The Very Un-P.C. 'Cat In the Hat' Turns 50

"The Cat in the Hat," the classic children's book by Dr. Seuss, turns 50 this year. The opening lines . . .

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day . . ."

. . . are just as fresh in my mind as when my mother read "The Cat in the Hat" to me and I read it to my own children.

But sad to say, the book is so politically incorrect that it probably could never be published today.

As Peter Mandel writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer commentary:

"For starters, anyone need a reminder on the basic premise here? Two little kids of maybe 6 or 7 are being harassed by a large, threatening animal and its accomplices. Worse, the two have been left for an entire day without adult supervision. . . . Get the cops. Bring in a social worker and quick."

Ahem.