OPINION:
The left has found its newest talking point, and it’s one that goes like this: All you Republicans are simply cruel and heartless — vicious, even.
That’s what they’re calling President Donald Trump, for trying to put immigration back in the hands of Congress, where it legislatively and constitutionally belongs.
That’s what they’re saying about Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, for announcing plans to overhaul Barack Obama-era guidance for colleges on handling on-campus sexual assaults.
It’s like the left doesn’t have any logical arguments to present, so its members instead cry out like petulant children, “You’re being mean.” What are we, like 5?
DeVos recently held a summit on campus-tied sexual assaults, concluding that Obama’s system of dealing with the crime led to biased outcomes — where the rights of the accused were trampled — and that current definitions of sex harassment and assault are way too broad.
What was the Obama policy?
It came in the form of a 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter,” and threatened colleges with loss of federal funding if administrators didn’t do more to create safe atmospheres on their campuses — including adopting new guidance that weakened the standard of proof for sexual attack accusations.
It was a far-left feminist’s dream.
But it often left justice and truth in the corner.
“The rights of one person can never be paramount to the rights of another,” she said during remarks at George Mason University, The Hill reported.
Well, let the backlash begin.
“Any change that weakens Title IX protections will be devastating,” wrote the former vice president, Joe Biden, on his Facebook page, while calling on activists across America to fight the change.
And let the spin begin, as well.
“It’s really telling us that we don’t matter, that our pain is not relevant to people in power,” said one 18-year-old who claimed she was assaulted as a high school freshman, Politico reported.
Read: Republicans are cruel.
“[This] sends a frightening message to all students: Your government does not have your back if your rights are violated,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, Politico reported. “This misguided approach signals a green light to sweep sexual assaults further under the rug.”
This, from Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, goes even blunter — even wilder in accusatory tone.
“This is another cruel, heartless move from the Discrimination Administration,” Keisling said. “President Trump and Secretary DeVos are inviting schools to return to the days when survivors were shamed, blamed, ignored and abandoned. Make no mistake: Title IX is working and the only reason for this move is to legitimize discrimination and promote dangerous myths about rape.”
Ouch. You’d think DeVos had announced her department was poised to legalize rape.
But this is the left’s new mantra, and one that’s been making headway during Trump’s reel-in of DACA. For that, he’s been blasted as “cruel” and “heartless,” pretty much a hater of humankind.
Now it’s DeVos’ turn, it seems. And the left has apparently decided it’s sane and sensible to paint her not only as “cruel,” but as a proponent of rape — a defender of rapists. Talk about spin. This is beyond ridiculous.
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