In the 2017 film Roman J. Israel, Esq., Denzel Washington plays a civil rights veteran, who, while giving a speech to a group of young progressive activists, sees two black women without seats. Im sorry, excuse me. I see two sisters standing, Washingtons character Israel says. Why are the sisters standing and the brothers sitting?

This aint 40 years ago, spits back one woman.

What is the statute of limitations on chivalry? Israel asks.

Thats gendered and sexist, the other woman replies. The progressive Israel is bewildered. In his mind, hes on these liberals side.

I recall this illuminating scene almost every time I listen to pro wrestling legend Jim Cornettes popular weekly podcasts. You know what somebody called me on Twitter? posited Cornette in September. A cis gender white male.

Now I dont have a f***ing clue what that means, Cornette admitted, but it doesnt sound complimentary.

Cornette is arguably the greatest manager in the history of professional wrestling, becoming something close to a household name in the Southeast United States during the 1980s. Hes worked as a talent and producer for every major pro wrestling company over the last four decades, including Vince McMahons dominant World Wrestling Entertainment. Today, hes a key personality on Vicelands immensely popular Dark Side of the Ring series, currently shooting its second season.

Cornettes claim to fame? Being an a**hole. No matter your race, gender, weight, or any other possible category, the tennis racquet-wielding mamas boy will run you down and harshly. Hes called female valets ugly. Hes described wrestlers fathers as alcoholics and their mothers as whores. When he hit a woman in the stomach with his tennis racket in 1986 (as part of a wrestling storyline), he bragged that she may not be able to have kids. He claims to have received more death threats for that episode than anything else in his career, letters that he proudly displays on his office wall today.

If this sounds offensive, good. Hes just doing his job.

But like Denzel Washingtons character, Cornette has always considered himself a liberals liberal. A healthy chunk of his podcasts are spent blasting Donald Trump and anyone who supports the president. The self-described democratic socialist considers Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren the best candidates in 2020. Cornette regularly lectures listeners, many of whom dont agree with his politics, on why they should never vote Republican.

He does this all the time. Hes done it for a long time. He does not care if he chases away some of his audience. You would think any liberal this dedicated could join Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs Squad.

But they wouldnt want him. The 58-year-old is liberal in the sense that most meant the term during the 1990s and aughts.

Things change.

Many wrestling fans branded Cornette homophobic in May for saying of flamboyant gay wrestler Sonny Kiss, Here comes Sonny Kiss who apparently got off his day job at the drag-show at the f**king Tropicana. Kisss fianc, a Cornette fan, was understandably hurt by the comment and tweeted a reply. That led to many more critical responses to Cornettes alleged bigotry.

Cornettes complaint was that a wrestler with an over-the-top gimmick wasnt being explained properly to fans by the TV announcers. He contended, I didnt know the guy was gay in real life, or say that he was gay on my show, or insinuate that that is a bad thing.

You can tell in Cornettes longer explanation that the charge of bigotry caught him off guard. After all, not only is he a liberal who supports gay marriage and LGBT rights, he also managed a controversial androgynous wrestler during the 80s, and worked alongside Pat Patterson in the WWE, who has been openly gay for years.

While Cornette is a fan of womens wrestling and has been a champion of contemporary young performers like Tessa Blanchard among others, hes been called sexist for suggesting that men and women are biologically different and therefore should perform differently in the ring.

Critiquing a womens match in 2018, Cornette said, The moonsault into the f***ing triangle was insane and the suplex off the apron to the floor, which was the second one of those Id seen in two days, that was too much for the girls. Im sorry. Yes, Im gonna be sexist there. Theres no reason for a vertical suplex off the apron on the floor. Those girls dont have any padding. They dont have enough fat on them to f***ing do that and its too much.

He admitted he knew his words would sound sexist to some, but as a wrestling purist, he proudly prioritized the quality of the match over political correctness. Of course, he was blasted for it.

When transgender wrestler Nyla Rose recently emerged as a player for the formidable, billionaire-backed upstart All Elite Wrestling, Cornette was immediately a fan due to her talent and large size. He also had an idea to make her famousclobber every other woman in her division using the national debate over transgender athletes competing in womens sports as the backdrop.

Turning national politics into wrestling storylines is as old as the business itself. Still, Cornette was taken to task for this suggestion too.

There are too many examples of these supposed transgressions to be listed here, but the dynamic is the same nearly every week: the liberal wrestling legend habitually offends many of his listeners, often the younger ones, by unintentionally challenging todays identity politics orthodoxy.

Many of these young fans might not even be overtly political, but theyve still absorbed this mindset from their peers. Its a largely generational civil war thats also applicable to some of the older 2020 Democratic candidates. For example, Joe Biden might defend LGBT issues, but he also calls women sweetheart while doing itand hears about it.

But was Bidens intent malicious? And if not, shouldnt that be taken into account? Or is the sin of not being woke enough too great? Likewise, does Cornette have ill will towards women or gay Americans? A fair listener of his programs would conclude that he does not.

Does Cornette talk like he doesnt give a damn what anyone thinks? Yes, but hes done that his entire career. Comedian Dave Chappelles style isnt drastically different from the early 2000s, but todays current illiberal environment makes him a villain to some. This ongoing totalitarian cultural shift has also affected the careers of other comedians of Chappelles generation.

As extreme as the woke Left can be, I have sympathy for those standing up for minorities or groups that have been historically oppressed. But as a lifelong Gen X wrestling fan stuck between the Millennials and Baby Boomers, I can also see where both groups, which often prioritize different values, talk past each other.

New York Times columnist David Brooks warns, The greatest danger of extreme wokeness is that it makes it harder to practice the necessary skill of public life, the ability to see two contradictory truths at the same time.

It can be true that Cornette uses words that offend, while also being true that he is not a hateful bigot in doing so.

Cornettes woke critics will likely never be able to accept both, and the unrepentant rasslin villain will continue to dismiss them all as a bunch of p*ssies.

Bad guys and good guys. Heels and faces. Who is which depends on where you stand.

Maybe Jim Cornette is even more of a wrestling genius than his haters give him credit for.

Jack Hunter is the former political editor ofRare.usandco-authored the 2011 bookThe Tea Party Goesto Washingtonwith Senator Rand Paul.

See original here:

The WWE Legend Who Wrestles the Woke Left - The American Conservative