Saturday, February 23, 2019

February 23, 2019


MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

“For Fear of Being Labeled a Racist”:
       The University of North Carolina Confederate Monument Case and the Wake Forest Battle Flag Episode

Friends,

In our society each time a vocally radical Leftist group or the media cry “racism” and demand that our public figures “jump,” those leaders respond, usually meekly and apologetically, hat-in-hand: “How high?”

Confronted by such accusations almost always they run for the tall grass (to quote Patrick Buchanan) hoping that endless self-effacing apologies and some form of reparation will lessen the indelible stain, that nearly unforgivable sin which screams to the heavens.  No matter if that infraction was “committed” decades ago, maybe an innocent student prank, or simply being photographed holding a Confederate Battle Flag, for instance—since our society has “progressed” forward, we now know that such actions are symbols of deep-seated white supremacy and bigotry that must be extirpated and punished severely.

In America the charge of racism has become a magical talisman which, once made, is a virtual death knell for almost any public official or social figure, perhaps only exceeded in effect by the accusation of anti-semitism.  

It makes little difference whether the charge is true or not.  Once stated and picked up by an eager-to-oblige media, it could end a career, it could forever discredit a person, and it may effectively end any platform he might have to express his views to a large audience. In effect, he would become a virtual “non-person,” a lone voice speaking to small groups of other “non-persons,” and prevented from reaching any wider audience.

This is especially true of Republicans and the dominant conservative movement. In too many cases, it is the fearful conservative establishment that participates in this process: any faint or farfetched hint of “racism,” present or past, real or imagined, any deviance from the new Progressivist dogmatism that saturates our society, brings not just attacks from the Left, but obloquy and quarantine from our frightened conservative elites.  

To protect their right flanks and for fear of being labeled “racist,” those elites erect speech barriers and will not in any way permit or enable non-conforming and Old Right conservatives to appear on their networks or in their journals. The examples abound: National Review, The Daily Caller, Frontpage Mag, Fox News (with the notable exception of Tucker Carlson)…the list is endless.

To invite the real Rightwing opposition into their forums would be an admission that these outlets are not, in fact, genuine, that they usually jump when the Left demands it, that they prefer their cocktail parties with their Inside-the-DC-Beltway Leftwing friends or Manhattan boardroom confidants…and it would only increase the innate fear they have of being labeled “racist” (or “sexist” or “homophobic,” as the case may be), as well.

Of course, they will be labeled “racist” no matter what they do or say. And more’s the pity and utter insanity of it, for in their praxis, in their obeisance to the Leftist template and their implicit acceptance of its standards for participation and debate, they facilitate the continued success of this tactic and eventual destruction of what remains of the old republic.

If they would stand up to the attacks, if they would reject the narrative and the ongoing template, if they would refuse its definitions and its accusations forcefully and intelligently, then the field of battle might be different, might be altered a bit. But that would require courage and a truthful examination of American history and culture, and in too many cases, a rejection of dearly held—and false—principles about equality and the American Founding that several decades ago invaded both the older conservative movement—Neoconservatism—and now dominate the Republican Party.

Consider what is going on currently in North Carolina. Two examples.

First: The University of North Carolina System Board of Governors has before it a decision to make concerning a monument erected a century ago to students who volunteered to fight for the Confederacy in the War Between the States. Last August 20 a mob of radical Marxist students, faculty, and others (including votaries of the Hillsborough Progressives Taking Action, ANTIFA NC, Black Lives Matter, etc.), tore down the monument on the Chapel Hill campus while university police were ordered by the school’s administration to “stand down.”

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees then proposed moving the monument to a museum (not yet built) on campus. This solution did not please either the Marxist mob or those who wished the monument to be put back on its pedestal.

Indeed, the North Carolina Monuments Protection Law of 2015 requires the monument to be put back in its original place within 90 days. The very strict legal exceptions to this—major road work, decay of the monument that would endanger the public—obviously do not apply in this case.

Given pressure from both sides, the Board of Governors for the entire university system, having direct purview, created a special committee to come up with an “agreeable solution” for all parties.

In the meantime, the head of the Chapel Hill institution, Chancellor Carol Folt, ordered the base of the monument removed as well (in the middle of the night), once again a clear violation of the 2015 law. As a result, her resignation was requested and accepted on January 31.

