Long before Donald Trump became President of the United States, the Opinion section of The New York Times was already a hotbed of America-loathing (if not outright hating) leftist ideology.
They just used to try and hide it a little back then.
One of Trump’s greatest achievements as president thus far has been to unmask the brand of coastal elite liberalism that wants to cherry pick the parts of the American experience that fulfill their needs all the while decrying whatever they deem the stuff that is only enjoyed by anachronistic yahoos.
Like unabashed patriotism, especially on the Fourth of July every year.
Now that the president of this great nation has decided to go really big for this year’s Independence Day celebration, the Times is not amused. Before we get to that, they would also like you to know that they don’t think this country is so great:
The myth of America as the greatest nation on earth is at best outdated and at worst, wildly inaccurate. If you look at data, the U.S. is really just O.K. pic.twitter.com/pFrWBH0Zfl
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) July 2, 2019
See? I don’t make this stuff up.
Now on to our main story:
"Fear not the flyover. The contrails of the warplanes will fade with the wind. President Trump can have his star-spangled show and preach to his choir.
"The rest of us have the hard-won freedom to change the channel if we wish."https://t.co/50zMTG9sz9
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) July 3, 2019
This Op-Ed wasn’t written by some guest random lefty. The author is a member of the Times editorial board, which means they really, really want you to know that they’ll have no part of enjoying music and fireworks BECAUSE EVIL ORANGE MAN.
The column begins with desperate pettiness and concern trolling that’s almost impossible to take seriously:
President Trump’s Fourth of July extravaganza has already achieved what was surely one of its central aims: irritating his opponents.
That helps explain the mainlining of partisan politics into a traditionally apolitical celebration of the nation’s founding. And why taxpayers are footing the bill for a military review inspired by a French parade that caught the president’s fancy. And why the military, one of the nation’s most trusted nonpartisan institutions, has been cast as the Greek chorus for Mr. Trump’s performance.
The assertion that President Trump’s opponents are ever not irritated by him and were thus set off by this “extravaganza” is only believable if one has just woken up from a twenty-month coma. They reached peak irritation on Election Night in 2016, right about the time that Granny Maojackets disappeared into a box of chardonnay after realizing that she had lost.
There they have remained.
The New York Times editorial board hasn’t endorsed a Republican for president in sixty-three years and the safest bet in America is that they won’t break that streak next year.
That means they are championing a slate of candidates who want to bleed the American taxpayers with an unprecedented smorgasbord of “freebies” that will run into the trillions of dollars. Seeing them feign upset over the price of anything is beyond laughable.
The full meltdown is really on display in this bit of tortured logic:
A memorial to the man who ordered General Sherman to wage a war without mercy, Abraham Lincoln, will be the backdrop for the president’s nationally televised address on Thursday at the Independence Day observance, christened a “Salute to America.” It will be interesting to see if any Confederate battle flags are in the audience, as is common at Trump rallies.
The most iconic image of Lincoln in Washington is going to inspire people to fly Confederate flags on the Fourth of July? This guy may want to get checked for a concussion.
By the way, the line “common at Trump rallies” links to a Times article that pretty much debunks it:
Those who have publicly embraced the flag are a small minority of the more than 60 million Americans who voted for Mr. Trump in the Nov. 8 election.
That’s right: “a small minority,” which is not the same as “common.” Most of the article discusses a handful of sightings of the flag at Trump rallies and is generally a lengthy, speculative examination of its meaning and history. It does note, however, that then-candidate Trump supported the removal of the flag from the South Carolina Statehouse.
The Times can’t even be honest about its own reporting.
While the president surely knows that his opponents don’t need any help to be irritated, he remains the consummate Twitter troll:
The cost of our great Salute to America tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth. We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel. We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019
In a book I wrote in 2013 (and updated last year), I said that “progressivism is the toddler mindset manifested in adulthood.”
The author of this Op-Ed no doubt believes he wrote an erudite repudiation of a president he finds reprehensible. What he really accomplishes is the written version of a daddy issues-laden crying fit replete with foot-stomping and snot bubbles.
Now that I’ve gotten this column written my only further response will be to thoroughly enjoy myself tomorrow.
Like I do every Fourth of July.
Because America.
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