American Spectator: Count Me Out On Trayvon Martin

[brooklynite]

Personally, I can't wait until Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum get offstage so we can start running a Presidential campaign that isn't based on trying to alienate the vast majority of Americans over irrelevant issues.

I'm referring of course to the Trayvon Martin case, where Newt and several other conservative loudmouths have managed to take a case that had absolutely nothing at all to do with Republicans and turn it into another brouhaha where the GOP are the bad guys.

...snip...

In any case, why do Republicans have to get involved in this mess? Wouldn't it be better to utter a few words of regret and move on to something more political? But no, good old Newt can't miss the chance to alienate three-quarters of the American population. What sets him off is President Obama's comment, "If I had a son, he would look just like Trayvon Martin." What's wrong with that? When President Obama went to Israel he said, "If somebody shot rockets at my house where my two daughters were sleeping at night, I'd do everything in my power to stop them." Was that introducing sex and religion into international relations? No, he was just empathizing. That's what Presidents are supposed to do.

But old Newt can't let that pass. Like a big, lazy trout he jumps for the bait. Obama's comment is "disgraceful" and "appalling," "trying to turn this into a racial issue." Good old Rick Santorum isn't far behind, accusing Obama of "introducing divisive rhetoric." So all of a sudden, it's Obama versus the Republicans with three-quarters of the population on Obama's side.

William Tucker:

[freshwest]

1. Have you got a link for this so I can pass it on?

[brooklynite]

2. Fixed

[freshwest]

3. Thanks. Having an argument with a dittohead elsewhere.

[Jim Lane]

4. We're fortunate that few of the right wingers are as smart as this author.

Tucker's take on the case is that Zimmerman was the problem, that he should probably be nailed for something like second-degree manslaughter, but that above all the Republicans and conservative commentators (he calls out Rush by name) should not be so eager to get on the wrong side of this issue.

Aside from not offering a knee-jerk defense of Zimmerman, Tucker appreciates the political situation. He's concerned that the case and its fallout will interfere with "the noble effort to unseat President Obama and save the country from economic ruin . . . ." So he's a doctrinaire right-winger who thinks that Obama's somewhat timid centrism is far too liberal, but he's at least smart enough to recognize that exalting George Zimmerman isn't a winning strategy for Republicans. It wouldn't surprise me if he thinks the same about demonizing Planned Parenthood.

Fortunately, the know-nothing element within the Republican Party is powerful enough to limit the party's ability to follow this advice.