But neither the monument nor its base has been put back as the law requires. Indeed, all eyes now are on the Board of Governors meeting on March 15 when its special committee is supposed to report back with that “agreeable solution.”

Here then are the questions for the UNC Board of Governors: Will they also cave to small, noisy and extreme Leftist mobs of students and Marxist activists who demand the obliteration of symbols memorializing our veterans and the total transformation of our culture? Will the Board collaborate in the flagrant violation of state law by the administration of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill?

Every indication is that they will—that they will once again direct that the monument and its base (both now in storage) be placed in a museum. And in so doing they will violate specific clauses in the 2015 Monuments Law that expressly forbid such action.

Almost certainly lawsuits will follow.

But what is fascinating about this situation is that most of the members of the UNC Board of Governors are Republicans appointed by the GOP-controlled North Carolina General Assembly. Most of them are big donors to the party, major business types, for whom having choice front-row seats at UNC basketball games and attending glitzy alumni events are very important, and who wish at all costs to “avoid unsightly controversies” which might get them labeled as racists and adverse publicity in the local leftist media (e.g. Raleigh News & Observer, WRAL-TV, etc.). Standing up for the majority of North Carolina citizens and for respect of and obedience to the laws of the state are apparently far less important.

Like other Establishment Republicans and faux-conservatives, when the Left demands that they jump, they frantically look for a way out, and mutter beneath their breath, worriedly, “how high”?  

I pass on, first, an article that more than demonstrates this climate of cowering fear that possesses too many Republican office holders:
------------------------------

Union demands apology after seeing Confederate book displayed in congressman's office

By Ellie Kaufman, CNN   Updated 3:24 PM ET, Wed February 13, 2019   


(CNN)  Members of a federal labor union visiting a Georgia Republican's congressional office Monday said they discovered a 19th-century book on display that they considered "racially offensive."
The American Federation of Government Employees is asking Rep. Drew Ferguson for a formal, public apology after its members said they found the book "General Robert Edward Lee; Soldier, Citizen and Christian Patriot," which presents Confederate ideology. Union members said that the book -- published in 1897 -- was displayed open to a page reading, "The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially, and physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their instruction as a race, and, I hope, will prepare and lead them to better things."
In a statement provided to CNN Wednesday by his spokesman, Ferguson, the Republican chief deputy whip, said he was unaware the book was even in his office and that it has since been removed. "The office was decorated by staff and the book in question was underneath a box of military challenge coins. I did not even know it was there," Ferguson said. "When my staff learned about it, they removed it and apologized to the individual who was upset by it."
The congressman later told CNN in an interview that he is "certainly as offended by the remarks in that book as anybody would be, and that's why it's no longer in the office."
Asked how a book like that ended up in his office without his knowledge, Ferguson told CNN that his office houses many history books. "Sometimes those books are left in. Sometimes they go back somewhere else. I don't know," Ferguson said. "It's a historical book of a very, very tragic time and bad time in our nation's history. Reading things that you don't agree with to help form an opinion is part of the learning process."
While a group of six union members were waiting for a meeting with Ferguson, they were invited to sit in the reception area of his office. Octavius Miller, one of the union representatives, who works with the Transportation Security Administration, said he noticed the book in a glass case near the reception area's chairs. When he noticed the pages the book was open to, he was shocked.

