After tragedies like the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, we learn a lot about our political figures. In the aftermath of 9/11, we saw the epitome of leadership with then-Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, earning him the unofficial title of “America’s Mayor” and the recognition of leftwing Time magazine’s “Person of the Year.” When Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi’s henchman blew up Pan Am flight 103 in 1988, killing scores of innocent Americans, President Ronald Reagan didn’t just retaliate, he bombed Gadhafi’s house, and Gadhafi went into hiding for decades. Those are examples of true leadership following a tragedy. And then, we have clowns like Beto O’Rourke.
Winner: Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke lifts the Democrats’ skirt, and shows the world what their true priority is.
The key to being an effective politician in today’s Democratic Party is to be able to put up a façade while simultaneously implementing and advancing your actual agenda. “I care about you and your families.” Wink, wink. Nod, nod.
Former President Barack Obama was masterful in applying this tactic. While Obama was preaching, “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America,” he was concurrently promoting the approach of identity politics to divide us at every opportunity. President Joe Biden may be essentially brain-dead right now, but he’s lucid enough to convince some people that our current gasoline crisis isn’t about his green agenda, it’s about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But the stunt Beto O’Rourke pulled this week exposed what Democrats really care about. Power.
Less than 24 hours after the murder of 19 schoolchildren and 2 teachers in Uvalde, Texas, O’Rourke implemented a scheme to attempt to take advantage of the carnage. According to CBS News, two people saved seats for O’Rourke in an auditorium prior to a press briefing by Texas Governor Greg Abbott that included various members of law enforcement and elected officials, including the mayor of Uvalde and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Just prior to the briefing’s commencement, O’Rourke quietly entered and took one of the seats.
Shortly after the proceedings were underway, O’Rourke stood up and approached the dais from where Abbott and the others were speaking. Among other things, O’Rourke asserted, “This is totally predictable” and “This is on you.” Comments that were directed at Abbott.
Shouts toward O’Rourke came from the crowd, and from various officials. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick exclaimed, “You’re out of line and an embarrassment.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), let loose with, “Sit down and don’t play this stuff.” And O’Rourke’s audio was mostly drowned out by shouts from the mayor, “Sir, you’re out of line! Please leave this auditorium. I can’t believe you sick son of a bitch would come to a deal like this to make a political issue.”
As CBS’ Janet Shamlian accurately assessed, O’Rourke’s stunt was “clearly staged,” and the reason is obvious. O’Rourke is currently polling behind Abbott by double-digits for November’s general election. He’s desperate, and on Wednesday he gambled that such shenanigans would help his campaign. But he’s wrong.
Not only is O’Rourke going to get clobbered by Abbott in November, that margin of victory for the Republican undoubtedly widened after O’Rourke’s ploy. Abbott and the others were somber and doing their best to inform a shocked public of what happened and why. In the audience were parents and relatives of the victims, suffering from unimaginable grief. Wednesday’s press conference should have been about sorrow and assessment. Instead, Beto O’Rourke tried to make it about him and his campaign. And it backfired on him spectacularly.
But Beto’s trick inflicted even deeper damage; much deeper.
After O’Rourke’s stunt, virtually no prominent Democrats came out and condemned him. The mainstream media’s coverage was minimal, and much of what they had to say was favorable of O’Rourke. The far-left outlets CNN and MSNBC offered glowing coverage of O’Rourke’s gambit, and it was these reactions that truly caused the damage.
Beto O’Rourke was never going to be elected governor of Texas. Never. But by pulling his stunt this week, and with Democrats and their media either applauding or ignoring its outrageousness, O’Rourke has effectively unveiled the Democrats’ true agenda.
The Democrats don’t care about those dead kids, they care about power. They’re not looking for solutions, they’re looking to win elections. And they couldn’t care less about mourning parents and communities. When an opportunity presents itself, they’ll do whatever it takes to seize that moment, up to and including grandstanding at a proceeding as solemn as this one.
This week, Beto O’Rourke exposed Democrats as disingenuous political opportunists and nothing more. And it is for this reason that Mr. O’Rourke is a knucklehead.
Honorable Mention #1: Former President Barack Obama tweets comparison of Uvalde shooting to George Floyd.
The day after the shooting, Obama tweeted the following:
As we grieve the children of Uvalde today, we should take time to recognize that two years have passed since the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer. His killing stays with us all to this day, especially those who loved him.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 25, 2022
Can you see what one has to do with the other? Can you recognize the similarities between the two events? Of course, you can’t because there are no similarities. The only thing that the Uvalde shooting and George Floyd have in common is that in both situations Democrats have tried to exploit the deaths of folks for their political benefit. Beyond that reality, the two events are about as similar as apples and rocks.
Honorable Mention #2: President Biden’s polling numbers lowest in history.
The polling numbers for President Biden continue to be disastrous. According to Red State, Biden is now polling at the lowest average number of any president at this point in his presidency since widespread polling began. He’s currently at a 40.9% approval rating, and a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Biden at 36% approval, the lowest level yet for that polling outlet.
So, why do these results earn a spot for the president in our weekly discussion on knuckleheadedness? Because it takes ineptitude of epic proportions to achieve such dismal numbers. Biden has the mainstream media in his pocket. He’s got a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. He came into office poised to oversee a thriving economy, a world mostly at peace, and a post-pandemic national revival. All he had to do was continue to hide in his basement, listen to his record player, and pretend to be president. But he couldn’t help himself.
PF Whalen
P.F. Whalen is a conservative author at TheBlueStateConservative.com. His work has appeared in multiple publications, including Human Events, the Western Journal, and American Thinker. Follow him on Parler and GETTR; he does not do Facebook and Twitter.
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