We were in Winchester a few days ago and driving home I noticed several banners and flags bashing President Joe Biden using obscenities. Not that long ago, people displaying those flags would have been encouraged to remove them or maybe even faced a fine or jail….
America’s presidents have always endured meanness — Grover Cleveland heard chants of “Ma, Ma Where’s my Pa?” over rumors he’d fathered an illegitimate child. Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were subjects of jabs about racism and bigamy.
The office of the president carries with it a sense dignity hat has been violated throughout our history. The biggest difference between the insults/criticism hurled at past presidents and the current office holders is the open use of profanity — and — the amplification it gets on social media.
Thinking back, it seems like a bigger and bigger portion of the population are getting angrier and angrier. Just a few years ago, when you thought of anger, you thought of the die-hard Trump supporters, but that anger has now mover beyond that. Just think about the reactions to the Afghanistan withdrawal, the southern border and even all the school board debates.
Even those not blatantly flying obscene flags have found a way to express their “anger.” “Let’s go, Brandon” isn’t a cheerleader phrase to motivate some guy name Brandon — It’s code for searing at President Joe Biden. It’s appearing more and more online, in social media, and even from some notable politicians. Former President Donald Trump’s coarse language expanded the boundaries of what is considered a normal political speech.
But enough of this — what I really started out to write about today, was how did “Let’s go, Brandon” become a code for something more vulgar and a kind of not-so-secret handshake to bash the president? Well, my extensive research discovered that during a NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, a driver named Brandon Brown won a race and was being interviewed by NBC Sports. The crowd was chanting something in the background that the sports reporter assumed was “Let’s go, Brandon” to cheer on the driver. However, the crowd apparently was chanting “F—Joe Biden.” So, for the wrong reason, Brandon has become famous…. while doing my research, I checked on the real Brandon and it seems like this notoriety hasn’t helped him too much. The team he drives for is owned by his father and it appears to be underfunded and short-staffed. His famous win was his first career victory, but his team has struggled for sponsorship and since the slogan, existing partners haven’t been marketing the driver.
So anyhow, it appears that we might as well get used to these not -so-secret handshakes that signal people are in sync with whatever party or movement they’re a part of.
Welcome to the new face of civilization…..
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