Rant #2,435: Drive

Yes, we are going through troubled times, every which way you look at it.

That includes troubled times on the national stage in places that no one would ever dream there would be problems.

Yesterday, we found out that the supposed "noose" found in the garage of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace wasn't a noose at all, but a door pull that was there for months.

This story, which smacks of the earlier and just as incredible to believe Jussie Smollett case--where the actor claimed he was assaulted by white men, with a noose put around his neck, but was found to be an out and out lie connected to him wanting a raise in pay and notoriety--saw the race car driver--the only black man in the upper regions of the NASCAR standings--claiming that he found a noose in his garage.

With everyone being on their racial edge in today's times, seemingly the entire NASCAR circuit backed Wallace and his plight, marching with him to show solidarity for him and his cause.

The problem was, the FBI investigated--and came to the conclusion very quickly--that this incident was, like the Smollett case, much ado about nothing. The supposed "noose" was a door pull, had been there for months, and has as much to do with racism as one of the tires on Wallace's race car does.

All the while, the supposed case received national and international attention, allowed this individual to grab the national stage for a brief moment, played into our current paranoia about race relations, and sullied NASCAR with irreparable damage.

Wallace even festooned his race car with Black Lives Matter imagery, and even his mother had her say about the matter, and how her boy was bigger than the racism thrown at him.

The problem was nothing was true about this, and I mean nothing. The "noose"--or door pull--was there since October, no federal hate crime had been committed, and, in fact, Wallace was only assigned the stall a week ago, randomly, just like all the other drivers are assigned stalls, so if someone else was assigned this stall, they would have seen the supposed noose, too, so it was simply the luck of the draw that he was assigned to this area.

And being that he was an experienced NASCAR driver, he should have known that this was not a noose, and that it had no racial connection at all.

The FBI said no charges would be pursued in this matter, so Wallace comes off smelling like roses even though he also comes off as a blatant liar, looking for a platform for the most popular cause on the planet right now.

And he certainly got the publicity that he wanted ... but don't you think he has a lot of 'splainin' to do?

Even though he lied through his teeth, he sullied an organization that is known not only in this country, but worldwide.

Even though he lied, he defrauded his fellow drivers and others related to the sport, having them march in his behalf for absolutely no reason.

And he took advantage of the national hysteria on race for his own advantage.

NASCAR had already removed Confederate flags from its itinerary--an itinerary that is Southern based, where in recent years these flags have become symbols of Southern pride more than anything else--and now they are faced with this latest charade.

The organization said it will launch its own investigation, just to cover itself and all the bases, but the fact of the matter is that one of its drivers lied to further his own personal cause, dragging NASCAR into the mud with him.

Look, there are going to be people who take advantage of a situation all the time. Look at all the supposed manufacturers of face coverings who are charging astronomical prices right now when the need for such coverings is mandatory and on center stage.

But this is different. This entire episode dovetails into the movement for racial justice, plays right into its hands, and even though it is false, just adds more gasoline to the already raging fire.

If the FBI isn't going to prosecute Wallace for his lie, then NASCAR certainly should, for making them look like fools and sullying their image.

But you just know that they won't penalize the driver in any way, shape or form, because if they did, there would be a firestorm of bad publicity thrown at them about their racial ambivalence, and no organization wants to be associated with that now--just ask Quaker Oats and Pepsico, among others, related to the Aunt Jemima fiasco.

So Wallace comes out smelling like roses no matter what, NASCAR is branded a racist organization no matter what, and demonstrators continue to march no matter what.

What a sorry state of affairs we are in today, where the innocent are often painted as guilty, the guilty are often painted as innocent, and anybody can accuse anyone else of racial bias without the least bit of evidence or truth to the matter.

God help us all.