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The Red Hen Is a Canary in the Coal Mine
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen Restaurant in Virginia along with her seven guests. They already ordered, but a snowflake waiter decided he didn’t like her because she worked for President Donald Trump.
The owner came in and asked the employees what “they wanted her to do.” They said expel Sanders, so she was asked to leave, and she did. Why did this remind me of the 1960s lunch counters where blacks were refused service based on skin color?
Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) June 23, 2018
Sanders was belittled by a vulgar woman masquerading as a comedian at the White House Correspondents Dinner, even calling her the “Uncle Tom of white women,” who got a laugh at her expense. The double standard of what is acceptable has become absurd.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielson, was recently bombarded by protestors chanting “no borders” inside a Mexican restaurant while she was dining. The harassment was allowed by the manager and it forced her to leave.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was harassed at a recent screening of a new Mr. Rogers documentary. The protestors approached her asking her questions, became very aggressive, and police were called to escort Ms. Bondi from the Tampa Bay theatre. A local paper reported,
“The video they are choosing to share is of the least aggressive portion of the attack that transpired after police arrived to control the scene. What they are not sharing publicly are several previous encounters involving large men getting in the Attorney General’s face, spitting and blocking her exit,” the spokesman, Whitney Ray, said in an emailed statement. “The Attorney General tried to have a conversation with these individuals, however, when it became abundantly clear that they were not interested in a constructive dialog but were only there to cause a scene, the attorney general tried to leave the volatile scene.”
Vulgar threats were recently made against First Lady Melania Trump and her son by former actor Peter Fonda, to the point where the Secret Service was contacted.
The level of vitriol and vulgarity in the public square, in the entertainment world, on college campuses, in social media, even at a movie or restaurant, has increased to a startling level, where people, especially women, feel frightened for their safety. The recent harassment over political differences has overstepped the boundaries of “the right to protest” in our free society.
Further, the media is oddly silent on the recent IG Report showing the vulgarity and level of corruption and manipulation at the highest levels of our government and law enforcement during the last election. Not only was Trump and anyone associated with his campaign a target, but so was Bernie Sanders. The tolerant, progressive, and so-called politically-correct Left have created a new low in civility and decency, by words and example.
Heated issues such as immigration, healthcare, foreign policy, and more (problems that did not begin with the 2016 election) are worked through and solved through debate, votes, and democratic means. There can be no tolerance of violence or violating the rights of citizens, whether public or private, to where they feel unsafe in their public or private lives.
These incidents are our wake-up call, and we must ask ourselves if we should be accepting it as normal. Our freedoms as law-abiding citizens are being threatened; there are no more boundaries between having differences of opinion and actual hate. What should be done in this case and others?
Published in General
This can’t be everybody on the left, it has to be just the extreme activist-types. But how many non-activist lefties are decrying these acts of gross incivility? How many claim the virtues of tolerance and love for fellow man, but let it go in this case because, Trump.
Is there an analogy to islamic terrorist/peaceful Muslim who says nothing?
Is this a human, mob mentality thing that is always with us, but usually held back by some thin veneer of civility until “something” happens (Trump), in which case all principle goes out the window? French revolution – guillotines next?
I think it must be an organized protester fringe, then I remember that in this case it was a few random waiters who were suddenly thrust into a position of power, to “make a difference”. Without hesitation they all shouted “Burn the witch!” That’s some class-A cowards right there.
What are the chances that Josh Earnest, Eric Holder, or Kathleen Sebelius would be asked to leave a restaurant or harassed in one? Slim? None? And what are the chances, had that happened, that the behavior would not be condemned by many here? I’m not unbiased, but I don’t think that this is one of those issues that cuts both ways.
Unless someone on the Left dennounces this publicly, they support it! Period.
Democrats support this. The Media supports this. I don’t see outrage about how this was wrong by anyone on the left.
Anyone who supports the left support this. They always have. Remember, Democrats are the party of slavery, party of Jim Crow, Party of the USSR.
Total and complete Traitor to the Right and to the ideas of America. She is part of the Evil.
Things will get worse as they become emboldened by the approval they get from their compatriots in the DNC and the media. This is what you get when you turn your political opponents into Hitler.
They’ve so thoroughly demonized conservatives that their followers feel righteous and justified in anything they do to us. Where will it end, and when will one of them do something so violent to one or more of us that someone on the Democrat side will finally express disapproval? We’ve already seen the attempted murder of Steve Scalese. What will it take, I wonder?
So file suit against the Red Hen and bankrupt them.
Not to mention the “mob”. When was the last time there was a mob of right-wingers? What, do we riot in the cause of law and order?
