Truly Dangerous Minds

July 4th is special. Unlike any other spot on the calendar, it weaves together feelings of freedom, patriotism, civic pride, celebration, and independence. It is clearly the most American of days.

This year's version was always going to be extra noteworthy, given its round-number significance. But 250 also left an indelible mark we weren't expecting. It demonstrated the farcical lengths some will go to tarnish the nation we hold so dear. For example, a not insignificant number of states blew off the fair on the National Mall. Parades in key cities were scrapped due to heat for the first time in memory. Squishy pols banned fireworks until the hours after the holiday ended.

These types will argue that their decisions were made to protect democracy and public safety. * We vehemently disagree. This sect despises those who love this country and/or the model itself. More to the point, our halls of power employ individuals with beliefs so wrong-headed it makes them menaces to society.

To illustrate, consider the following recent anecdotes we compiled when discussing this matter:

• On July 5th, the New York Times podcast asked its book expert, Jennifer Szalai, to name the most American nonfiction book ever. Did she pick a comprehensive almanac or maybe a particularly compelling biography? Nope. She chose Paved Paradise, a YIMBY manifesto about our "fixation not just on cars, but on parking those cars." According to Szalai, "it really made (her) understand the country in a new way." What we don't understand is why the NYT chose to solicit the opinion of a Canadian who wonders if the Constitution is a threat.

  
  

• Speaking of writers, two DC Equalizer contributors sat down with a university professor penning an academic work meant to denigrate conservatives. As part of her research, she monitored UFC fans in the wild -- like some sort of Darwinian zookeeper -- to prop up her backward hypothesis that many MMA watchers possess closeted homosexual tendencies. Witnessing her explain it inside a home flying an LGBTQ+ flag during Pride Month only added to the heinousness of it all. As in, why is she given a pass for outing (dubious) gayness when it serves her purposes? Relatedly, why didn't the queer voices call her out on it?

  
  

• Then there was the community organizer couple who unironically asserted that they would have been happier in East Germany than they are in the United States today. In what will be no surprise to anyone, this sentiment spouted from the mouth of a "third-generation communist atheist" who somehow has plenty of money to travel the world while living in a fancy house in a nice neighborhood. The hypocrisy is so thick a chainsaw couldn't cut it.

  
  

• That same family has enough money to send their children to a variety of private schools... reminiscent of Teach for America alums we've met who become parents later in life. To wit, the kind of folks who performatively put their offspring in underperforming schools until learning gaps materialize and/or classmates reach ages where they're not quite as cuddly.

  
  

• Let's not forget the doctors who went into CYA mode when confronted with the huge spike in heart-related cases after an unprecedented mass vaccination campaign. Instead of daring to connect the dots -- even as a longshot -- they opted for terms like idiopathic and phrases like "we're too stupid to know what the cause is." Of course, those of us who dared to suggest nefarious plotlines were (and still are) shouted down, regardless of the science.

Taken as a whole, this cast of characters looks pretty foolish, right? On the off chance there's any lingering doubt, allow Jon Stewart -- the man whose smarmy satire transformed how college-educated coastals consume the news -- to deliver the coup de grace. Last week, Stewart dressed down a Democrat diehard by stumping for the parasitic DSA wing of the party until his guest capitulated. "Generally, their crazy ideas aren't where the energy is. The energy isn't around, like, we shouldn't have prisons or borders. The energy is around a belief that their economic populism... and when you call it socialism, I think it's a misnomer." So -- wait -- the DSA has socialists in its name, but Jon believes others linking that word to their policies are wrong? Furthermore, pretending there is no "energy" around their dreadful goals is a flat-out lie. They scream about this stuff constantly. Does he think they won't target him? His mentality is the very definition of being hoisted with one's own petard.

In short, advanced degrees and advantageous platforms don't necessarily yield sound wisdom. If this editorial is any indication, those factors often signal the inverse. Persons who fall into either category should be wary of getting high on their own supply. The rest of us would appreciate it.

Note: this post may contain commentary reflecting the author's opinion.

* Again, if this was all in good faith, why did fireworks limitations get relaxed on the day after Independence Day in so many places? If the decision makers are so concerned with wildfires, why not push the restrictions into September or later? Furthermore, why did the headline parades get cancelled while smaller affairs went off without a hitch in the same cities at roughly the same times?

# Additional note: while it didn't make the bulleted cut, we did want to briefly touch on the mental health expert whose response to the question, "Isn't the goal of your profession to make people feel better?" was: "The goal... I mean, it's someti... it's, it's tough... it is not... I don't... no, it is not always that you leave my office feeling better." Look - we get that stirring up uncomfortable emotions is part of the job. Still, answering a broad query in that manner hints at a large disconnect (from a therapist taught to wish her patients a "manageable" day).

Image credit: Vitaly Gariev (free use)