Happy Friday!

Before we get to the Brew, I want to thank everyone who’s offered feedback on Al’s Afternoon Tea so far. It’s nice to hear such kind things from people who, for the most part, aren’t my relatives. There won’t be an Afternoon Tea today, since I’m off on Fridays.

But for now, let’s head to America’s coffee capital, the city that launched a thousand Starbucks.  Seattle welcomes chaos, but wants no part of God and country. (Or perhaps because its leaders want no part of God and country, they open the door to chaos.)

Dance Team Booted from Convention for Wearing the Red, White, and Blue

A country line dance team that was in town to take part in the Emerald City Hoedown was booted from the event after organizers said their American flag-themed apparel left a handful of other attendees feeling “triggered and unsafe.” (Reportedly, those were some trans people and pro-Palestinian types.) Let those other attendees dance to the world’s smallest violin, you might think. But no, after warning they’d be “booed and yelled” at if they performed, organizers gave the Borderline Dance Team an ultimatum: Switch out the patriotic shirts for street clothes or Emerald City Hoedown shirts, or don’t perform at all.

Unanimously, the Borderline dancers voted “No.” Another group in patriotic garb, West Coast Country Heat, stood in solidarity with them and also did not perform.  

“My team doesn’t take a political stance. We came to dance,” co-captain Lindsay Stamp told The Jason Ranz Show. ““We’re a patriotic group. We support our military, our veterans, our first responders. We’re a group of patriots.”

By the way, The Rain Country Dance Association, an LGBTQ+ dance community, sponsored the event. So much for tolerance.  

The Borderline Dance Team shared their story on Facebook, ending the post with this thought:

May you never find yourself in a position where your freedom truly is taken from you. May you always have the choice to agree or disagree with whatever situation you find yourself in. And may you always protect someone else’s freedom to do the same. Whether it be in your favor or not.

Pastor Claims Seattle Times Canceled Passion Week Ad Because It “Didn’t Fit the Ethic of the Paper”

Pastor Russell Johnson of The Pursuit NW church had a contract to run a large ad for it during Passion Week. But two days before the $18,000 ad was supposed to run, the newspaper canceled it. Johnson was told the owner of the paper, Frank Blethen, personally made the decision.

Johnson told Jason Ranz:

“They said, ‘You know, it didn’t really fit with the ethic of the paper.’ However, the marketing team told me in all their years of doing advertising for The Seattle Times, this has never once happened, where the owner and the CEO personally stepped in at the last minute to cancel a signed contract.”

The paper offered a less prominent spot and digital advertising, but Johnson declined.

He told Ranz he’s considering suing.

Elementary School That’s Okay With Pride Club Nixes Prayer Club

Meanwhile, down in Sammamish, Washington, Creekside Elementary School denied two students’ request to form an interfaith prayer club. However, the school had already allowed dozens of other kinds of groups, including a “pride” club, to form. First Liberty Institute is now on the case, charging the school with violating the First Amendment religious freedom of the two 11-year-olds trying to form the club.

O.J.’s Death Raises the Question: Why Were Ron and Nicole Denied Justice?

O.J. Simpson, the football great and beloved cultural figure who was acquitted of a double murder he almost certainly committed, died Wednesday of cancer at the age of 76, his family announced Thursday.

Since the news broke, the airwaves have been filled with clips and commentary about his life. For those who still wonder how in the world a jury could find him not guilty after only four hours of deliberation, this clip from one of the jurors provides a one-word answer: “Payback.”

Here’s an #OJSimpson juror admitting the real reason she and other jurors voted for acquittal. I wonder if OJ will have his actual trial at the Last Judgment pic.twitter.com/7ms3xITWnp

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) April 11, 2024

The juror says about 90% of the jury voted for acquittal in revenge for the white officers who were acquitted of beating Rodney King two years before  OJ’s trial began. Perhaps that response made a little sense at the time — but 30 years later? That’s just racism.

To give you some idea of this, look at commentator Mark Lamont Hill’s reaction to Simpson’s death and acquittal.

O.J. Simpson was an abusive liar who abandoned his community long before he killed two people in cold blood. His acquittal for murder was the correct and necessary result of a racist criminal legal system. But he’s still a monster, not a martyr.

— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) April 11, 2024

“O.J. Simpson was an abusive liar who abandoned his community long before he killed two people in cold blood. His acquittal for murder was the correct and necessary result of a racist criminal legal system. But he’s still a monster, not a martyr.”

Perhaps Hill would like to explain why Ron Goldman’s and Nicole Brown-Simpson’s families deserved to be denied justice. Or what a handsome young waiter returning a friend’s glasses had to do with the LAPD’s years of racial animosity?

Along The Stream

Check out the powerful piece by Jason Jones: “Persecuted by Lawfare, Hounded by Secret Police, Patriot Parties Resist the Great Reset in Europe.”

Yesterday, Al’s Afternoon Tea served up “Borders, Blossoms and a Big Hug.” 

 

Al Perrotta is managing editor of The Stream, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.