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Political Sellouts: We Lose Our Country If We Don't Enforce Laws: Michelle Malkin

The BLUE Magazine: Please tell our readers about yourself, your upbringing, your career, your family and how that has drawn you to be a staunch supporter of law enforcement. 

Michelle Malkin: Sure. I have been a newspaper journalist for 25 years. I grew up in South Jersey, was born in Philadelphia, and raised right outside of Atlantic City in a tiny town called Absecon, New Jersey. My parents came here from the Philippines in 1970. My dad worked as the chief of the neonatal intensive care unit at Atlantic City Medical Center. My mom was a public-school teacher in South Jersey. I had one younger brother and was raised with a very strict religious background of my parents who are devout Catholics. They also came from a background that I think nurtured my lifetime support for law enforcement. My mom's dad, in other words, my maternal grandfather in the Philippines was the police chief of his barrio where my parents grew up. My maternal grandfather also served in the Filipino Military and fought with American soldiers in World War II at the time that Japan occupied the Philippines. He was also a survivor of the Bataan Death March. So, when he came to the United States for the first time in the late 1970s, I was just really struck by a love of our country that my Lolo had, and I think that his “Law and Order” persona made a huge impact on my life. So, I've always respected people who have put on the uniform and fought and served.

On your national book tour, you are out front in support of ICE. What have you seen while on this tour? 

I've seen a lot of ordinary American citizens like myself who don't live in the coastal bubbles who are not part of the political elite, and who are outraged at what the progressive radicals have gotten away with. There's this movement called “Abolish ICE.” We also unfortunately have a handful of social justice warrior police chief's, you know, many of them who are not qualified to have their jobs who pander to these elements. Rather than maintain order, they have created safe spaces for those targeting ICE agents. One of the things that I've done is held “Stand with ICE Rallies.” Because I know that there are so many people like myself who want to do more than just sit on the sidelines. It's going to take more than just complaining about these people running rampant and running loose to be able to stop them from doing what they're doing. I asked people to come join me at an ICE facility and about a hundred fifty people came. There were some people who were scared that violence may break out. It didn't. Instead what broke out was chants “USA” and the patriotic singing of the national anthem and I think this was a good way of exercising our civic engagement to show law enforcement agents that there are people who are out there supporting them and willing to put their boots on the ground to do it.

What do you say to those people who believe that the border wall or securing our borders is racist? What do you say to those who claim anybody who supports secure borders or legal immigration is also racist?

I don't care what they call me. I am a brown woman of color who is the child of legal immigrants to this country whose first act was to honor the Constitution and the laws of the country by coming in the right way. I was also taught from a very early age that it is a privilege to be in this country and there's nothing racist about that. In fact, honoring and supporting the sovereignty of the United States is the best thing that you can do. If you care about preserving the American dream, not only for the families that are here in America—325 million of us—but also for preserving an orderly immigration system that is going to still be standing for other people around the world to use, you need both physical obstructions, physical barriers at our southern and northern borders. Also, an interior enforcement system that works when people do trespass, when they are able to get around those barriers.

The “Abolish ICE Movement” is really an extension of the war on police from the 1960s. It’s about destroying the ability to preserve law and order. If we can't enforce our laws, we don't have a country.

Because you support a strong border, do people routinely claim that you're racist? Have you actually experienced racism yourself?

When I was a young girl, there was a time when we lived in Baltimore for a short period and it was the first time that I've ever heard a racial epithet. I was sitting on a porch and some young punks walked by and called me a “chink” and I, of course, had no idea what the word meant, but it was definitely the tone that even a 3- or 4-year-old could understand was hateful. I ran back into my apartment and my mom asked me why I was crying, and I described it to her, and you know, she just told me to brush it off and grow a thick skin. And that was always the attitude that my parents had to never indulge victim status. Now fast forward to my college years when I encountered a much different kind of racism—liberal racism that involved condescension and this expectation or entitlement because I had non-white skin and almond-shaped eyes that I should think a certain way. I always found that so much more offensive than overt bigotry that stems from ignorance. It's the social justice mentality and the social engineering that I have always found so insidious and I think that those kinds of principles underlie the opposition that I've encountered to the policy positions.

It’s laughable! People have actually accused me of being a white supremacist, but I think that's just the most ridiculous thing and I always say, I must be doing a really bad job of that by reminding them of my skin color, and pointing to my face.

How do you feel about these politicians who are weaponizing false claims of sexual assault against women, racism, homophobia, etc. against their adversaries? What can be done to counter this? 

