These days, some of us feel like we’re trapped in a bad dystopian movie, as the authoritarian left has begun to act out every nightmare that the founders and free peoples have feared for 230 years.
People are actually fearful of speaking their minds because the thought police on the left are waiting to pounce. So, terrified politicians, individuals, and companies either remain quiet or they give lip service to the mob in order to sate their appetite for power.
“Please Mr. Crocodile, eat me last.”
One way to give the mob what they want is to mouth the platitudes they demand we say. Sort of like “Heil Hitler” without the swastika.
“Black Lives Matter” has become one such “test” of loyalty. If you don’t say it when asked, you’re a racist and deserve to be canceled. Vice President Mike Pence was asked to say “Black lives matter” 3 times by an interviewer for a Pennsylvania TV station. Pence politely declined and preferred to say “All lives matter.”
The distinction between saying “Black lives matter” and “all lives matter” has emerged as something of a cultural dividing line amid the nationwide discussion about racial equality that has been touched off in recent weeks. The phrase “Black lives matter” has gained widespread use in recent years as a way to draw attention specifically to deadly encounters between Black Americans and police.
“Black lives matter” is one of those meaningless, banal slogans that the left comes up with all the time. “Tune in, turn on, drop out” was my favorite from the 60s. Its significance is not in the meaning — after all, black lives do, indeed, matter. As do white ones, yellow ones, red ones — all the marvelous hues and colors of the human race.
Its relevance is that it’s a signifier, an identification marker that reveals the political beliefs of those saying it. Refusing to say it doesn’t mean you don’t think black lives matter a whit. It means you disagree with the belief system that is forcing you to say it. This, of course, is “racist” and you are tarred with the epithet forever.
“All lives matter” is an equally meaningless and banal slogan but everyone knows it and never uses it. Pence was talking to a brick wall in this interview and couldn’t make the reporter understand.
“Forgive me for pressing you on this, sir,” anchor Brian Taff said to Pence, “but I will note you did not say those words, ‘Black lives matter,’ and there is an important distinction. People are saying, of course all lives matter, but to say the words is an acknowledgment that Black lives also matter at a time in this country when it appears that there’s a segment of our society that doesn’t agree. So why will you not say those words?”
“Well, I don’t accept the fact, Brian, that there’s a segment of American society that disagrees, in the preciousness and importance of every human life,” Pence said. “And it’s one of the reasons why as we advance important reforms in law enforcement, as we look for ways to strengthen and improve our public safety in our cities, that we’re not going to stop there.”
“And yet, one final time, you won’t say the words and we understand your explanation,” Taff responded. What is the big fricking deal? Outside of giving the media something to prattle on about, it’s meaningless.
The effort to force Pence to say “Black lives matter” by asking him over and over again is just unbelievable to me. Of course, the left used it as “evidence” that Pence and Trump hate black people and want them all dead because their lives don’t matter.
VP Pence refuses to say black lives matter on Juneteenth.
I will say it for him: Black lives matter.
Louder for those in the back?
BLACK. LIVES. MATTER.
Rights and dignity aren’t pie. More for some does not mean less for others#BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/2xZexFbPLH
— Fred Fletcher (@ChiefFletcher) June 19, 2020
Mike Pence won't say Black Lives Matter because he doesn't believe that they do. He's a bigot. https://t.co/FBDvJ5k9UD
— Matt Walker (@tmattwalker) June 19, 2020
I’m not sure I want to see the second half of this movie.
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