By Joe Saunders
Maxine Waters has never been shy about spinning riots.
She was doing it back in 1992, as a Democratic newcomer to Congress, when Los Angeles exploded in the Rodney King chaos and Waters praised the days of senseless destruction.
She fomented potential violence herself in 2018 with a speech to her Los Angeles supporters urging all liberals to publicly harass Trump administration officials they spotted going about the business of living.
Now, amid the unrest over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last week, Waters has already done her part to pour gasoline on the fires of upheaval sweeping the nation.
In an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday, Waters began a defense of criminals on an enormous scale by implying the massive theft being committed by looters nationwide during the spasm of mayhem seizing the country shouldn’t really be considered “looting” at all.
“Young people, they have a whole new definition for ‘looting,'” the 81-year-old congresswoman said said. “They say ‘looting’ is predatory lending in, you know, minority neighborhoods, where they’re paying 300 and 400 percent on loans by these payday lenders. … You know, on and on and on. They have a different definition for it.”
So, according to Waters, shattered storefronts of small businesses, pillaged drug stores, liquor stores and sneaker shops — with uncounted millions in goods being stolen while powerless authorities stand by— aren’t evidence of “looting” to the people who are doing it.
The real “looting” is by businesses that lend money in minority neighborhoods, basically extending credit to men and women who can’t get it anywhere else, Waters seems to be arguing.
The fact is, one has nothing to do with the other, and Waters might even know it. But as an argument for downplaying the destruction looting is causing the country — including very much the minority communities Democrats pretend to champion — it might be the best they can do.
The Waters appearance didn’t get a lot of mainstream publicity. It’s understandable the liberal media would shy away from publicizing such a radical viewpoint.
But plenty of social media users noticed it, and the response was scorching.
Normal Americans watching the wave of destruction sweeping over the nation’s biggest cities — a paroxysm of lawlessness and greed masquerading as a protest over the death of a man in police custody — know good and well that what has been happening is not some sort of disobedience to make a point.
It’s thievery by thugs, mainly in Democratic-controlled areas where Democratic politicians are literally afraid to protect their own law-abiding citizens from the rabble.
But for Democrats like Waters, the recent riots are a reason to go on TV, to friendly outlets like MSNBC, and spin a fantasy that what’s taking place is some kind of cry from the underclass, frustrated at the availability of payday loans.
A normal person might think that was insane enough. But a normal person might then remember that Waters is the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee.
Maxine Waters has spent literally her entire career in Congress proving who she is, from the Rodney King days to her incessant calls to impeach President Donald Trump, yet the Democratic House majority and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have seen fit to put such a demagogue in charge of the House committee that oversees the American financial system.
That is beyond crazy.
And it’s one more thing Republicans and conservatives need to remember when it comes to the vote in November.
Author: Joe Saunders
Source: Western Journal: Maxine Waters Scorched After Claiming the Real 'Looting' Is 'Predatory Lending'