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One False Move and You’re Dead
The admonitions of a parent rearing a child are many: “stop sucking your thumb,” “sit still,” “sit up straight,” “don’t talk with your mouth full,” “chew your food,” “cover your cough,” “wipe that smirk off your face,” “don’t talk back,” “use your indoor voice,” “children are to be seen and not heard.” Note that all of these parental directions address physical behaviors – a child must be taught how to behave acceptably in public. This is a proper and expected role of a parent in regard to their own children. Sometimes however, that training and discipline are turned toward those outside the parents’ concern. It is then that training becomes self-righteous scolding. And sometimes, training and discipline are turned vindictive. It is then that discipline becomes abuse. And when scolding and abuse are consistently meted out to adults by a class of self-assumed parental betters, then this is called tyranny.
On Wednesday night, radio talk show host Laura Ingraham addressed the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. In her speech, she called out the establishment media to finally drop their bias, step up, and “do your job.” And that media responded. They took a still photo of Ingraham waving good-bye to the convention crowd and rhetorically asked if Ingraham was making a NAZI salute.
When her closing is viewed in full, one can see that, once Ingraham begins to wave, her facial expression quickly changes to one of dread – dread that her wave will be used to malign her. Indeed, yesterday, Rush Limbaugh related a story on how the exact same trick was once pulled to malign him. In the grip of that dread, Ingraham froze, bent her elbow, and began to wave like Queen Elizabeth. Our self-assumed parental betters, you see, have a strict code on how we red headed stepchildren are supposed to behave. Now, not only must every utterance be cross-referenced with the daily updates to the PC/SJW NewSpeak Lexicon, but every movement and physical bearing must be scrutinized as well – and if we don’t do it ourselves, rest assured that our self-assumed parental betters will.
And did they ever. Twitter was alight with pictures and memes, implications and slanders. News stories from self-assumed reliable sources, with a wink and a nod, repeated each others’ rhetorical questions. And all with the intent of convincing the low information voters, to the extent that they haven’t been convinced already – the same low information voters who believe as fact that Sarah Palin and not Tina Fey said, “I can see Russia from my house” – that Ingraham is a crypto-nazi exposed. And so, by extension, are all of the GOP. This is the poison which low information voters are presented in the media. This is the poison which they are taught in the very schools which we are forced, under threat of incarceration, to fund.
As a result, we can no longer write, speak, think, or now even move without their constant criticism and abuse. As I have previously said, this is tyranny.
Well, I have a salute of my own for them all: It requires only one finger. And I would not at all be surprised if my mother, who taught me how to behave acceptably in public, happily joined me in flipping it to them.
Published in Politics
Yes, she was. Thanks for reading, Dustoff.
No surprise. Thanks for reading, Matt.
Thanks for reading, TempTime.
Am I the only one sensitive enough to see this is clearly an act of cultural appropriation?
Well done. My sentiments, exactly.
Thank you, Mike. And thanks for reading.
Well done, Rick. I’m with those who say push back at every opportunity. And that includes, along with posting that picture, the explanation of why Hillary actually qualifies as a fascist. Most of the people who are yelling fascist don’t have a single clue what the word really means.
If he’s a Nazi, Ted (or is that Tom Hanks?) is doing it wrong. No self-respecting Nazi would leave his thumb hanging out like that.
Looks more like the Pope offering a benediction.
On a more serious note, many of Trumps expressions Thursday reminded me of Mussolini, and I see the left has noticed that too.
He really should try to do something about that. I know its not his fault, but it is very off-putting on a visceral level, and will cost him votes.
Shave his head?
Thanks, JM. And thanks for reading.
No, they do not.
I’ve not noticed any that would remind me of Mussolini. Maybe it’s because Obama with his constant, arrogant, uplifted Il Duce chin has set such a high bar.
The Single Digit Salute. Amen
(You know, if you make the Single Digit Salute with one hand and the OK symbol with the other – then put them together in just the right way, it looks exactly like the abortive Trump-Pence logo.)
Remind your friend: You have to go where your enemy lives if you want to defeat him.
Great post Rick. I spent so many of my years as a teacher monitoring my every gesture and word to be sure that I was not ever accused of violating the code. I find it almost amusing that the rest of the nation is now being subjected to the same tyranny, and they seem to like it about as much as I did. I knew that when that happened it would spell the beginning of the end for that movement. My own efforts at work were greeted by covert smiles and backpats from my colleagues and barely tolerant disapproval from administrators who knew that my idiosyncracies had to be tolerated because replacing me was way too hard. When I retired it was two and a half years before they found a permanent replacement. Now I do and say whatever I want, and it is a wonder.
It doesn’t count if the culture being appropriated is White, European, and Heteronormative. Because we all know that all White Europeans are part of a monolithic bloc whose only aim is to malevolently appropriate everything from all of the more benevolent cultures of the world.
Ridicule and contempt; right out of Alinsky’s book.
Good work.
Thank you, Eugene, and thanks for reading.
That’s exactly how I feel after fleeing the Peoples’ Republic of Connecticut for Wyoming.
Thank you, Doug, and thanks for reading.
Indeed, a very good point.
@Liz wow, this is fantastic. I remember my Italian mother-in-law making a few of these gestures. I had no idea what she meant. I wish I had had this years ago.
They’re still very commonly used, even among children. I think there are YouTube videos if you want to see exactly how they’re done.