Partisan hackery is not principled opposition to racism

By Scott Tibbs, January 23, 2019

I took some heat on Twitter last week when I denounced Steve King, from supposedly "anti-racist" Leftists. I said King does not belong in Congress or the Republican Party, and I said that his defense white nationalism and white supremacist ideology was evil. Why were they angry? Because I also said that unless Democrats also denounce Louis Farrakhan, I cannot take them seriously when they denounce King. Farrakhan, of course, has had a long association with Democrats. (See here and here and here and here.)

Leftists were furious that I tied Farrakhan to King, accusing me of "whataboutism" and changing the subject. One particularly dishonest troll accused me of supporting white supremacist ideology after I explicitly described it as "evil." This, of course, is yet another example of why conservatives are complete idiots when they try to appease the Left. The Left cannot and will never be appeased. When we take out someone on our own side, it must be on principle, not because the Left hates him. No matter what we do, and no matter what we say, they will damn us. The only thing they will ever accept is total surrender.

So, first: My tweet was not an example of whataboutism, because whataboutism is a "red herring" tactic designed to distract from bad behavior of an ally. I was not trying to distract from anything, and I very explicitly denounced King's statements. I used the word "evil" to describe what King said. There was no attempt to shift the conversation. What I was doing is calling for intellectual consistency. If racism and bigotry is bad, then it is just as bad when advocated by prominent Democrats like Farrakhan and Al Sharpton.

It is arguable that Republicans should have acted earlier against King, who has been saying disturbing things for years, but Republicans did act. King has been stripped of committee assignments and will hopefully be defeated in the next Republican primary. Democrats are way too comfortable with hatemongers like Sharpton and Farrakhan, neither of whom should ever be respected or taken seriously.

Louis Farrakhan is closely aligned with the Democratic Party and the Women's March. If you believe that Steve King should be denounced and shunned by Republicans, then you have to believe the same thing about Farrakhan and Democrats. If you become angry at this and accuse me of "racism" for saying it, then your "outrage" is not because you oppose bigotry. Your "outrage" is partisan hackery.



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