Political Twitter is a cesspool and it is easy to dismiss it. Small minority, ignored by most of society, not representative of the people, etc, etc. You know, all the things they say about murderous despots in the early days.
So many of them seem eager for revolution and a second civil war. I don’t think it’s going to turn out the way they think it is.
What mystifies me in the incidents involving DHS Secretary Nielsen and Florida AG Bondi is why there is no reported indication that assault charges are going to be filed. (Whether either/both of these incidents rises to felony assault I have no idea, but surely at least misdemeanor.)
If someone is getting in your face in a manner that ultimately leads you (and/or your security detail) to determine that you have to change location forthwith, to a sufficient distance in order to prevent any further escalation of tensions and rhetoric, you have been subjected to assault. What Nielsen and Bondi managed to deflect by exiting the premises of the restaurant and cinema they were patronizing was battery (or the potentially imminent risk of battery), but what they endured was assault.
Doesn’t matter a whit that the proprietors at both locations aren’t inclined to file trespass and/or other related charges with local police — assault occurred anyway, and Nielsen and Bondi as targets would be the ones to press for criminal-courts remedies.
I can’t help noticing that if a business were to deny service to a trans woman or anyone else, there would be lawsuits. How is it okay to deny service based on ideology, when the person hasn’t even done anything to disrupt the other patrons?
I mean even if you’re a family restaurant with children present, you would never get away with denying service to a 6’2″ man in lipstick and a dress. So why do you get to deny service to someone just for having a different viewpoint?
We’ve already had to segregate our news and information sources because of left-wing polarization and hate.
Many of us have had to change churches because of left-wing polarization and hate.
Apparently we now have to vet our eating establishments because of left-wing polarization and hate. Maybe the staff will merely demand that I leave. But what if instead they decide to poison or otherwise adulterate my food? If the restaurant has a policy of hating on those who disagree with certain staff or owners, I’d appreciate it if the restaurant would conspicuously post its hate policy so that we can properly segregate ourselves. Then we can continue to live while the left continues its program of fomenting hate.
Now it appears that Sanders is being accused of a breach of ethics by mentioning the incident on her official government account. How ironic.
This is what’s wrong. The police should have arrested the protestors for disturbing the peace, then hauled their miserable butts off to jail.
That haircut alone should have carried a prison sentence.
I think it’s kinda neat. You’re talking about the guy in the middle, right?
I don’t watch TV. Has anyone seen leftist commentators or Democrat politicians being asked whether they think this sort of thing is ok?
Are you okay with restaurants refusing to serve people based on their political views?
Are you okay with public officials being harassed and hounded by mobs while they’re dining or in their homes?
What would have happened if Sanders had NOT left the Red Hen?
Would the proprietor have any recourse against a paying table of 8, who was not being disruptive?
No, no, and no!
This is where someone from “our side” states that businesses are private and can do as they wish…if it’s from a Leftist POV. Get used to this folks-this is ‘our future’ unless we start pushing back vigorously.
I did see one–a Hispanic commentator. She claimed that Sarah deserved being treated that way for working for this kind of administration, in so many words.
Does this woman not know comments like hers can make people dislike Hispanics? I’m already ticked off I have to press “1” for English . . .
Yes, this is how they use our civility and adherence to the rule of law against us. It’s past time we start using some of those “Rules for Radicals” against them for a change.
I’m not so sure – I would hope this behavior would have the same reaction no matter who it was.
We on the right should read this book (it’s actually brilliant) and use it! Maybe The Golden Rule will return as a consequence . . .
A missed teaching moment where the manager could have helped them prepare the best meal, and say we serve all equally – a lesson that would have reverberated for years to come. Who is to say the waiters won’t some day experience the same treatment? I also wouldn’t want to stay at a place where food was being served and my presence wasn’t welcome – I couldn’t trust it either.
Yes,
“Love your enemies as yourself.”
That seems a foundational premise when living in such a diverse culture.
It takes conscious decision and an adult attitude to apply that principle consistently.
Start with the person you dislike the most, and defend them when you observe someone treat them poorly. Or applaud them for doing good.
This can counter your negative feelings toward them, and sway them to perceive you differently.
This is applied inter-personally, individuals to individual.
Oddly enough, I feel this may be how Trump garnered his support…the media’s poor and hatriolic treatment of him, and his ability to continue to do good, in spite of his flaws.
Whatever Trump has said or done, I don’t think he has exhibited hateful behavior, like we currently see from the Left.
That’s what I meant.
If only there had been a kid of hispanic ethnicity with a runny nose seated at their table, then the restaurant personnel would not have been brave enough to do this!