Never pass up a chance to sit down or relieve yourself. -old Apache saying

Sunday, April 22, 2018

MAGA hat? Out!

Free speech? Freedom of association? Intolerance of intolerance?


Manhattan Judge David Cohen tossed a complaint from an accountant who was kicked out of a West Village bar for wearing a MAGA hat. According to Greg Piatek, staff at The Happiest Hour told him:
“Anyone who supports Trump — or believes in what you believe — is not welcome here! And you need to leave right now because we won’t serve you!”
UPDATE: That’s just his side of the story of course. The people from the Happiest Hour reached out to us to say that the situation went down differently:
“At the Happiest Hour we firmly support womens’ rights, marriage equality, gun control, the environment, and regard for the truth- we don’t discriminate. What’s gotten lost in this story is that the guest wasn’t kicked out because he was wearing a Trump hat- he was asked to leave after being verbally abusive to our staff, which is something we don’t tolerate regardless of who you are. And this is after he spent almost $200- the 20% tip he left would seem to indicate he was satisfied with the service he received.”
Paitek sued because the bar “offended his sense of being American.”
By the time he showed up in Court, Paitek had been schooled in the barest of legal arguments. Wearing a MAGA hat does not make you a protected class. Supporting Trump does not make you a protected class. Suborning “unpopular” opinions — like white supremacy and sexual assault — does not make you a protected class.
So Paitek didn’t argue any of that, he argued the bar discriminated against him because of his religion. What religion? “A creed of one?” the judge asked. “Yes,” said Paitek’s lawyers. Paitek said that he was in New York to visit the 9/11 Memorial and his MAGA hat represented… respect or something.
Judge Cohen let this go on for an hour before throwing the case out for failure to state a faith-based claim.
It’s funny, of course. Stupid #MAGA people being stupid is funny. But I’m annoyed by Trump people, once again, trying to act like victims just because people stand up to their bigoted world views. These are the very people who do think that you can discriminate against minorities when it comes to housing, or voting, or immigration. They think they’re being clever by “turning it around” on people by claiming the same protections accorded to disadvantaged groups, when what they are really doing is MOCKING the struggles of others like it’s all some kind of game.
And they wonder why people don’t want to sit in a bar and listen to their poison? They wonder why decent people act like they’re moral pariahs? The MAGA hat is a uniform that means bigotry and disrespect. People wear it in order to piss others off, they can’t be surprised when people get pissed off.
It’s not “just politics.” Not to me. They’ve made the MAGA hat like the Confederate flag, a symbol of white supremacy. I’m not going to drink with these people. I’m going to fight these people. I’m going to fight these people in every venue, across every medium, with every fiber of my being.
If you wear a MAGA hat into a bar where I am drinking, one of us is getting kicked out. You best believe that.

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