OPINION:
Mike Lindell, of “MyPillow” inventing and founding company fame, put forth a bold message on his Twitter feed that, in just a few short words, smacked to shame-land the would-be fascists and wanna-be censors of the world who’ve been demanding Laura Ingraham’s head on a Fox News platter.
Listen up, all you cowardly and wishy-washy boycotting businesses: This is how it’s done.
Lindell wrote: “I did not take my advertising down from @IngrahamAngle and @FoxNews, nor do I intend to.”
Bam. What a stand-up guy. What a brave guy, a principled, pro-America guy.
So very different than the dozen or so weak-kneed advertisers who quaked in their shoes and pulled their Fox News spots just because they were contacted by a bunch of minor-age kids with a petty, petulant point of view — minor-age kids led by David Hogg, resident Fascist-In-Training for the hard left.
It was Hogg who called for a company boycott of Ingraham’s show simply because she characterized him as whiney for complaining about his failure to get into one of his colleges of choice.
It was Hogg who then refused to accept Ingraham’s apology for the “whine” reference and instead, dug in deeper and demanded she denounce her entire network for the media coverage of the Parkland shooting and its after-effects.
And it was Hogg who’s used his recently acquired nationwide platform to call for all the adults of the nation to step aside and let the kids govern — to pretty much shut up and sit down and stand back as they “fix” the Second Amendment. Meaning, of course, tear it and trounce it.
’Lest you fail to see the larger war: This isn’t just an attack on Ingraham. This is an attack on America’s entire free society, on cherished God-given and constitutional freedoms. Hogg is a tool. The Hogg-Ingraham matter is a battle. But both are part the larger leftist-driven chill on American freedom that’s being waged right now — and that’s the war all free-minded ought to be fighting.
Several advertisers threw down with Hogg’s side. Among: Hula, Nutrish, TripAdvisor Inc., Nestle SA, Wayfair Inc., Expedia Group Inc., Stitch Fix, Bayer, Ruby Tuesday, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Office Depot, Atlantis Paradise Island resort, Jenny Craig, Johnson & Johnson and MiracleEar.
Lindell, however, stood strong — stood strong on the side of freedom. And in so doing, he deserves credit. Big-time credit.
It’s not easy to take on a vicious and vile onslaught from a group of leftists who are more akin to brownshirts than constitutionally minded Americans, and who sling every f-bomb, b-bomb, c-bomb they can creatively craft into a message of “Shut Up,” “Go Away” or “Die,” in order to silence those with dissenting views.
But Lindell’s one of the good guys — one of the true-blue American types who didn’t allow the storm to sweep away his principles, to kill his free speech and free expression. He’s one who didn’t flee when the battle came to his door.
And for that, he stands apart and above.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.