Great White Leftists Know What’s Best for Red Man

A handful of activists using “civil rights” as justification convince leftist reporters and publicity–hungry Democrats to support a cause that until recently was not a concern to anyone who didn’t subscribe to Mother Jones magazine.

Carrying enough victim cards to fill a six–deck Blackjack shoe, they approach an unelected regulatory body and convinced the commissars to overturn the Constitution and rule in the grievance–monger’s favor.

Threatening letters are sent from Washington. TV hairdos join the bandwagon. Halftime bloviators lecture America on the error of our ways.

And just like that victory is at hand; you can use any bathroom that has a vacancy — as long as you aren’t wearing a Washington Redskins’ team jacket.

At least that was the plan, until the opposition refused to show up and smoke the peace pipe.

Unfortunately for America’s politically correct elite, it appears Indians don’t know what’s good for them. The anti–Redskins name boomlet turned out to be a lot like that tree in the forest, the one that fell, but no one heard.

For more than a decade Dan Snyder has been saying the vast majority of American Indians were not offended by the name “Redskins”, basing his contention on a 2004 survey taken by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

That wasn’t good enough for the cultural seismograph operators demanding the Great White Father make Snyder change the name. Their hardy war band tried protesting outside the ‘Skins home games, but soon learned football fans weren’t as passive as Chick–fil–A managers and The Danny certainly wouldn’t give them a free sandwich much less a place to pitch the teepee.

The protests inexplicably moved to away games where the crushing level of indifference was almost as bad as the hostility in DC. What protesters needed was a judge or unelected bureaucrat they could persuade to force Snyder to change the name.

That’s where the teleworking fools at the US Patent & Trademark Office came in handy. Normally the left avoids any contact with capitalism for fear of contamination, but in this instance if USTPO revoked the “Redskins” trademark it would deal a real blow to Snyder’s pocketbook. No trademark means no license fees for use of the name.

The board decided “Redskins” was offensive to a nebulous, but reportedly large number of Indians. Therefore, the name violated the Lanham Act that bans epithets from trademark protection. That decision was the only time the “movement” had a chance of gaining approval from a large portion of the Washington fan base if only by accident.

Trademark removal was good for fans, since knockoff ‘Skins wear would be both legal and much cheaper than Danny–approved items.

In response, Snyder stood firm, went on a tour of Indian Country and appealed the decision.

One of the complaints against the Annenberg poll was respondents weren’t asked if they were on tribal rolls. It also only asked one question regarding the name (a good indicator of the issue’s importance), instead of bombarding interviewees with repeated questions on the topic that serve by weight of numbers to increase the issue’s significance for polling purposes.

To rectify that oversight and reap the benefits of 12 years of negative Redskins publicity the Washington Post commissioned a new poll. This time the Post only interviewed people who identified as Indians, which means Sen. Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren would qualify.

The result just about buried the hatchet for the war party. The Post reports, “Nine in 10 Native Americans say they are not offended by the Washington Redskins name.” And surprisingly, “An even higher number — 8 in 10 — said they would not be offended if a non-native called them that name.”

“That name” is a nice touch and shows the Post is planning to stay on the warpath even if the braves aren’t. The rest of the chiefs–without–Indians bring to mind Churchill’s definition of a fanatic, “one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”

Susan Harjo, lead plaintiff in the USTPO case told the Post, ““I just reject the results.” While representatives of the Oneida Nation and National Congress of American Indians said the poll was “encouraging.” Specifically: “Native Americans are resilient and have not allowed the NFL’s decades-long denigration of us to define our own self- image.”

That’s a truly breathtaking level of PR spin and I predict a great future for all three with the Trump campaign.

Meanwhile Dan Snyder, of all people, serves as an example to the rest of a cowardly corporate America. Companies, teams and institutions don’t have to be at the mercy of self–appointed moral scolds.

MSM Decides Trump Not Allowed to Judge Judges

It’s curious that when establishment Republicans circle the wagons, somehow Donald Trump is always left outside the perimeter, where he is relentlessly pursued by Hispanic supremacists. This time RINOs were frightened by his remarks regarding the judge presiding over the Trump University class–action lawsuit.

