The Photoshop Rebellion

A regular reader of this publication has complained that it is too relentlessly gloomy about the state of the union. This criticism was offered in a friendly conversation shortly after the Super Bowl, which had been delayed for more than 30 minutes by an electrical outage in a city the government touts as a leader in the “energy efficient forefront,” and he seemed sympathetic to our argument that we are merely offering our most dispassionately objective assessments of the contemporary scene. Still, we vowed to our friend that we would henceforth scour the most reliable new sources for any heartening developments.

It isn’t much, perhaps, but we are pleased to report on a brief episode of resistance we shall dub the Photoshop Rebellion.

This minor skirmish in the culture wars began with the latest clamor for any sort of gun control that might get passed into law, whether it does any good or not, and the president’s unmistakable endorsement of this frenzy. In an apparent attempt to seem a likeable sort to guy to the gun owners whose rights he was threatening, the president then revealed to the press that he practices skeet shooting “all the time.” This claim was met with widespread ridicule, including a especially witty posting at this site, and the White House was so stung by the mockery that its spokesman derisively called the skeptics “skeeters” and presented a refuting photograph of the president firing a shotgun. It made for an enjoyably comical spectacle, except that the White House added an ominous warning that “The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”

In other words, the White House was warning the supposedly free citizens of the United States that it would not tolerate any ridicule of its silly photograph of the president looking utterly ridiculous. Such thin-skinned and heavy-handed language is common to authoritarian states, where the populations meekly heed the threat, but here the public responded with an appropriate outpouring of more ridicule. Wags of varying wittiness took to the internet with “tweets” of derision and defiantly manipulated versions of the photograph, providing many chuckles to conservatives at a time when they are in distressingly short supply. These subversive satires will likely reach a limited audience, mostly comprised of those already inclined to regard the administration as ridiculous, but it seems a heartening development nonetheless.

The truest measure of freedom, after all, is a country’s ability to laugh at its leaders. Although the administration seems determined to eradicate this troublesome American trait, and has largely succeeded in the mainstream entertainment media, it is good to know that noses are still be thumbed out there.

— Bud Norman

Culture War and Waffle Fries

Wednesday was another hot one here in Wichita, with the late afternoon temperature soaring to a sizzling 108, but no one in the long line that snaked around the local Chick-fil-A’s parking lot seemed to mind. It wasn’t the appeal of the fast-food chain’s chicken sandwiches and waffle fries that brought out the unusually large crowd, although everyone we talked to assured us that both are quite delicious, but rather an unquenchable hunger for freedom.

As most literate Americans know by now, Chick-fil-A franchises are the latest battleground in the ongoing culture war. The owners of chicken sandwich chain are Christians who hold to their religion’s traditional prohibition against homosexuality, they don’t mind stating their opposition to same-sex marriage publicly, and the reaction to this formerly mainstream point of view by the self-styled forces of “tolerance” has been fierce. After the company’s owner spoke his opinions on a little-known Christian radio program, and admitted to donating money to like-minded organizations, the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco went so far as to say that the company would not be allowed to do business in their cities. Some of the many people who were appalled by this brazen attempt to use the power of government to deny private individuals their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion responded by designating Wednesday “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” urging consumers to voice their support for the embattled company by forking over a few bucks for a chicken sandwich.

Press reports indicate that the call was answered with long lines such as the one that materialized in Wichita at locations around the country. If success in the culture war can be measured in cash receipts, Chick-fil-A clearly won Wednesday’s skirmish.

Each of the friendly folks we spoke with said they had decided to patronize the business because they agreed with the ownership’s opposition to same-sex marriage, but they were quick to add that it was also a matter of defending freedom of speech. We’d like to think that the long lines included a few same-sex marriage proponents who were willing to take a stand for freedom of speech even when they disagree with it, but such principled commitment to the First Amendment seems to be a rare commodity in these times.

Even without the support of the left’s feckless “free speech brigades,” who seem quite confident that such tactics won’t be used against them, the attempts to bully the remaining religious Americans seems to have provoked a backlash that could prove overwhelming. They have the numbers, they have the chicken sandwiches people seem to like, and they can take the heat.

— Bud Norman