The Cracker Barrel mess exposes the cynicism of the rightwing culture war | Sidney Blumenthal

The restaurant means little to activists - it's simply a tool to bludgeon perceived enemies and flex conservative power

First they came for the Smithsonian. Then they came for Cracker Barrel.

Whether it's the museums or the corporations - or the universities, law firms, federal departments and agencies - the attack lines of the Trump culture war and its culture warriors are the same. The vicious full-scale assault on the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain after the company naively wandered on to the battle zone by altering its Old Timer" logo exposes the cynicism of the whole operation and its ulterior motive to impose an authoritarian regime over every aspect of American society.

Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth. He is a Guardian US columnist.