In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, intolerant American leftists have followed a painfully predictable line of attack.
They’ve stepped up the use of certain derogatory words and phrases, causing their original meaning and impact to be so diluted as to make them little more than background noise. Consider the term “white supremacist.” What once described a subset of racists (and usually racial collectivists) is now applied wantonly to almost anyone slightly to the right of Sen. Lindsey Graham. And if the person being smeared is an ally or associate of Donald Trump, it’s going to be applied early and often.
Surprisingly, some in the mainstream media seem to be catching on. On Wednesday, CNN host Anderson Cooper challenged one of Washington’s top liberal Democrats when she tried to use the term to describe one of President-elect Trump’s most-maligned appointees.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat and Native American cultural appropriator, was appearing on “Anderson Cooper 360” to try and bash Trump chief political strategist Steve Bannon, formerly CEO of Breitbart.
“(Trump’s) got as his chief adviser someone who is a white supremacist,” Warren claimed, referring to Bannon.
Cooper, to his credit, was having none of it.
“Wait, wait, wait,” the CNN host interrupted. “There’s no evidence that he’s a white supremacist. He obviously — there are people who are white supremacists who support Donald Trump and support, like, Breitbart or Steve Bannon, but…”
That’s when an eye-rolling Sen. Warren dropped a keen piece of erudite, lucid, eloquent rebuttal: “Come on!” Yes, one of the leading Democrats in Washington apparently can’t come up with a better argument than a 14-year-old trying to get her curfew extended.
“Steve Bannon has certainly associated himself with white supremacists, will you go that far?” she added. Cooper still remained dubious, and for good reason — the bomb-throwing senator didn’t name one.
“I don’t know that you can say he’s a white supremacist,” Cooper responded.
“Well, he’s associated himself with white supremacists, is that close enough?” Warren responded in an attempt to justify her crumbling claim.
I really would have liked Cooper to ask the one question that should have been on everyone’s mind: “Name one.”
Video below:
"There's no evidence he's a white supremacist" @andersoncooper challenges @SenWarren's charge against @StephenBannon https://t.co/1HZJ1jhjMz
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) December 1, 2016
There is an inherent danger in remarks like Sen. Warren’s aside from the so-called “poisoning of the well” or the slander of a member of the new administration.
There are really “white supremacists” out there, a small cabal of men and women who believe abhorrent things about racial superiority and inferiority.
It’s bad enough that Steve Bannon and others in Trump’s orbit are being called “white supremacists” without any hard evidence. What’s just as bad is that the term now means next to nothing.
When liberals like Sen. Warren call those that she doesn’t agree with “white supremacists” to score political points, Americans can tell. Warren and other progressive smear merchants become the group that cries “wolf,” and it’s impossible to take seriously the term when applied to others — even when it might actually fit.
Of course, liberals on Twitter disagreed, raining down criticism upon Cooper for daring to challenge Warren’s evidence-free rant against one of the president-elect’s top advisers.
@AC360 @andersoncooper @SenWarren @StephenBannon @CNN You sounded like a fool.
— Tarheellife (@sjackson1271) December 1, 2016
@AC360 @andersoncooper @SenWarren @StephenBannon If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck Anderson it is a duck pic.twitter.com/LFgL1AZJvn
— Latino Political Ave (@LatPoliticalAve) December 1, 2016
Yes, if it “walks like a duck and quacks like a duck” — or, at least, a liberal senator notorious for Trump-bashing says that it does — you “look like a fool” for asking for evidence. Wonderful. After all, we know we can take the insistent, self-righteous leftists at their word, right?
This is the result of liberalism’s politics of emotion. If it feels that way, it must be true, evidence be damned. Then they all wonder why they lost the election — and lash out at those who won with now diluted terms like “white supremacist” or “racist.”
Unfortunately for them, America has wised up, and maybe the mainstream media will actually recognize the ruse.