By Matt Aiken
The Dahlonega Nugget
Matt Aiken
What does Let’s Go Brandon mean? The little kid asked me from the side of the road during the Fourth of July parade after a giant red plastic elephant passed by with those words on its side.
Um, well ...
If this kid would have asked me a couple months ago I could have honestly said I don’t know. I first came across the phrase in an email from a letter writer.
It wasn’t part of the letter, but just a way of signing off instead of saying “sincerely” or “yours truly” or “see ya later.”
Next to it was a Bible verse.
I asked Chauna about it and she explained it all to me. It’s basically code for something about Joe Biden that I can’t really print here since this is a family paper. And also I might get in trouble with my mom.
Did I mention it was next to a Bible verse?
As I stood on the corner and tried to think of how to explain this phrase the kid had another question. “What does Raised Right mean?”
Oh that was easier. Some of the people in the group with the Let’s Go Brandon elephant had bright red Raised Right signs.
It’s a slogan that’s a clever play on words suggesting that this group is from the right-wing side of politics but also raised with proper values and morals and manners. Now back to the Let’s Go Brandon explanation.
OK I was raised right too (no caps). So I have to admit, I’m kind of lying. No, I’m completely lying. There was no kid and this conversation never took place. Only in my head.
But, as a dad, it’s a conversation I’ve had in my head often recently. Because you never know when an awkward question is going to be asked by an inquisitive 11-year-old or 6-year-old.
When they do you have to be ready to field these questions expertly and cleanly and then pass them off with a quick “go ask your mother.”
Really in the case of Let’s Go Brandon, I would probably explain that this group is saying something about the president that they, themselves, would get grounded for saying in real life.
(I’ve used a similar tactic to explain why Ralphie wound up with Life Buoy in his mouth in A Christmas Story.)
Coded critiques of the president aren’t new of course. I suppose there were similar parental worries a couple of presidents ago.
Remember those bumper stickers that said “W: The President.” Remember when someone decided to replace the W with, um, another letter?
Let’s Go Brandon is a new fad but not a new phenomenon. We get it. You don’t like the president. I’m glad that we can express that in public and without fear of reprisal. There’s something very American about that.
But c’mon. Keep it clean.
And if you can’t do that, don’t parade it around in public.in a literal parade. Impressionable kids are watching.
And so are impressionable columnists. And, most importantly, so is my mom.
Matt Aiken is publisher of The Dahlonega Nugget. He can be reached at 706-864-3613 or via email at maiken@thedahloneganugget.com.