Vicki Marble: My take on the Cub Scout interview
The Denver Post recently accused me, in an editorial, of “lying” to a group of Cub Scouts about comments I made years ago that some saw as racially insensitive, when, in response to one question, I provided accurate context that’s always been missing from the preferred media narrative.
That the reporters-turned-pontificators who run The Post’s opinion page were so quick to breathe new life into that false narrative, without the professional courtesy of calling to get both sides of the story, is another example of why so many Americans don’t seem to mind when President Donald Trump pushes back against biased bullies in the press corps.
The original controversy occurred in 2013, during a presentation at the Capitol highlighting higher mortality rates suffered by African-Americans, relative to Hispanics and whites, for reasons ranging from heredity to poverty to lifestyle choices. It’s an issue that I, as a lawmaker, take seriously. And such conversations are necessary to help generate solutions.
One colleague took offense when I observed that some of these problems stem not just from biological factors beyond an individual’s control, but due to personal choices and food preferences, which is something widely recognized as true. That somehow got twisted by the PC police into a case of racial stereotyping, by inserting words or meanings that furthered their narrative but weren’t true. Then, through the echo effect of repeated re-telling, it’s become a political myth.
Now, fast forward to the present. When one Scout recently asked me about the controversy, phrasing the question in a way that mischaracterized what I said, I told him that the popular media narrative didn’t happen, because it didn’t include the context in which those comments were made. My answer explained, clarified and corrected the record. But The Post prefers to perpetuate the myth and calls that “lying.”
The questions asked by the Scouts that day were no different from those I get at other venues. I enjoy the opportunity to answer them.
Taped snippets of my comments were posted by a politically motivated mom on YouTube and shared with a progressive hit group, in obvious hopes of reviving the controversy. Those looking to exploit the moment for political gain must have been hoping that some easily manipulated members of the “mainstream media” would willingly play their part. And they have, with The Post leading the pack.
It’s been clear from the start of this controversy that my critics aren’t interested in any explanation that goes against their narrative. All they want is to politically damage those who stand firm on conservative principles. Any explanation I offer will be unacceptable to them, given how wedded they are to one narrative.
Scouts routinely invite elected officials to speak, as part of a requirement to meet with government leaders, and I was honored to accept the invitation. I came to the meeting, I answered questions and what happened afterward in the den was only something I heard about later, from someone who read about it in the paper.
I don’t blame the boy
(who remains a member of the pack) for asking his questions, since I believe there was an element of manipulation involved. He has the same First Amendment rights the rest of us do. I understand how other parents or den leaders might not have appreciated one mom’s attempt to exploit the moment for political purposes, or to share the unauthorized tape nationally without the knowledge or permission of den leaders or other parents, given that the Scouts are a politically neutral organization. Decisions about who is in or out of a den are internal matters of a private organization, which it is entitled to make free from outside political or media pressure.
As an outstanding and upstanding organization, the Scouts no doubt will find a fair way to resolve the issue and move on. The same sadly can’t be said for The
Denver Post.