Right, let me talk about something. Whether it’s false allegations of sexual assault or rape, false allegations of racism, discrimination, or these hate crime hoaxes that seem to pop up pretty much every month, we need consequences. It is a crime to lie about crime and very often you have social justice prosecutors, when in fact you have George Soros out there funding district attorney races to put these people in place who either look the other way when there are these types of hate crime hoaxes or they never punish them. I've been very outspoken when it comes to the grifters and the race hustlers who have cashed in. It's Al Sharpton and the 1980s with Tawana Brawley or on college campuses with Duke and the University of Virginia cases or the likes of Shaun King who I've reported on for many years now and I think he's the chief grifter when it comes to race hoaxes and falsely accusing police officers. That guy should be in jail. Not only for the embezzlement of the nonprofit's but also in general for the defamation and the ruin that he has caused in the lives of many police officers across the country. He teams up with a college friend of his who's a lawyer in Texas. The same guy that represented the woman who had falsely accused a Texas state trooper of racism and sexual assault. It turns out it was all caught on the trooper’s body cam and he was forced to retract these false claims. But again, if there are no consequences financially or legally these kinds of false allegations particularly against cops are going to continue to happen. I've also crusaded on behalf of wrongfully convicted police officers many of whom are still sitting behind bars because of the social justice mob mentality that helped put them in prison. There are a number of police officers who have been exonerated, whose stories I've also told in my columns and documentaries.

Let's talk about national politics in terms of the Republican party. Obviously, we noticed multiple types of Republicans right now, but let's talk about the ones who sometimes support the president, sometimes they don't, and they're constantly trying to morally preen in front of the public. What's your take on them? 

I think I apply the investigative mantra of my latest book to all of my work and it helps us understand why these elected officials make the decisions they do and that is to follow the money to find the truth. What will happen is you'll see that many of the special interest lobbies—the corporate interests that are donating lavishly to many of these Republicans who are fair-weather friends of the President do things not out of any of principle or allegiance to the Constitution or to their constituents, but allegiance to their donors and that's the Beltway swamp mentality. And that is why the American people sent President Trump to Washington to clean it up. It's incredibly difficult for him to do. So, when at the same time, he's battling all of the forces on the usual suspects on the other side like the media, Hollywood and the Washington Democratic establishment, it's the Republican never-Trump people who are conniving usually behind his back but sometimes right in front of him. If you tune in you see a lot of these Republican tools on CNN or MSNBC, they're doing it right in front of our faces. And so, you know, I don't agree with President Trump on everything, but I understand what he's up against and when he's fighting to secure our border, for our military, our cops, our angel families, and American sovereignty, I'm right there with him.

Fake news. How vast is this problem in America? 

Well, you can trace fake news all the way back to the New York Times and its lying Commie propaganda stool, Walter Durante. We've always had it, but it's definitely been exacerbated by the cable news cycle and the social media cesspools in which these people inhabit and basically what we have now is an outright resistance movement. For example, the Russia collusion hoax occupied most of their time until that reached a dead-end and so they hopped onto a different train, which we're seeing, being written right now with impeachment. You’ve got these partisan operatives that have a shield around them—an immunity shield—that allows them to defame and to lie and to obstruct while they claim some sort of mantle of neutrality; people are sick of it and that's why I think it's been one of President Trump's most effective campaigns to go after the fake news. And to try to undermine as much as possible their influence by using their own tools. A lot of these never-Trump types and establishment types hate that he uses social media and that he's tweeting constantly, but that's exactly the kind of Jiu-Jitsu that we need from someone outside of the Beltway. Many of these candidates especially the loser Republicans that we see owed their very existence to leaking to these reporters at the Washington Post and the New York Times, and Donald Trump doesn't have to play that game, thank God.

There are people who feel that if you're so far to the right, at times you're not intellectually honest. Are there any issues on the left that you agree with?

When you bend the arc, it's really interesting. And that's been one of the biggest delights of a lot of the work that I've done over the years. When you can have a meeting of the minds with people who are on the other side because you share the same values. On education issues and issues of autonomy, for example, medical kidnappings fighting the nanny State abuses of power are something that principled people on both the left and the right agree on. Especially issues that deal with fighting Global Elites, trans nationalists and corporatists. A lot of the issues that they are right about with regard to immigration.... There are honest progressives that agree with me on the abuse of the H-1B program, for example, or the Eb-5 program as specific programs. They’re both big businesses, and the Democrats are using the issue to pursue their own gain and their own interests, but at the expense of ordinary American citizens,

Any major party platforms from the left that you feel the right should also work on and improve, rather than always have an “us versus them” mentality? 

Well, I wish that more on the right would take up the mantle of crusading against wrongful convictions, and they certainly seem to understand prosecutorial abuse when it came to the Russia investigation, but that happens on local and state level every day in this country. And so, the left has always targeted, a certain demographic when it comes to people who have been wrongfully convicted, and I think there's more room for looking at wrongful convictions of police officers or people in the military and to the extent both sides can come together. I think that would be helpful, but I think that there's a danger with some of these criminal justice reform types because they can't get over their hatred and blind collective hatred of cops—that's why that area has been frustrating to me because I work with a lot of retired NYPD, for example, that work DNA cases or cold cases or cases where confirmation bias and sloppy investigation have led to wrongful convictions. But there are some people on the left who won't work with people like me because they can't get over their politics.

Any issues on the right that you're uncomfortable with? 

I guess it depends on how you define, “right,” because I would say that a lot of Beltway swamp Republicans do not have American sovereignty as their foremost concern and they're willing to sellout. I've called them to the carpet on that many times. I've always gone after both sides if I feel they're endangering the public. I did that with my first book where I went after amnesty republicans as well as identity politics democrats and talked about how that alliance helped pave the way for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And so, the left did not want to hear one part of my critique and the right didn't want to hear the other and that's what's led to the paralysis that we've had, and I think conditions that could pave the path for something that's even worse than the 9/11 attack. We have so much paralysis. We haven't implemented many of the core recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 commission. And again, you have to look at why this is happening and who's funding the obstructions that are leading us to be less safe.

