Journalists and Democrats have designated a new Republican scandal: Bishop Earl W. Jackson "compared" Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan.
On May 18, Jackson became the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia in this November's 2013 elections. An important detail in this drama is that Bishop Jackson is African-American. Much more alarming, Jackson has been leading a hard-hitting campaign to call on Blacks to leave the Democrat Party.
Jackson argues passionately that no Christian -- Black, Hispanic, or Caucasian -- can remain any longer in the Democrat Party that booed God at the Democrat National Convention in 2012 and stands against God. He argues that the Democrat Party is like a modern-day plantation that takes Blacks for granted and exploits them.
Jackson created and leads the annual Martin Luther King Leadership Breakfast, which draws hundreds to celebrate the ideals of Dr. King, in Chesapeake, Virginia (the region including Norfolk and Virginia Beach). He has a law degree from Harvard. He is a former Marine. (Ooops! Marines will insist once a Marine always a Marine.)
He was a law professor at Northeastern University, and practiced law for 15 years in Boston. Jackson was Deputy Commissioner of Banks for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a trustee of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. But this ultra-qualified, serious African-American is also unabashedly conservative and outspoken in his Christian beliefs.
So you are hereby commanded by the liberal establishment to adopt and express a negative opinion of E.W. Jackson because Jackson compared one thing to something else. The Pavlovian trigger is that a person in politics "compared" X to Y. We like Pavlov's dogs are commanded to draw in our breath in shock. Of course, it was not a comparison officially approved by the Left-leaning establishment. While comparing X to Y, Jackson compared the wrong things to each other.
This is one of the silliest political arguments around. Journalists take a neutral or mild statement and try to turn it into a scandal. Saying a person "compared" X to Y suggests a meaning radically different from what was said.
Furthermore, the media hides the original statement so the reader won't know that the speaker is making perfect sense. The comparison is reported -- not what was actually said. So the reader is stirred up to have a negative opinion of the speaker, without being able to judge for himself.
Suppose I say that General Dwight Eisenhower was a better military strategist than Adolf Hitler. I compare Eisenhower with Hitler. The news headlines would read: "Moseley compares Eisenhower with Hitler." Yes, my comparison was that Eisenhower was smart militarily and Hitler was an arrogant doofus (after invading naïve countries led at first by unprepared and gullible appeasers). I did indeed compare Eisenhower with Hitler. But so what?
The scam is trying to change "compare" into "equate." The implication for low-information voters is that "Moseley equated Eisenhower with Hitler." But "compare" clearly does not mean "equate." Not even close. The scam is as silly as when a local leader used the word "niggardly" in the District of Columbia, and a great many people confused that synonym for "stingy" as being a racial slur.
So what did lieutenant governor nominee E.W. Jackson actually say that we are commanded to become shocked by?
"The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions. Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was."
These and similar statements were proudly and openly posted by Jackson's political campaign in a prepared video statement "Bishop E.W. Jackson Message to Black Christians". With almost 1 million views, this video is urging Blacks to leave the Democrat party.
So where's the beef? It is a fact that Planned Parenthood has killed unborn Black babies by the tens of millions. It is a fact that Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to Blacks than the KKK. Although African-Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population, they account for nearly 35% of all abortions performed. Blacks accounted for nearly 423,500 of the 1.21 million abortions performed in 2008.
Where is the controversy? I thought there was going to be a controversy. Got all worked up, and there's nothing there. How disappointing. Can I get my money back?
Now, to be sure, Jackson has also said many other strong things. Bishop Jackson argues that the Democratic Party represents 'godlessness,' and stands for 'fiscal irresponsibility, moral relativism or amorality, anti-Christian bigotry, and a foreign policy of surrender and appeasement.'
Contrast these statements to Ann Coulter's book Godless: the Church of Liberalism. Jackson's arguments are completely mainstream conservative opinions concerning the leadership of the Democratic Party. But those arguments are both wrong and irritating to the Democratic membership who are really Republicans but haven't figured that out yet.
The problem with such attacks is that there are many rank-and-file Democrats left behind when the Democratic Party lurched drastically to the Left. There are tens of millions of Democrats who really belong in the GOP. These are the very people Jackson is hoping to recruit.
Furthermore, E.W. Jackson wants to "permanently defund Planned Parenthood" -- exactly like nearly every other conservative in the country. Jackson explained on May 18, 2013, on his campaign website: "It is an act of grave injustice to force citizens to pay for the destruction of unborn babies, whether through state or federal taxes. All funding for abortion and the organizations that provide them must be halted."
Yet the Virginia Democrats website trumpeted that quote as being controversial? Democrats have become so liberal that Planned Parenthood in and of itself is now a sacred idol to Democrats. Any criticism is considered a scandal.
Different organizations would receive those same family planning dollars if Planned Parenthood were defunded. Government services would be administered by other organizations, who don't also perform abortions.
Congress appropriates funds, in this case for contraceptives and family planning education and consultation. Organizations apply for the grants. If Planned Parenthood were blocked, the grants would be awarded to other organizations instead. Because Planned Parenthood is extremely wealthy, it doesn't need taxpayer funds anyway.
The most controversial comments by Jackson have been some harsh words for the homosexual movement. Democrats will be trying to die on the hill of homosexuality. Some of Jackson's arguments about homosexual activism were worded rather badly.
To be sure, there are many Republicans who are quite worried about the Virginia ticket for the 2013 election. If Bishop Jackson goes on the offense and raids the enemy camp, he could totally change the game in the Commonwealth and nationwide. If Jackson sits still, offers himself as an easy target for attacks, and plays it safe, Jackson could feed the Democrats' game plans of ginning up nonsensical controversy.
Jackson could either destroy the Democrat coalition by aggressively calling on Blacks to rethink their slavish devotion to the Democrat plantation. Or Jackson could destroy the Republican Party of Virginia by drawing fire without firing back. A warship that just sits and waits to be fired upon will be sunk. Yet, "a ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for." John A. Shedd, author, Salt from My Attic.
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