Is ‘Lock her up’ so awful?

Imagine my surprise when I read in the July 5 edition of the Rappahannock News that “Someone on the Republican float started shouting ‘Lock her up’ and other taunts” at the end of the parade. I was on that float with four other adults and seven young children (five of whom were my grandchildren) and can unequivocally verify that no one on our float engaged in that type of behavior. The parade was a delightful experience and an opportunity to exhibit our pride and enthusiasm for both party and country. Further, it was an occasion to introduce civic participation to the children, certainly not to present a bad example. On the parade route we did chant “USA! USA!” as a reflection of our patriotism and approval of our President’s success in making our nation strong again. USA is code for United States of America, not for “Lock her up.”

Republicans from other counties marched behind us. Even if someone, somewhere in the parade did engage in the aforementioned behavior, let’s put it in perspective for a moment. Kathy Griffin was photographed holding a severed head in the likeness of Donald Trump, Madonna thought about blowing up the White House, various high-profile persons have called the president and his family all manner of vulgar names, some have called for atrocious violence on young children in his family, Democrat congresswoman Maxine Waters is encouraging “crowd” aggression on members of the administration, and citizens wearing MAGA attire are being assaulted. And we should have heart palpitations because someone, somewhere, shouted “Lock her up.” Really??

By the way, it is interesting to note that there was no mention of the Rappahannock Republicans winning the First Place Trophy, nor was there a picture of the winning float. However, there was a first page article on the current travails of area vineyards. While the cabernet sauvignon grape seems to be thriving despite adverse conditions, another type of grape may be blooming strongly as well — the sour variety.