Say what you will about what some may regard as the GOP’s historical disdain for the arts, but Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has inspired the left to read more, pen its own political poetry and even canvass constituents in verse.

Cruz threw open the creative floodgates by channeling Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, during his 21-hour, non-filibuster of President Barack Obama’s signature health care overhaul.

His reading of “Green Eggs and Ham” — a parable about fearing the unknown only to later grow to love the new experience — may have fallen on deaf ears in the Senate, but resonated with critics elsewhere.

Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley did a little storytelling of his own, warning House members against the dangers of obstructionism.

He chose another Seuss yarn, “The Zax,” as his teaching aide:

That story, naturally, is a cautionary tale about the consequences of eschewing compromise.

Over at the Democratic Underground, commenter “Prophet 451” crafted a Seusssian rebuttal of his own.

Instead of just having fun with it, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., decided to put Seussgate to work for her, weaving a few choice lines into a fundraising email blast deriding Republicans for dragging their heels on everything from the Violence Against Women Act to women’s reproductive rights:

“Well to paraphrase Dr. Seuss:

I do not like Tea Party whackos.
I do not like them in the House.
I do not like them in a blouse.
I do not like them in the Hall.
I do not like Tea Party whackos at all!”