Pervy Milo Yiannopoulos Bounced From CPAC After Being Exposed (TWEETS)

By
Darrell Lucus
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In recent years, there’s been a lot of reason to wonder whether the American Conservative Union, the folks who run the Conservative Political Action Conference, have any standards at all. In 2012, for instance, CPAC invited Peter Brimelow, the founder of the notorious white nationalist site VDARE, to speak at a panel on the supposed failure of multiculturalism. That same year, one speaker actually applauded attacks on mosques.

Well, it looks like that CPAC and the ACU have some standards after all. Alt-right provocateur and Breitbart News columnist Milo Yiannopoulos was slated to have a prime speaking slot at this coming weekend’s edition of CPAC just outside Washington. But less than 24 hours after video surfaced showing Yiannopoulos seemingly condoning pedophilia, CPAC told Yiannopoulos that he was not welcome.

ACU chairman Matt Schlapp made the announcement late Monday afternoon.

“Insufficient” is being really kind to it. Yiannopoulos’ claim that those criticizing him were merely aping the tactics of “social justice warriors” is downright laughable, considering that he openly stated that sexual relationships between younger boys and older men were “coming of age” situations.

The ACU’s move did not come without some prodding. Soon after the videos surfaced, Yiannopoulos’ remarks were condemned from across the political spectrum. Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard said it was “despicable” that Yiannopoulos was being allowed to speak there. Jonah Goldberg of National Review thought that Yiannopoulos was even on the schedule at all, and wondered why his history of racist and anti-Semitic remarks wasn’t a “deal breaker.”

Apparently the decision to invite Yiannopoulos went over the head of the ACU’s board. Ned Ryun, an ACU board member and the head of American Majority, an organization that identifies and trains potential conservative candidates for local and state offices, was particularly outraged that his organization would allow Yiannopoulos to darken its doorstep. He was also angered that Schlapp hadn’t bothered to clear the invite with the ACU board.

According to TheBlaze, Schlapp would have been faced with an open revolt had Yiannopoulos remained on the schedule. At least one board member was prepared to resign if Schlapp hadn’t pulled the invitation, and others were reportedly ready to follow him out the door.

The most stinging criticism, however, came from CNN’s Jake Tapper. In a Sunday night tweetstorm, Tapper recalled that one of his conservative friends was molested as a child, and hit the ceiling when he saw Yiannopoulos on tape.

There was already ample reason to wonder why Schlapp had lost his mind even before these disgusting videos came out. After all, we’re talking about a guy who is one of the most notorious apologists for rape culture in the country. When Harvard benched its men’s soccer team for creating “scouting reports” about the women’s team, Yiannopolos harrumphed that they were being punished for mere “locker room talk.” He was also permanently banished from Twitter for leading the trolling of Leslie Jones.

Yiannopoulos isn’t the only one who has some explaining to do. If Schlapp needed to see those videos to conclude that a man who is nothing more than a highly-paid troll had any business being at CPAC, it’s time for him to go. If a liberal organization had invited someone with Yiannopoulos’ history to speak at a conference, the organizers would have been ridden out on a rail within minutes, not hours, of said history coming to light. After all, we would have never stood for giving this kind of debauchery a platform, not even for a minute.

This is no different. If Schlapp has anything in him, he will offer an apology of his own for inviting Milo–and resign himself.

(featured image courtesy Milo’s Facebook)

Darrell Lucus
Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.

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