When the joke is no longer funny

I thought this Donald double-whammy from Northern Maverick
Brewing, soon to be located in Toronto, was actually kind of
chuckle-worthy at first. Not guffaw-worthy. Just a chuckle. But
then things went down in Charlottesville and suddenly the face
on their Fake News Ale was very unfunny. The brewery has
since announced all Trump imagery is getting yanked pronto.

I avoid politics for the same reason most sane people avoid kale. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

For nearly three decades as a reporter, I had to cover municipal, Provincial and federal politics and frankly, when my run as a journalist was done, so too was all forms of politics in my life. It's boring, it's repetitive and frankly, while the various sides on the left and right sneer at each other, I was able to clearly see they were simply two sides of the same coin. They both believe they are on the side of the angels. And they are both wrong. Both sides are all about getting re-elected. And little more. It's a gold-plated gig. Is that a cynical view? Well, all I can say is go cover it for over 25 years and give me your answer afterwards. I'll wait.

So while it might seem like this column is about politics, it is not as I have little interest in either side. It is, however, hopefully a look at what society might want to consider as right and wrong. At least from the little rock I sit on.

You see, Northern Maverick Brewing, which will soon open its own brewery on Brunswick Street in Toronto, has (had) a beer called Fake News Ale. I first saw it at the BurlOnTap Beer Festival in Burlington a couple of weeks back. The label lampooned President Donald Trump and it gave me kind of a chuckle. Completing the joke was a hat that said, "Make Beer Great Again" so yeah, they were clearly poking some fun here.

I am certainly not a fan of Trump's but to be honest, I wasn't too keen on Hillary, either. I thought they were both remarkably poor choices for their parties.

After the Charlottesville, Virginia conflict, the
magazine, The Economist, made it clear that
they were NOT happy with the President's
response to the situation, portraying him as
little more than a booster to the Neo-Nazis. 

That said, and I am being brutally honest here, who the hell cares what I think about either? I'm Canadian. Not my circus, not my monkeys. America made its choice and I simply shrugged and thought, "Well, if that's what they want."

So like others, I have sat back and watched what is going on south of the border. I seldom comment on it but I do watch with interest in that we are landlocked with America and I want to know what's potentially spilling over onto our side of the 49th Parallel.

Some of it was quite amusing. To be honest, I miss Sean Spicer's press conferences where he was put in the unenviable position of translating or defending his new Boss' words. It always went something like this...
Spicer: "It was the best-attended inauguration in history!"
Reporter: "Actually, no it wasn't. When Obama..."
Spicer: "You shut the hell up, jackass!!!"
I'm sorry but like I said, I find stuff like that funny. I'm a little sick and twisted that way.

So anyway, after being amused by Northern Maverick's merchandise, something happened the very next day in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned my stomach. When the city announced that they would be removing statues of General Robert E Lee, there was a pretty big protest - one that resulted in a tragic death.

As it turns out, the person that would have hated
statues of Robert E Lee was, in fact, Robert E Lee
himself, who stated that in his own writings that
honouring South generals with statues after the
war might "keep open the sores of war" and that
they would add to the "difficulties under which
the Southern people labour." So he was opposed.

And who was protesting the statue's removal? Well, let's see - you had white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis. Now a quick history lesson. Robert E Lee was the general leading the South in the America Civil War, which ran from 1861 to 1865. He didn't want slavery repealed. Leading the North (for a large part) was General Ulysses S Grant, a familiar name, who fought to have slavery abolished. The North was the Union, the South was the Confederates. Lots of famous American names involved but long story short, the North won. End of story, right?

Some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died before it was over and it seems some of the wounds never healed. A lot of people in the South were pissed and erected statues of General Lee and others as an "eff-you" to the Union. They did so against the expressed wishes of Lee himself. But to many, since the man was fighting to keep slavery alive, these monuments are, at best, as racist as shit (yes, at "best") and at worst, morally repugnant.

So when this so-called "Freedom Rally" was held in Charlottesville on August 12th, the idiots from the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and white supremacists took to the streets, protesting the removal of the Lee statue, chanting such "delightful" things as "One people, one nation, end immigration", "Jews will not replace us" and "Go back to Africa, n*****s!"

I'm not seeing a lot of cultural and gender diversity with
this Freedom Rally. White, male and moronic seems to be
the common thread here. Their parents must be so proud.

The rally was all white males as far as I could see and had a collective IQ of maybe 50. The counter-protestors, who showed up in equal number, were all of colours, genders and cultures. You know, like America itself.

