Republican Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is a glitch in the ideological system.
Here is a black Marine Corps veteran reaching a fairly high level of public office due in no small part to her sharp wit, intelligence, eloquence and a heaping bit of charm.
In effect, she is exactly what leftists so desperately want Michelle Obama to be.
The reason Earle-Sears has reached nowhere near the level of notoriety or adulation as the former first lady? It’s that pesky little “R” letter next to her name.
Yes, Winsome Earle-Sears is, effectively, the mirrored inverse of Michelle Obama.
And that was never clearer than with the way she opted to address a horrific shooting in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday.
The Associated Press reported that 19-year-old Amari Pollard opened fire outside the city’s Altria Theater after the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony, according to police.
Graduate Shawn Jackson, 18, and his father, Lorenzo Smith, 36, were both killed in the shooting, which left five others wounded.
It’s the kind of senseless tragedy that Democrats hate to let go to waste in their never-ending crusade against the Second Amendment.
And to be sure, Obama has never squandered a chance to go after your inalienable rights after such a shooting.
Here’s the former first lady on Twitter after students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, began demanding gun reform in 2018:
I’m in total awe of the extraordinary students in Florida. Like every movement for progress in our history, gun reform will take unyielding courage and endurance. But @barackobama and I believe in you, we’re proud of you, and we’re behind you every step of the way.
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) February 22, 2018
Look through her social media accounts, and you will see quite a bit of this rhetoric from Obama.
Compare that to Earle-Sears’ rhetoric after the horrible shooting in Richmond:
Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R – Virginia) said the gun violence in Richmond was not about law-abiding gun owners, but rather gangs. pic.twitter.com/kXTVpdc2YQ
— WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) June 6, 2023
“This is not about law-abiding gun owners,” Earle-Sears told reporters Tuesday after the Richmond shooting. “This is about gangs, this is about — even if you took all the guns off the street from the law-abiding citizens, the others who mean harm, who mean to kill and [cause] mayhem, they’re going to have the guns.”
Indeed, this appears to be the most common logical fallacy in the left’s quest to rid the United States of guns. Evil, twisted people are not going to let something like “the law” impede their plans.
Disarming law-abiding citizens is the opposite of what you should do in the midst of surging crime across the nation.
After stressing that the community needed to arrive at the “right solution,” Earle-Sears said: “There are gang activities. There are criminal activities that are happening. And when are we going to weed them out? When are we going to start putting the people who commit these crimes in jail? If we don’t lock them up, then we release them back into the community so that they can just, what, keep killing?
“When do we say enough is enough? When do we say that? How many more people have to die before we say, ‘You’re going to jail. We’re going to lock you up. And there’s not going to be any bail,’ so that we can have safety in our communities.
“When does that happen? Who is in charge? Is that the mayor? Is that the chief? Who is that? I mean, let’s start naming names.
“Because otherwise, if no one is accountable, and if all we do is come in front of a camera, or several cameras, and keep talking about, ‘Well this shouldn’t happen and that shouldn’t happen,’ then, well, ‘You’re the one in charge. You’re the one responsible.'”
Man, there’s a lot to unpack there, but it’s all golden.
First, as to Earle-Sears’ greater point, Virginia already has moderate-to-strong gun control laws in place. The antigun Giffords Law Center — led by shooting victim and former Democratic Rep. Gabriel Giffords — gives the state a solid “B” grade for its gun laws. For comparison, California has an “A” and Texas has an “F.”
Rarely is the solution to a problem “more government oversight,” and there’s no evidence that making the small jump from a “B” to an “A” would deter any criminals, at all.
Second, how nice is it to hear a politician be tough-on-crime? As the left veers further and further into lawlessness, so too have its politicians.
Just look at California, where shoplifting can barely constitute a crime in 2023 thanks to ludicrously soft laws pertaining to it.
Now, the line between shoplifting and gun violence is tenuous, to be sure, but quit focusing so much on the specifics. Think about the macro message Democrats are sending: Crime is kind of, sort of, not OK.
That kind of messaging matters and has an indelible effect, particularly on young children who might not have a plethora of role models in a leftist household.
Third, and perhaps most important, enough praise can’t be heaped on Earle-Sears for preaching accountability.
Remember when President Joe Biden campaigned on how the buck stopped with him, only to never take the blame for anything, ever? That’s leftism in a nutshell.
Hearing a politician demand names, performance reviews and unyielding public scrutiny is a message that all politicians (Republicans and Democrats) should embrace.
For that matter, most of Earle-Sears’ messaging is something politicians should embrace — unlike Michelle Obama’s messaging.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
