Let’s give credit where credit is due. Ben Shapiro is one of the few sane conservatives out there. He walked out on Breitbart when it became apparent the site was throwing Michelle Fields under the bus. He is an open and unashamed never-Trumper, even in the face of vicious and anti-Semitic attacks.
That being said, Shapiro fell down on Wednesday morning when he spoke up about Donald Trump’s bizarre and unhinged speech to the Boy Scout Jamboree on Monday. He didn’t understand why Trump is being sliced, diced, and julienned for giving what amounted to a red meat-laden stump speech to 40,000 boys–some as young as 12.
So Leftists who think Boy Scouts should include girls and tried to kill the org over gay scoutmasters are mad at Trump's #BoyScoutSpeech.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 25, 2017
Let’s be clear, Ben. Encouraging little boys to boo your opponents and attacking the media as fake news doesn’t sound like something we should expect at a youth event. It’s more akin to something you’d hear at a Hitler Youth or North Korean rally. And telling 40,000 teenage boys stories about orgies on yachts is inappropriate and unacceptable–period, full stop.
In a sane world, any politician who gave such a speech, regardless of party, would be forced to apologize, and maybe even resign. If you gave such a speech to young kids, you would probably lose your column. That would be true for any columnist, regardless of political shade. In either case, calls for a drug test or a psychological evaluation wouldn’t be out of line.
Yes, a lot of liberal pundits–some of whom are former Scouts–are outraged by this. But so are a lot of ordinary people.
Why are the @boyscouts of America giving Trump a platform to rant and rave about politics and curse in front of children? WTF.
— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) July 24, 2017
I'm an Eagle Scout. Trump using the 30,000 BoyScouts as his props tonight was a scene out of Triumph of the Will. Shocking abuse of children
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) July 25, 2017
As a Scout leader, my stomach is in knots about what Trump did today. If you haven't watched it yet, don't. It's downright icky.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 25, 2017
As an Eagle Scout – and an American – really saddened by @POTUS words at @boyscouts jamboree. Those kids deserved far better.
— Chris Turner (@ChrisGTurner) July 25, 2017
I was a Boy Scout as a kid, but if the @boyscouts do not publically condemn Trump's disgusting display, they are dead to me!
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) July 25, 2017
If Shapiro needs more evidence that this isn’t a liberal or conservative thing, he should talk to author Ted Genoways, whose family has a four-generation legacy with scouting.
My grandfather was a scoutmaster for 40 yrs. He was awarded the Silver Beaver. The youth leadership award in that council is named for him.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
My father was an #EagleScout. He received the Silver Award in the Explorers. And he attended the National Jamboree in Valley Forge in 1957.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
I was an #EagleScout. I was on the staff of the National Jamboree at Fort AP Hill in 1989.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
My son is in Boy Scouts. He is a Star scout w/ all requirements completed for Life. He's hoping to finish his Eagle by next summer.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
Not long ago, my son and I went through the family collection of old Scout stuff. By trading, we have Jambo patches from 1933 to 1989.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
After looking at all of that, my son has been bugging me to go. He's been making plans w/ his grandfather, talking abt how we should all go.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
Thankfully, we were not among those in today's crowd. But there must be others there with stories like ours. Trump trampled that tradition.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
Worst of all, he did it for no reason. He made the national gathering of Boy Scouts about himself only b/c he makes everything abt himself.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
As Scouts, we were taught never to make our service about politics. Scouts are not supposed to appear in uniform at political events.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
And yet, Trump saw fit to turn the largest gathering of Boy Scouts into a political gathering, as if they had come together only to see him.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
It's the worst kind of desecration, and it he does it repeatedly and without a second thought.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) July 25, 2017
The Boy Scouts’ Facebook page is full of comments from outraged parents and former Scouts, many of whom have threatened to pull their kids from scouting unless the Boy Scouts’ leadership condemns Trump’s speech. The Boy Scouts’ initial weaker-than-weak sauce statement saying that it did not endorse Trump or his policies did little to stem the outrage.
If Shapiro needed more evidence that the outrage over this speech wasn’t just from the left, he should listen to Jedediah Bila, the lone conservative on “The View.” When Whoopi Goldberg and friends turned their five-inch guns on Trump, Bila joined in. Watch here.
Bila said that this was yet another reason she found herself “having to apologize for this guy.” She noted that the mere fact the Boy Scouts even had to release a statement burnishing their nonpartisanship after a speech by the president of the United States–even if it was weak sauce–should make Trump feel “humiliated.”
This is a long-winded way of reminding Shapiro that there are bright lines that no politician should cross, regardless of party. Trump crossed too many of them to count in what is, without a doubt, the most unhinged speech he has given in a career full of them. It cannot be repeated enough–this kind of talk would not be acceptable from a Democratic president, and it’s not acceptable now. Period.
(featured image courtesy Shapiro’s Facebook)