"The fact that this passage feels that me and my ancestors of color are immeasurably better off in the United States of America being slaves than we were in Africa, that is so disrespectful," Miller said. "My first reaction was to flip this little case upside down, and I had to think about why I was there, what I do for a living, but the disrespect and the inattention to everything that people who are colored like myself and the pigmentation of my skin had to deal with ... it enraged me."
Union members had gone to Ferguson's office to discuss TSA workers' rights, part of a legislative conference that the union arranges every year and members from around the country attend. The American Federation of Government Employees is a federal labor union that represents more than 700,000 federal employees from different agencies.
Miller decided to take photos of the pages because he "could not believe" what he was seeing, he said, and later shared them with CNN. Ferguson, who represents Georgia's 3rd Congressional District and was a dentist before beginning his political career in 2016, is Miller's congressman.
The union local President Shekina Givens, who was with the group, asked a staffer in Ferguson's office if they knew what the book on display said. The staffer said he wasn't aware of the book or the passage, according to Miller, but told the group they also had a section of George Washington's hair on display in the office.
The union members were not able to meet with Ferguson -- there was some scheduling confusion between the union and his office, Miller said.
The union contacted Ferguson's office later Monday asking for the book to be removed and for an apology from the congressman, according to a union spokesperson.
Miller told CNN he received a call from Ferguson's chief of staff, Bobby Saparow, Tuesday morning apologizing and telling him the book had been removed.
"He said he wasn't aware the book was there. He apologized maybe 15 times on the phone," Miller said. "It seemed as if they just said what was necessary to try to mitigate the situation."
The union called for a formal apology from Ferguson in a statement to CNN. "It is utterly despicable that Congressman Ferguson would dare display such a racist item so prominently in his office," National President J. David Cox Sr. said in the statement. "I am mortified for Mr. Miller and any other constituent who have had the misfortune of seeing this racist book while just trying to visit their member of Congress here in the nation's capital."
Asked Wednesday if he plans to issue a more formal apology, Ferguson told CNN, "I think that we've already done that. We spoke to the gentleman. I think we're good." A CNN producer did not see the book during a brief visit to Ferguson's office to ask the congressman's staff about the incident.
=========================
A second instance from North Carolina concerns a Wake Forest dean who back in 1982—thirty-seven years ago—stood with a group of Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers holding a Confederate Battle Flag. Notice the comment from a spokesman of the Young Democratic Socialists of America group on the campus: “How can black students and students of color feel comfortable and safe on our campus when there are photos of the Dean of Admissions and soon-to-be Senior Assistant Provost posing proudly in front of a giant confederate flag?” [Italics mine] And notice the groveling and wallowing, the abject apology by the dean, the tearful attempt to efface her nearly ineffaceable “sin” of racism.                                          
This, then, is the ideological cudgel, the weapon of choice the Progressivists employ to silence and disauthorize any opposition, utilized to destroy the careers and even the lives of those targeted who stand in the way of the oncoming post-Marxist egalitarian Utopia. And, in far too many cases, those who are charged with maintaining the integrity of our academic institutions and those who supposedly oppose the Leftist revolutionaries—conservatives and Republicans—collaborate and enable their success, and are no opposition at all.   
Here is that second story:             
Raleigh News & Observer
Wake Forest dean apologizes after 37-year-old yearbook photo resurfaces
BY SIMONE JASPER   FEBRUARY 22, 2019 04:36 PM,
·        
A North Carolina university leader appeared in front of a Confederate flag in a 1982 yearbook photo and has apologized for “perpetuating harm.”
Martha Blevins Allman, dean of admissions at Wake Forest University, sent a statement Thursday acknowledging she posed in the picture that was published 37 years ago in the school yearbook. The photo shows her and members of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity standing on a staircase that has a Confederate flag hanging on it, The Howler yearbook shows.  “That flag was a symbol of pain and racism then just as it is now, and I understand that much differently in 2019 than I did in 1982,” Allman said in her statement.
Students during a forum Thursday “raised concerns” about the yearbook photo, university spokeswoman Katie Neal said in an email. “How can black students and students of color feel comfortable and safe on our campus when there are photos of the Dean of Admissions and soon-to-be Senior Assistant Provost posing proudly in front of a giant confederate flag?” the campus’ chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America posted on Twitter.
Allman, who became a dean in 2001, is set to start in July as the senior assistant provost and dean of university integration, according to a campus news release published last year. That role will involve streamlining student “programs and services,” Wake Forest said.
President Nathan O. Hatch in a campus email Friday referenced Allman’s response to appearing in the Confederate flag photo years ago.
“Since then, she has devoted her professional career to improving Wake Forest, and I have accepted her apology,” Hatch said, adding that he is meeting with student and campus leaders to talk about the future.
Allman said in her statement that she is dedicated to making Wake Forest a welcoming environment.
“Throughout my career in admissions, one of my goals has been to create a more diverse and inclusive Wake Forest,” she said. “It is my hope that I will be judged by my professional dedication to Wake Forest, my faith and civic involvement, and by my future work with the Wake Forest community.”

