Steve King Muffs It

Yesterday there was a most unusual spectacle on the floor of the United States Congress. Steve King of Iowa joined in a vote condemning “white supremacy” in which his name appeared in the first “whereas” clause:

Whereas, on January 10, 2019, Representative Steve King was quoted as asking, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

The resolution followed:

Resolved, That the House of Representatives once again rejects White nationalism and White supremacy as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.

Rep. King voted for the resolution because, as he said, he agreed with “every word.” “It’s an honest and direct resolution put together to address the subject that has been too long before the public dialogue in this country.”

But what about the “whereas” clause that mentions him?

Rep. King doesn’t seem to mind because he insists he is not a white nationalist or supremacist, and that his remarks were twisted out of context — and they probably were. The New York Times quoted him as saying, “white nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” Congressman Steve King explained that he meant that terms such as “Nazi” and “Fascist” and “white supremacist” are “increasingly assigned to Conservatives by the Left.” There should have been a period after “white supremacist” in the quotation. It was only about “Western civilization” that he wondered how it had come to be seen as offensive.

Even more to the point, Steve King explicitly told his New York Times interviewer, “It’s not about race; it’s never been about race.” He later added in a subsequent statement, “America’s values are expressed in our founding documents, they are attainable by everyone and we take pride that people of all races, religions, and creeds from around the globe aspire to achieve them.” He also called white nationalism an “evil ideology.”

There is no reason to disbelieve Rep. King. What he is saying now is consistent with everything he has always said. The chances are zero that he would suddenly — in the middle of an interview with the New York Times — defend white nationalism or white supremacy. This entire incident is almost certainly a completely fabricated case of “racism” that not only the lefty media but every Republican has swallowed without a gurgle.

The Republican leadership recently stripped him of his committee assignments, rendering him essentially powerless. Rep. King calls the removals an “unprecedented assault on my freedom of speech.”

And so it was that Rep. King urged the entire House to vote for the resolution condemning white nationalism and white supremacy — even though he denied the legitimacy of linking the resolution to anything he, himself, had said.

Only one member voted against the resolution: Democrat Bobby Rush, who argued that it did not go far enough because it didn’t actually censure Rep. King. Bobby Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers, and his political life has been dominated by race. In 2005, he and the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus met with Louis Farrakhan — not surprising given that a recent poll shows half of black America supports the Nation of Islam leader. In 2012, he wore a hoodie on the floor of the House to protest the Trayvon Martin case. In 2013, when Senator Mark Kirk suggested gang members should be arrested in Congressman Rush’s district of crime-ridden Chicago, the Representative called it an “elitist white boy solution.” Though he was quick to condemn Rep. King, Rep. Rush was careful not to offend his hosts when he visited Communist Cuba in 2009, saying, “I don’t believe in pontificating from a platform of superiority.”

It’s useful to contrast Steve King with the late Sam Francis. Dinesh D’Souza ensured that the writer whom Pat Buchanan called the “Clausewitz of the Right” would be purged from the Washington Times because of Francis’s comments at an American Renaissance conference. Mr. D’Souza considered one particular quote damning — “If the people or race who created and sustained the civilization of the West should die, then the civilization will also die.” Sam Francis explicitly made the connection between race and civilization that Steve King denied.

Incredibly, every journalist and “conservative” seems to believe that Steve King made the same point Francis did — even though he was making the opposite point.

• “King’s words this week drawing a parallel between ‘white supremacy’ and ‘Western Civilization’ are especially ominous. . . Western civilization isn’t ‘white,’ if by ‘white’ one is referring to skin color.” – John Podhoretz, New York Post
• “Western civilization is not synonymous with whiteness. . . American civilization is. . . supposed to judge people on their individual merits, not keep score based on their ancestry.” — Jonah Goldberg, National Review
• “[Steve King has been] nodding to fringe tropes such as ‘cultural suicide by demographic transformation’ that reduce the legitimate issue of national cohesion to an ugly exercise in racial bean-counting.” — The Editors, National Review

Unfortunately for National Review, in a multiracial democracy, elections really are an “ugly exercise in racial-bean counting.” Even Bill Kristol recently admitted “demography is destiny” and that America runs a “census every two years as much as an election.” Yet this was not Steve King’s point. He was suggesting that a sense of cultural unity and pride is necessary to create national cohesion, but cultural unity is not enough; most non-whites want no part of a national identity they consider inextricably linked to whites.