If the judge had been a Bulgarian or a Baptist there would have been no controversy. Unfortunately Judge Gonzalo Curiel is of Mexican descent and Hispanics have replaced Social Security as the third rail of GOP establishment politics.

Anytime Trump looks sideways at a Hispanic, Republican apologists start calling for double salsa on their huevos.

Of course there’s more here than meets the eye. What happens if you put Trump’s statement into context with his entire rant? Is there a double–standard involved between the media’s criticism of Trump and of Judge Curiel? And what about judge criticism? Isn’t there another California judge in hot water?

Discover the intriguing answers the these and other questions you haven’t even considered by clicking on the link below and being transported to my entire Newsmax.com column:

http://www.newsmax.com/MichaelShannon/action-class-lawsuit-RINOs/2016/06/09/id/733160/

 

Resistance to Tolerance Is Futile

The legions of “tolerance” have crushed another dissenter.

Ron Schneider, owner of Leon’s Frozen Custard in Milwaukee, has been forced to surrender his English–only ordering policy after complaints from ethnic agitators. It started Tuesday, May 17^th, when a customer in front of a prickly Hispanic tried to order his custard in Spanish.

Leon’s may have to do something about that flag, too.

The server replied, “I’m not allowed to speak Spanish to you.”

This exchange prompts a number of questions, beginning with why did the customer speak Spanish in the first place? Unless I’m in the Home Depot parking lot, strangers never come up to me speaking Spanish. A gutless Congress may not have ruled English as the nation’s official language, but the citizens certainly have.

One can only conclude the server appeared to be Hispanic and the customer assumed she spoke Spanish, too. This is certainly ethnic stereotyping, but we’ll let it pass.

Next the customer evidently re–ordered in English, was served and went on about his business exiting this column forever.

That would have been the end of the encounter, if Mr. Prickly hadn’t been there. Normally he orders in English, but evidently he prefers his frozen treats with a sprinkling of outrage. So Mr. Prickly makes a big production of ordering in Spanish, only to get the same response.

After getting his custard, the next stop wasn’t the napkin dispenser. It was Social Media: The home of manufactured outrage provided by the ignorant and easily offended.

Naturally Schneider and his operating policy were characterized as “racist.”

As the term is currently used, “racist” has no intrinsic meaning. As the great historian Paul Johnson wrote in his excellent “Modern Times.” The word was changed irretrievably in March 1975. An effort to expel Israel from the UN was blocked. As an alternative those midgets of diplomacy passed a resolution condemning Israel as “racist.”

Johnson writes, “As the American delegate Leonard Garment pointed out, the resolution was ‘ominous’ because it used ‘racism’ not as the word ‘for a very real and concrete set off injustices but merely as an epithet to be flung at whoever happens to be one’s adversary.’ It turned ‘an idea with a vivid and obnoxious meaning’ into ‘nothing more than an ideological tool.”

A tool limited to the Left and used most recently on custard impresario Schneider.

In a society that hadn’t completely lost it’s moorings, a trivial and foolish complaint like this would be ignored. Schneider’s wife is Hispanic and his kids are Hispanic making it tough to be a racist if he wants to eat dinner at home.

Second, English–only has been Leon’s policy for the past decade.

But facts didn’t matter to fulltime ethnic chauvinist and part–time legislator JoCasta Zamarripa. Interviewed by the Daily Mail, she says Schneider’s policy is illegal and he “owes the community an apology.”

No. He owes the community a good product at a good price and that’s it.

A variety of more Hispanic–than–thou organizations jumped into the manufactured controversy, united in their belief that someone should sic the government on Schneider before he started putting Trump signs in the parking lot.

Distraught Anglos considered dieting, rather than eat frozen custard tainted by the stain of nationalism. #BOYCOTTLEONS gained a bit of social justice momentum as protestors began gathering. A competing business, Bounce Milwaukee, had an inspired response and offered free ice cream to anyone who ordered in a foreign language.

