I must admit it. I must come clean. I try turning myself over to the better angels of my nature, but I don’t know if they will have any luck, because I am 100%, prime time, on board the “Let’s Go Brandon!” bandwagon.
Stop and think—ridicule is a potent weapon against one’s adversaries. Everyone hates to be laughed at; humiliation is one of the more common and universally effective ways to isolate someone or, alternatively, to persuade them to change their behavior.
For some, the simple act of wearing a t-shirt with “Let’s Go Brandon!” emblazoned on it is a non-verbal act of rebellion. For the Left, “Brandon” is now a Paul Bunyan-sized mountain of a man who is taking a devastating ax to their agenda and their narrative, with every t-shirt and meme ridiculing them in disastrously funny and effective ways.
Like many other commentators have observed, “Let’s Go Brandon!” has its roots in Saul Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals:
Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.
Among some friends and acquaintances, I have noticed a reflexive, vigorous pushback against this phrase mocking Joe Biden. They call it “immature” and say mocking the president should have no place in our politics.
Really? After cleaning up the mess from spitting out my coffee, I respectfully, but firmly, remind them of what the country went through for the entirety of the Trump campaign and presidency. Their response has been “we need to do better” or “just because both sides do it doesn’t mean it’s right.”
In some cases that’s true but sometimes one’s opponents must receive an ample portion and get a taste of what they have been dishing out. Also, please pull the log out of your own eye before trying to remove the twig from mine….
If we were talking to a very good friend or to our loved ones, we might want to refrain from going full “Brandon.” Their emotional response to the ridicule could be counter-productive to a courteous, rational, and reasoned discussion. I certainly would never advocate for ruining family dinners or Thanksgiving. However, for the run-of-the-mill, hate-America radicals who have based their entire worldview on blind faith, feelings, and emotions, the “punch” of the justifiable ridicule might be effective.
“Let’s Go Brandon!” is a brand of ridicule we haven’t seen in America for some time because it is based on objective reality; namely, the utter failures of the installed regime and their one-party control of government. It is different from what we witnessed during the Trump presidency because their ridicule was based on concocted lies and their wholly biased and thus inaccurate perception, completely detached from reality (e.g., Adam Schiff). We saw their ridicule for what it was—poison that destroyed everything it touched.
Recall Alec Baldwin and nearly every Saturday Night Live opening skit ridiculing Donald Trump, and all the late-night show “comics” or “hosts” whose Trump Derangement saw them incapable of restraining themselves from poking fun and ridiculing all things Trump, every single day, from the President, his wife and our First Lady, to his sons, daughters, and extended family. The nightly anti-Trump litany, diatribe of falsehoods, and gleeful “Russia! Russia! Russia!” schadenfreude was the hallmark of nearly every cable news network.
I have been reading an increasing amount of commentary about the “Let’s Go Brandon” cultural phenomenon. I think “phenomenon” is an accurate definition and description because, for many, it was difficult to explain or understand how the original, R-rated chant arose on its own, surprisingly, as if from nowhere (or from the ethereal network from which like-minded people discover there are many others “like me”). It is remarkable that the chant was not just a single event and passing fancy. Instead, “it grew legs” and quickly spread to other events across the nation. Most remarkably, those on the left and in state-controlled media took notice, so that, in either an honest attempt to cover for NASCAR fans’ behavior or to cover up the truth, “Let’s Go Brandon!” was born.
