Remembering When America Was Still Civilized

A DAY AT THE BALL PARK

by  John Hinderaker   at PowerLine:

We went to a baseball game this afternoon, nine from my family altogether. The Minnesota Twins played the Texas Rangers. It was Armed Forces Appreciation Day.

As we approached Target Field–considered by knowledgeable observers (i.e., me) the best baseball park in the major leagues–there were military vehicles, an Army information booth, military personnel explaining the equipment and excited children climbing over it. As we went through security to enter the stadium, Army paratroopers parachuted onto the field. It was an impressive sight, and between innings during the game they showed video footage shot by the paratroopers.

The National Anthem was performed nicely by a couple of guys who looked like bikers, while the flag was raised by one of the heroes who were immortalized in Jake Tapper’s great book, The Outpost.
Between innings the big screens showed Minnesota military personnel deployed overseas who greeted their families and urged on the Twins. They got a lot of applause.

During the 7th inning stretch, a vocal group performed “God Bless America,” which the crowd–including me, and I can’t sing a note–sang lustily. No hustling Kate Smith off in the middle of the night, here. That was followed by “God Bless the USA,” which many in the crowd knew the words of, also. And finally, of course, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

It was a good game…

…that ended unhappily for Twins fans. My dominant impression, though, was of the unabashed patriotism of the near-sellout crowd. It renewed my confidence that the Democrats’ strategy of running against the USA will not end well for them.

Fascistic Washington Post Support for Fascist ANTIFA Violence!

WASHINGTON POST SHILLS FOR ANTIFA

by Paul Mirengoff   at PowerLine:

Here is the opening paragraph of the Washington Post’s account of a rally by a group called Proud Boys protesting the exclusion of some activists from social media:

Hundreds of D.C. police officers descended on the area around Washington’s Freedom Plaza on Saturday, preventing antifascists from clashing with right-wing demonstrators during dueling rallies near the White House.

Who were these “antifascists”?

Police on bicycles and on foot quickly broke up skirmishes and prevented black-clad, hooded leftist antifascists, known as antifa, from erecting barricades in streets with toppled newspaper boxes and chairs.

(Emphasis added)

What is the Post’s basis for telling its readers that Antifa, thugs who go around beating up people whose views they disagree with, is antifascist? It’s probably the fact that the Post also disagrees with the views of those whom these leftist thugs beat up.

It’s true that Antifa claims to be antifascist. But surely the Post, chock full of crack, truth-seeking journalists, isn’t taking Antifa’s word for it.

Donald Trump says he’s making America great again. The Post doesn’t parrot that claim. Why does it parrot the claim of hooded goons that they are antifascist? Again, it’s probably because the Post thinks Antifa, if not exactly on its side, is at least the enemy of its enemies.

It took four Post reporters — Peter Hermann, Peter Jamison, Hannah Natanson, and Clarence Williams — to crank out this pedestrian story, which runs only a little over two dozen paragraphs. Which of these ace reporters decided to buy Antifa’s marketing of itself as an antifascist organization? Maybe it was a collective decision. Or maybe they simply followed an editorial decision made by the Post’s brass.

Speaking of marketing, it’s shocking that a newspaper that markets itself through the slogan “democracy dies in darkness” applies a heroic description to a gang whose criminal behavior constitutes a head-on threat to free speech and, therefore, democracy.

Shocking, but not surprising, given that the newspaper in question is the Washington Post.