English–speakers, as is customary here, had to pay full freight.

Trump can wait these ethnic popinjays out. He can also afford lawsuits. But Schneider can’t. He subsequently announced his employees would be allowed to speak other languages, “If you can help the customer, just help them any way you can,” he told a local broadcast outlet.

Zamarripa’s contribution to the controversy is employees are now expected to conduct business in multiple languages for the previously English–only pay.

Unfortunately, Leon’s isn’t off the hook. The wheels of government social justice grind slowly and are designed to grind you to powder. This time next year Leon’s may be under new ownership and called León’s.

This incident only proves Pancho Villa invaded the United States 100 years too early. In 1916 after he crossed the border and attacked Columbus, NM, Uncle Sam sent Gen. John J. Pershing (and my grandfather’s field artillery) to chase Villa down and bring him to justice.

Today Barack Obama would send social workers bearing vouchers.

USDA = Busywork at Taxpayer’s Expense

The United States Department of Agriculture (Motto: Let’s Pay Farmers for What They Used to Do for Free!) is the 2015 Spendy Award defending champion and at the rate it’s going this year, the USDA could be a repeat winner.

For those who missed last December’s ceremony, the Spendy is awarded to the federal agency with the most extensive record of incompetence and contempt for the taxpayer over the past year. Bonus points are awarded to federal agencies performing a function completely absent from the Constitution and better left to the private sector.

Spendy winners are characterized by cabinet secretaries who gamely attend congressional hearings — where hours are spent detailing the mismanagement, waste, theft and general uselessness found in their kingdom — and then arrogantly assure Congress that if it would just pour more money down their rathole of an agency, all would be well.

Unfortunately, all is not well and will never be well at an agency that should be abolished by President Trump, but don’t hold your breath. Now the minions there are spending your tax dollars teaching Americans how to compose a grocery list.

If you feel insecure regarding your list abilities or just want to be up–to–date on the latest waste, please click on the hyperlink below:

http://www.newsmax.com/MichaelShannon/USDA-food-grocery-lists/2016/05/20/id/729929/

Donald Trump: For Rent

Donald Trump has upended presidential campaign conventional wisdom yet again. It was traditional for candidates in former years to wait until after inauguration to break campaign promises. Trump doesn’t even wait until he’s the nominee.

Before last week’s startling announcement two of Trump’s biggest applause lines were “I’m self–funding my campaign” and “go ahead and kick that demonstrator’s a**.”

Going into as much detail as he ever goes into, Trump would explain, “By self-funding my campaign, I am not controlled by my donors, special interests or lobbyists. I am only working for the people of the U.S.!”

And the people — at least those who made it inside the venue and spoke English — loved it! He’s not PC and he’s building the wall! Trump is his own man. He can’t be bought or bribed.

Trump’s independence gave him credibility. Juan Bush bragging about his fund–raising total may have impressed professional politicians, but it told average Americans that he was more promiscuous than the rest of the field.

When people are tired of bought–and–paid for politicians, proclaiming yourself the biggest sellout of all is hardly a vote getter.

Money is the mother’s milk of politics and the man who brings his own cow is his own man.

As long as Trump could get by on the cheap, much like the interior decoration in his casinos, self–funding was okay. He limited his spending to a mere $40 million during the primary because the news media, his private superPAC, helped him dominate primary coverage.

Michael Bloomberg — another rich guy, but lacking a personality — had to spend more of his fortune to become mayor of New York than Trump did to win the GOP presidential nomination in a nationwide campaign.

Now Trump has made what Deon Sanders used to call a business decision. He knows his media superPAC will be all Hillary all the time in the fall and it will take real money to replace that free coverage. He’s concluded it’s too expensive to be un–bought and anti–establishment in the general election. Now he’s listing himself on Craigslist under the headline: Anti–Establishment Insurgent for Rent.

This is extraordinary. Trump’s absorbing the Republican National Committee’s fundraising apparatus and soliciting big–money donations repudiates half of his most effective message to voters. Trump’s explanation when asked about the about–face was he could sell a building and finance his campaign, but why bother?

