Screengrab from fave.api.cnn.io/v1/fav/?video=us/2019/01/20/native-american-nathan-phillips-maga-teens-video-sot-nr-vpx.cnn

Over the weekend the major non-story was a 64-year-old guy, Nathan Phillips who may or may not have served in the military, getting in the face of a high school kid and drumming inches from his head and nothing else happened but somehow the kid is the symbol of all that is wrong with America and with men. (As an aside, I find it amusing and revealing that the people making the “toxic masculinity” argument apparently never considered the aggressive action by Phillips as being anything other than manly behavior which sort of shows that toxic masculinity, in SJW-speak, is the exclusive province of white men.)

Since that time, the story has pretty much melted down about the ears of the people pushing it. But there has been a silver lining in all of this. The media that flogged the story has been humiliated to the point that some of them are actually apologizing. Phillips’s own background is under scrutiny and I predict this is not going to work out well for him. And Phillips gave a very revealing interview which shows what kind of a bitter, deranged douchebag he is.

A Cincinnati restaurateur (I have to confess I did not know such a thing existed) named Jeff Ruby offered to set up sort of an ersatz “beer summit” between Phillips and the Covington high school kids where they could talk reach common ground. Perhaps they could work in a group hug. Considering the number of calls there have been for the two sides here to talk and make nice with one another, and considering Phillips sees himself as some kind of shaman of peace, this was a no-brainer. But not so fast.

“It’s not the right time,” Phillips told The Enquirer on Monday night. “I might consider it at some point. There’d have to be certain assurances in place, give and take, and understanding.” According to Phillips, “it’s not yet the time” because of the statement released by CovCath student Nick Sandmann. … “He (Sandmann) needs to put out a different statement,” said Phillips, who has said he is a Vietnam Veteran. “I’m disappointed with his statement. He didn’t accept any responsibility. That lack of responsibility, I don’t accept it.” … “At first I wanted the teachers and chaperones to be reprimanded, some fired, for letting this happen,” Phillips said. “For the students, I was against any expulsions, but now I have to revisit that.” … “He (Sandmann) stole my narrative,” Phillips said. “From the time I hit that first beat of the drum until I hit the last beat, I was in prayer. Now all of a sudden, he’s the prayer guy and the passive one.”

Let’s stop right here, Scooter. If that is your idea of prayer, you need to reconsider your religious practices. You’re lucky you got in the face of a kid who had enough respect for your age that he let you get away with what would have resulted in an ass-whipping in large swaths of America.

“I take great offense to that term, ‘protester.’ We were not protesting anything,” Phillips said. “In fact, we were the only group with a permit to be there and we were marching for solidarity and for being indigenous people. We were there in prayer. We wanted to make a better America.”

That is simply false. The “Indigenous Peoples March” was not permitted for the Lincoln Memorial. This is how the event was supposed to unfold:

It’ll start Friday with an 8 a.m. gathering and prayer outside the Building of Interior Affairs, at 1849 C St. NW. Then, the march will go east on C Street, south on 18th Street and cross to Constitution Avenue, ending in a 10 a.m. rally at Henry Bacon Park, north of the Lincoln Memorial between Henry Bacon Drive and 23rd Street Northwest.

Phillips and his cronies simply moved to the Lincoln Memorial to increase their own visibility.

Phillips said the argument between the students and the Black Hebrew Israelites went on for hours before he “was called by God” to step in. “(The students) had an opportunity to not hate and to put out an olive branch and say, let’s sit down and pray together,” he said. “Instead, they responded to hate with hate. And (Sandmann) transferred that hate to me.”

Again, more bullsh**. The slanging between the “Black Hebrew Israelites” and the high school kids didn’t go on for hours and, according to the video, neither side made any aggressive move towards the other…unless the one kid pulling off his shirt and doing a Haka of undetermined origin was sufficient cultural appropriation to constitute fighting words. The video shows a much more banal narrative. There was no danger of violence but Phillips saw an opportunity to make a statement.

To a great extent paying any attention to this guy is punching down by a substantial degree, but as we’ve seen time and again, if we ignore these people they just grow stronger in the darkness. Phillips isn’t a peacemaker or even vaguely interested in reconciliation. He’s interested in pushing his narrative where all white people are the enemy and owe him a living and respect because of his DNA. He’s intent on being the hero of his own narrative. Now that neither of those particular dogs is showing any inclination to hunt, he’s angry and getting all pissy like a tween girl. Screw him. Screw his tom-tom. Screw his self-serving narrative.

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