Richard M. Nixon
I don't care how.
Richard M. Nixon
Will you please
GO NOW!
You can go on stilts.
You can go by fish.
You can go in a Crunk-Car
If you wish.
If you wish
You may go
By lion's tale.
Or stamp yourself
And go by mail.
Richard M. Nixon
Don't you know
The time has come
To go, go, GO!
Get on your way!
Please Richard M.!
You might like going in a Zumble-Zay.
You can go by balloon
Or broomstick.
Or
You can go by camel
In a bureau drawer.
You can go by bumble-boat
or jet.
I don't care how you go.
Just get!
Richard M. Nixon!
I don't care how.
Richard M. Nixon
Will you please
GO NOW!
I said
GO
And
GO
I meant
The time had come
So
Richard WENT."
I can well remember reading the original story many times at various bedtimes. The last few words were meant to read quite dramatically. I’d start out rather quietly with “I said” and then get louder and more emphatic with, “GO...And GO I meant!” and then finish rather quickly and more quietly with, “The time had come…So…Marvin went.“ The story was ended with a shrug and the book was firmly snapped shut.
The Democrats missed the opportunity to tell Trump to GO in the same way as Nixon was told. Of course, back in the Nixon era there were enough decent Republicans in power to influence the situation.
In the past, I’ve often referred to most Democrats in office as “gutless wonders”, but it seems that lately almost all of the Republican leaders have earned that title. They seem to have lost their spines as they grovel before Trump and his enablers.
What would the beloved Dr. Seuss have to say about our present president and the state of affairs we are facing in these united states? This is the 30th year since Theodor Seuss Geisel died. Shortly before his death, he said about the US:
“We can...and we've got to...do better than this.”
For ourselves, and our children, and the children of the world - We MUST do better than this! If we don't, our future is about as promising as it was for that nasty glob of cold, green eggs abandoned in the dog's dish.