Rep. King is surprisingly naive. He should know by now that journalists cannot be trusted. He admitted on the floor of the House that he made a “freshman mistake:” indulging in an hour-long phone call with a New York Times reporter without taping it. Since the election of Donald Trump, journalists are increasingly open about their agenda of scalp-taking, and Steve King should have known that.

The way Republican politicians and Conservatism Inc. journalists are circulating an out-of-context quote suggests they were simply looking for an excuse to purge Rep. King all along. Of course, this also means journalists can use the same tactic against other Republicans in the future. Furthermore, because Republicans are congratulating themselves for sanctioning Rep. King, journalists will undoubtedly press for them to punish others they accuse of slipping the liberal leash, notably President Trump. Via his unforced media error, Steve King has made it more difficult for everyone who fights for immigration restriction and American patriotism. The first rule of political action is to do no harm, and he failed.

Steve King narrowly won re-election in the last campaign, and his prospects are grim. Clearly he voted for the resolution because he believes he still has a political future. He has thus far avoided censure by the House and perhaps believes journalists and the Democrat-led chamber will move on from this artificial scandal. Unfortunately, Republicans are already under pressure to do more to punish him, either by censuring or even expelling him. Steve King may believe that he has saved the remnants of his career, but because this saga is not over, the congressman has one last chance for redemption.

If Steve King is censured by the House or if he reconciles himself to this being his last term, he is free in a way no other Republican is. Betrayed by party leaders and facing a fierce primary battle, Steve King has no reason to be loyal to those who stabbed him in the back. He can use his platform to attack both the Democrats and the GOP leadership in unprecedented ways.

For example, while the Republican leadership is eager to attack Rep. King, it is silent about expressions of racial nationalism and radicalism within Democrat ranks. Just a few hours before Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez celebrated Rep. King’s loss of committee assignments, she was dancing in her office with Al Sharpton. Mr. Sharpton is bragging that he could be a kingmaker in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary. Republicans are ignoring this.

Steve King can also attack Democrats for their ties to Louis Farrakhan. He can bring up the picture of former president Barack Obama with Mr. Farrakhan, a picture a black journalist actively concealed to help Mr. Obama’s prospects. Congressman King can also denounce the black nationalism of Keith Ellison and Hank Johnson, both of whom at one time supported a black ethnostate. Steve King should ask Congressman Dan Crenshaw if he is “proud” to vote against black nationalism — and if not, why he is so willing to vote against fellow Republicans but too cowardly to call out black Democrats’ racial nationalism?

The presidential campaign of Donald Trump shows that right-wing media would amplify these charges, even if the Republican leadership wants them silenced. Racial nationalism is a wedge Congressman King can drive into Democrat ranks.

The most important thing Rep. King could do — if he has the conviction and the courage — is make an explicit statement in defense of whites as a group with an identity and collective interests. This would be an acknowledgement that every racial group in the United States is consciously pursuing its own group interests, and whites must do the same. Even Republicans most fiercely opposed to expressions of white racial consciousness, such as Mitt Romney, choose electoral districts based on demographic factors. The racial chieftains of the Democrat Party should be called out for what they are — not progressives, but imperialistic, revanchist, right-wing nationalists for their own racial groups.

Steve King should respond with defiance and courage. Otherwise, he will be remembered as a racist when he leaves the House. He will be called a racist if he again tries to enter public life. When he dies, he’ll be dismissed as a defeated racist.

However, Congressman Steve King’s story is not over. He is still in the House and evidently believes he will stay there. Just as the loss of the House to the Democrats seems to have shocked President Trump into strong action, the same may hold true if Congressman King faces expulsion. At a certain point, he will have nothing to lose. If he is on the brink of being expelled, that would allow him to make a speech that exposes racial double standards, attacks Republican cowardice, and asserts white interests. If he did such a thing, he would defy Enoch Powell’s contention that every political life ends in failure. His critics would still call him racist, but he would have furthered the day when such a charge no longer matters.

Steve King has an opportunity to transform American politics. He is still in Congress; he has not been metaphorically “shot.” Today, he is undoubtedly reading newspapers calling him a racist, a Nazi, and a fiend despite his vote on the resolution. There must be some part of him that revolts against this fate.

Steve King has been treated shamefully. He has displayed spinelessness and incompetence. He is just another example that shows that adopting the Left’s language and perspective, no matter how enthusiastically, never pays. Yet his fate is still in his hands. If he can summon the courage, he can still become a potent force in American politics.