By now, everyone knows the story of Sarah Huckabee Sanders being asked to leave a Red Hen restaurant after several gay employees objected to her presence.  I've got no problem with that decision, and it's a little dumbfounding to see how many people are wringing their hands that this action was too "uncivil." 

Let the shaming continue.  (pic via abcnews.go.com)

Folks, this country is under attack.  By all indications, the current occupant of the White House has either been bought and paid for, or he's being blackmailed, by Russia.  Either way, it's reasonable believe he legitimately doesn't have our national interests at heart.  He's having people arrested for not being white and kidnapping their children.  He's bragged about committing sexual assault and supported Nazis and pedophiles.  He's abandoned our allies while seeking the warm embrace of thugs like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un.  He's dismantling environmental policies as fast as he can, and putting the most unqualified people in every position that he can find (like say, education secretary.)  His assault on the truth is unprecedented, as he continues to push every alternate reality he can think of to convince people he's not a traitor to this country.

With all of that, you want me to feel concerned that it was "rude" to ask Sanders to leave a restaurant?  Talk about a false equivalency.  Anyone advancing the above actions warrants a public shaming at every opportunity.  It's a political protest, and to say it's not being done "the right way" harms us all.  It's the same line of thinking that Martin Luther King Jr. argued against in his famous, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."  It's the same kind of thinking that inspires someone to "helpfully" suggest to a woman that she not be "so pushy," or that NFL players should "find another way to express themselves." It also often comes from people who aren't under direct assault from these policies (or in some cases, benefit from them), and feel they can weigh in on "manners,"  but friends, we are all being damaged by this administration every day. 

My "concession" to the idea of civility is the belief that the proper response to the Trump administration is still peaceful protest and voting.   In this case, no one was physically hurt at the Red Hen (as opposed to the real damage being done to the kids who have been torn from their parents.)  If Trump supporters are angry about it, they can boycott the restaurant, as is their right, while others may decide to spend a little extra money there.  That's what the free market is all about, after all.  In the meantime, public figures can survive a bruised ego.  It comes with the job.

Donald Trump is above all else, a bully, and he and his supporters are trying to browbeat the rest of us into agreeing that the left is just as bad as the right, and this is all politics as usual.  That's utter nonsense, and we can't allow ourselves to be gaslighted like this. 

Don't be distracted by the "civility" argument.  No one is going to remember who won that fake battle.  They'll remember who stood up for the right thing.