Two weeks ago, I participated in a debate on reparations hosted by the American Public Square and later televised by KCPT, the PBS station in Kansas City. If I didn’t know beforehand that the game was rigged, I did by the time the edited debate hit the airwaves. Grab your wallets, folks. The reparations crowd is coming for your money.
The concept behind American Public Square is a reasonable one. Troubled by the increasing polarization of the electorate, former ambassador to Portugal Allan Katz founded the organization to bridge the partisan divide through civil discourse.
The programming skews left, as does the audience, but the forum provides contrarians like myself an opportunity to burst the occasional bubble. Some years back, for intense, I participated in a discussion on Muslims in which the on-site “fact-checker” came to my aid more than once, as did the ringer of the “civility bell.” I cannot say I converted anyone to my viewpoint, but in my strategically congenial way — “Honey, he’s not the monster I thought he was” — I may have forced a few people to question their assumptions.
The reparations discussion was anything but congenial. The organizers had a hard time finding a second person to take the “con” side. The one fellow on the “pro” side could barely bring himself to look at me before we started. The moderator, like the organizers, seemed nervous throughout. The audience was about 20 percent black and generally hostile. And all my jokes fell flat.
On the Muslim panel, I tried a little Sun Tzu on the audience, questioning why liberals would ally themselves with a faith group more socially conservative than even the dreaded religious right. On the reparations panel, I again avoided the obvious flaws in their argument and asked instead why black activists would appeal to the very liberals whose largesse has shattered their communities.
This is all noise and distraction- another shiny object for the stupid to focus on. It Ain’t gonna happen. We will be amidst WW3 within a year because of pedo Peter/ the big guy/ the demented bag of shit that was selected by the deep state and the CCP. All these “victims” will be denied again.
11:08 – I agree to a point in that it’s yet another ploy to harness votes. It won’t happen, but it gives the Dems a talking point other than the many failed polices of Biden, along with his seriously illegal activities. WW3 will not happen, as the Chinese have jut too much money to loose…and both Putin and Xi know Trump is coming.