Two prominent columnists in different newspapers on the same day dealt with the issue of the growing racism in Trump’s Republican Party and its implications for conservatism in America.
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat in Four Things That Are Not White Nationalism expressed his concern at what he saw as the media’s unfair tarnishing of conservatives with the racism espoused by the Trumpists. In his online biographic sketch, Douthat describes himself as “a Catholic and a conservative, in that order, which means that I’m against abortion and critical of the sexual revolution,”
But even he began his commentary by noting:
“The American right in the Trump era has a racism problem. It’s fed by a Republican president who race-baits, a media ecosystem whose guardrails have collapsed, the lure of far-right ideas after various center-right failures and the influence of toxic forms of internet community on impressionable minds.”
What type of Republicans are indifferent to the growing racism and extremism in their ranks? Here are six of them:
Sen. Johnny Isakson and Chief of Staff Joan Kirchner Carr
Sen. David Perdue and COS Megan Whittemore
Rep. Barry Loudermilk and COS, Robert Adkerson
Washington Examiner columnist Timothy Carney took a different tack than Douthat:
It’s time to create a conservative ecosystem that doesn’t welcome racists
By Timothy P. Carney
Carney laid more blame on conservatives for being too complacent about the growing racist presence in their movement. He was moved to write by a recent report that “a handful of conservatives, including quietly influential figures in important conservative institutions, were outed by leaked emails as participating in a pro-Hitler, nakedly anti-Semitic, and plainly racist email list.”
He was unambiguous in his comment: “this was no invention. The article in Splinter (magazine) by Hannah Geis was no smear. It was serious and fair reporting that ought to cause conservatives to ask what we are doing wrong.”
Carney asked: “Why the hell did racists seek homes in conservative and liberal institutions, and why the hell were young conservatives easily won over to racist views?” He called on conservatives “to make clear that conservatism and racism don’t mix” and that racists really were not welcome.
Who are the Republicans for whom Carney’s words apparently have no meaning, as shown by their support for Trump’s re-election even as he pursues an overtly racist and xenophobic agenda? Here are six of them:
Sen. Johnny Isakson and Chief of Staff Joan Kirchner Carr
Sen. David Perdue and COS Megan Whittemore
Rep. Barry Loudermilk and COS, Robert Adkerson
READ MORE. IndieDems has been pointing out for a long time Georgia Republicans joining in the Republican embrace of racism and extremism.
- 7/23/18: The Rising Tide of Racism, Fueled by Trump and His Republicans
- 2/14/19: The Tentacles of Trump/Republican Racism Reach Far
- 5/18/19: The Rising Tide of Republican Racism and Lies
- 7/17/19: It’s Official: Trump & GOP Embrace Racism and White Nationalism
- 7/19/19: Republicans Double Down on Embrace of Racism
- 8/5/19: Georgia’s Racist Politicians: Republicans Revive the Legacy
- 8/6/19No Longer Any Doubt: Trump Is the Republicans’ Der Fuhrer
- 8/6/19: Trump, McConnell Make Light of Political Murder. More GOP Mayhem.
- 8/12/19: Republican Peas in a Pod
- 8/11/18: Isakson, Perdue, Loudermilk, Handel & Staffs: Natural Swamp Dwellers All Along
- 9/1/19: More Georgia Republican Indifference to Trump Inhumanity