American Conservative Union communications director Ian Walters, ACU chairman Matt Schlapp, and the ACU-sponsored Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) are being accused of racism due to Walters’ comments at last Friday’s Ronald Reagan dinner. These phony charges deserve rejection and scorn.
I attended that banquet and watched Schlapp invite Walters to the stage for an unexpected honor — a sort of lifetime-achievement award that startled Walters and surprised the crowd. Visibly stunned, Walters observed that conservatives struggled to respond to Obama’s election in 2008.
“That was a hill we got over,” Walters ad-libbed, “and it was something we were all proud of. And we weren’t sure what to do. And in a little bit of cynicism, what did we do? This is a terrible thing: We elected Michael Steele to be the RNC chair because he’s a black guy, and that was the wrong thing to do.”
Walters surely would have made his point more eloquently had he prepared his remarks. That said, Walters expressed the common concern that the Republican National Committee chose Steele as chairman, at least partially, due to identity politics: If a black man led the Democrats, a black man should head the Republicans.
Steele’s tenure, marked by inappropriate-expense controversies and other distractions, reinforced the notion that the RNC might have been better served by a stronger manager.
Could Walters have spoken more carefully? Yes. Were his words a white-nationalist battle cry? No. Are CPAC’s enemies using this episode to hammer conservatives without facts? What else is new?
The Root’s Michael Harriott wrote last Saturday, “CPAC is the country’s biggest and most influential national Klan conservative political convention, uniting disparate entities like white people, Caucasian people, more white people, and Ben Carson.”
This slurfest reflects Harriott’s disdain for the Right. What it does not reflect is reality.
So, is Walters Finnish? Norwegian? Icelandic? It’s hard to tell, because his sapphire eyes and tablecloth-white skin are so blinding.
Actually, Walters’ brown flesh gives proof of his Philippine ancestry. If Schlapp intended to showcase an honoree who embodies white supremacy, he should visit an ophthalmologist — at once.
Furthermore, if CPAC=KKK, why did it not only allow me, a black American, into the Potomac Ballroom on Friday afternoon but, believe it or not, ask me to moderate a panel of experts on the Trump/GOP tax cuts, in full view of conferees and C-SPAN’s national TV audience?
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) spokesman Niger Innis and my fellow Fox News contributor Deneen Borelli hosted back-to-back, black-to-black panels. Innis’ defended the Second Amendment. Borelli, in no small task, interviewed White House Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, one of President Donald J. Trump’s most influential advisors.
Heritage Foundation president Kay Cole James, Campus Reform editor Lawrence Jones, Turning Point USA’s Candace Owens, and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke were among the prominent black conservatives who presented their ideas from CPAC’s dais.
As for those witnessing all of this, atop the black activists and political candidates on the Right, some 100 black Republican Millennials experienced CPAC, thanks to CORE, the Black Conservative Federation, and registration discounts, courtesy of ACU. A black man named Diante Johnson, 21, led this youth delegation, guaranteeing a glistening future for black conservatism.
“We never counted how many people of color actually were onstage,” ACU executive director Dan Schneider told me. “But everyone you listed did a fantastic job discussing national security, budget/tax, immigration, Constitutional rights, fake news, labor policy, education policy, etc.” Schneider added: “I hope CPAC’s attendees observed this essential truth: People (regardless of race, sex, orientation, etc.) deserve equal respect and equal protection under the law. America cannot sustain itself otherwise.”
Despite the Left’s paranoid fantasies, CPAC once again welcomed Americans of multiple ethnic and religious backgrounds to celebrate the benefits of individual liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, free enterprise, and peace through strength. The only bigotry involved the hideous hallucinations of CPAC’s critics.
Democrats are really stupid
The US is rapidly spiralling out of control.
Everyday the USA becomes more insane.
Americans say Obama was an evil monster for hating freedom, but then Americans turn around and insist Trump is a holy god for embracing tyranny.
Americans say Mormons should be arrested for helping refugees instead of ending the wars that lead to refugees.
When US pilots bomb weddings, Americans scream that the pilots should be pardoned and any patriot who posts pictures of dead civilians should be killed.
Americans swear the debt should be increased instead of being reduced.
Americans scream the US should start a trade war instead of reducing the minimum wage that kills the ability of US products to be competitive on the world market.
When gun control kills the ability of Americans to defend themselves and the the Gestapo fails to protect Americans, Americans demand cops be executed instead demanding gun rights be restored.
When welfare leads to illegal immigrants, Americans scream for a wall that will used to keep Americans IN instead of demanding welfare be ended.
When regulations lead to homelessness, Americans insist pooping in the street should be outlawed instead of ending regulations.
When bankers commit fraud, Americans swear bankers should get billion dollar bailouts instead of being arrested.
Americans today seem like mental patients who smash their hands with hammers because their backs hurt.
How can Americans sleep now?
Why doesn’t anyone say anything?