Sandbox
4th July 2015
Richard Fernandez looks at the oddities of modern politics.
A picture doing the rounds of Facebook shows a picture of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and actor George Takei, who called Thomas “a clown in blackface” for dissenting with the majority decision on gay marriage. The caption says: “Thomas votes for the party that freed his ancestors. Takei votes for the party that put him, personally, in an internment camp.” The irony comes from the fact that there is often something more powerful than experience. That impulse is the need to belong. Intern me, only let me belong.
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Powerful social movements do not promote diversity, except superficially. What they sell is membership in a group. That is the core product of religions, clubs, political parties — and until recently, nations. The left is no different. It doesn’t want its members to think independently but follow the party line, to parrot the narrative. The party line must be served, no matter when, no matter what.
Just a few hours ago an illegal immigrant gunned down a young female tourist on Embarcadero wharf. ”The man … was in a Bay Area jail less than four months ago and should have been turned over to federal immigration officials upon his release, instead of being set free, according to the Department of Homeland Security.” But Bay Area authorities couldn’t turn him over they explained, because it would have run counter to the prevailing political narrative.
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What matters is not what you do, but who sent you. Governors that round up illegal immigrants are accused of infringing on the federal government’s prerogative to control the borders. But not so officials who let illegal immigrant killers stick around to murder following “city policy”. Anyone who maintains that Obamacare is a failure will be accused of criminal right wing delusions, unless of course you’re Bernie Sanders and want to replace a failing Affordable Care Act with Single payer. Then it’s okay. The different lies not in the act, but in the actor.