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Column By Mike Bibb
When is a parade winner not a parade winner? After being declared a nonwinner.
Hypocrisy is a word that’s been around since ancient Greece. Basically, it means “a pretense of virtue and piety.” In today’s terms, phony emotions and “fake news.”
Actually, there’s no longer a pretense of the news being virtuous. It’s flat-out bogus and anyone with a scintilla of common sense knows it.
Our media is rife with the stuff. The falsely hyped Kyle Rittenhouse and Jussie Smollett trials are recent examples. Weeks before a jury verdict was rendered, several mainstream news organizations continually proclaimed one individual was guilty as charged while the other innocent of all accusations.
In reality, the news “experts” had the verdicts completely backward. Media prophets automatically assumed Rittenhouse was guilty. He wasn’t. Then a couple of weeks later, they pronounced Smollett would be unquestionably declared not guilty. He wasn’t.
This isn’t factual and unbiased news reporting. It’s outright deceptive and false narratives, designed to persuade the viewing audience into believing a story that’s misleading and untruthful.
Lies, pure and simple. What other definition is appropriate?
Hypocrisy? Propaganda? Misinformation? Spin? Distortion? Slurs? Opinion? Prevarication? Whatever it is, it ain’t honest journalism.
They do this crap all the time. Now, not even a Christmas boat parade is exempt from the left’s intolerance.
Yorktown, Virginia’s Lighted Christmas Boat Parade originally awarded “Best in Show” to an entry proclaiming “Let’s go, Brandon.”
Apparently, the judges determined this was the appropriate float for the award. It must have been the most artistic, illuminated vessel in the parade.
Or, one would think.
Two days later, the award was taken back.
Bill Berger, who piloted the boat said “When we left, we were declared the winner. 48 hours later it was stripped from us. I think it’s from pressure” he told a local television reporter.
What happened?
Dr. Walt Akers, a member of the Yorktown Foundation, sponsor of the event, commented the parade entry had been disqualified “because its political statements were at odds with the mission of the Foundation.”
He then explained, “As a (IRS tax-exempt) 501(c)(3) organization, the Yorktown Foundation and its sub-ordinate groups are apolitical.” This excuse was followed by other justifications for dismissing the award and presenting it to another entry.
The immediate reaction was didn’t the judges know the rules before they awarded the prize to the “Let’s Go, Brandon” boat? It’s not as if the lighted rallying cry wasn’t visible prior to and during the parade. Capt. Berger and his crew were not intentionally concealing anything. Everyone along the parade route saw the brightly visible float and many cheered.
Berger later remarked he plainly indicated on the parade entry form the theme of his boat was “Let’s go, Brandon,” an increasingly popular chant at many professional and collegiate sporting events.
Akers believed the judges were not familiar with the slogan, so their decisions were based solely upon the boat’s creative aesthetics.
Wasn’t that the whole purpose of the award? Equally bewildering, would the parade officials have revoked a “Drink more Pepsi” winner because it offended Coke fans? Were there any rival Democrat and Republican floats? Would a “Black Lives Matter” award winner have been withdrawn if they had won? How far can an alleged 501(c)(3) violation be justified in deciding who wins a community Christmas parade?
When does Washington mandated ridiculousness override local judges’ decisions? Was this event really an affair of national taxation importance? Or was that just the explanation provided to make certain something like a “Let’s go, Brandon” parade float would not gain further recognition?
In today’s woke world, rules can instantly change to suit the desired situation — saying one thing but really meaning something else. Down is up, up is down and everything is sideways.
Even the “Let’s go, Brandon” chorus is an off-spring of the original “(expletive deleted) Joe Biden” shout. An NBC News Sports reporter mistakenly – or, maybe intentionally – announced the crowd yelling FJB was really hollering “Let’s go, Brandon” when interviewing Brandon Brown’s first NASCAR win at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
Currently, it’s not unusual to see “Let’s go, Brandon” flags, banners, bumper stickers, decals, clothing, and other articles. Amazon and eBay sell an assortment of the items.
I’m reasonably certain there are not very many “Let’s go, Joe” memorabilia articles offered on the online commercial sites. I don’t believe sales of “Biden, Please Let Us In!” T-shirts would cover printing costs. Unless, maybe, they were handing them out as 501(c)(3) souvenirs to illegal migrants crossing our southern border.
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
