Cooper's Eye on the Left: Farrakhan's coziness with Democrats

Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan speaks on the campus of Alabama A&M University in 2012.
Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan speaks on the campus of Alabama A&M University in 2012.

'It wasn't me'

Democrats have been catching a little heat lately over their continued coziness with racist and anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam minister. And now even the left-wing Washington Post has called out a Democrat over his comments on Farrakhan.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a former Nation of Islam member, has continued to say his relationship to the controversial minister ended in 2006, when he ran for office. But the Post's fact-check desk has given Ellison "four Pinocchios," its harshest rating, for that statement.

Instead of the relationship ending in 2006, the congressman has attended three meetings with Farrakhan while in Congress, research showed. During one of those meetings, he visited Farrakhan's hotel room with Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind. On another occasion, he and two other congressmen attended a private dinner hosted by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in which Farrakhan was in attendance.

"[Ellison] cannot claim to have 'disavowed' Farrakhan more than a decade ago while moving in the same circles and apparently having a friendly chat behind closed doors," the newspaper's fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, wrote. "... Ellison is trying to have it both ways, publicly distancing himself while privately doing something else."

Don't let the door hit ya

The Democratic Party is trying to purify its brand way over on the left end of the spectrum, and one of the elected officials it's anxious to oust is seven-term U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinksi, D-Ill.

Lipinksi is opposed to abortion and is one of three Democrats still in office who voted against passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in 2010.

Not only have two of his fellow House members, Reps. Luis Gutierrez and Jan Schacowsky, endorsed his primary challenger, businesswoman Marie Newman, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is not supporting him, a rarity for a sitting member of Congress.

"This is part of the reason Donald Trump won," Lipinski recently told The New York Times. "Democrats have chased people out of the party."

His district used to be populated by working-class residents who once felt at home in the Democratic Party, but now it's home to more residents like 49-year-old teacher Elizabeth Layden, who doesn't care for the congressman and is working to unseat him.

"Because he's a dinosaur, 'cause he's a phony, 'cause he's a Republican who claims to be a Democrat," she railed. "Hello, women's rights, and hello, my reproductive rights. Get out of my uterus."

Welcome to your new Democratic Party.

I've got a saw, and I know how to use it

Like Layden, another new Democrat who'd like to represent the party in the U.S. House is Karen Mallard, a school teacher who is a candidate in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. But she's in a bit of trouble right now as the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agency is looking into the political stunt she posted on Facebook last week.

To advocate for gun reform in the wake of the Feb. 14 school shooting in Florida, she posted a video of herself sawing off the barrel of her husband's rifle.

"I grew up in Wise County, surrounded by guns," Mallard said. "Our family had guns my whole life. We use them for hunting, for protection and recreation. So, today, we're going to destroy it."

Then she picked up a handheld power saw and diced up the weapon. In doing so, she apparently broke the law. Virginia's Sawed-Off Shotgun and Sawed-Off Rifle Act prohibits people from having a rifle that has been "modified to an overall length of less than 26 inches."

In a post accompanying the video, Mallard said, "[F]or all the NRA trolls out there, I finished the job according to regulation and turned it over to the police."

She's unlikely to get more than a hand slap for the stunt, but the ATF is on the case.

Nutritious nutria

Democrats are all for wildlife protection - until the wildlife bothers them.

One such case is in liberal California, where the Department of Fish and Wildlife has said it's working to eradicate nutria from the state because, if established, they could cause destruction to wetlands and damage agriculture crops, levees, dikes and roadbeds.

Since Golden State residents would never deign to kill the rodents for their fur (which once was a trade), it has even been suggested the nutria - which can get up to 20 pounds and 2.5 feet in length - could be eaten. The meat of the animal is said to be healthier than turkeys and to taste like wild rabbit. The website of Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries offers recipes featuring their meat in soups, salads and jambalaya.

California managed to eradicate the rodent, which is native to South America, in the 1970s, but more than 20 recently have been discovered in rivers, wetlands and canals in three counties. And the little critters, within a year of reaching reproductive maturity, can give birth to more than 200 offspring.

Today, nutria are said to be found in 18 states.

If the party ever gets tired of its donkey, the rodent might be a good substitute.

Upcoming Events