Actor Mike Rowe captivated his eager viewers during his hosting and narrating days on shows such as Dirty Jobs and various Discovery Channel content. Rowe was also a spokesman for Ford, where he was seen on various commercials showcasing Ford’s powerful masterpieces. The star is also an avid social media personality, often posting photos in which he’s getting down in the dirt or updating fans and followers on his latest endeavors. While Rowe has a likable, happy-go-lucky personality, he wasn’t afraid to lay out the facts for one particular social media troll who felt the need to rock the boat a bit.
Rowe had previously uploaded a recorded video as part of the series he calls Hot Under The Blue Collar. He wrote a very detailed description to his upload, referencing his previous night to flipping through his television channels and stumbling across a segment that featured college students burning the American flag out of protest. Rowe went on to identify a college, Hampshire College, in which the school’s President, Jonathan Lash, removed the American flag after students expressed that it made them uncomfortable. Lash explained, “Removing the flag from our campus will better enable us to focus our efforts on addressing racist, misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behaviors.” Channeling his logic, Rowe admitted,
“I found myself wondering as to why the President of Hampshire College would allow his students to pay for their tuition with federal dollars – federal dollars provided by the same government whose flag was no longer suitable to fly at his school.” The actor dropped staticstics claiming that 85% of Hampshire College’s students are eligible for federal aide to assist in paying for their schooling. He wrote, “That means that We the People are enabling schools like Hampshire to sell a liberal arts degree for approximately $250,000. With $1.3 trillion dollars of student debt currently on the books, I found myself thinking how nice it would be to hear a more persuasive argument from those who will happily take money from a country whose flag they despise.”
Rowe’s words didn’t sit too well with one reader, who posted a rather rude dispute to the star’s page expressing her discontent with his post and even taking a swing at Rowe’s intellect. The woman bashed Rowe for being what she called “politically blind” and deemed his facts and statics incorrect. She went on to write, “However…the very essence of freedom in this country is our right to speak out against the flag, which is a mere symbol. If you take away that right, then we have lost all freedom. You really need to take a civics course, Mike Rowe. I used to like you; but, you have really become very annoying to me in recent years. I thought you were more intelligent. But, I guess appearances aren’t everything.“
Upon reading this woman’s bold remarks, Rowe responded in a polite, yet incredibly direct post! He kindly addressed the woman by name and began to delve into his appreciation for the men and women who sacrificed and molded this country into what it is for the “mere symbol”. He went on to use this woman’s logic against her, shredding her previous comment. He wrote,
“Having said that, I think you’re correct about the flag; it’s only a symbol. So too is the Crucifix. And the middle finger. And the Swastika. And the compressed chunks of carbon that millions wear on their ring fingers as expressions of timeless love and eternal devotion. It’s easy to make anything feel small and silly by reducing it to its chemical composition or its various component parts. But if you really believe our flag is nothing but a “mere symbol,” equally suitable for flying or burning, ask yourself if you’d be comfortable if the people you work with suddenly started coming to the office in pointy white hats fashioned from bedsheets? Would that be a problem for you?… If not, why not? I mean, it’s only a symbol, right?”
Ouch! But Rowe wasn’t finished! He continued, “Mere ideas are the reason people fight and die. Mere ideas are the reason we’re allowed to speak freely, protest publicly, bear arms, and burn the very symbol that represents those very freedoms,” even correcting the woman on her accusation of bringing forth false information on Hampshire College’s financial aid statistics. He left the post with a searing, “Finally, regarding my overall annoyance, you’re correct, and you’re not alone. I’ve been annoying people for years now. Just ask my mother. And yes, I too, once thought I was more intelligent than I actually am. I still remember the disappointment when the test results come back… I do hope you’ll stick around.”
Yikes! Do you agree with Rowe? Here’s the full post below!