After all, self–funding was only a promise to the people who choose Trump to be their nominee. It’s not like he signed a contract. If Trump is questioned regarding this slap–in–the–face to Main Street American’s who sent money, attended rallies and voted for him, no doubt his answer will be a variation on “Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying ears?”

Even MSNBC, hardly a fan of Trump or the GOP, thinks this turnabout is a huge mistake: “Trump is taking one of the best arguments in support of his candidacy and throwing it out the window…Trump has argued, ad nauseam, that campaign contributions have a corrupting effect on public officials. Politicians can be bought, the argument goes, and Trump knows because he’s done the buying.”

And now it appears Trump is at least for rent.

There are two ways to look at Trump’s decision. One, he’s not as rich as he claims — possibly explaining why Trump won’t release tax returns either — and he doesn’t have the money to run a general election campaign. Or two, he believes his own hype. Trump thinks he can do or say almost anything and his base will still support him.

Trump’s pump–priming made his candidacy possible. Can you picture him raising a dime from the usual suspects in May of 2015? By self–financing he turned lemons into lemonade and began a movement. Now he’s tinkling in the lemonade.

The truth is Trump — the man who listens to the Americans the elites ignore — is just as ready to tune them out as Democrats and Establishment Republicans when he finds it convenient. You might say during the primary Trump self–funded and during the general election he self–destructed.

Is Retirement Bad for Your Health?

Rumor has it David Duke is wondering if Oregon State has finally discovered the holy grail he’s been seeking all these years: Proof there’s at least one benefit for those suffering enforced servitude. 

Researchers at Oregon State University studied data from 12,000 participants in the Healthy Retirement Study and they concluded that working past age 65 may serve to extend your life, even as the “Golden Years” recede into the distance.

 

A mere news summary of the study is causing ripples throughout America. Many husbands are concluding their wives may not have their best interest at heart. It could be ulterior motives are behind urging hubby to take early retirement and “enjoy life to the fullest.”

What can you learn from this? Well, for starters you don’t have to depend on scientists for your longevity information. There is an excellent source much closer to home. And where is that? You guessed it, just click on the hyperlink below and find out…

http://www.newsmax.com/MichaelShannon/Columbia-Penn-State-Romney-Walmart/2016/05/13/id/728696/

 

Roadside Hook-Up Results in Slow Bern

Most of us don’t normally associate tow truck drivers with humor. Anger, outrage, despair and generalized hostility, yes, but humor, no. That’s why the story from Fox News in Asheville, NC is so interesting.

Tow truck driver Kenneth Shupe received a call to pick up a woman who was stranded beside her wrecked car. The tow was shaping up to be a routine rescue. Just the usual concerns about expense exacerbated by additional worry regarding what to say to the driver during the awkward ride to the shop.

Then, as he was completing his walk around Cass McWade’s disabled car, Shupe came to an abrupt halt near the rear bumper. He paused briefly and then purposefully strode to the front and unhooked McWade’s car. When she protested he explained that her Bernie Sanders sticker on the rear bumper meant she was “obviously a socialist.”

His parting words were if McWade wants help — she should call the government. As Shupe drove away, she was still fuming on the side of the road.

Later our forthright entrepreneur told reporters the mini–boycott was not a response to Sander’s campaign to appropriate the wealth, so much as it was an economic decision by Shupe who previously had painful experiences with car owners who believe in utopia. “Every business dealing in recent history with a socialist–minded person I have not gotten paid,” he explained. “Every time I deal with these people I get ‘Berned’ with an ‘e’ not a ‘u’.”

Evidently Shupe has a heart of gold in addition to being a perceptive judge of economic potential. In my experience every towing company treats everyone exactly the same — like dirt. Even ESPN reporters are forced to pay in full before driving off to enjoy a one–week suspension.

If Shupe isn’t getting paid it must be because he’s letting the collateral leave the lot.

Our damsel in distress could have looked on the bright side. Her car was wrecked before Shupe arrived. That’s more than the Trumpistas in Chicago could say after Bernie supporters smashed their windows as a penalty for displaying Trump bumper stickers.