It was a horrific clash but not without precedent. You see, back in 1939 to 1946, people also fought against the Nazis. I know both my grandfathers were involved. But instead of the Union vs the Confederates, Round Two was highlighted by the Allies (yay!) and the Axis (boooooo.)

As previously mentioned, the clash ended with the tragic death of one counter-protester but believe it or not, it got worse. You see, President Trump, who referred to the two sides as the "alt-left" and the "alt-right" was handed an opportunity to speak out against the hate of the protesters with their Tiki torches and disgusting chants. He declined, blaming both sides, instead. To that end, he made it clear he thought the "violent" people protesting the Nazis were somehow on equal footing to the "bad" Nazis themselves.

You and me both, Miss. My grandfathers would be
rolling in their graves knowing this fight was still
happening on America's soil. It's really sickening.

Violent? Lemme tell you something, sir. In WWII, they had guns with bullets, tanks with shells and planes with big-ass bombs. That shit was violent! Two days later, he would bemoan the movement to remove "our beautiful statues" depicting the Southern generals (remember now: the pro-slavery guys), showing that he either doesn't truly understand racism or doesn't care. I think the President probably should care. Just sayin'.

Now here's why I don't think politics plays a role here. I have friends whose politics are right of centre, just as I have many more on the left of centre. As a group, I suspect those on the right find Neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan to be disgusting individuals. And in WWII, it wasn't the "alt-left" and the "ale-right" fighting the Nazis and fascism. It was alt-everyone! Personal politics were left at the door as they all entered Boot Camps.

The fall-out from the rally was interesting as many of the "Freedom" protesters recognized by their employees were fired in many cases and disowned by their own families. Apparently, many companies and families alike didn't like the idea that Bob in Accounting might just be a Nazi or that Pete might start railing against the "Jewish threat" at Thanksgiving dinner. Go figure.

Whether it's domestic terrorism or terrorism abroad,
this is my stand. I believe if we all sat down with some
hoppy beers and talked things out, terrorism could end.
Well, at least the cultures allowed to drink beer, anyway.
Is it a simplistic and sophomoric solution to a complex
issue? Yes, it is. I am simplistic and sophomoric at best.

You can talk about ISIS and all the other terrorist threats in the world but this was home-grown. Born, bred and made in the USA terrorism. Probably best to fix that first while you're looking out at the evils in the world.

In the end, the only response that I liked was from the makers of Tiki Torches themselves who were appalled to see their product being carried by the "Freedom" protestors. In a statement the following day, TIKI Brand made it clear they were "not associated in any way" with the demonstration and were "deeply saddened and disappointed" that their products were associated with the marchers. "We do not support their message or the use of our products in this way."

So what on Earth does any of this have to do with a Toronto craft brewer??? Ah yes, well, after the events in Charlottesville, one Toronto beer writer, Mike Burton (@beermostly) made it clear he could no longer stomach even a joking reference to President Trump on a beer can, such as that on Fake News Ale. Many agreed, including the Canadian Beer News (@cdnbeernews) who said the brewery would get no further coverage from them until the imagery was pulled.

Northern Maverick owner-founder Jason Kaptyn, left, and
head brewer Andrew Crowder pose out front of 115 Bathurst
Street, soon to be the home of Northern Maverick Brewing.

I have to believe that after the events in Charlottesville, the brewery was thinking the same thing because later the same day, they issued a press release saying all-Trump-related imagery would be gone. Like instantly. In that release, likely penned by owner Jason Kaptyn, the brewery said, "With regard for the escalating situation across the border and feedback from our own craft beer community, we have decided to pull Fake News Ale. The idea behind FNA has been very clear from the moment it was launched - to shed light on the unfathomable actions and policies of the current (Trump) administration and help people affected by them."

So, like the rest of us, they get it. The joke is no longer funny. And they acted accordingly. Frankly, I'm gonna give them a well-deserved chance. Making a mistake is easy. Fixing it that quickly, especially when it involves your flagship beer, is a little tougher. As for the President, I'm not sure why he loves those slavery-soaked statues in the South so much. I mean, he dumped Steve Bannon this week. So it's clear he has no issues discarding calcified relics that are cold, hard tributes to the "joys" of racism. Man, I tell you, it's like you can't even perpetuate centuries of oppression anymore without facing some sort of backlash on social media. It's a bugger. But ladies and gents, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...