Dissent is now patriotism
Timothy P. Carney
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism,” read the popular Bush-era bumper sticker. It was a poignant phrase because “patriotism” was used by some Iraq War supporters back then to mean “support for the policies of the United States government.” But the U.S. was founded in revolution, and the Constitution is crafted to protect minority rights.
In the Biden era, though, that heady word “dissent” is being transformed into “supporting the official position of the media, the cultural elites, the Biden administration, and the current congressional majority.”
To express your support for The Current Thing, shop around at Dissent Pins, a company founded by Democratic activists in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who, for what it’s worth, wrote two times as many opinions and concurrences as she ever wrote dissents). You can buy your “dissent” pin or sticker to show you agree with the White House, the Senate, the House, the entire U.S. news media, and all of academia on abortion, gun control, or men competing in sports as women.
It would be one thing if all the pins and stickers were about Supreme Court cases where the majority is conservative. But this little “dissent” movement is selling you pins that declare your fealty to elite opinion on every issue.
A clenched fist decorated with “Stand with Ukraine” is the current Facebook profile picture of this company, which has been featured in the New York Times and other media outlets. The Philadelphia Citizen declared Dissent Pins “at the forefront of a revolution.”
A mock Gadsden flag emblazoned with “no one is treading on you, sweetie” is the newest item. The company markets this pin/sticker/T-shirt as “the perfect response to the Gadsden Flag-flying monster truck that’s parked in your neighbor’s driveway.”
“Slap it on your car, mug, laptop, or anywhere you want to make your patriotic feelings clear,” the website reads.
What says “dissent” better than snarking at your neighbor to “shut up about your rights and liberties and be ‘patriotic’ like me”?
Most Orwellian is the company’s prolific line of products telling people to get in line on COVID-19 mandates. You can wear your “dissent pin” telling others to mask up. You can go to the office proudly donning your “I got my Fauci Ouchie” pin. When forced to mingle with those who have bred and go about with children in tow, be sure to don your “Thank You for Vaccinating Your Miniature Snot Factory” brooch.
The New York Times loved the vaccine flair, writing: “Especially riveting among all the smalls is a vector-like enamel pin in the shape of a syringe, displaying the words ‘THANKS, SCIENCE’ front and center, from an outfit called Dissent Pins.”
The organization donates its proceeds to left-wing nonprofit groups, including abortion giant Planned Parenthood, which is practically a business partner of the Biden administration.
There’s no shortage of liberal activists selling virtue signals (recall the Ruth Bader Ginsburg bobbleheads from last decade), but you don’t get to dissent when you’re in power, sweetie.