Baxter family patriarch Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) took aim at political correctness and microaggressions in the latest episode of ABC sitcom Last Man Standing, entitled “Precious Snowflake.”
The episode sees Mandy Baxter (Molly Ephraim) ask her father to deliver a speech at her business school’s graduation. The speech, however, must be approved by a school committee tasked with rooting out any offensive language, words commonly referred to by the PC police as “microaggressions.”
“Microaggressions?” Mike asks Mandy. “You mean, like, ‘midget warriors’?”
“No,” Mandy replies. “They’re objectionable words or phrases. For instance, ‘Midget warriors.'”
“I know what microaggressions are,” Mike says. “It’s the latest liberal attack at free speech. And a lot of fun if you do ’em right.”
Mandy takes Mike’s speech and flags phrases like “Ladies and Gentlemen” and America is the “land of opportunity” as offensive and unacceptable.
Mike, insistent on delivering a microaggression-inducing speech, reads it to his wife Vanessa (Nancy Travis).
“To quote future Nobel Prize winner Lee Greenwood, ‘I’m proud to be an American.’ Not just because I have the right to speak my mind or carry an awesome gun, but because it’s the land of opportunity,’” Mike reads. “‘Some whiny babies might not think so, but in America, if you work hard, anyone can be successful.”
“The thought police are never gonna approve that speech,” Vanessa warns.
“You know who else wouldn’t approve the speech they want me to give? Me,” Mike replies. “And God, who I’m also not allowed to mention, but I do!”
“Well, for the love of God, think about this before you send it in,” Vanessa advises him.
In the end, Mike doesn’t deliver his speech. Instead, NewsBusters notes, the speech is given by an immigrant from Pakistan who, Mike explains to Mandy, is what makes America great.
Allen noted in an interview last month that while his character, Mike Baxter, is a conservative Last Man Standing is “written by liberals.”
Last Man Standing air Fridays at 8:00pm EST on ABC.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.