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A political scalping occurred in Washington D.C. last week. Once again the liberal media and Democrats played the predictable race politics to attack Iowa Rep. Steve King, while members of the GOP political class fell in line—obliging the left and piling on one of their own in the act of political cannibalism. It was too enticing a moment for the Republicans who felt the need to morally preen and cleanse themselves of racist perceptions by Democrats and their accomplices in the media.
Republicans should already know how this works. An agenda-driven liberal reporter will interview them about a topic wrought with opportunities to stumble over word choices, and then attack how the response words are arranged to infer what the interviewee allegedly meant. In our modern times, when interviewed by a journalist, the interviewee is at the mercy of the writer’s agenda, unless the interviewee is savvy enough to record it. For example, if a journalist is interviewing a liberal or a Democrat, the writer will smooth things out if they stumble and the outcome is a sparkling and favorable column. Conservatives and Republicans don’t get this swooning cheerleading reaction from the liberal media. Instead, they get sliced, diced, tattooed and fed to the lions.
The goal of the journalist is to draw blood and start a feeding frenzy that spreads like wildfire through the D.C. establishment. Others join in to get their pound of flesh. First, it’s Democrats trying to score some cheap political points and other liberal media outlets in their echo chambers. Then the liberal media reporters seek out Republicans and demand they condemn their colleague. If they don’t condemn in the strongest terms, the liberal media finds them racist by association. Once they get enough momentum from GOP politicians, they stand back and watch Republicans destroy their colleague so they no longer have to.
Knowing this reality, why do GOP politicians volunteer to be the firing squad? Democrats don’t do this. When former Michigan Congressmen John Conyers was discovered to be a serial sexual harasser, Party leader Nancy Pelosi went on the Sunday talk shows and called him an icon. When she was pressed to condemn his behavior, she simply avoided answering the question. When Barack Obama was discovered to have racist Reverend Jeremiah Wright as a spiritual advisor for nearly two decades, the Democrat establishment took the ‘hear no, see no, speak no evil,’ approach about their nominee. Recently Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver reminded colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who was attacking fellow Democrats that, “there’s an outstanding rule, don’t attack your own people. We just don’t need sniping in our Democrat caucus.”
Republicans, on the other hand, get caught up in this game of gotcha every time the media sets the trap. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Liz Chaney told King to resign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell advised him to find a new line of work. They believe that if they don’t desperately run to the nearest microphone and slam one of their own in the immediate aftermath of a political hit job, they will be accused of being racist by association. Remember what the media did to President Trump following the Charlottesville Virginia Unite the Right rally? He was blasted for not saying anything immediately. He later did and it was not good enough for the liberal media. When he later came out with a follow-up stronger statement, the media dubbed it as too late, and he was labeled as a racist. The lesson here is that nothing is ever good enough for the liberal media, so why play their game.
However, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott fell for their game. “Some in our Party wonder why we are constantly accused of racism,” Scott said while referring to the New York Times story on Rep. King. I got news for you, Senator Scott. Democrats will accuse you and your Party of being racist whether you are silent or not. It is a political construct that works for them because your Party falls for it. It works because many on the right lack the vocabulary to navigate intelligently through the crap storm the left throws at you, especially on race.
I don’t have to condemn or condone what Rep. King allegedly said. I say allegedly because it was based on a New York Time writer’s account. I would not believe their writers as far as I could throw them. They lie, twist and contort things all the time to smear conservatives. They do it to President Trump every day. And now I’m supposed to believe them? Yeah right.
Here’s my advice about how to handle gotcha question from the liberal media when an ambush is afoot. I simply say, why do I have to comment? I wasn’t there, I didn’t say it and am not responsible for what that politician says. Go ask him or her about it. The media will write that Clarke refuses to condemn racist statements. So what, who cares? If asked if the politician should resign I would say, that is not for me to determine. It’s for the voters he or she represents in their districts. Go ask them. Goodbye. Then I hang up. Don’t allow further questions.
The biggest mistake by Rep. King was to grant an interview to the New York Times. They weren’t interested in his position on any current policy issue. It was a trap knowing that he sometimes says things that come out clumsy and they did what they do to other conservatives and GOP politicians who aren’t extremely careful with every word they say. They eviscerated him; most likely gave each other a high-five, smirked, and laughed at how easy it was to hoodwink him.
Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Senior Advisor for America First, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com
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