The Key Word is Again

(3.5 minute read)

Ask a question.

            During a CNN interview Chris Wallace asked Bryan Cranston, “When you look at political discourse in this country today and the role that media plays in it what do you think?”[1]  In his reply Cranston touched on several issues.  Media bias.  Critical Race theory.  America being great.

In referring to the Make America Great Again (MAGA) slogan Bryan Cranston said, “Do you accept that could possibly be construed as a racist remark?”  He added that he didn’t think most people would.  Then he questioned when was America great for black people. 

MAGA heads came unglued.

Get answered.

Social media lit up!  Very quickly a response from sportswriter Jason Whitlock (who is, incidentally a person of color), formerly with “Fox Pravda” and currently with “the Blaze”[2] as a contributor, started making the rounds.  He covered several of the favorite NRF tropes.[3]  President Clinton.  Gays.  America’s turned from Jesus.  Marxism. 

In his response he said,

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“Many people want that America back, a country that allows two parents with nothing more than a good work ethic to lift their children to a better life. Life doesn’t get any better than that.” 

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Isn’t that great?  I believe that.

Now, I know that people will take that comment apart.  “What about single parents?!  What about their rights?!  What about childless parents?! 😊”  The thing is I know, or at least I think I do, what he meant.  In broader terms I think that it’s quite easy to expand what he said to mean that we want a world that’s better for everybody.  People from all walks of life.

Everybody.

Whitlock answered NO.

            In the totality of his response to the question Cranston posed, Whitlock’s answer was an unequivocal no.[4]  A serious no.  The kind of no that says if you think this, you’re probably a liberal Commie.  To even ask the questions is racist. 

            Portions of his commentary are just contradictory word salad.  At one point he said that the country hadn’t been great for him since 2012 except that it has been great for black people for the last 60 years (Civil Rights Act).[5]  Know why?  What happened in 2012?  He didn’t say.  It may be a personal thing.  Don’t know.  Life has its ups and downs. 

Well, Obama was elected President AGAIN in 2012 so there’s that.  It could be that it’s code messaging.  NRFs really don’t like Presidents Obama or Clinton.  Even though he left Hunter Biden out of his response Whitlock did bring up one of the Clintons.  That kind of reaffirms my faith.

But let’s go back to Whitlock’s original premise of America not being great for the last decade. That means that it wasn’t great under the Trump Administration either.  Maybe he’s a DeSantis fan.  So if Trump couldn’t make America great again when the Republican Party actually controlled the House and the Senate why should we believe he can make America great again if he couldn’t do it in the first place?

Ruh roh.

Easy question

            Answering Byron Cranston’s question doesn’t really seem all that controversial to me.  

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“Do you accept that [Make America Great Again] could possibly be construed as a racist remark?”

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            Yes, I do, given Trump’s history and how the MAGA movement has been conducted.  I can definitely see how people could possibly reach that conclusion.  Racist hate groups rushed to Trump in the very beginning and he stood up for them when others wouldn’t.[6]  White supremacists turned up in his administration and he has continued to court them since.  Racist hate groups were with him at the capitol on the day of the insurrection.[7][8]  Racists hate groups continue to support him.  His supreme court is rolling back legal protections for minorities that have long been established.  Hate crimes have gone up since he entered mainstream politics and continue to go up.[9]  Do I think that Trump is a racist? 

Yes, I do.

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[1] BC CNN interview:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpjrG4rLdQ

[2] https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-blaze/

[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trope

[4] https://www.theblaze.com/fearless/oped/whitlock-my-letter-to-breaking-bad-star-bryan-cranston

[5] https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act

[6] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/white-nationalist-hate-groups-southern-poverty-law-center

[7] https://www.npr.org/2021/01/06/954149243/what-groups-were-involved-in-pro-trump-insurrection

[8] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/several-well-known-hate-groups-identified-at-capitol-riot/

[9] https://www.adl.org/resources/report/us-white-supremacist-propaganda-remained-historic-levels-2021-27-percent-rise