A not ready for prime time player [With Comment by John]

For the past 10 years the Star Tribune has shielded Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison from serious scrutiny. The Star Tribune has reported the apologetics of Ellison and his devoutly liberal Jewish supporters as facts. They are not. Ellison’s success in misleading the hometown crowd has deluded him into thinking he is ready for prime time as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He is not.

Allison Sherry’s pathetic piece on Ellison’s faltering bid to head the DNC is representative of the Star Tribune’s lame coverage of Ellison over the years. Contrast Sherry’s whiff with Andrew Kazcynski’s deeply reported investigative piece for CNN. Kaczynski includes the usual apologetics of Ellison and his supporters, but the facts tell a different story.

I disagree with Kaczynski in one particular. He absolves Ellison of anti-Semitic statements in his own voice. When Ellison came to the defense of Joanne Jackson in 1997 for disparaging Jews as “the most racist white people” she knew, however, Ellison read a statement that supported Jackson on the merits. “[I]t is absolutely true that merchants in Black areas treat Black customers badly,” Ellison explained in the Islam Study Group statement published in the Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder. See “Keith Ellison for dummies.”

As for the substance of the statement, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Or do you?

Kaczynski’s report concludes:

After initial publication of this story, a spokesperson for Ellison pointed CNN’s KFile to a post by the congressman on Medium published Wednesday night, where he wrote, “In my effort to pursue justice for the African-American community, I neglected to scrutinize the words of those like Khalid Muhammed and Farrakhan who mixed a message of African American empowerment with scapegoating of other communities. These men organize by sowing hatred and division, including, anti-Semitism, homophobia and a chauvinistic model of manhood. I disavowed them long ago, condemned their views, and apologized.”

Ellison continues his imposture, but his act is not ready for prime time. That’s my take.

JOHN adds: It seems clear that Ellison is not going to be the next DNC head, and the credit goes 100% to Scott. It is only because of Scott’s reporting, which has gone national, that the Democrats have decided that Ellison is one more embarrassment they cannot afford. That development is unfortunate for the Republican Party, but good for America.

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