As events raced out of control in the aftermath of the Sunday shooting by a white police officer of a black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, tempers once again flared on both sides of the explosive issue, professional athletes staged boycotts, and politicians — principally Democrats — immediately jumped on the exploitation bandwagon.
One such pro athlete — he jumped on the bandwagon with both feet — was NBA superstar LeBron James, who made off-the-cuff comments about the shooting of Jacob Blake — with absolutely zero facts to back up his incendiary accusations.
In my Wednesday piece titled LeBron Runs His Mouth About Kenosha Shooting; Leo Terrell Shows Up With a Few Suggestions, I included a tweet from OutKick’s Jason Whitlock — who immediately took issue with James, and has been torching him ever since.
Among the comments James made that really set Whitlock off was:
“We are scared as Black people in America. […] Black men, Black women, Black kids. We are terrified.”
Whitlock was not having it.
“I’m black. I’m not scared. I’m not terrified. Neither is LeBron James. He’s lying. He and the political activists controlling him want black people to immerse themselves in fear. Fear is a tool used to control people. If you comply with police instructions, there is virtually no chance of an American citizen being harmed by police.”
I’m black. I’m not scared. I’m not terrified. Neither is LeBron James. He’s lying. He and the political activists controlling him want black people to immerse themselves in fear. Fear is a tool used to control people. https://t.co/mPMWHbeN0y
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) August 25, 2020
Whitlock’s observation not only couldn’t be more true, it should be reinforced by politicians on both sides of the political aisle; we’ll get to that in few minutes. Whitlock’s tweet was in response to the following tweet, which contains video of James’s comments.
James said, in part:
“If you’re sittin’ here telling me there was no way to do, that gentleman. Or, detain him — before the firing of guns, then you’re sittin’ here and you’re lyin’ to not only me, you’re lyin’ to every African American — every black person in the community. Because we see it over and over and over.
“If you watched the video, there was [sic] multiple moments where they could’ve tackled him. They could’ve grabbed him. They could’ve done that. Why does it always have to get to a point where we see the guns firing?
[…]
“We are scared as Black people in America. … Black men, Black women, Black kids. We are terrified.”
“We are scared as Black people in America. … Black men, Black women, Black kids. We are terrified.”
LeBron shared a powerful message on Jacob Blake and what it’s like to be African American in America. pic.twitter.com/UOMD7rk7Bd
— ESPN (@espn) August 25, 2020
In a Wednesday OutKick piece titled BLM 101: Career Politicians Created Systemic Unfairness Are Playing LeBron and His Disciples for Suckers, Whitlock wrote, in part (bolded font, mine):
A day after LeBron James declared that black people live in daily fear of police violence and that black men are targeted for death by police, his disciples backed him up en masse.
James is the Al Sharpton of sports, an agent of chaos working closely with politicians who use racial division to rally voter support. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and black ministers can no longer deliver black voters to polling booths. The task has now been handed to James, Colin Kaepernick and black athletes.
It’s their job to inflame the emotions of black people and get us to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depended on it.
As you know, I don’t vote. I reject the pervasive dishonesty in politics. As it relates to BLM, the man or woman sitting in the White House has absolutely nothing to do with how police engage with a resisting suspect. President Barack Obama was in office when Michael Brown tussled with officer Darren Wilson.
The politicization of Jacob Blake is a byproduct of political dishonesty. The prevailing sentiment propagandized by BLM that police are intentionally targeting black men is a political ploy.
Bingo.
If Whitlock’s point were not true, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and the entirety of the Democrat Party would not be politicizing Kenosha. To his larger point, where were the Democrats when Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida? When Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri? Alton Sterling, Philando Castille, and others? Barack Obama was president during every one of those shootings.
Why was Obama not blamed, just as Democrats and their liberal media lapdogs now blame Donald Trump? These questions are rhetorical, of course; the Democrats, like LeBron James, are lying. Lying simply and obscenely for the sake of political expediency.
Whitlock first tore into James in a Tuesday column titled BLM 1-1: LeBron James is a Bigot:
OK, let’s head to the NBA Bubble at Disney World and check in with the NBA Police Review Board headed by internal affairs officer LeBron James. From his Florida hotel, Officer James is leading the investigation into the Kenosha, Wisconsin police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake.
In my Wednesday piece, I wrote:
James couldn’t see inside that car. He didn’t see what Blake could have been reaching for. He doesn’t even know what Blake might have been saying or threatening to do. The only person who did see what Blake was doing when he leaned into the car was the officer who shot him.
Whitlock had thoughts on the same observation.
LeBron James has more than 40 million followers on Twitter. Doesn’t he have a moral responsibility to be informed and measured before commenting on a controversy that could inspire civil unrest? What’s the harm in waiting 48 hours, 72 hours or a week?
[…]
LeBron James foolishly thinks he’s overseeing the police. He’s overseeing the black KKK. He’s promoting racism. He’s demonizing a group of white people based on the behavior of a few.
As a black man that sort of racist tactic should be terrifying. That racist tactic was used to deny us freedom in this country. No one who professes to care about the welfare of black people would adopt the tactics of white bigots.
Bigots, regardless of color, have a common trait. Ignorance. Ignorance fuels their ego. Information is their enemy. They avoid it at all costs. Negative anecdotes frame their worldview.
Bigotry has subdued and detained LeBron James.
Whether one agrees Whitlock’s larger position, or not, I cannot understand how anyone with a modicum amount of common sense would disagree with this: Don’t resist arrest. Period. As Whitlock said:
“If you comply with police instructions, there is virtually no chance of an American citizen being harmed by police.”
Political cartoonist Michael P. Ramirez illustrated it as only he can.
Posted by Mike Miller on Thursday, August 27, 2020
Again, why cannot Joe Biden and Kamala Harris make the above plea? Because it runs counter to the left-wing narrative that racist white cops patrol the streets of America, looking for innocent black men to shoot.
How’d George H.W. Bush say it? Wouldn’t be prudent.
Nor would it be politically expedient.
