BROOKLYN, NY — The 2016 election was a shock for liberal elites. They could not fathom how America could possibly vote for Donald J. Trump and shun the presumptive next President of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Given the polling, predicting a Clinton victory was not ridiculous. If one trusting nothing but the polling data, a Clinton electoral college win seemed like a pretty safe bet. But Americans defied expectations at the polls, and Trump won several “blue” states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Overall, Trump carried 3084 counties and Clinton won just 57.
Ever since the decisive electoral defeat, liberals have retreated to their safe spaces of political correctness that likely lost them the election in the first place. Universities across the country postponed exams for students too “triggered” by Trump’s victory, and countless others took to the streets to ironically protest the legitimacy of the election.
Everything about Trump’s America has been deemed offensive by the ivory-tower left, and now they even need to be coddled when a southern rock classic is played. Yes: in 2016, it is apparently offensive to play “Sweet Home Alabama” in a public place.
David Marcus, a senior contributor to the conservative website The Federalist, detailed a trip he took to a Brooklyn, NY grocery store three days after the election with his wife. While shopping, the establishment played the Lynyrd Skynyrd hit over the sound system, confusing many of the customers. Almost immediately, the liberal patrons of the store began to pitch a hissy fit, and they demanded that the song but cut-off.
He wrote:
Libby [his wife] and I walked towards the organic maple syrup. That’s when it started. I suppose there had been music playing in the store, but I hadn’t noticed until a familiar guitar lick pierced the air and a soft voice said, “Turn it up.”
Libby and I both stopped and looked at each other. “Seriously?” said my wife, a very disappointed Clinton supporter. She started gripping her soft Tomme Crayeuse a little too hard. By the time Ronnie Van Zant’s drawl started in with “Big wheels keep on turnin’,” everyone in the store was standing in shock. Brows were furrowed, people mumbled to each other. The song seemed to get louder as one of those New York moments happened, when everyone was thinking the exact the same thing…
A woman in her fifties, wearing a Love Trump Hates button, turned to her Brooklyn-bearded husband and said loudly, “This is unbelievable!” She found the nearest store clerk, a young woman in a green apron who was staring up at the ceiling, looking for the invisible speakers blaring this message from the other America. “This is so inappropriate,” the woman said. “Can we turn this off?”
When the angry older woman with the anti-Trump button asked the clerk to turn off the song, the younger woman looked at her sympathetically and said, “I don’t know how.” In that moment, something seemed to click…
Of course, this woman thought that “Sweet Home Alabama” could just be turned off. After all, we can block out things we disagree with. We can unfriend people on Facebook, block them on Twitter, and decide not to let their negativity be a part of lives. For many progressives, this is the key to wellness.
But turning off Skynyrd doesn’t make it go away. Somewhere in the land where the stars still shine, it plays on, whether you hear it or not. The shock and despair in Brooklyn over Hillary Clinton’s unfathomable defeat comes in no small part because her denizens refused to hear the rumblings of an America they chose to ignore.
Long story short, be careful when playing “Sweet Home Alabama” outside of the confines of the Yellowhammer State. You might have the P.C. police come for you.
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