I didn't realize it, but there are good black people and bad black people among politicians and pundits in America. The classification is not related to any particular deed or misdeed in which any of them engaged.
Susan Rice, who served as Obama’s national security advisor, for example, was a guest on the Sunday morning political talk shows, and over two weeks. Rice’s mission was to call the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi (9-11, mind you) something other than a premeditated attack.
Rice was quite convincing and influenced the show hosts to believe that the attacks were spontaneous based on a video that besmirched the Prophet Muhammad. She and Obama knew it was a lie at the time but, hey, they are both good Black politicians and so they are exonerated.
Instantly Gone Bad
The late General Colin Powell was a good Black leader when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When he accepted a position in the cabinet of George W. Bush, bingo, like that he was no longer good. The same fate befell Dr. Ben Carson, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, who had developed innovative ways of treating patients which still are paramount to this day.
Dr. Carson served as Secretary of Health Education and Welfare. Because he was in the Trump administration, the mainstream press immediately attacked his character and, if you can believe it, his intelligence. Who cares about his brilliance before becoming a cabinet secretary under Donald Trump?
Carson, who had decided to run for president in the 2016 election, was already a marked man. Essentially, his candidacy sealed his fate among those in control of mainstream media news and information outlets. Serving under Trump added fuel to the fire.
The Hits Keep on Coming
Condoleezza Rice suffered the same fate as Powell and Carson. Although she was fluent in Russian and a highly regarded academic when she accepted the position of Secretary of State under George W. Bush, she didn't realize she had made a grave mistake.
The mainstream press immediately began to attack her wisdom, judgment, and intelligence. She was a dummy, despite having a Ph.D, despite being a virtuoso pianist, and despite having more than three times the foreign policy knowledge of anyone who was writing about her.
The late Herman Cain was the ultra-successful founder and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. When he decided to run for president as a Republican, all of a sudden, he was deemed an idiot by the left.
Larry Elder, a columnist, frequent cable TV guest, and someone who ran for governor of California, in the eyes of the Left, is a very bad black pundit. Although he has the wit and wisdom of Will Rogers and his political acumen is undeniable, the Left routinely discounts everything that he says.
A Special Place
Candace Owens holds a special place in the minds of those who control major media outlets. An articulate spokeswoman for conservative thinking even by age 30, she was one of the leaders of Turning Point, a national program designed to help students see the light and cut through the fog of liberal claptrap on campus. This makes Owens a very bad black pundit.
She produced a thoroughly researched documentary called “The Greatest Story Ever Sold” exposing all the myths surrounding the George Floyd incident which, of course, was strongly met with stinging critiques.
Other bad Black people include Herschel Walker, the former NFL football star who ran for governor of Georgia. Immediately he was attacked on all sides and considered to be too dense to serve as governor. Oddly, Charles Barkley, the former NBA All-Star who leans right on many issues, for some reason has escaped the wrath of the Left on occasions.
Thomas Sowell, Alan Keyes, Alan West, Tim Scott, and so many others are simply bad Black people. According to the Left, they should disappear from the scene.
A Complete Arsenal for Attack
The techniques employed by the Left to disparage Black conservatives run the gamut. For those who do not bend to their political will, the Left uses highly distinct labels such as being a sellout, an Oreo, a race traitor, or a race hater. Oreos, if you don't understand the term, equates to being black on the outside but white on the inside.
The Left frequently also refers to disfavored black people as Uncle Tom, and I guess Thomasinas if they happen to be female. Uncle Toms, during the time of the antebellum and the Civil War, were the house Negroes. They looked down upon the black slaves who worked in the fields.
Are there good Black politicians? Absolutely. John Lewis, no matter what kind of idiocy dripped from his mouth, was one of the good guys. Maxine Waters, who needs to take a personality test, yes, she's a good Black person. Michael Steele was once the chairman of the Republican National Committee and later became a fixture on MSNBC. Presto chango! He went from a bad black person to a good black person in seconds!
A Free Pass for Being Perpetually Wrong
Al Sharpton has been so wrong, so often, on so many issues. Still, he has been a long-running show host on MSNBC. So, he's a good black person. So is Benjamin Crump, the attorney who elevates local incidents into national affairs with World War II-level coverage. Crump poisons jury pools and endlessly contorts democracy -- he's a good black person.
Hakeem Jeffries, who took the reins of what was left of Democrat power in the House, but whose policies and outlook are as sordid as Nancy Pelosi's, is also one of the good guys. Keith Ellison, a former congressman from Minnesota who has been accused of verbally and physically battering women, is a good guy as well.
What about Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago, who has made more ridiculous pronouncements than anyone can count? Add him to the good guy ledger.
The Good and the Bad
By now, you know exactly what it takes to be deemed a good black politician or pundit versus a bad one. I'll sum it up in a single sentence, black Republicans are bad and black Democrats are good. There, that was easy.
That's the way the mainstream media calls it: every single time.