The Great American State Fair Exposes Great American Class Divide
An important national event to celebrate America's 250th Birthday is being mocked and boycotted by Democrats and the elite media. What's really going on here?
It is no coincidence that 10 of the 11 states that have boycotted the Great American State Fair are governed by Democrats.
Meanwhile, the event is being mercilessly mocked by the media elite, who focus on limited weekday crowds, the absence of funnel cakes and deep-fried Oreos, high food prices, and a spelling error on a sign.
The New York Times called it a “MAGA-themed carnival” and “Trump’s vanity fair” while The Washington Post has criticized it as “a Red-state Disneyland” and “a political pep rally disguised as a fair.”
Somehow, the naysayers missed the fact that this is an important milestone in the history of our nation!
Millions of Americans in every state are putting out flags and red, white and blue banners to honor our exceptional forebears — people like Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams, and George Washington — who changed the world. They replaced the "divine right of kings" with the idea that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. Imagine that!
THIS should be our focus.
It is troubling that the Democratic leaders of Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Hawaii collectively placed petty partisan concerns about GOP President Donald J. Trump above the interests of the people they represent. Vermont’s Republican Governor Phil Scott, a long-time critic of President Donald J. Trump who also declined to participate, simply sought to land a political blow.
The elite media, meanwhile, appears to be dismissive of the classes of Americans who enjoy a good fair. These include 4-H kids who raise sheep, farmers with fat hogs and fancy chickens, butter sculptors, quilters and crafters, home cooks, families seeking affordable entertainment, volunteer firefighters, and many others.
If media types had skipped the opera and attended a state fair, they would see that these events are multifaceted, educational, and truly wonderful, regardless of who lives in the White House.
But credit should be given where it is due.
It would be impossible to imagine the Great American State Fair without Pennsylvania, a state that served as the political and economic hub of the American Revolution. The Continental Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) to debate the great issues of the day. The U.S. Constitution was signed in Philadelphia, which served as the nation’s capital during the Revolutionary War.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro claimed that no Pennsylvania businesses - including the 132-year-old Hershey Company - were interested in sponsoring a booth at the Great American State Fair. This claim was a transparent dodge.
Fortunately, Pennsylvania’s two U.S. Senators — Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dave McCormick (R) — stepped up. They worked around Shapiro. In the true spirit of 1776, they formed an independent coalition with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, to fund a Pennsylvania pavilion at no cost to taxpayers.
Shapiro had blamed disinterest in the state fair on Trump, but in reality, it was Shapiro who “politicized the event to a degree that PA businesses didn’t want to participate.”
Fetterman and McCormick tapped Hersey rival, candymaker Asher’s Chocolates, to help fund the Pennsylvania exhibit.
I expect the crowds to pick up in the day ahead. If I were in Washington, D.C., I know I would go (but probably not stay for the fireworks. Parking!)