I couldn’t help but notice something last week about the stories that were emphasized in the news – and about the way they were treated.
Let’s start with Donald Trump. He may not be your top choice for president. He may not be mine. But the reaction to what he said about illegal immigrants bringing crime into the United States has been one of the most absurd spectacles we’ve seen in some time. His fellow Republican candidates have either rushed to denounce his statement, or have been put on the defensive in explaining why they don’t want to.
Hillary Clinton, of course, declared herself “disappointed” in her long-time financial backer. Given the tenor of the times, it’s easy and politically risk-free for her to say that – so of course she’s going to say it.
In the meantime, the debate rages over the fate of the Confederate Flag, with hour-by-hour coverage of deliberations at the South Carolina capitol. And on the other side of the country, a movement has arisen to take away Bill Cosby’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame given the troubling information that came out last week.
Now I’m not suggesting that the flag is not worth discussing at all, nor am I suggesting the folks in Hollywood shouldn’t give some thought to the Cosby question. But what really strikes me about the big picture is this: We’ll talk day after day after day about the fate of a flag. We’ll make our opinions known about an emblem in concrete on a sidewalk.
But let a man make a statement about a serious problem facing the country, and people get so upset you’d think he took away their puppies and their ice cream cones!
In Clark’s Daily Briefing on Friday, we highlighted 16 facts that support Trump’s statements about illegal aliens from Mexico coming into the United States and committing crimes. If you want to argue the particulars of what he said, that’s fine. If you want to argue how best to solve the problem, knock yourself out.
Why do we prefer to talk about symbols than about the real, often ugly nature of the problems we face?
But that’s not the way Trump’s statement has been dealt with at all. Instead of dealing with the issue, the media and the political class are having apoplectic seizures about the fact that he broached the issue at all.
Think about that. It’s fine to talk for days on end about a piece of cloth, but it’s not OK to deal with the hard facts about what our immigration policies are doing on the streets and in the lives of our citizens.
The issue here isn’t one of agreeing or disagreeing as much as one of perspective. I do have an opinion about the Confederate Flag. I haven’t followed the Cosby story that closely but, if pressed, I could probably come up with a position on his Walk of Fame star. But both of these stories are peripheral in nature. The Confederate Flag didn’t shoot those people. A star on a sidewalk didn’t do what Cosby’s been accused of doing. Why do we prefer to talk about symbols than about the real, often ugly nature of the problems we face?
The only thing Trump did was ignore the symbolism and go to the substance. Yes, some illegal aliens are criminals, and they commit crimes when they come here. Yes, that’s a problem. Yes, we should talk about it and take it seriously.
If we can’t do that because it makes us too uncomfortable to deal with hard facts, and we’d rather obsess over symbols, then we’re never going to solve anything. And if we attack the people who try to talk about the hard facts, we’re never going to find a leader who’s got what it takes to solve the problems.
I couldn’t help but notice something last week about the stories that were emphasized in the news – and about the way they were treated.
Let’s start with Donald Trump. He may not be your top choice for president. He may not be mine. But the reaction to what he said about illegal immigrants bringing crime into the United States has been one of the most absurd spectacles we’ve seen in some time. His fellow Republican candidates have either rushed to denounce his statement, or have been put on the defensive in explaining why they don’t want to.
