When you see a claim in the mainstream media using some version of the word "hate," what sort of person or group do you immediately guess they're talking about?.Right wing, right?.And yet, when you see an actual act of hate with political overtones, which side is more likely to have perpetrated it?.A Spanish teacher at a public high school in northern Colorado on Friday allowed his students during class to bash a piñata with President Donald Trump's face on it. Apparently, it seemed to them like an appropriate way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo..The obvious point is that no one should act that way toward a president of the United States in a public school. There is no justification for it, which is why the teacher has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation by school officials..But somewhere there is a hand-wringing left-wing columnist bursting to tell us that while the students and the teacher went too far, Trump has somehow earned this sort of abuse..That leads us to a less obvious point. This piñata routine is now only outrageous on its face, it's wrong-headed, too..Why?.Cinco de Mayo is about Mexicans defending their sovereignty against foreign invaders. In late 1861, the French emperor took advantage of the Civil War in the United States and sent an army to overthrow the government in Mexico and set up a puppet regime. (He had cause to be angry with the Mexican government, which had stopped paying its international debts and was trampling on property rights inside the country. But that's another matter, and no justification for a foreign invasion.).A small Mexican army defeated a much larger French army on May 5, 1862. It didn't end the war, but it made continued resistance to the French more feasible than it otherwise would have been, and eventually the French withdrew from Mexico..In other words: Cinco de Mayo is an example of where Mexicans stood up for the independence and integrity of their country against foreigners and won..Defending national sovereignty is exactly what Donald Trump's campaign for the U.S. presidency was about. Whether it's avoiding entangling alliances, staying out of unnecessary foreign wars, or controlling the border and reducing the number of foreigners here illegally, Trump's philosophy is nationalist — just as the Mexican republican government's philosophy in 1862 was nationalist..It isn't about hate..In other words: It has nothing to do with bashing a piñata with someone's face on it..Here's the kicker: The reason we know about this incident is that the mother of a student in the class publicized it through social media. (She says she didn't vote for Trump but thinks this is an awful way to treat a president.) Now, in Johnstown, Colorado, where this incident took place, the teacher is being portrayed as the victim and the whistleblower is getting portrayed as the bad guy..What will school officials do?.Can't say. But would you be shocked if the teacher gets off with a slap on the wrist?.Let's turn the details around for a moment. What kind of attention would this story be getting if the teacher were a conservative, the time about a year ago, and the face on the piñata Barack Obama's?.Would the teacher be the subject of a 60 Minutes manhunt? Would there be candlelight vigils outside the teacher's house? Would ABC News offer radio updates on the half-hour?.Would he have already gotten a lifetime ban from Fenway Park?
When you see a claim in the mainstream media using some version of the word "hate," what sort of person or group do you immediately guess they're talking about?.Right wing, right?.And yet, when you see an actual act of hate with political overtones, which side is more likely to have perpetrated it?.A Spanish teacher at a public high school in northern Colorado on Friday allowed his students during class to bash a piñata with President Donald Trump's face on it. Apparently, it seemed to them like an appropriate way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo..The obvious point is that no one should act that way toward a president of the United States in a public school. There is no justification for it, which is why the teacher has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation by school officials..But somewhere there is a hand-wringing left-wing columnist bursting to tell us that while the students and the teacher went too far, Trump has somehow earned this sort of abuse..That leads us to a less obvious point. This piñata routine is now only outrageous on its face, it's wrong-headed, too..Why?.Cinco de Mayo is about Mexicans defending their sovereignty against foreign invaders. In late 1861, the French emperor took advantage of the Civil War in the United States and sent an army to overthrow the government in Mexico and set up a puppet regime. (He had cause to be angry with the Mexican government, which had stopped paying its international debts and was trampling on property rights inside the country. But that's another matter, and no justification for a foreign invasion.).A small Mexican army defeated a much larger French army on May 5, 1862. It didn't end the war, but it made continued resistance to the French more feasible than it otherwise would have been, and eventually the French withdrew from Mexico..In other words: Cinco de Mayo is an example of where Mexicans stood up for the independence and integrity of their country against foreigners and won..Defending national sovereignty is exactly what Donald Trump's campaign for the U.S. presidency was about. Whether it's avoiding entangling alliances, staying out of unnecessary foreign wars, or controlling the border and reducing the number of foreigners here illegally, Trump's philosophy is nationalist — just as the Mexican republican government's philosophy in 1862 was nationalist..It isn't about hate..In other words: It has nothing to do with bashing a piñata with someone's face on it..Here's the kicker: The reason we know about this incident is that the mother of a student in the class publicized it through social media. (She says she didn't vote for Trump but thinks this is an awful way to treat a president.) Now, in Johnstown, Colorado, where this incident took place, the teacher is being portrayed as the victim and the whistleblower is getting portrayed as the bad guy..What will school officials do?.Can't say. But would you be shocked if the teacher gets off with a slap on the wrist?.Let's turn the details around for a moment. What kind of attention would this story be getting if the teacher were a conservative, the time about a year ago, and the face on the piñata Barack Obama's?.Would the teacher be the subject of a 60 Minutes manhunt? Would there be candlelight vigils outside the teacher's house? Would ABC News offer radio updates on the half-hour?.Would he have already gotten a lifetime ban from Fenway Park?
