Guest AuthorLast week, it was reported that former Florida Congressman Allen West recently got “fired” as director of programming for Next Generation TV at PJ Media after he allegedly called a staffer a “Jewish American Princess” during an “exchange.”
Both West and PJ Media denied that he had been let go, or even demoted. They claimed he was scaling back his work there “in order to focus on political interests.”
“No I didn’t get fired,” West told Buzzfeed, the social news and entertainment site that broke the story. “I’m leaving to pursue political aspirations. That’s it. There’ll be a statement that comes out and it’s effective in October.”
Indeed, in an e-mail to staffers that was leaked to the conservative press, PJ Media financier Aubrey Chernick confirmed that West was “transitioning” from Director of Programming at the website’s Next Generation.TV to a twice a month columnist at the conservative publication as of Oct. 1.
This is not the first time that West has been the center of controversy because of his penchant to engage in nasty dialogue. Still a powerful fundraiser with an army of blindly loyal activists on the far right, he has built a powerful cult of personality being bombastic and outrageous.
Indeed, remember the play he got in the back and forth between him and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in 2011 where he mocked her as “vile, unprofessional, and despicable,” “a coward,” “characterless,” and “not a lady”?
You have to wonder whether the JAP comment came out of his mouth because the staffer looked a little, or a lot, like Ms. Wasserman Schultz.
In our age of shock and awe, this incident truly exposes (once again) West as nothing more than a destructive political assclown, who has a history of attracting deserved condemnation for his ruthless messaging.
But that spotlight on his crude behavior didn’t occur this time. What’s fascinating about the coverage of West’s problem at PJ Media was the deafening silence about the incident.
Except for local South Florida coverage, West got a giant pass from mainstream liberal media, unlike Don Imus who got crucified by the far left and women’s groups for his “sista” remark and Paula Deen’s banishment from the Food Network for using the “n-word.”
Seriously, wasn’t that PJ staffer entitled to the same show of moral outrage that Georgetown student Sandra Fluke received when Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut?”
Guess not. There’s a dangerous double standard regarding Jews and Israel that encourages anti-Semitism. It’s obvious from the silence on the left that derogatory statements about a Jewish woman, even from guys like West, don’t warrant the same denunciation that political correctness requires when other minorities are derided.
And where was the moral indignation of the pundits on the right?
Obviously there’s that same double standard among pundits who embrace West, such as Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, or Pat Buchannan.
If the allegation is true, it may be time for conservatives to condemn, not encourage or condone, West’s behavior and rhetoric.
The tepid response to this incident highlights the lack of journalistic standards to report anti-Semitic behavior and a debilitating penchant in conservative circles for damage control when moral outrage should be center stage.
If West indeed mocked the woman as a “Jewish American Princess,” it not only calls his character into question, but serves to separate him from a nascent (and much needed) conservative movement. The trend is reflected in higher intellectual arguments surrounding Obamacare and the debt ceiling. It is being led by firebrand Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, and even an evolving Marco Rubio.
We have taken Allen West way too seriously way too long.
This latest incident shows it may finally be time for the GOP and conservatives to send Allen West back to the fringes of political obscurity from whence he came.
