Perhaps there are elements of racism and bigotry, even on this forum. I have been troubled, but probably all too easily dismissed those who hinted at bigotry before Trump. Now that he seems to have brought that seedy element to the forefront, his cheerleaders have ripped their masks off and revealed openly what they only hinted at before.
In a sense, whether he is racist or not, Trump has legitimized that ugly side of our humanity.
If one
New York Times article is correct, Donaldus Minimus actually, finally denounced the racists among the
alt-right and said he wanted nothing to do with them. "Disavow" was a word he was quoted as saying about them.
And if it's true, that's to his credit, however minimal his credit may now be otherwise.
The left has its ugliness, which we have all been free to attack........ and rightfully so...... but pointing at ourselves and seeing the same human flaw is not so easy.
It never is, but we do it. And we're better for it.
Pointing out bigotry on the right is not the job of the left (though they do it even when it's not there). It should be we, ourselves, who point to the cancer and radiate it.
They told us the same thing whenever we pointed out extreme trouble on their side, such as Communism and the like.
But there were times when they heeded what we pointed out, looked deeper themselves, and acted appropriately.
It wasn't simple business for, say, the substantial liberals who were both anti-McCarthyism
and anti-Communism,
as recall the contemptible treatment they were awarded by the like of Lillian Hellman and the Hollywood Ten. And it
wasn't simple business for the substantial conservatives who were both anti-Communist and anti-John Birch Society,
as recall the contemptible treatment they were awarded when William F. Buckley, Jr. led an all-out assault to drive
the Birchers out of the conservative camp.
I have been reluctant to do so before. I will not be so reluctant to do so in the future.
Never be reluctant to act on what is right.
And never forget Albert Jay Nock's maxim that the question of who is right is, indeed, a very small one next to the
question of what is right.
