In the current political climate, it serves as an epiphany. As a glimmer of hope. As a hammer to break up conformity.
Yes, that is a sad commentary upon the state of our discourse, but sometimes you need to celebrate the small victories. So when David Gellatly, chairman of the Clark County Republican Party, channels his inner Ronald Reagan and says, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20 percent traitor,” you take note — and not solely because he pulled off the rare accomplishment of accurately quoting a historical figure.
Gellatly was speaking about a controversy surrounding conservative commentator Tomi Lahren, a 24-year-old rising star of the right wing who has garnered a massive following through social media and through segments on Glenn Beck’s conservative platform, The Blaze. Like all notable political commentators these days, Lahren has used incendiary partisan speech as the currency to purchase her fame.
She once, for example, said of young black men being shot by police: “The term unarmed black man may be literally accurate, but it doesn’t tell the whole story in most cases. In a number of cases, if the victim ended up being unarmed, it was certainly not for a lack of trying.” Which on the scale of racist dog whistles rates about a C8. Ah, who are we kidding? It’s not even a dog whistle; it’s a trumpet blast.
