That’s the only conclusion to draw from this op-ed (non-paywall version here ) published by the largest newspaper in our nation’s capital, written by Stephanie Wilkinson, the owner of the Red Hen Restaurant that kicked out Sarah Sanders and her family while dining there.

The Washington Post is all-in on stoking the fire of public harassment of Trump supporters, denying them public accommodations. So much for civility and mutual respect.

The paper proudly tweeted out its contribution to the loss of civility.

From the co-owner of the Red Hen: Restaurants are now a soundstage for our national spectacle. And the rules have shifted. https://t.co/Ig6ch7ZjJM — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 29, 2019

Savor the irony of the graphic that accompanied the tweet and the article:

(source: Twitter)

If anyone is spreading hate, it is Wilkinson and spitting waitresses. The projection here is so obvious that one might think editors at the WaPo would get it, But no, the paper is part of the problem.

In the op-ed, Wilkinson feigns reasonability while justifying incivility:

…the fact remains that restaurants are now part of the soundstage for our ongoing national spectacle. (snip) if you’re an unsavory individual — of whatever persuasion or affiliation — we have no legal or moral obligation to do business with you. And that, too, is right. (snip) …at bottom this isn’t about politics. It’s about values, and accountability to values, in business.

Conflating other issues with harassment based on political views, she writes:

The rules have shifted. It’s no longer okay to serve sea bass from overfished waters or to allow smoking at the table. It’s not okay to look away from the abusive chef in the kitchen or the handsy guest in the dining room. And it’s not okay to ask employees, partners or management to clock out of their consciences when they clock in to work.

The closest to setting any limits on harassment Wilkinson can find is this:

A hatemonger with murderous intent doesn’t deserve anyone’s hospitality. [Implicityly, she is calling Sarah Sanders and her family a "hatemonger with murderous intent," since that's who she denied hospitality - TL] But no one in the industry condones the physical assault of a patron.

By publishing the self-justification of a person driven to hysteria (“the rules have changed”) The WaPo is impelling a decline of our civil order into outright open conflict all the time.

I suspect that of conservatives were harassing Democrats in public spaces, the WaPo would have a different stance.

Update: Richard Baehr points out:

This line is also important: "When the world returns to its normal axis, these encounters will disappear."

i get it: give power to Democrats, and restaurants will serve you ( so long as no-one hears you being critical of the Dems.