Three more Republicans declare their intention to be presidential nominees, and the leftist media, as if on cue, pounce on their prey like panthers.

When venerated neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced his intentions, Washington Post reporter Robert Samuels leaped into action, under a headline reading in part, “Many blacks see a hero’s legacy fade.”

So what has changed? Has Carson been charged with a crime? Did he commit some violent act? Domestic issues?

No, it’s simply that “for many young African Americans who grew up seeing Carson as the embodiment of black achievement — a poor inner-city boy who became one of the world’s most accomplished neurosurgeons — his emergence as a conservative hero and unabashed critic of the United States’ first black president has been jarring.”

Let’s pause right here. Isn’t it sad that the politics of the black community are presumed to be inflexibly liberal, to the point that if one of its own, even one who has been universally respected, comes out as a conservative, it is newsworthy and scandalous?

Carson committed the sin of deviating from the prescribed monolithic political position by criticizing Obamacare and announcing his support for traditional marriage, and his glowing reputation among his own race — which he spent years building through incredible dedication, hard work and public service — is in dire jeopardy. That is truly sad, but we’ve seen similar fates befalling other high-profile blacks who have been outspoken conservatives.

The Post piece was relatively tame compared with one in Politico that took aim at Carson and two other Republicans — Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee — who are also throwing their hats into the GOP presidential nomination ring. Politico’s headline reads, “Pushing the limits on the fringe: Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee are launching, with no holds barred.”

Yes, to the liberal media, if you are a conservative black person, you have betrayed your race; if you are any politician and adhere to conservative principles instead of pandering to the left, you are a fringe extremist.

If you stand up for constitutional principles and the Constitution’s framework of limited government, if you are a businesswoman who still believes in capitalism or if you are an experienced state governor who is a card-carrying Christian, you are an enemy of society.

The leftist media obviously see no imbalance in their narrative of treating mainstream conservatives as dangerous kooks while depicting inarguably extreme and uncompromising liberals as reasonable, compromising and essentially centrist. For the leftist media, extreme liberalism is normal, and anything that differs appreciably from it is aberrant. It’s not just a difference of opinion; it’s morally bankrupt. Oh, the bubble they live in — often unwittingly.

So it is that the leftist media treat Barack Obama as an open-minded moderate despite his taking this country as far left as one man could possibly do nonviolently in a mere six years. His government takeovers of automobile companies and health care, his lawless executive and administrative orders on immigration and extreme-green enviromania, his politicization of the Justice Department, his fanning the flames of racial division, his ramping up the national debt to historic and frightening levels, his coddling of our enemies and mistreatment of our allies, and his panoply of scandals — from the IRS to Fast and Furious to Benghazi — are the new normal.

So it is that the leftist media willingly cover for the sordid scandals of Hillary and Bill Clinton, the most recent of which involve a brazen burning of improperly classified emails and a funding scam bursting with possible criminal conflicts of interest, a possible selling of the national interest and possible obscene personal enrichment leveraged by their political power.

So it is that while ignoring real scandals involving Hillary Clinton, the leftist media get out their high-power microscopes to examine Fiorina’s “dubious record” as Hewlett-Packard’s CEO. If a conservative reporter raised such questions about an accomplished liberal businesswoman, he would be treated like a craven sexist.

Equally revealing, though, is Politico’s bogus question as to whether Fiorina “is still representative of the very business community whose values and expertise she touts as her greatest asset as a candidate.”

What’s this about, you wonder? Well, Fiorina is “increasingly out-of-step with her corporate brethren. … Major U.S. companies have parted ways with a Republican Party that it once saw as its champion in American politics.”

Do you see the pattern? If people from identity groups liberals pretend to exclusively protect depart from the liberal liturgy, they are no longer bona fide members of the group and are proper targets for assault.

Carson can’t hold a view not held by most members of his race, and Fiorina dare not have an opinion different from the feminist perspective or from the views the media declare are held by corporate America.

So much for respecting individuality and freedom of thought. So much for respecting blacks and women — truly respecting them as thinking people by allowing them the courtesy of their opinions and treating them decently even if you don’t agree with their views.

Leftists are nothing if not hypocritical and, sadly, blinded by their own morally inverted self-assessment as morally superior.

David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is Jesus on Trial: A Lawyer Affirms the Truth of the Gospel. Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com.

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