David Alexander Clarke Jr. is the Sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Call him whatever you want, but he is one politically shrewd dude. For starters, he is sheriff in a heavily democratic county. He is currently serving his fourth full term. However, many of his political ideologies are conservative. He is a frequent guest on Fox news. Even more admirable, he was a speaker at the 2016 Republican Nation Convention.
If you are black and you are in an elected position, all you have to do is say you are republican and overnight, you become a celebrity. Republicans love black conservatives. They also love to promote black conservatives. There are none. When one comes out of the woodwork, it defies political standards.
David Clarke has called Planned Parenthood, “Planned Genocide”, Black Lives Matter a hate group and vowed his allegiance to Donald Trump, WashingtonPost article . Such attributes coming from a black democrat in a democratic county, is a republican wet dream.
The other day, Twitter analyzed the plethora of pins on his uniform. At first glance, his sheriff’s uniform looks quite important. Twitter examined what the pins were and the world was aghast. One is a Harley Davidson pin that says ‘Sheriff’. Another is a pin for the Israeli Civil Guard. Another is a replica of a 19th-century U.S. Secret Service badge. Each one is more meaningless than the last.
Essentially, Clarke wears these pins to impress republicans. Without their admiration, Clarke would not be a frequent guest on Fox News. Without all of those shiny pins, he sure as heck-fire wouldn’t have spoken at the Republican National Convention.
Clarke’s uniform is an excellent metaphor for his political career. Both of them are based on appearance. Clarke does not really believe the conservative mush he spews. He is like a doll. It doesn’t matter what he says. The significance is that his words are coming out of a black face. Just like the greatest significance of his big and shiny Fisher Price badges are their appearance.