Brain Fertilizer

By David Horowitz.

Intro:

The charge of racism is a toxic accusation in our culture more damaging than the charge of "Communism" at the height of the McCarthy era. It is the contemporary version of the witch-hunt and the fact that its stigma can be applied so casually by leftists to conservatives in their line of fire reflects how instinctive this enterprise is to people who think of themselves as “liberals.” The witch-hunt may even be said to be instinctive to progressives who regard themselves as the avatars of human decency and reason, the rest us as turn-back-the-clock reactionaries and … well, racists.

Is there a conservative figure in our culture who has not been so tarred? Rep. Charles Rangel has described anyone who supports tax cuts as a closet Kluxer. With even more subtlety, Rep. John Lewis has called supporters of welfare reform “Nazis.” In the 2000 election, Democrats tarred George Bush as a lyncher.