In 1998 Bill Bennett wrote “The Death of Outrage” about the Bill Clinton scandal with Monica Lewinsky. He was correct at the time, but outrage is back and it’s all the rage with liberals these days.
The situation at the border has become a liberal obsession, dominating the news coverage this week, according to analysis by the Media Research Center. Weirdly, it’s not a story that started this week. The headline in the Washington Post on May 7 was, “Sessions vows to prosecute all illegal border crossers and separate children from their parents.” Where was the pearl-clutching then?
The answer is simple – there was no need for a distraction back in May. Everything journalists, who’ve become activists with press credentials, and Democrats have been whining about this week was spelled out in that headline, they didn’t even have to read the story. “Separate children from their parents” was in large bold font in the Washington Post and you barely heard about it.
But the IG report on the political bias rampant in the Clinton email investigation was released last Thursday and suddenly, this months-old story became the only story liberals are talking about. Weird, isn’t it?
The MRC charts this, with the story getting only 6 minutes of coverage from the “big three” networks combined last Wednesday, then the next day (the day the report was released) it was up to 19 minutes. From there, it was off to the races.
This isn’t a coincidence, this is by design. No journalist is bothering to report the entire story, or many facts of the story. They’re doing what liberals always do – identify the worst-case scenario and present it as the norm. Then they imply that you could be next.
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, a man I know and like personally, disgraced himself this week when he called the centers where illegal alien children are being held as “concentration camps.” More than that, Steele went on to say, “If this is where the country is going, the American people need to wake up and pay attention because your kids could be next.” It’s hard to respect a man who says that.
Yet so many liberals, in and out of the media, are saying that and much worse. But they weren’t saying it two weeks ago, they weren’t saying it a month ago. They’ve only been saying it since there was something else they didn’t want the American public to think about – the IG report and the corruption it exposed.
My book was released Tuesday and it came to life the same week. Outrage, INC is what we’re seeing happen in a minute-by-minute basis in the media. Journalists, made-for-TV scientists, and celebrities are all jumping on the bandwagon of outrage over something they didn’t take notice of until there was something they didn’t want you to notice. Now even Oprah is tweeting about it. Maybe Oprah could open up her vault and pay to buy out hotels to hold all these illegal alien families rather than just tweet about it? But that’s not going to happen, just like Democrats getting on board with any legislation that changes the law so these families can be kept together that is short of simply releasing them into the country on the pinky-swear that they’ll show up at their court date in a year. A pinky-swear, by the way, an enormous majority of them were not keeping. Shocking, I know.
Everything these liberals have been saying and doing in regards to the border is designed not to solve the problem – if they solve it they won’t have the issue to motivate their base in the upcoming election – it’s to elicit an emotional response from their audience. An angry and frightened mob is an unthinking mob, and thought is kryptonite to the liberal agenda.
That’s why Chuck Schumer has rejected any compromise, he’d rather have the issue, he’d rather have the outrage.
But if it’s an outrage now, why wasn’t it two weeks ago? That’s a question they won’t answer.
Instead we get liberals outside the holding centers demanding President Trump stop using these kids as political props. Anyone see the disconnect there? “Look at these children, look what they’re doing! Stop using them as political props,” is as hypocritical as lecturing your child against smoking with a lit Marlboro hanging off your lip.
Yet that is where we are today. Reporters calling other reporters “brave” for rudely playing secret recordings of children crying in the White House briefing room is the new normal. They’ll likely both win awards for it because only Hollywood awards itself more than journalists do. What won’t happen is anyone learning anything about what their government is actually doing and why.
This latest outrage wasn’t an issue a month ago, even though it was happening. It wasn’t an issue during the Obama administration, even though it was happening. It wasn’t an issue during the Bush administration, even though it was happening. It wasn’t…you get the idea.
When in doubt, appeal to emotion. That is the liberal playbook. Scare the hell out of people, keep the angry so they don’t think. Get Rachel Maddow to squirt a few crocodile tears, chase the Secretary of Homeland Security out of a restaurant, and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Meanwhile, the “problem” remains unsolved. But the issue is alive and well. And that’s really the whole point.
On a personal note, thank you to everyone who has bought my book. I’m honestly overwhelmed by it. It’s been a whirlwind week for me, as I type this from New York City, a week I’d never really entertained happening. From the moment I appeared on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Monday to the one where I’m typing these words, I’ve been amazed at the support you’ve all shown me and my work. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, what the hell are you waiting for?!?! Just kidding…mostly. But seriously, I couldn’t have dreamed of ever writing a book, let alone one that made it to #16 on Amazon, were it not for the people who work at Townhall and those of you who read and share what I write. I’m just a guy who loves his country, I have no delusions about how lucky I am to have you read my thoughts twice a week. So thank you.
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