Liberal Cynicism and Double Standards on Race

Fair people are disgusted with GQ columnist Drew Magary’s vile denunciation of Ben Carson and his comments on the Oregon shooting, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with leftist vulgarity and double standards.

Not only did GQ print the post, in which Magary wrote “f— him,” but also it titled the piece “F— Ben Carson.” So much for civility, decency, tolerance, intellectual heft and — oh, yes — racial sensitivity. GQ tweeted a link to the column, which means it wants people to read it.

Imagine the outcry if a conservative similarly described a black liberal politician in a prominent publication. Liberals would call for the heads of everyone involved — writer, editor, publisher and the publication itself — and few conservatives would defend such language.

The context of the quote is not mitigating. Magary also wrote: “You know, the only thing more alarming than Donald Trump leading the Republican presidential field is the fact that Ben Carson is the guy right behind him. … The Good Doctor made it clear this week that he is not only willing to replicate Trump’s signature brand of hot-garbage-spewing, but he’ll say even DUMBER s—.”

Liberals are apoplectic over Carson’s comments on the shooting not because he said anything wrong but because he doesn’t toe the liberal line on gun control. More than that, it’s that he is black and rejects liberal dogma. Even worse, he’s running for president on a platform that expressly condemns that dogma and offers a better way. Worst of all, his campaign is resonating, and this just can’t be happening.

The most troublesome aspect of this phony flap is the left’s delusional double standard on race. Liberals can slander a black person with impunity — because leftist culture says liberals are incapable of racism — and no evidence, not even a smoking gun, can overcome this presumption.

But conservatives are presumed racist and have the burden of proving otherwise, even if they don’t say anything at all, much less something that could be distorted into a comment unfavorable to minorities.

What’s maddening is that many liberals actually believe this insanity, as I’ve learned in various personal encounters. Others know it’s not true but cynically use it for political purposes.

In a television debate with Eric Bolling, Geraldo Rivera made my point, saying: “I think that in Dr. Ben Carson’s case, the people are not reacting to him as a black man” but are reacting to “ideas like the Garden of Eden is the literal place that existed long, long ago (and) that there is no such thing as evolution. … To run for president of the United States and believe in creationism” — as opposed to “evolution — is kind of weird.”

Let’s put aside Rivera’s statement that it’s weird to believe that God created the universe and mankind, though it is duly noted, and focus on his casual assertion that people aren’t being, rude, crude or demeaning toward Carson because he is black.

Ordinarily, I’d accept that statement because I believe that liberals who insult Carson mainly can’t stand him because he’s conservative, not because he’s black. But seeing as they’ve established the standard, let’s hold them to it.

It particularly galls them when minorities reject liberalism. It’s reasonable to infer there’s a bit of condescension at play here because to believe blacks must be liberal is to suggest that they are — or should be — monolithic creatures and that those who deviate are somehow inferior. Many leftists apparently believe that conservative blacks have forfeited any right to be insulted, including on racial terms.

You need look no further than leftist cartoonists depicting Condoleezza Rice as a parrot on President George W. Bush’s arm and, as one commentator described, “as a semi-literate mammy” with “big lips and bucked teeth” or liberal talk show hosts calling her “Aunt Jemima.” But if you want to look further, you may recall Joe Biden’s reference to Barack Obama as “clean,” “bright” and “articulate.”

I am not a Geraldo Rivera hater and even like some things about him, but I was appalled at his comments. No, not that he assumed liberals aren’t attacking Carson because he’s black but his obvious implication that Republicans, in criticizing Obama, are racially motivated. Indeed, many liberals have insisted that conservatives criticize Obama because he’s black, not because he is orchestrating the wholesale destruction of America.

In my view, there is no question that Rivera sincerely believes that many conservatives, by virtue of their conservatism, are racist, both toward blacks and toward Hispanics. But his sincerity doesn’t make his wrongheaded beliefs true.

I have long believed that if Republicans could make inroads into the pernicious liberal lie that their principled opposition to Democratic statism is based on race, the entire political landscape would change overnight. That is why many liberals who know better will keep fanning these flames of hatred and continue slandering black conservatives, especially those they deem a threat to their hold on power.