Larry Elder Attacks Media, Shows Multiple Times They Called Republicans Monkeys
There seem to be two wildly different standards in America today: One for liberals, and one for conservatives.
Roseanne Barr may not fit conveniently into either of those categories, but her recent scandal has exposed this double standard perfectly.
This week, of course, Roseanne had her successful television show of the same name unexpectedly canceled and her career possibly destroyed… all because of a single tweet.
Her post — which was in poor taste and we won’t defend — was a bad joke that compared Obama crony Valerie Jarrett to the famous film “Planet of the Apes.”
Hollywood and most of the left had a meltdown, with cries of racism and a demand for Roseanne’s proverbial head on a platter.
Larry Elder, however, didn’t join in the outraged mob. The conservative talk show host, who also happens to be black, used Twitter to make a point the left has ignored: The comedian’s post may not have been based on racism, and liberals have made similar bad jokes for years without consequences.
On Wednesday, Elder posted a comparison photo showing both Valerie Jarrett and a makeup-wearing figure from “Planet of the Apes.”
His point was clear, even though it will send the left into a tizzy: If you ignore racial components for a minute, you can actually see the joke Roseanne was trying to make.
Sure enough, the hairstyle, eyebrows, and expression of Jarrett aren’t entirely dissimilar to the movie shot — which, remember, is a human actress in costume, not an actual animal.
We’ll say this again: Roseanne’s joke was mean-spirited and uncalled for, and she should have known better than to make it. But that’s very different than saying that she only made it because of racism, as opposed to mocking someone’s appearance in a bad attempt at humor.
As Elder went on to point out, liberals have consistently mocked the appearance of conservatives they dislike, even blatantly comparing them to real animals.
“(Donald Trump should prove he wasn’t) the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan,” liberal host Bill Maher crassly declared on “The Tonight Show” in 2013.
“(Roseanne) makes the same joke about Obama aide Valerie Jarrett — and Barr’s show gets canceled,” Elder pointed out on Twitter. “#DoubleStandard.”
But wait! There’s more! Elder also posted a video of CNBC News in 2007, during which liberal reporter Erin Burnett blatantly called President George W. Bush a “monkey” on live television.
Was Burnett scolded or ostracized for literally calling the president, a man with daughters and grandchildren, a “monkey?” No. Actually, she was promoted, and now hosts her own show on CNN.
Apparently calling the president an orangutan or a monkey is hilarious to the left, but making a bad joke about a liberal and a science-fiction movie about space apes is the absolute pinnacle of impropriety.
This is the real problem with the Roseanne controversy. Nobody, including us, will defend her poor taste joke, but that’s really not the point.
What has been exposed is an entire structure that allows liberal comedians and pundits to be as vile as they want against conservatives with impunity. Trump can be called an orangutan or be called a “motherf***ing traitor” by people like Keith Olbermann, and the left cheers.
President George W. Bush, the man who faced some of the darkest days in American history, can be called a monkey by CNBC and liberals cackle hysterically.
But a comedian who has made her bread and butter on being edgy and bluntly mocking people will now be torn apart by sanctimonious elites, because she made a bad joke about a similarity in appearance that she noticed and thought was funny.
This is the modern “gotcha” culture. It is more about enforcing one-sided political correctness rules than actually fighting real racism. It’s a system of double standards that are wielded as political weapons.
Elder is right: There is huge hypocrisy here, and you don’t have to defend Roseanne to see it.
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