The university this month acknowledged its old yearbooks “include lynching references, racial slurs and photos of students wearing blackface,” a news release said. The school is trying to make people feel welcome while examining its history, The News & Observer previously reported.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

February 21, 2019


MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

Dr. Jack Kerwick Comes to North Carolina to Offer a Major Speech on March 2: Make Plans to Attend Now

Friends,

Today something out of the ordinary in this series: I want to mention and highly recommend an upcoming event here in Raleigh, North Carolina that I hope many of you might be able to attend.  I recognize that a goodly number on this list live outside of North Carolina, so that would be difficult. But, for those of you living in some proximity this will be an occasion to “show the colors” against Political Correctness, to stand in support of our heritage and its historic symbols, as well to hear Dr. Jack Kerwick, one of America’s foremost writers and thinkers who stands in the trenches defending that heritage and history.
What follows are: (1) a portion of a press release announcing the visit of Dr. Kerwick to North Carolina, with all the details you will need to make plans to attend; and (2) a recently-published essay by him on the Jussie Smollett scandal—which will give you an idea of his analytical skill and ability to understand and cut right through to the heart of an issue. (I have in the past passed on essays by Jack, so some of you may recall his articles.)

Here is the news release, and it is followed by a current essay by Jack:
==============================
ONCE again, this year, Saturday, March 2, 2019 (at 6 p.m. in the evening) the North Carolina Division will celebrate the 31st annual Confederate Flag Day at the historic 1840 State Capitol
Our guest this year is Dr. Jack Kerwick. He is an eloquent, fierce and unreconstructed defender of the South and its heritage. And his talk, titled “The South Was—and Is—Right!” will discuss the fact that it was and has been the South that created and produced the American nation, and that Southern beliefs and constitutionalism are the authentic American heritage, and what else we see today is, in fact, anti-American.
Dr. Kerwick is Professor of Ethics and Philosophy at several colleges in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and has written for numerous national publications, such as American Greatness, LewRockwell.com and Townhall.com. He earned his BA from Wingate University here in North Carolina, his MA from Baylor University in Texas, and PhD from Temple University. He is the author of four highly-praised books including Misguided Guardians: The Conservative Case Against Neoconservatism and the recently published, Higher Miseducation: A Dissident’s Essays on the Assault Against Liberal Learning.
It was back in the 1980s that Governor Jim Martin proclaimed Confederate Flag Day, and since then we have had such great guest speakers as Dr. Clyde Wilson, N.C. Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, Jr., Dr. Don Livingston of the Abbeville Institute, and internationally-known author Dr. Paul Gottfried.
This year will be no exception. Dr. Kerwick is a true defender of our traditions and a fearless champion. This event is something that I strongly urge every member and their friends and family to attend.
As usual, there will Confederate-themed music and a color guard to accompany our flags. The Reverend Dr. Herman White will offer the invocation and benediction. Attendance is open to all those interested in our heritage.
Doors at the Capitol will open at 5 p.m., and the ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. and should be completed by 7:30 p.m.  Parking near the Capitol will be free and plentiful (especially in the lot facing the Museum of History on Wilmington Street.) Please make plans NOW to attend. It is the ONLY event at the Capitol sponsored by the North Carolina Division of the SCV, and this year it will be of even greater importance as we face continued efforts to limit our voice. For additional information, contact: Dr. Boyd Cathey, Flag Day Chairman: parsifalCSA@aol.com.
================================
And to offer a sample of some of Jack’s very acute and spot on commentary, I offer an essay he just published at LewRockwell.com.  As usual, it offers Jack’s great commentary with ironclad logic:

Jussie Smollett’s Hoax and the Pseudo-Religion of Blackism

By Jack Kerwick   February 21, 2019

Jussie Smollett, a black and gay actor who claimed to have been assaulted—in Chicago during one of the coldest nights in the city’s history—by a couple of MAGA hat-wearing white, racist homophobes has now been exposed by the Chicago Police Department for the fraud that some of us knew he was from the moment that he made his outlandish charge.

It’s no wonder that Smollett, having witnessed all of his life the awesome political and cultural power wielded on behalf of blacks by the Racism-Industrial-Complex (RIC), would be eager to cash in on his melanin by making himself into a victim.  There is another question, though, that deserves probing:
How could Smollett have thought that there was anything so much as remotely plausible about his account of this fake attack?  How could he not have known that millions and millions of Americans would see straight through this for the nonsense that it is?
The answer can be given in one word: Blackism.

