The end of race baiting?

When people on the left want to curtail debate, they frequently hurl one of two epithets: fascist or racist. This is designed to silence people with whom they disagree, rather than engage them on the merits of whatever topic is under discussion. This tactic has been much in evidence of late.

"Fascist" isn't working terribly well these days, however, in no small measure because Jonah Goldberg, in his book, Liberal Fascism, has convincingly demonstrated that fascism is a doctrine of the left. "Nazi," after all, is shorthand for the National Socialist German Workers Party. Benito Mussolini was named after a prominent Socialist leader. This fact does not make modern-day lefties fascists of course, but it severely undercuts their reflexive claim that modern-day conservatives are.

This week, the left has been trotting out the "racist" canard. If you oppose a government takeover of the government healthcare system or Charlie Rangel defrauding the American taxpayers or Acorn using taxpayer money to aid and abet child prostitution rings, you're a racist. The aforementioned Jonah Goldberg also has a recent article on this tactic, entitled a Tackle Box Full of Race Bait.

Frankly, I am glad that the left has resorted to this sordid tactic so early in the debate, precisely because the charge is so ridiculous and unsupported that it too is losing its power to intimidate. Yes, President Obama is black, but, as he himself recently noted, he was black before he was elected President. And the country rejected government-run healthcare when the Clintons proposed it, even though the Clintons are white folks. In short, conservatives know that the charges of racism are malarkey, and they are saying so.

Now I am not so naïve as to believe that race baiting will end any time soon. It is a cheap and convenient tactic, and people with nothing constructive to say will continue to resort to it. But I am hopeful that race baiting's capacity to intimidate conservative voices will continue to decline. Then we can get back to debating the merits of the important issues that confront us.