The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for January, 2020

It's only been three days since we announced the choice of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell as the 2019 Ass Clown of the Year ... it hardly seems fair that we should be choosing another ass clown dishonoree so soon, but it's my job and I'm not backing down from it. Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, today we announce our first ass clown of the new year:

The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for January, 2020

and the award goes to 

Wisconsin State Representative

Scott Allen

Scott Allen, a Republican who represents Wisconsin State Assembly District 97, introduced a bill into the state legislature to celebrate the lives of ten Americans during Black History Month. While Representative Allen's proposed bill is a timely gesture, it drew criticism for historical tone-deafness by including six white abolitionists (one of them a Civil War-era Colonel) and four black slaves.

In our present super-turbo-charged political environment, nothing - not race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or choice of breakfast cereal - is free of politicization.

Allen's intent, he said in an interview, was to draft a bill that would gain support from both his white Republican colleagues and the Legislative Black Caucus, which Republicans have often accused of politicizing the list of honorees. “I’d rather we work together to pass a resolution the Republican caucus can be excited about,” he said. Nevertheless, the inclusion of white people, however laudatory their actions may have been, in a list intended to honor black history reflects a staggering lack of judgement, and is unfortunately reflective of the present-day GOP's approach to history and civil relations.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, our Right-Cheek Ass Clown for January, 2020, is Wisconsin State Representative Scott Allen.

Have a good day, and be sure to come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday. More thoughts then.

Bilbo