The Racism-Industrial-Complex couldn’t function if not for the ideology of Blackism, the pseudo-religion that provides RIC with its theoretical justification.  Most black Americans, and certainly the vast majority of black American celebrities and public figures, are proponents of the ideology of Blackism.

But what is Blackism? Being that it is an ideology, Blackism, like all ideologies, is the simplification, the gross oversimplification, of a more complex cultural tradition.  If Blackism can be said to be a pseudo-religion, then it is a form of orthodoxy, not orthopraxy, for its focus is on a set of beliefs.  Blackism is designed for anyone and everyone who is biologically black—however culturally illiterate they may be with respect to the black experience.

Blackism consists of what we can refer to as its Five-Fold Path, five doctrines that all Blackists are required to affirm.
(1)History is ultimately reducible to a perpetual conflict between racial classes.  More exactly, history is comprised of endless contests over power between the White Oppressor and Oppressed Peoples of Color, with blacks constituting the Uber-Oppressed.

The Blackist is quite provincial, though, for his focus is limited mostly to the oppression of blacks in America.
(2)”White Racism” or “White Supremacy” remains, in the present day, omnipresent. As such it accounts, at least theoretically, for all of the problems plaguing blacks.

(3)Because White Racism is the gravest and most ubiquitous of evils, it is a demonic-like force in the fight against which every conceivable measure, however otherwise objectionable, and even reprehensible, is justified.

White Racism must be fought “by whichever means necessary.”
(4)The fight against White Racism demands a government potentially unlimited in its scope and power.

(5)Racial authenticity is the Holy Grail for many blacks, particularly those blacks with little to no familiarity with black culture. By affirming its Five-Fold Path, Blackism guarantees its proponents instant racial authenticity!

Blackism, not unlike any other religion, relies upon its own mythologies.  Some variation or other of Alex Haley’s Roots is the myth at the core of Blackism’s central narrative.  According to this tale, blacks enjoyed an Eden-like paradise in Africa before the Devil, in the guise of the White Man, spoiled the Garden that was this ideal African condition by exploiting, subjugating, and enslaving the continent’s black inhabitants.  The latter have ever since been forced to endure the Desert Wilderness that is America, a spiritually and morally barren wasteland throughout which black Americans will wander until they can be delivered unto the Promised Land of racial awareness, until their lost racial identity is restored.

Blackism has its prophets.  These are almost always middle-class and upper-class blacks, usually black celebrities, whether in Hollywood, politics, academia, or sports.  But if Blackism can be said to have a High-Priest, its own “seal” of its prophetic lineage, so to speak, it would have to be Malcolm X.
Malcolm X, raised and educated as he was around mostly white children, needed Blackism as much as he helped to shape it. Malcolm would frequently appeal to what he called “the authority of history” while charging whites for having “stole[n] our fathers and mothers from their culture of silk and satins and brought them to this land in the belly of a ship [.]” White are “blue-eyed devils” who, by way of “conquering, killing, exploiting, pillaging, raping, bullying,” and “beating,” marched “through history,” “waving the banner of Christianity” in one hand and “the sword and the flintlock” in the other.

Malcolm insisted that the black leaders and popular heroes of his day weren’t authentically black. According to Bruce Perry, an admirer of Malcolm’s who authored what remains the most honest and fair biography of the man to date—Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black AmericaMalcolm “characterized Booker T. Washington as a ‘white man’s nigger’” while blasting “the NAACP as a ‘black body with a white head.”  Nor did Malcolm refrain from denigrating Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis, men who he had once lionized: Both were “stooges” for whites.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm said was a “chump, not a champ.” King, along with Roy Wilkins, were “modern house Negroes” and “Toms.” Moreover, all proponents of racial integration were “Quislings” and “Toms.”
Black liberation—black racial authenticity—required a purging of the White Supremacy that had poisoned the minds of most black Americans.  And this purging would have to be had “by any means necessary.”
Malcolm X’s mind epitomizes Blackism. It’s marked by: a racialized conception of history, one that neatly bifurcates history into White Oppressors and Oppressed Peoples of Color; a conception of a world within which the aspirations of blacks are thwarted at every turn by omnipresent White Racism; and the imperative to defeat this most evil and ubiquitous of forces by hook or by crook, regardless of the costs.
Malcolm as well embodies in his person Blackism’s final tenet, the principle that only by endorsing the ideology’s other tenets can one achieve authentic blackness!
The point here, then, is that Jusse Smollett, given his commitment to Blackism, lives within a world where blacks are ruthlessly victimized by whites. It is a fictional world, of course, a “possible world” bearing no affinities whatsoever to the actual world that is 21stcentury America.  Whether Smollett and his fellow Blackists know that their worldview is a lie is questionable.  Two things, however, seem to be certain.

