Here’s McBride, saying nothing:

“I would like to talk to you and clear the air,” McBride wrote in her post. “I will not be performing at the Great American State Fair on June 25th. I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading. I asked lots of questions and was assured that this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states. In my mind I thought this was a great way to celebrate the states and also bring people together in the way that only music can. I saw it as just a bigger version of so many state fairs I have performed at over the years, celebrating community and what makes each state special. Sounds fun, right? Wholesome, even. Yesterday, things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening.”

Gee, thanks for “clearing the air,” Martina. What is it you think is “happening?” What’s happening is that lots of Trump Deranged people on social media are threatening to “cancel” singers who celebrate an American milestone when someone is President who wants to enforce laws, doesn’t want open borders, thinks women in amateur sports shouldn’t have to compete against former (or current) men, and that we probably should do something to make sure Iran doesn’t finally nuke Israel and maybe the US as it’s been threatening to do for decades. Martina McBride, like, oh, 95% of performers in my experience, has the political sophistication of a sea sponge and the guts of a filleted fish.

Last year, major comedians like Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Pete Davidson, Andrew Schulz, Jo Koy, Bill Burr, Jessica Kirson, Jimmy Carr and Louis C.K. agreed to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia, and brushed off criticism by human rights advocates. First, the performers insisted that comedy is comedy, and people are people all over. Second, they were paid a lot of money. Anyway, all Saudi Arabia ever did was sentence citizens, activists and others to decades-long imprisonment or death sentences for pure speech, such as critical social media posts. They still do this, in fact. Women also face systematic discrimination regarding marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance in that country. But President Trump beat Hillary Clinton, writes mean tweets and deports foreign criminals.

Punishing anyone, nor merely performers and artists, for not supporting the progressive line and daring to act like Americans is an ominous trend championed by the Mad Left (or course). Like so many other indefensible tactics we have seen employed by the Trump Hate Mob over the past decade (okay, trying to murder the President is worse), this is metaphorically pulling on the loose threads of the fabric of our society. The way to stop it—and it must stop— is for the targets of such political extortion to show some integrity, courage and fortitude, and to refuse to be manipulated.