Today America is the land of the boycott. There’s even an app called 2^nd Vote that bills itself as the conservative shopping app. Users type in the name of the store and 2^nd Vote returns a numerical rating on the store’s record regarding 2^nd Amendment rights, corporate welfare, the environment, marriage and abortion.

Then it gives you recommendations for stores that have higher ratings, although in my view 7/11 isn’t going to be an adequate replacement for Macy’s, regardless of 2^nd Vote’s opinion.

The anti–Trump faction is forever recommending boycotts of companies with tenuous connections to the Orange One. As long ago as 2011, when Hillary still thought email was a message and not a potential indictment, outraged Facebook users were recommending boycotts of Celebrity Apprentice sponsors in an effort to punish Trump.

Sanders himself boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress and then decided boycotting one Jew wasn’t enough, so he refused to appear at the AIPAC conference, too.

So Shupe’s individual, impromptu boycott with immediate consequences is part of a rich tradition of withholding your money from those you find odious. Although in this instance, Shupe’s principled stand cost him money.

Fortunately, that’s all it cost. If McWade had been on the way to a homosexual wedding, a sex change operation or a Target bathroom, Shupe could have been in real trouble. I doubt there’s a jury in the country that wouldn’t delight in ruling a tow truck driver had to pay the motorist.

Instead a local lawyer grit his teeth and admitted, “We may not like it and we may not agree with it but I don’t believe any laws were broken.”

McWade’s mother wasn’t so sanguine. She went on a — wait for it — Facebook rant and employed all the Trump accusations: “bigot,” “dumb (bad word)” and “(bad word).” In her haste to spew, mom wasn’t going to be troubled with something like accuracy. She blamed the wrong tow company for the Bernie boycott. Now that tow owner is fielding bomb threats and death threats from Bernie supporters whose cars are still drivable.

The entire affair pretty much sums up leftists and leftism in a nutshell: Make your politics, proclivities or pronouncements as public as possible and then demand there never be any consequences.

VA Reform: An Oxymoron Supported by Morons

Both David Gewirtz and Tom Young had a problem with a faceless, unresponsive, inertia–bound bureaucracy that views people with problems as nuisances. Yet neither one was in a Star Trek movie.

Gewirtz, a reporter for ZDNet.com, was attempting to open an Instagram account. When he tried to log in he saw an account–blocked message: “Your account has been disabled for violating our terms.”

Gewirtz concluded his account had been “hacked,” a strange assumption for a tech journalist.

“Hacked” is the excuse du jour when private–part selfies appear in a politician’s Twitter account or an old gasmask bong video resurfaces. Since Gewirtz’ account hadn’t existed previously, it couldn’t have been hacked. Instead his email address and identity had been kidnapped, hijacked or stolen. Take your pick.

Still, the definition didn’t matter, the problem did. And it was potentially without a solution since Instagram is another web organization without a telephone number on the site. Anyone who’s ever called the IRS knows speaking to a human is no guarantee of satisfaction, but it’s better than casting your email upon the waters.

So what happened to Gewirtz and Young? You know what’s coming: Click on the hyperlink below and journey to Newsmax.com where you’ll find the rest of the story.

http://www.newsmax.com/MichaelShannon/Hacked-Twitter/2016/05/06/id/727577/

 

Ruining the Movies One Text at a Time

It must have been the result of what Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr derisively terms a “nationwide search.” AMC Theatres was looking for a new CEO and it hired Adam Aron. He’s not on the job three months before Aron unveils a new marketing strategy: Attracting 22–year–olds by driving off everyone aged 35 and over.

In an interview with Variety, Aron said “When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear ‘please cut off your left arm above the elbow.’”

By the same token, when theatre management says it will allow texting in “selected theatres” people over 35 hear, “You don’t want my money anymore.”

Thirty percent of ticket sales are made to customers between the ages of 12 and 24, while 28 percent of movie patrons are between the ages of 45 and 64. Driving away 28 percent of your customers so you can add to an existing 30 percent doesn’t make sense from a marketing standpoint.