First, recognizing, as they undoubtedly do, that Blackism heaps no small share of psychic, social, and professional benefits upon its adherents, they have at the very least tried to convince themselves that Blackism’s vision corresponds to reality.  The Blackist is either profoundly self-delusional or dishonest.
Second, insofar as he accepts the tenets of Blackism, the Blackist holds that he has a mandate to deceive if it’s necessary to advance his ideology.

Bearing in mind that Jusse Smollett is a Blackist, his readiness to lie about having been victimized by white racists becomes more understandable.

And as long as Blackism prevails, we can all be sure that race hoaxes will proliferate.

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

February 19, 2019


MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

The Smollett “Racism” Case and Tucker Carlson: One More Faked Episode Pushed by the Left

Friends,

I have purposefully stayed away from commenting on the Jussie Smollett “case,” as the circumstances surrounding it are still unfolding and developing in the most bizarre fashion. Yet, increasingly, this case is beginning to resemble innumerable other instances of manufactured and faked “hate crimes.”  These cases have been engineered for a variety of reasons, but almost all are employed by our dominant Leftist culture, by the Mainstream Media, and by politicians (of both political parties), to create a narrative, an ongoing template, to support the assertion that America has been historically and still is in great part “racist” and “sexist,” carrying a heavy burden of “white supremacy,” “homophobic bigotry,” and oppression of women. And that hatred must be expunged, in fact, by whatever means necessary.

Whether the notorious Tawana Brawley case of decades ago (spearheaded by that huckster Al Sharpton), the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, the Ferguson shooting, the supposed rapes at the University of Virginia, the Duke Lacrosse scandal, and various purported “assaults” on Muslims—all have proven to be false, faked instances of “hate” and abuse. And they have provided the necessary fodder for the Progressivist Left to buttress its continuing assaults on what is left of our republic and its traditional institutions.

What is startling is that despite the revelations that these and many other instances are faked, it makes no difference to those advancing revolution in our society and pushing a radical transformation of our culture. Such hate crimes simply must exist, must be found, and must be denounced, if the narrative go forth and the agenda advance. And if it takes a “creative touch” here and there, the manipulation of an obviously faked story, of a falsehood into a societal totem, so what?  Is this not the underlying message of Saul Alinsky’s classic textbook of post-Marxist cultural and social revolution, Rules for Radicals?

After all, such instances, whether fake or not, serve the greater and more admirable purpose of overthrowing the inherently oppressive structures of white racism and historic misogyny. Only then—only after those societal structures are rooted out and overthrown—may the true Parousia, that frenetically-desired egalitarian Utopia be finally achieved.

Like all other such utopian revolutions its path will be scattered eventually by ruined lives, by new Holocausts and Holodomors, by the destruction of nearly everything that makes life truly worth living, noble, and human. No matter: nothing must stand in the way of the “idea” and its realization. And the first barrier to fall is truth, itself.

On Monday night [February 18] Tucker Carlson on his 8 p.m. prime time program summed all this up, with reference to the Jussie Smollett case in Chicago.

I pass along below a Youtube of the program, plus, following that a short written summary—the video is far more complete, and I urge you to watch it. Carlson’s opening monologue begins at about the two minute mark after a news update on the Smollett case. It lasts another twelve minutes. He then continues with two interviews…the whole portion lasts nearly a half hour.

Apparently, the Smollett episode is just one more  faked “hate crime” which, along with the Covington Catholic boys “hate crime” a couple of weeks ago, the Progressivists have attempted to use: they don’t  give up…if these instances don’t convince, why, there is certainly one more just around the corner.

And it is we who will pay the price as, despite the falsehoods, the narrative continues like a tsunami. Will we stand against it and denounce it for what it is?

