America’s ‘progressive’ lunatic fringe is in a heated contest with itself to see who can make the most outrageous claims of victim-hood and oppression. Such a deranged pastime can only lead to national ruin.
In the latest episode of stupid Liberal stunts, we pay a visit to the Starbucks in Tempe, Arizona, where a disgruntled individual reportedly felt uneasy about a heavy police presence inside the coffee shop. Was this anxious person a criminal, perchance, annoyed that his plans for daylight robbery were dashed by Tempe’s finest? Nope. Perhaps he was an escapee from the local penitentiary who’d just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Wrong again.
Also on rt.com Arizona cops spark #dumpstarbucks campaign after officers asked to leave storeAccording to the Tempe Officers Association, six members of the local police force were standing together “having a cup of coffee before their long 4th of July shift” when they were approached by a barista, who informed the officers that an ordinary customer “did not feel safe” because of their presence.
The barista then requested – with the sweetest smile money can buy, no doubt – that the cops “move out of the customer’s line of sight or leave.” The compliant officers, probably too stunned to formulate a better response, obeyed the request and hastily beat a retreat out the door.
This brief exchange proves the all-American maxim, which says ‘the customer is always right,’ has been taken to a whole new level of madness. Worse, it demonstrates how easily offended Americans – indoctrinated as they are on a regular basis with political correctness and social justice ideology – have become over the most trivial matters.
What should have occurred – and in fact would have occurred about a decade earlier – is that the Starbucks employee, taken aback by such a strange complaint (on the Fourth of July, no less!) would have consulted with his or her manager on the matter. Then, in all likelihood, the manager would have calmly explained to the distressed customer that the police officers were regular patrons and had every right to be inside the shop, too. Far more likely, however, is that nobody would have thought to express discomfort about police officers inside of a coffee shop just a few short years ago. But these are brave new days in the United States.
It should come as no surprise that the Starbucks employee was only too happy to indulge the complaining customer. The barista, however, should not be judged too harshly. After all, playing the victim card has become institutionalized to such a degree in the US that even city councils and corporations appear helpless before its powerful influence.
Just this month, for example, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick complained to Nike, the sports shoe maker, that “he and others” found their latest line of footwear, which carried the Betsy Ross-era flag of a younger United States, “offensive.” Why? Because the 13-star flag, representing the colonies that fought successfully against British rule, made its inaugural appearance when slavery was still part of the young nation’s experience.
Also on rt.com This isn’t about sneakers, but about people who want ‘no USA at all’How did the Fortune 500 company respond to the complaint by Kaepernick, whose claim to fame to date has been to ‘take a knee’ during the opening national anthem before NFL games to protest police brutality? Nike responded much like the Starbucks barista did when confronted by the “annoyed” customer: it immediately acquiesced to the request, pulling the line of trainers from production, even though the claim that the flag is associated with ‘white supremacist’ groups is a gross exaggeration: it even featured prominently at Barack Obama’s 2013 presidential inauguration.
Meanwhile, in yet another blow this month to diehard American traditions and institutions, very non-politically correct MAD magazine fell heavier into the dust than a bronze Civil War-era statue. The 67-year old satire publication, which encouraged several generations of Americans to take a cynical, distrustful attitude towards politics, as well as other features of modern society, was destined to fall in these very unfunny times. After all, with every fiber in the liberal body acting as antennae to hunt down the slightest offense, even ironic ones, the death and demise of a magazine that preyed on moronic behavior with scathing wit never stood a chance.
Earlier in July, the wise city fathers of Charlottesville, Virginia, said they will no longer celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday as an official city holiday, opting instead for a day devoted to the emancipation of African-American slaves. Jefferson was both a slave-holding president as well as a Founding Father who wrote the original draft of the Declaration of Independence.
America’s homegrown Taliban, which consider themselves to be 'progressive,' are actively destroying statues, publications, flags, symbols and even intellectual debate on college campuses. This unprecedented phenomenon has spawned a dangerous mindset in Americans that supports the idea that any person who feels uncomfortable with some aspect of society – even if it happened hundreds of years ago – should be coddled like a child and given exactly what they want.
America takes great pride in being a nation of vast cultural diversity – possibly the most diverse collection of people ever assembled under one roof. Yet, at the same time, it has declared open season on tolerance and difference of opinion. Even history itself has been declared an enemy. This is an impossible and even dangerous venture. Today, no idea, no historic artifact, no symbol that attracts uncomfortable associations for some minority group of people is deemed permissible. What is quickly happening, therefore, is that a large segment of the US population has declared war on American history, which is filled – as is the history of every nation – with stories of triumph mixed with tragedy.
However, to think that by destroying historical statues and forbidding the expression of certain words and emblems will somehow correct past wrongs is a very dangerous misconception. In fact, what this ‘killing of history’ will ultimately do is guarantee that the American people will be doomed to repeat terrible chapters of their violent past.
It’s time to stop coddling the complainers and leave the historical markers alone. If we’re going to continue to be a nation of many different colors and creeds, then we need to bravely and honestly accept our history, warts and all. It is really the only way forward.
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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.