Quote of the Day:
Democrats need an identity-politics intervention. Having unleashed race, gender, sexual orientation and class as the defining issues of American politics, these furies are now consuming their authors.
–Wall Street Journal Editorial Board in an editorial this morning
The crisis engulfing the Commonwealth of Virginia's top three elected officials is the logical result of the Democrats' reliance on identity politics.
We don't need to recapitulate the saga here–unless you are cut off from news and TV, you know the story. But I do want to note one aspect of the whole sorry mess that makes me proud of my fellow conservatives.
There may be exceptions, but by and large, I've noticed conservatives stating that Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, who has been accused of serious sexual transgressions by two women, deserves due process (we aren't in a court of law, at least at this point, so by due process, I mean that both sides deserve to be presented fairly).
This is in marked contrast with the way Democrats rushed to smear now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a serial rapist, based on ill-remembered and contradiction-filled testimony. Most people who were not determined to keep Kavanaugh off the Court, came away feeling that something terrible had happened to Professor Christine Blasey Ford, Kavnaugh's accuser, in high school but that Kavanaugh was not involved.
Democrats initially tried to ignore the accusations against the Lt. Governor, but, when it became clear that they could not, like the fickle mob in a Shakespeare play, they turned on him. "I believe her," replaced wait and see.
The accusations against Fairfax are horrendous. The women must be heard. So must Fairfax. False accusations were enough to sink somebody during Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. That is not our way thus far in our democracy.
The accusations against Fairfax are ugly. I hope they are not true but if they are, his career will rightfully end in ignominy. But let's not act like the mob in a Shakespeare play. Let's embrace due process for all who are accused. Conservatives by and large have been doing this for Fairfax, in stark contrast to the way Democrats bayed Justice Kavanaugh's head.
Meanwhile, the editorial characterizes the pass to which identify politics have brought us:
Imagine the cognitive Democratic dissonance if Mr. Fairfax, who is black, is forced to resign because of unproved accusations of sexual assault that he denies, while the two white men survive despite racial offenses that they admit.
If Democrats think these furies will be confined to Virginia, look at Elizabeth Warren as she launches her presidential campaign. It turns out she wrote “American Indian” on her 1986 registration card for the Texas legal bar—confirmation that she had claimed Native American ancestry, perhaps to assist her career, despite earlier denials. Republicans are calling her dishonest, while some Democrats accuse her of “cultural appropriation,” the ultimate identity politics sin.
. . .
Republicans can hardly believe their luck as they watch Democrats destroy themselves with the same weaponized outrage that has long been used against them. They also see the double standards, knowing that a Republican in similar straits would already have been forced from office. Given that Brett Kavanaugh was libeled only months ago as a gang rapist with no evidence, Republicans might be forgiven some schadenfreude as they now see the torments of identity politics turned upon the tormentors.
So far most conservatives I've listened to or read are being consistent:
When this poison was directed at Republicans, we lamented how this wasn’t good for America. Now that the attacks are on Democrats, we say the same: This is no good for the country or the Democratic Party.
But this is where we find ourselves.