The left has opened up a new front on America: July 4th.

After the monuments, the national anthem, and attacks on the Constitution replete with the bent on censorship, it was only a matter of time until the left came for July 4th.

President Trump’s plans for a parade in Washington, D.C. hastened the attacks.

NIKE.

Never to be out-woked, Nike took the opportunity this July 4th to lash out at patriots (read: most Americans) by putting the kibosh on their planned ‘USA Air Max 1’ training shoes.

The design featured the Betsy Ross flag: one of the first known emblems of the colonies that would go on to become the United States.

Never to be out-woked, Nike took the opportunity this July 4th to lash out at patriots

We’re led to believe it was Colin Kaepernick – who is famous for just about everything except what he should be famous for: football – who drove Nike to nix the shoe.

A shame, really. It was a relatively attractive shoe. Though this Brooks Running shoe, or these Puma ones are arguably better.

But Nike made its bed, just days before the nation was set to celebrate its 243rd birthday.

She’s not an old mistress, America. But she is a wise one.

The company hasn’t experienced any real growth in its share price in nearly a year, and while revenue is up, earnings are missing expectations. The company is only experiencing serious growth in China, and they’ve recently ticked off that consumer base, too.

Americans are tiring of Nike’s antics, especially as it becomes clear the company is reliant on the Kaepernick style of controversy marketing to push its profits.

Nike has now abused America’s national anthem, its flag, and has continued to promote expressions of Shariah (Islamic law) into the United States.

‘PRESIDENTS SHOULDN’T BE PATRIOTIC’.

This asinine implication came via Fox News, believe it or not.

But don’t worry, it wasn’t Tucker Carlson, nor Sean Hannity. It wasn’t even Shep Smith!

“The presidency is not synonymous with patriotism,” – Democrat Jessica Tarlov.

It was Jessica Tarlov, appearing on Outnumbered on July 2nd, who during a hissy fit about President Trump’s planned July 4th extravaganza in Washington, D.C. let her America-hating mask slip:

“The presidency is not synonymous with patriotism,” said Tarlov.

I spat my English Breakfast tea out when I heard it. My American friends are more than welcome to do the same with your coffee/bourbon/Big Gulps.

Tomi Lahren, a guest on the show, rebuked, “It should be”. At this point you could see the pain in Tarlov’s face as she realized she had backed herself into a philosophical and common sense corner.

“No, we elect people who represent parties,” Tarlov explained.

In one fell swoop she undermined the entirety of the left’s arguments over the past few years about how President Trump was being “too partisan” or “not bipartisan enough”.

If the presidency is a partisan position, rather than being that of Commander-in-Chief or head of state, what have they been complaining about all this time?

But actually, she’s not quite right. And bipartisanship boosters would have a point were their own side ever inclined to do reach across the aisle themselves.

The President is the nation’s Head of State, Head of Government, Commander-in-Chief, and leader of the Executive Branch. If that role is not synonymous with patriotism, you may as well do away with the Natural Born clause in the Constitution and let anyone from any nation run for U.S. president.

But as I remarked to a friend a few days ago, the Democrats will come after this clause as “xenophobic” or “prejudiced” within a matter of years, anyway.

TIANANMEN SQUARE

Someone, somewhere – probably in the bowels of the Democratic Party National Headquarters on Capitol Hill – thought it would be a good idea to make the comparison between the President’s July 4th event and Chinese acts of military oppression circa 1989.

Tarlov even made the comparison on Fox – a sure sign somebody has been circulating centrally planned leftist talking points on the matter.

The resemblance to days before Tiananmen Square is chilling. https://t.co/cFJJZzL4F7 — Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) July 2, 2019

“Where do we usually see stuff like this? Russia and China,” she blurted out, ignoring the Bastille Day celebrations in France, the Trooping of the Colour in Britain, India’s Constitution Day parade, as well as similar occasions in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Greece, Italy, Ecuador, Germany, and Chile.

In fact, Trump’s bash is set to be on the smaller side of all these events, with just five vehicles and a ceremonial flypast.

Hardly the stuff to strike fear into the hearts of D.C. residents, unless of course you’re an alarmist AntiFa fan desperate to concoct a scare.

Furthermore, the comparison to Tiananmen Square, or China/Russia-esque military parades falls flat when you realize no vehicles or personnel will actually be “parading”. The terrible state of the D.C. roads and bridges (thanks Mayor Bowser) won’t allow for it.

Imagine: the most powerful country in the world can’t even roll tanks down the streets of its own capital because the roads are falling apart. So menacing!

Imagine: the most powerful country in the world can’t even roll tanks down the streets of its own capital because the roads are falling apart. So menacing!

* * * * *

In no short order, the left is doing its best to disparage and downplay America’s Independence Day.

As a Brit, I obviously have sympathy.

But I suspect they’re not doing it because they want a return to the Crown territories, or to monarchy in general.

The left is fighting July 4th because it is one of the last vestiges – alongside the flag, the anthem, and the Constitution – that represents America’s roots and therefore its history.

It was inevitable.

On the plus side, the national holiday means so much to the country – for hot dog-munching, day off work-chilling, beer-swilling, flag-waving, gun-toting, and fun clothes-wearing reasons on top of the everyman’s engrained patriotism (and dare I say, nationalism).

Once again, they’ve gone too far.

The backlash will be beautiful.

Raheem Kassam is the Global Editor-in-Chief of Human Events.