Aron lacks a cinema background and it shows. His last job was running Starwood Hotels. The movie business there consists of seeing how much the company charge for cable pornography, while the customer’s movie watching experience is subject to, how shall I say it, a number of self–imposed distractions.

It’s a hands–on experience all right, but not a model management can apply to larger venues.

The only experience the vast majority of moviegoers want takes place on the big screen. Aron’s bright idea was to allow ticket–buyers (one can’t call them movie fans, because that implies they watch the movie) to text in “selected” theatres. Specifically, screens showing a feature attracting an audience with a mean I.Q. of 50.

Allowing a little bit of texting is like agreeing to become partially pregnant. Management says, “texting allowed in select theatres” while cell phone addicts only hear “texting allowed.” Original sin means it’s impossible to relax standards just a little.

Ask any contemporary service church pastor how well allowing “casual clothing” in the sanctuary has worked out. They expected slacks and polo shirts and what they got was outfits suitable for mowing the lawn.

Once the cellphone gets a pixel or two under the edge of the tent the rest of the unsocial, social media mob is sure to follow.

I have a sneaking suspicion Aron is much like the DC Metro board members who never rode the subway. One wonders how often he’s attended a movie at an AMC theatre?

Two things happen just before the feature begins: Seniors get up and make one last trip to the bathroom before the show starts, and then the lights go down. The idea behind darkening the interior is not to make it harder for gunmen to draw a bead on the audience — it’s to reduce distractions. Concentrating on the movie is easier when you can’t see your neighbor scratch himself out of the corner of your eye.

The second concentration aid is setting sound system volume on “stun.” After cost, the number one complaint of movie watchers is clueless loudmouths talking during the feature. Before the Age of High Self–Esteem and the $15 minimum wage there were employees called “ushers.” If people were talking or otherwise distracting audience members, the usher would shine a flashlight on them and the behavior would stop. Community standards gave a teenager the power to single–handedly control a packed house.

Since there are now no ushers or standards, management tries to drown out the verbal diarrhea demographic.

For normal people the entire cinema experience is built around reducing distractions, while Aron tried to add a new one.

Customers quickly realized there was no way, short of a flash grenade, to overpower the light from a cellphone. AMC’s social media accounts were soon flooded with negative feedback from patrons opposed to the idea.

A chastened Aron replied on Twitter, “NO TEXTING AT AMC. Won’t happen. You spoke. We listened. Quickly, that idea has been sent to the cutting room floor.”

One can only wonder, with more than a little apprehension, what Aron’s next bright idea — no pun intended — will be.

Obama Creates a Military Only the Enemy Could Love

Tacitus, quoting Calgacus, wrote that Rome “makes a desert and calls it peace.” Today, in the United States, Barack Obama ruins an institution and calls it a legacy.

The Washington Times reports “President Obama has become one of the nation’s most successful commanders in chief when it comes to at least one battlefield: the liberal agenda.” Unfortunately, for the country, that means it was the Pentagon that surrendered.

Times have changed. In the 60’s and 70’s Pentagon brass dedicated themselves to fighting the VC. Today careers dictate their efforts be directed toward fighting for PC.

Obama’s legacy will be a military that is perfectly suited to conduct a successful assault on Liberty University: Soften up the Lynchburg, VA campus with Hellfire missile strikes on the Theology Department. During the ensuing chaos make sure professors specializing in Old Testament beliefs are neutralized. Remove all binary gender assignment signage from campus bathrooms. Finally convert classrooms into re–education academies to enable a rigorous program of mental–building.

Although Liberty isn’t the pushover opponent many assume — they aren’t Quakers, there’s a football team and students are allowed to carry concealed weapons — there is no question Obama’s new military force structure will be much less capable of confronting opponents that build their military around less peripheral concerns.

And what will that structure look like? Here’s where I urge you to click on the magical hyperlink below that takes you to the rest of my Newsmax.com column. Please.

http://www.newsmax.com/MichaelShannon/military-obama-ash-carter/2016/04/29/id/726400/