Let's all agree that at the core of playing politics, is the reality that it is an engagement in hypocrisy.
For example, Donald Trump was
playing politics, which means he was engaging in hypocrisy, at the time that he
ordered the flag to be flown at half-mast when Ruth Ginsberg, a Jewish
Democratic opponent of his, died. He did so, having previously attacked John
McCain, a fellow Republican even after he died because he voted the wrong way
on healthcare. Trump also did it, having previously mocked a Gold Star family
because it was not white enough for his taste.
Recalling these realities
should help us determine if Becket Adams was sincere in writing his latest
piece of work, or if he was engaged in political journalism, which means
engaged in hypocrisy of the worst kind. The piece in question is an article
that came under the title: “Ilhan Omar takes a victory lap after Trump tests
positive for COVID-19,” published on October 2, 2020 in The Washington
Examiner.
Mind you, Becket Adams is only
accusing Ilhan Omar of taking what he calls a victory lap after learning that
Donald Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. This is a far cry from being
accused of worse sins such as those committed by Bette Midler who mocked Trump
with this: How can a HOAX infect anyone? That's a new one on me. And Dominic
West who said that he felt joy at the news Trump had caught COVID-19. And Zara
Rahim who said she hopes Trump would die.
Still, the question is whether
or not Ilhan Omar deserves to be so accused? Or is it that Becket Adams is
nothing more than a lowlife journalistic predator going after someone he feels
is by far superior to him and to his kind with her repeated display of class,
poise, intelligence and dedication to her political calling?
So, let's see what Becket
Adams says Ilhan Omar did that is wrong in his eyes. He admits that she
expressed sympathy toward Trump when she said the following: “As someone who
lost my own father to this virus and seen the pain it causes, I do not wish it
on anyone.” Well, as can be seen, there is no victory lap here. However,
according to Becket Adams, Ilhan Omar went on to say the following:
“Over 200,000 people have died
while this Administration actively ignores public health guidance and
suppresses science. For months, we have been hoping for a simple acknowledgment
from the President to hear the words, 'We will get through this together' [but]
now, we hear those words when it is about him, not the hundreds of thousands of
people who lost their lives, and the millions whose families have been touched
by it because of his malfeasance … The President and Republicans in Minnesota
are spreading a deadly virus. They are a risk to the public health of my constituents
and our country”.
And this is what Adams calls
victory lap. But how, why and where does he see a victory lap? He sees it in
his own interpretation of what Omar has said. Here is that interpretation:
“After her opening statement,
the congresswoman went on to ridicule the president, his allies, and his
supporters, calling them anti-science and menaces to Minnesota and the country
… Most decent people would not use such occasion as an opportunity to
score-settle and spike the football. Then again, no one ever accused Omar of
being decent”.
But what score does he believe
she is settling? Is it the fact that she was born and lived the first few years
of her life in a country that Trump has called a shit-hole? Or was it the fact
that he accused all Mexican migrants of being criminals who bring drugs to
America where they commit crimes such as rob, kill and rape? Or was it the fact
that he tried to ban Muslims from entering the United States?
But if what Omar has said
makes her indecent in the eyes of Becket Adams, what do the words uttered by
Donald Trump make him in the eyes of Becket Adams? How about obscene? Will that
satisfy Adams? But then again, if someone is obscene, why is it that pointing
out his obscenity is indecent?
Do you see what just happened,
my friend? In trying to revile Ilhan Omar, Becket Adams has highlighted the
grotesque nature of Donald Trump who did more than insult people left and
right. What he did and what he neglected to do resulted in thousands of dead
Americans of the Left and of the Right.
Ilhan Omar being an American
elected official in charge of protecting the health and well-being of her
constituents, simply pointed to them and to the rest of the country that not
wearing a mask, like Trump and his Republican cronies are saying, can lead to
life threatening consequences.
If this means taking a victory lap, it is the most noble victory lap anyone has ever taken. It takes someone of the Ilhan Omar caliber to make it and someone like Becket Adams to bark at it.