Guest MINDSETTER™ Gardiner: Craft Beer, Libel, and GOP Politics - Will the Russians Stop at Nothing?
Sunday, March 04, 2018
It’s hard to believe, but as reported in GoLocalProv, local business Revival Brewing Company, by its manager, Sean Larkin, publicly defamed and denounced some innocent customers as “racist and “white supremacist” earlier this week and refused them service.
Well, it turns out, as part of Larkin's apology, his post-apology complaint was not “racism” or "white supremacy” but rather his worry that a bunch of mostly young Reagan Republicans were going to be “crushing Progressives” while lustily drinking craft brew. Revival Brewing Company’s manager didn’t like that the organizer of the event promoting the intent to “crush Progressives” and perhaps was looking for an excuse to cancel the event.
Well, send me the book advance because we have here a wonderful vignette of how the side that lost the election of 2016 has reacted by lashing out and crying racism and white supremacy and all manner of ad hominem attacks instead of sticking to intelligent discussion or cooperation upon the real issues.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs succinctly reported in GoLocalProv Wednesday, Larkin cancelled the American Freedom Foundation’s networking event at Revival planned last Wednesday. He relied on an Instagram from “Mamapolocoplypse”and/or “good folks on the internet” that claimed not only that the AFF was white supremacist and racist, but also lumped in the Revival Brewing Company in Cranston for hosting the event. You know, liking craft beer, being a Reagan Republican, winning the Electoral College vote, it’s all racist.
In the Instagram post “Mamapocolypse” also said that along with that the AFF, Revival Brewing Company, should go "f--k themselves." Well, Revival’s manager Larkin sprang into action. Like an avenging angel of progressive politics, Larkin rushed to Facebook to trash and condemn the hapless Reagansvolk. He echoed and endorsed the libelous claim that the American Freedom Foundation is racist and white supremacist, and also threw his tasting manager under the bus -- hard -- for booking the group in the first place. Finally, Larkin, standing broad in the gleam of a purifying Facebook glory, heroically pronounced the event cancelled.
A Nuanced Apology
And then he made GoLocal Prov. And then, he had to apologize the very next day, because the American Freedom Foundation is not racist or white supremacist. Mission Accomplished.
But, the apology is nuanced and qualified. Wrote Larkin:
Blindly and without a major investigation into the group's background, I made a vague statement this is still up and posted in its unedited form. For that, I owe the AFF an apology.
Oh, without a “major investigation” like going to American Freedom Foundations website which would reveal easily (gasp) mainstream Reagan Republicans? You only owe an apology for doing practically nothing to investigate, but nothing else? What are we to take from your words '"for that?” Larkin seems to imply he was otherwise justified in smearing the Republican group which is a bad idea when you owe an apology without reservation.
And what about the prelude to the apology, the grand argument that you ought not to hold Larkin accountable at all:
Yesterday was a whirlwind of information and emotions. It started with folks accusing my company of supporting "White Supremacy." This is an accusation that I'm sure most of you would agree is disturbing.
Apparently, exposure to the words “white supremacy” is disabling and incapacitating. He can’t be held culpable for a gratuitous and self-indulgent cancelation of a Republican group’s networking event in the most malicious way possible. It’s a problem with the losers of 2016. They say malicious things, like calling people racist, but it’s all justified because they are upset.
In his apology, Larkin seems to wants to make sure you understand that he’s only exonerating the members of the local chapter, when he writes, "I have no formal proof nor do I suspect anyone in the AFF Rhode Island Chapter to be racist or have any ties to "White Supremacy."
Larkin's investigation should have taken him to the National Chapter website, which is clean mainstream Reagan Republicanism. The faces look like those on Revivals’ Yelp reviews page. Making craft beer isn’t racist because most of your clients are white. Being Republican is not racist because most of your numbers are white. Being white is not racism, nor do whites need to accuse each other of racism and white supremacy just to prove they aren’t. There seems to be notes of that, natural and minor, in Larkin’s posting and his apology. d
Finally Larkin’s apology offers the perfect ending for this vignette, this “revenge of the sore losers” tale. Just like the election of 2016, the Russians may have been involved.
My initial reactions on the matter were fueled by misinformation and I and we as a company made statements before all the facts were clear.
Apparently, Mamapocolypse, and Larkin's other sources were not “good folks on the internet” at all but some dark unidentifiable source of misinformation. Isn’t it enough they elected Trump? Will the Russians stop at nothing?
Related Slideshow: GoLocal: Benchmark Poll, October 2017
Related Articles
- Voter Guide: Michael Gardiner Profile (2nd Congressional District)
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Gardiner: Measure President Trump by Healthcare Reform
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Gardiner: Republicans Would Ride a Trojan Horse to Repeal Obamacare
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Gardiner: Teaching Moment for RI Young Republicans
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Gardiner: School Shootings - Time to Talk About Practical Solutions
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Clifford: RI Political Leaders Need to Stop Running for Cover
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Sheehan: PawSox Deal Breaker
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Artigas: Government Deficits - The New Normal
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Mathieu - Vote Them Out of Office if They Approve New PawSox Deal
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Handy: ISO’s Visit & All That Gas
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Mathieu: Attleboro Stadium is Win-Win for RI
- Guest MINDSETTER™ DiPersio: Domestic Violence Demands Gun Control Legislation
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Deckman: Tanzi Must Talk
- “Thank You Brown Wrestling” Guest MINDSETTER™ Robb Dimmick
- I Will Vote Against Current PawSox Deal: Guest MINDSETTER™ Sheehan
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Stewart: Supporting PawSox Gentrification Efforts is Not Progressive
- Guest MINDSETTERS™ Sen. Crowley, Nesselbush: Ballpark Proposal is Good for City & State
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Sheehan: New PawSox Proposal Still Falls Short of Public’s Approval
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Gubernatorial Candidate Dr. Muñoz: Single-Out
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Gubernatorial Candidate Dr. Muñoz: A Better Education System for Rhode Islanders
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Deckman: Time for Sullivan to Resign
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Sinnott: Governor’s Budget Targets Residential Providers
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Clifford: Questions to Senator Jack Reed
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Sen. DiPalma: Education – The Key to a Better Job, Better Wages & Better Future
- ProJo Spouts More Hot Air, Guest MINDSETTER™ Seth Handy
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Tom Kenney: Providence Firefighters Fight Cold as Well as Fire
- Guest MINDSETTER™ Rep. Walsh: Responds to Feroce’s Budget Claims