Let's just cut to the chase — then backhoe and fill to make the case:
Without question, there is no group of people on the planet more bound to — and invested in — symbolism over substance than the American Democrat Party. Period.
Toss in the left's histrionic meltdowns along the way over everything from Aunt Jemima syrup and pancake mix to Uncle Ben's Rice to the names of multiple professional sports teams, for starters. Then add a never-ending list of identity politics silliness and idiotic performative theater, and you're just about there.
For now, that is.
This brings us to a Sunday op-ed in The New York Times by none other than David French, one of the original Never-Trumpers, in which the hypocrite extraordinaire waxes idiotic about the controversies over the American Eagle jeans campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, and Cracker Barrel's logo change.
In one snippet, French sarcastically argued (emphasis, mine):
If you follow right-wing media at all, you know that two of the biggest stories of the last month involve completely frivolous and meaningless cultural disputes. First, at the end of July, a few voices online criticized an ad campaign by American Eagle that featured Sydney Sweeney, an actress and model.
And second, Cracker Barrel had the audacity to change its logo, replacing the older version that featured a man (Uncle Herschel, in Cracker Barrel lore) leaning against a barrel with a new logo that simply featured the words “Cracker Barrel” in a plain font.
Yeah, no.
First, it was (and remains) the left-wing media in histrionic fits of rage over Sydney Sweeney jeans, add — not the so-called "right-wing" media. The ad campaign — and ridiculous double-entendre interpretation of "good jeans" as "good genes" — was beaten to death by left as everything from Hitler-esque to "white supremacist," "racist," and God knows what other horrible interpretations.
Second, the notion that either or both "controversies" were "completely frivolous and meaningless" is laugh-out-loud wrong.
Here's more from French:
A core part of the business model of the right-wing media ecosphere is finding the weirdest, most extreme brands of leftist thinking and blasting that radicalism into millions of conservative homes. The Sweeney story fit the bill, and then some.
It didn’t just highlight the extremism (or better yet, the humorlessness and weirdness) of some people on the left; it also gave Fox News and other right-wing outlets the excuse to flood their feeds with pictures of Sweeney.
Every word of the above is pure nonsense.
"Weirdest, most extreme brands of leftist thinking"? What does that even mean, in this context, and how does it conflate with the universal meltdown of left-wing media over Sydney Sweeney?
And the second paragraph is simply ridiculous, so I won't waste time lampooning its silliness.
GO DEEPER: The Left-Wing Hysteria Over Sydney Sweeney's Jeans Commercial Just Got Even More Insane
While the left went ballistic over the Sweeney ads, untold numbers of loyal Cracker Barrel customers were (and likely remain) disturbed by the logo change at the hands of the company's DEI-loving CEO. Why? Easy: Bud Light, Diet Coke, Costco, Target — the list goes on.
Simply put, the Cracker Barrel fiasco was just one more attempt by the left to change — or destroy if necessary — a part of America the left loathes. If this sounds harsh, too bad; it is, as they say, what it is.
Incidentally, the left is fond of labeling media that isn't left-wing (which they don't believe exists) as "right-wing." Why? Because people, places, and things — including "guilty parties" in the media — that refuse to kowtow to the left's various narratives and agendas are not to be tolerated. How many times have we seen it happen over the last, say, ten years?
French absurdly attempted to contrast the two controversies by claiming "the left-wing attacks on Sweeney were confined to a small number of online voices, while the assault on Cracker Barrel spread across the length and breadth of right-wing media."
I won't call the above a bald-faced lie, but I will offer this:
French's attempt has no basis in truth or reality. The left howled at the moon over the jeans, while so-called "right-wing" media and loyal Cracker Barrel customers were rightfully disturbed by yet another attempt by the left to prop up DEI (diversity, equity, and so-called "inclusion.")
Perhaps Mr. French and other left-wingers in the media are most upset about the outcry against Cracker Barrel because Satan himself — President Donald Trump — is largely responsible for the slow but sure death of DEI.
Bummer.
