Pushing Back

The real defeat of totalitarian Leftism will come when ordinary people in their everyday interactions as consumers and audiences stop being intimidated by its maledictions and curses. The Food Network relies upon just such typically Americans. Cooking and eating are the sorts of ordinary activities which should bind civil societies in relaxed and simple pleasure.

The idea that utter political correctness must govern even some fluffy network like the Food Network is a bad sign. Paula Deen is not an ideologue. She is a very ordinary woman who has overcome the very sorts of obstacles which Leftists prattle endlessly should be overcome: a poor and uneducated woman who got out of a bad marriage and, on her own, became a success. Deen has, by her own admission, used the infamous “N-word” in the past. She did not condone this, but rather noted that she was a product of the language of her youth. She has not been accused of rape or assault or drug use, like many professional athletes who are instantly forgiven by the media, and if the hosts of Food Network stars were looked at under a microscope – indeed, if the lives of the executives who run the Food Network were looked at under a microscope - Paula Deen would almost certainly look almost saintly by comparison. Why then the hatred of this strong, independent woman by Leftists? Why the demands that she be taken off the air? Why the cowering surrender to political correctness by the Food Network executives? The Left needs whipping boys (or girls) to hold up as an example. Paula Deen, sweet and deeply religious, a self-made woman, fits that perfectly. Her very innocence about political correctness makes her an easy target for their snipers.

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There is a pattern. Not too long ago, another deeply religious individual from Georgia who worked wonders with food, Truett Cathy of Chick-fil-a, found that his principled religious position against homosexuality led to the unpleasant cadres of Leftism trying to create havoc in his business operations. (You know, like conservatives are always trying to throw monkey-wrenches into Starbucks by acting rude at drive-through windows and driving the young staff there to tears.) Culturally conservative Americans, however, are beginning not only to wake up but to act in self-defense. There are several Chick-fil-a restaurants where I live and all of them are always crowded, even while other fast food restaurants next to them seem empty. Is this a way of quiet support for Cathy, a very nice and generous man, standing up for what he believes? Yes, it is. Already fans of Paula Deen are making it clear that they are not leaving her to the wolves. Fox News reports that her cruises are now overbooked, as fans lay their money down to show their support for her. Many probably suspect – count me among these – that her devout Christian faith is more the real target than past use of an unhappy word which did not keep Robert Byrd from remaining, by election of his fellow Senate Democrats, the most powerful Democrat politician in America. The “experts,” according to USA Today, have said that Paula Deen is done. They are wrong, but there must be more to it that just that. The Food Network tries to appeal to a very broad cross section of America. Clearly, it is a sock puppet for political correctness. We should let the Food Network and its sponsors know that we are not amused. Why cast our “ballots” as customers and as viewers for organizations which either despise our values or which are too gutless to stand up to the Tsars of Political Correctness? These marketplace ballots are the key not only to the survival of a non-totalitarian America but also to the final defeat of those whose minds and wills are chained with hard, cold manacles of Leftism. When the institutions of society – businesses, colleges, charities and the like – grasp that we are watching them for any bigotry against our values and that we are making our decisions based upon how these institutions respond, then we will win.