Raphael Warnock: “One thing I have not done — I have never pretended to be a police officer. And I’ve never threatened a shootout with the police.”

Herschel Walker: [pulling out a badge prop, in violation of debate rules] “I am work with many police officers.”#GASenDebate pic.twitter.com/pyUzXkw7yT

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 14, 2022

As I watched the much anticipated debate on October 13th between incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican contender Herschel Walker, I found commentary parading its way through my mind.

“What grade is Herschel Walker in? He speaks like a middle schooler. He is also deflecting (no surprise) rather than saying what he would do if elected.”

“Can the man answer a question without first blaming anyone else?”

“I hope that the voters of Georgia are intelligent enough to see through this inarticulate phony.”

“He skirted around the allegations of domestic violence and lying about his resume and said it was because he had DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and that he didn’t need help any more. Was he justifying those two things because of the diagnosis?”

“He’s not running against President Biden, but keeps acting like he is.”

“His speech was obviously scripted because he kept offering the same talking points almost no matter what question was asked.”

My favorite part of the debate was when Walker pulled out a token police badge as a response to Warnock’s statement, “One thing I’ve not done is I’ve never pretended to be a police officer, and I’ve never threatened a shootout with the police,” Warnock said, referring to how the former football star once talked about a police shootout, according to a 21-year-old police report. My thought was that he came prepared to use it, although it is quite possible that he carries it around with him, just in case, you know…it comes in handy.

What was behind that quote? “I spent time at Quantico at the FBI training schools. Y’all didn’t know I was an agent? I probably shouldn’t tell y’all that. Y’all don’t care about that. Yeah, I’ve been in law enforcement.”

Guess what? There’s no record of Walker ever having worked in law enforcement. He has claimed that because he received an honorary deputy sheriff card reportedly given to him by the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia, it made him a cop.

He got chastised by the debate moderator, Tina Tyus-Shaw for the stunt. “You are very well aware of the rules tonight. And you have a prop. That is not allowed, sir. I ask you to put that prop away.” Even if Walker received the badge as an honorary gift, it didn’t give him the credentials he claims.

I laughed when reading a quote by outspoken former Star Trek actor turned social justice commentator, George Takei, who tweeted following the debate, “I sometimes pull out my Starfleet badge to get past security at Star Trek conferences.” I wonder if it works for him. Frankly, I would rather see George in a legislative role than any of the Republican candidates.

Cue the next SNL cold opening scene.

Then there is the hypocrisy of Walker claiming to be pro-life when he was alleged to have paid for an abortion for a woman with whom he has a child. Even more frightening than that is the admission he made to holding a gun to the head of his former wife, threatening to kill her.

Walker attributes it to having DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder, (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) although, statistically speaking, those with this psychiatric diagnosis are not prone to violence. He has said that it is a result of childhood bullying and an assault. I am not his treating therapist, obviously, but in my practice, when I have worked with abuse and trauma survivors, I aligned with the wounded part(s) of them who were victimized, letting my protective Mama Bear come out, telling them that no one has the right to abuse anyone under any circumstances. Then I remind them to break the cycle, not doing to others what was done to them. To my mind, that is the best way to get back at the perpetrators(s) and heal themselves.

I am not a Georgia voter, but I know the importance of re-electing Raphael Warnock who did present as articulate and intelligent (since I know this will come up when some readers want to make a fair comparison). There was allegation that he had run over his ex-wife’s foot with his car that was addressed in this article.

My questions to Republican voters: Do you vote with your values? Are what your candidates stand for in alignment with how you live your life? Do you close your eyes to the horrendous things they may have done in order to have a majority in the House, Senate and Governor’s chairs? Will any warm Republican body do?

My prayer is that you realize the global impact of your choices.

~

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