There are different kinds of media bias, but, by far, the most irksome is the willfully ignorant kind.
The write-up by the Associated Press of Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s rebuttal speech to President Joe Biden is an exquisite example of willful ignorance.
Even the headline is precious: “GOP’s Sen. Scott suggests Dems use race as political weapon.”
He didn’t suggest anything in his speech. He stated the obvious, and he did so directly.
When are Democrats not using race as a political weapon?
Biden called Georgia’s new election laws, which do nothing to limit a person’s ability to vote “Jim Crow in the 21st Century.”
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said in an interview several weeks ago that he wasn’t too fearful of the rioters who stormed the Capitol in January, but that he might have been if they had been affiliated with Black Lives Matter, which, it shouldn’t have to be said, has been known to be responsible for a fair amount of violence.
Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina reacted by calling Johnson — what else? — a racist.
Just days ago, Democrats literally said that the age-old filibuster rule of the Senate, heavily and routinely relied upon by both parties, is racist.
“The filibuster has deep roots in racism,” said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, “and it should not be permitted to serve that function or to create a veto for the minority.”
A tool that gives power to a minority being called racist. The irony. Especially because it is a tool the Democrats themselves used a record amount of times in the past four years.
The Associated Press report went on to say that Scott “suggested that Democrats and liberals have turned the race issue upside down … without providing examples of what he meant.”
What Scott said was, “It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different discrimination.”
If the Associated Press wants an example of that, which isn’t hard to find, it can look no further than Biden’s own police reform bill that he campaigned on in 2020. That plan would literally withhold money from police departments if they fail to “mirror the racial diversity of the community they serve.” In other words, if there are too many white cops on the force, the department would get less money.
Race quotas are, by their very definition, discriminatory on the basis of race.
The Associated Press knows all of this, but only when it’s not being willfully ignorant.
