Canada's Left Coast Loonies Blacklist Dr. Seuss

The other day I wrote about Britain's pathetic Chiefs of Police who blacklisted use of the word "blacklist," a term of 17 Century coinage, because, they say, it's racist, a contention at least a stupid as the contention of those who demand the firing of anyone using the word "niggard," coined in 1600, or its adjectival form "niggardly" because, to an illiterate, it is vaguely similar to the word "nigger," coined a hundred years later.

But it is unnecessary to go so far afield to discover examples of loony liberal political correctness. Here at home on the Left Coast of Canada the Prince Rupert School Board has threatened a Grade 1 teacher with disciplinary action for wearing a tee-shirt quoting Dr. Seuss.

The quote is from Dr. Seuss's book Yertle the Turtle, in which Yertle has the other turtles stack up one upon another, so he can see the sights from the tippy top.

 I know, up on the top you are seeing great sights,
but down here at the bottom
we, too, should have rights

Wow, dangerous political message.

Which explains why all eight teachers of the Prince Rupert School District have been warned in writing that they could be disciplined for displaying political messages.

Too much of that sort of thing and kids might start thinking outside the box.

But here's a good one from across the pond:

Home Office minister John Denham criticised by the police for using the phrase "nitty gritty" because of race relations rules.

Although this is almost unbelievable stupid, there is a dark side to it. It is part of a program to deligitimize certain points of view, not by argument but by criminalizing certain words and phrases. That way, the politically correct defeat all opposition without having to frame an argument -- something that few of them are able to do.

The antidote is never to apologize for the correct use of words that liberals and lefties have for self-serving reasons proclaimed "inappropriate," "racists" or "insensitive." Most sensitivity around the use of words amounts to nothing more than passive aggression, which should be vigorously repelled.