Racists

I'm getting a little tired of the defenders of the 912/Tea Party protesters prefacing their remarks with something like "while there are certainly some racists involved in these protests ... " The latest example of this is Roger Clegg, posting on The Corner, wherein he begins his defense with:

I don’t deny that there are SOME racists out there, but I do not believe that it is an appreciable part of the opposition to President Obama’s policies.

and then ends the same with the near sycophantic conclusion:

Again, I don’t deny that there are racists out there, but I don’t think it’s helpful to blame the heated opposition the President Obama on racism.

Some defense. Defense Lawyer: "I don't deny that my client is capable of murder, and had the motive and opportunity, but I do deny that he committed the murder." At this point the Jury starts checking their watches to see if they can't decide this case and get out in time for the Mets game that afternoon.

Any group engaging in public debate will have some fringe people involved. That is simply a law of statistics and of no particular relevance one way or the other. You might as well say, "I don't deny that there are some butchers and bakers (or candlestick makers, or accountants, or saints, or sinners, or ...) involved in these protests, but I don't think these protests are about butchering or bakering."

Human groups are endlessly diverse, but it is the reason diverse people come together that is of the essence. If some old Democrats show up in white hoods and robes burning a cross, well, it's pretty clear their purposes are at bottom racist, and the fact that they may otherwise be average citizens is irrelevant to the issue.

But if average people show up for the express purpose of opposing bigger government, massive debt, monstrous bureaucracies, and creeping socialism, well, it's very clear that is what they are all about, and the charge of racism is an absurdity and should be treated as such.

You conservative defenders of these American protests need to Man Up! These people deserve greater moral clarity in their defense than you have been giving them.