By Hank Beckman –
The stench of political correctness is in the air.
Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King recently gave a doozy of an interview to the New York Times, in which he wondered, ever so innocently, how the terms white supremacy, white nationalism and Western Civilization ever fell into such disrepute.
While few outside the Democratic Party or an American university would seriously quibble with the idea of defending Western Civilization, one scratches one’s head at King’s apparent surprise that his comments about white supremacy or white nationalism were out of the ordinary.
He later said that his comments were misinterpreted and that he had no love for what he called the “evil ideology” of white supremacy, but that explanation didn’t wash.
Had King’s comments been a isolated incident, he might have been granted a pass from the political/pundit class. But he has a history of comments on race and immigration that suggests a foot planted firmly in his mouth.
For starters, shortly after being elected, he displayed a Confederate battle flag on his office desk in the House of Representatives; not exactly an auspicious start to a congressional career in the modern age.
In 2017, King retweeted the words of British Nazi sympathizer Mark Collett regarding the growing trend of Europeans to resist immigration. “Europe is waking up…Will America…In time.”
Also, in 2017, this was his take on conservative Dutch politician Geert Wilders, long known for his restrictive views on immigration.
He tweeted that Wilders understands “We can’t restore our civilization with someone else’s babies.”
Then, in 2013 when commenting on the children of illegal immigrants, he said, that “for every one that’s a valedictorian, there’s another hundred that weigh 130 pounds with calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pound of marijuana across the desert.”
Subtlety isn’t a noticeable feature of King’s rhetoric.
While his statements had raised eyebrows before, he’d always managed to escape serious censure. Not this time. And the incoming fire is coming not only from perpetually offended liberals and Democrats, but members of his own party.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said “that language has no place in America.” National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Emmer of Michigan denounced King’s words. Michigan House member Justin Amash of Michigan described King’s words as “an embrace of racism.”
McCarthy stripped King of his committee assignments and there’s talk of of a serious primary challenge to him in 2020. No matter how much support he might have from his constituents, or how many common—sense, mainline conservative positions he supports, one gets the feeling that King’s political career is limited at best.
But I mentioned political correctness, didn’t I?
One way to define political correctness is that it is a pronounced aversion, to the point of blatant dishonesty, to making any statements that might offend anyone considered to be part of a disenfranchised group; in other words, anybody that’s not a straight, white, Christian male.
And compared to what Rep. King is going through right now, Minister Louis Farrakhan’s friends and supporters in Congress are getting off rather easy, compliments of political correctness.
For those who haven’t kept up with Farrakhan’s more bigoted quotes over the years, here’s a partial list:
“White people are potential humans. They haven’t evolved yet.”—2000
“Murder and lying comes easy for White people.”—1994
“The White man is our mortal enemy and we cannot accept him.”—2002
“White people deserve to die, and they know, so they think it’s us coming to do it.”—2015