Here is the Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFRPInskQIE

---------------------------------------------------------

Tucker Carlson: Why the left so desperately wanted to believe in Jussie, and not in America

When TV star Jussie Smollett claimed to be the victim of a racist anti-gay attack at the hands of two Trump supporters, virtually the entire news media and a parade of politicians immediately believed him and demanded the rest of us do so as well.
Now, that story is coming completely apart, with police sources saying Smollett likely orchestrated the entire attack himself. But while we wait for the facts to come to light, it is worth remembering that almost 3,000 people were shot in the City of Chicago last year -- women, small children -- sometimes alone and sometimes in groups. Many hundreds of them died, and not a single one received anything like the attention the media has lavished on a relatively minor assault alleged by Smollett.
On the other hand, none of Chicago's 3,000 shootings were even half as useful as Smollett's story.
The Smollett story had everything for a national media that long ago gave up the pretense of gathering news.  Journalism is now explicitly a political job, the point of which is to enforce cultural orthodoxies and punish enemies.
Jussie Smollett was the perfect vehicle for both of those things.
Journalists pretended to be horrified as they recounted what he said happened to him, but secretly, they were thrilled.
“There are many indications of a hate crime here. They are looking for two suspects who were wearing apparently wearing "Make America Great Again" hats though that has not yet been officially confirmed,” said MSNBC National Correspondent Miguel Almaguer.
Liz Plank, host of Vox Media’s “Consider It,” just knew President Trump had something to do with the attack.
“We don't know what happened to Jussie, but what we do know is that racism is alive and well in this country,” Plank said. “There is real evidence of people who have done these crimes, who cite that the President has inspired them.”
Jonathan Capehart, of the Washington Post, agreed with Plank. President Trump was most certainly to blame.
“The fact that [the attackers] reportedly said, ‘This is MAGA country,’ adds to sort of the atmosphere of menace that African-Americans in particular and people of color in general have felt since the advent of the Trump administration," Capehart mused.
Finally, there was this observation from CNN’s Brooke Baldwin: “He said his attackers hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. This is America in 2019.”
Oh, and if you had questions, much less doubts, the elites were poised to attack you.
“And the media has really cast so much doubt on his story which I find so personally offensive that a gay black man is targeted and then suddenly he becomes the victim of people's disbelief,” said actress Sara Gilbert. “It is so outrageous to me.”
To the national media, Smollett's story was the perfect metaphor for the Trump era. It was also pretty clearly a total crock. Smollett's account began to fall apart within hours after a series of leaks from the obviously skeptical Chicago Police Department.
His handlers paired him with a network anchor they could rely on, with a 16-minute interview with Robin Roberts of "Good Morning, America."  Roberts surely knew there was ample evidence that Smollett was lying, but she decided to ignore that. Instead, Roberts colluded with him.
She nodded empathetically as Smollett wept on camera. She asked no significant follow-up questions.  The two parted like old friends. Both Smollett and Roberts turned out to be talented actors. Check out their performance on YouTube before it is scrubbed. You will never watch ABC News again. Virtually every word they utter is dishonest.
“If I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot much more, a lot more, and that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now,” Smollett told Roberts. “The fact that we have these fear mongers, these people that are trying to separate us and it is just not okay.”
Who is dividing us? And who exactly is the victim in all of this? While Smollett claims that he is the victim, he tells us that he represents the most despised and unfashionable groups in America, that is why bigots doubt his story. The rest of us nod as if this was true because we are required to do that.  That is how dishonest our society has become.  Everyone must lie all the time.  We know the rules, we have no choice.
The fact is, the much-hyped epidemic of hate crimes we have heard so much about essentially is made up. The premise is absurd. America is not a hateful country, it is the most welcoming place on Earth that is why even as our children learn from their teachers what a bigoted country this is, millions continue to stream in from Africa and Latin America for a better life here.
So why does the left insist on inventing bigoted bogeymen waiting around every dark corner? Maybe because stoking race hatred ensures continued power for the Democratic Party. Divided populations are easier to manipulate and rule. There would be no Democratic coalition without racial animosity. It is what holds their constituencies together. That is the point of identity politics.  It is why they are forever reopening the wound.

But the cost to the country has been high. Hate hoaxes make ethnic groups fear and distrust each other.  That is a dangerous thing to do in a country that is becoming more diverse by the day.

                                    February 11, 2024     MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey Descent into Madness: Dostoevsky and the End of...