Producer Harvey Weinstein poses during a red carpet for the movie "Philomena" (REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi)
Editor's note: The following column first appeared in The Washington Times.
As we’ve all been understandably focused on Hollywood’s Weinstein dumpster fire, a number of stories have emerged exposing the left’s continuing culture war, despite its meltdown in the film industry. The Harvey Weinstein saga is but one symptom of a dangerous and destructive, yet smug and sanctimonious, liberal establishment. While they butcher American culture, civil society and history, how better to keep us normals from interfering than by blaming their victims for society’s ills?
Cases in point from the last week, reminding us there are many fronts in our fight to save this nation from the bullies of the pompous left:
Dr. Pamela Gaudry was a passenger on a Delta flight that also carried one of our fallen soldiers. Upon landing, the captain announced that the body of Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, who was killed on Oct. 4 in Niger, was on board and asked everyone to stay seated.
After Dr. Gaudry organized a few other passengers to join her in singing the national anthem, she was stopped by a flight attendant who, according to a Facebook video posted by the doctor, told her it was against “policy” to sing the anthem on the plane.
“The chief flight attendant came back to my seat and she kneeled down and she said, ‘It is against company policy to do what you’re doing,’ ” Dr. Gaudry said in the video. “And I said, ‘The national anthem? And there’s a soldier onboard?’ And she said, ‘Yes, you cannot sing the national anthem. It is against company policy.’ ” Delta has told reporters there is no such policy. The New York Post also reported that Dr. Gaudry was told singing “The Star Spangled Banner” would “offend” other passengers on the plane.
The airline is investigating the matter. In the meantime, Dr. Gaudry’s video has gone viral, and the physician told Fox News that Delta called to apologize and Sgt. Wright’s family called to thank her.
Also last week, the Biloxi, Mississippi, school board pulled the American classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” from its curriculum because, according to the school board president, “There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable,” the Sun Herald reported.
The book, Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, is an American masterpiece about the trial of a black man as it explores rape, racism and inequality in the Depression-era South. While the Biloxi school board did not specify which language made people uncomfortable, the “N-word” is used over 50 times, within character conversations.
The newspaper that broke the story learned about the decision from a reader.
“Sun Herald received an email from a concerned reader who said the decision was made ‘mid-lesson plan.’ The students will not be allowed to finish the reading of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ … due to the use of the ‘N-word.’ … ‘I think it is one of the most disturbing examples of censorship I have ever heard, in that the themes in the story humanize all people regardless of their social status, education level, intellect, and of course, race. It would be difficult to find a time when it was more relevant than in days like these.’ “
And then there’s Halloween.
“The latest issue of a magazine run by Ohio State University students features a flow-chart designed to help students determine whether their Halloween costume is racist,” the watchdog group Campus Reform reported. ” ‘Is it politically charged?’ the chart asks of costume ideas that pertain to ‘something serious.’ If yes, the magazine is interested only in whether [it] makes fun of Donald Trump, in which case the chart advises the reader to ‘DO IT.’ “
The costume police, we do learn, are totally OK with a student wearing cultural headgear, but only if you’re a person of color.
The scheme of liberal political correctness was never about genuinely making American culture more gallant, it was about inculcating everyone into believing that American culture was diseased and needed to be fixed. When, in fact, it was the liberal agenda itself that needed a deflection.
We see how well that worked in Hollywood. Those victimized are not just vulnerable women, but men and children as well. Yet, the obsession curated by liberal leadership like Hillary Clinton, Weinstein and leftist politicians and activists everywhere was that Republicans and Donald Trump were the demons.
On Twitter, cultural critic Kurt Schlichter put it perfectly, “No wonder these Hollywood hacks spend so much time screaming about Trump. They’re consumed by guilt over their own complicity so they strike out at somebody who they’ll only get praise for challenging while leaving others in their own business to keep being victimized. Cowards.”
The left is sure they can quash the social compact and idea of America itself by convincing a portion of the public that being ‘offended’ is the standard by which we can and should censor and punish. The national anthem is racist, literature highlighting how far we’ve come as a nation is offensive, and even choices people make for costumes are rife with white supremacy and hatred. They say.
As liberals insist we look away, they continue to destroy peoples’ lives. It’s taking work and courage, but we must continue to expose the liberal machine controlling both Washington, D.C., and Hollywood as the dangerous hypocrites and liars they are.
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