We all have things we can improve upon as journalists. What can you improve?

I've got dozens of cases that I'm investigating all at once just trying to juggle them all, so, sometimes I let things fall behind but that's like a good thing. I mean, I think that's a good problem. I think that there are too many journalists who wake up and they're bored with life. They're bored with the news cycle. They really don't have much to say and it shows. I think the airwaves are filled with so many people who have nothing to say and my problem is every day it's about juggling all the balls that are in the air and never feeling like I have enough time.

How does your day start as a journalist? What do you do every day to advance yourself? 

I couldn't do what I do without caffeine; a very good brand of coffee and I do not drink Starbucks. Black Rifle coffee or Dunkin Donuts will do it for me. In terms of like my daily routine? I’m plugged into social media like an IV, but I use it in a different way. A lot of times what you see is journalists and writers’ sort of turning social media into an echo chamber and using these forms to validate their own life experiences and opinion. I recommend following people that you really detest or that you really disagree with to use as a foil and as a devil's advocate and in fact, I've actually made friends with people on social media who are completely on the other side and I like that. It seems to hardly ever happen. And in terms of daily writing, I have to write every single day. Even if it's just 150 words because practice is everything. I write a weekly column as well as freelance pieces, and I've written seven books, and I think you just have to be extremely disciplined and organized and that's not something I am by nature, but deadlines are very clarifying. And I don't have external deadlines. You have to set internal ones and stick by them to be a successful journalist.

How big is the problem of censorship? Do you foresee censorship getting worse or improving in terms of freedom of speech silenced by people who disagree with the tech giant's political preferences? 

Our freedom of speech is under assault in an unprecedented way. This has a huge effect on law enforcement, because look at the huge double standard I've been reporting on for the last couple of years. Silicon Valley will allow ANTIFA to post graphic calls of violence against police officers and ICE agents. Kathy Griffin is allowed to dangle the simulation of President Trump's bloody head. Yet, I've got friends who are patriots who simply stood up for secure borders and getting control of the refugee resettlement—people who are nationalists—wiped off the face of Facebook and Twitter; people who can't ride Uber anymore plus people who can't sell t-shirts. And so, what is the future going to hold for people like me and for law enforcement supporters and for ICE agents who are doxed on these very platforms—they've got to worry about the safety of their families every day. I think a lot of people are looking for social media alternatives, but there's another segment that is staying and fighting and I think that's where I am. I have been censored. I have been shadow-banded. I have been blacklisted by Google, by Facebook, by Twitter, but somehow I still have some two million followers on Twitter and two million followers on Facebook. I'm able to get my message out to whatever limited extent they still allow me.

In your book, you highlight how the senseless murder of Corporal Ronil Singh had an impact on you personally. Can you tell our readers why?

Singh was the epitome of the American dream. He was a corporal at the Newman California Police Department, had a newborn child, a young wife, and was an immigrant to this country legally like my parents. He came here from Fiji, and it was Christmas Eve a year ago when he was brutally gunned down by an illegal alien gangbanger who had been in and out of the justice system through the sanctuary revolving door and I have told so many of these stories over the years. My first book is filled with stories just like Corporal Singh’s. I also highlighted a sheriff's deputy, David Marsh who was similarly gunned down by an illegal alien fugitive during a traffic stop. Just like Ronil Singh was, Ronnie Johnson in Houston, Texas also had been gunned down and the common thread among so many of these cases is that you had officers who were needlessly murdered and needlessly sacrificed their lives because the cities, counties, and states that they lived in had implemented these illegal alien sanctuary policies that protected the criminals and endangered law enforcement. This is what outrages me.

You've been involved with BBO. What do you think of their mission as well as organizations like them in regard to the impact they have as support groups in today's law enforcement environment?

I love what they do, and they really put boots on the ground to demonstrate their support for law enforcement. It's one of my favorite charities, and I was so happy to have Rob and his colleagues joined me when so many other people were too busy to go march on the White House. I appreciate everything that they do to support law enforcement families so I will always be there for them because I know they're always there for the men and women in blue.

George Beck is a police sergeant, award-winning journalist, and managing editor of TheBlue Magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in History & Culture from Drew University. He is the author of The Killer Among Us and several other books. His nonfiction and short stories have been featured in magazines and anthologies nationally and internationally.

Rob O’Donnell is a 28-year law enforcement professional beginning with the NYPD, now serving as a Director of Public Safety in Pennsylvania. He currently volunteers as Director of Business and Media Relations with the national law enforcement support charity Brothers Before Others, and is a National Law Enforcement Contributor for Law Enforcement Today, WBAL Baltimore, WMAL DC, “The Larry O’Connor Show,” Town Hall Media’s “Hot Air” and “Bearing Arms,” the American Conservative Union CPAC, NRA TV, NewsMax TV, and MichelleMalkin.com