To be faced with the prospect of being smeared with “Racist!” is a terrifying place to be in this society. People go out of their way not be associated with the term, to shy away from any hint that anyone could ever think they are racist. They try to ingratiate themselves and appease. It is an undeniably powerful way to keep people in a state of fear and it chills freedom of speech.

This phenomenon is illustrated by only one of many critics of the president’s statements on Charlottesville. Gary Cohn (previously unknown to me) Director of the National Economic Council, nearly resigned it was learned yesterday, over his remarks. Cohn is well-repected in the field and has hopes to be named chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Cohn, a high-profile Jewish member of the administration and former Goldman Sachs executive, said Trump’s handling of the Charlottesville violence and protests caused him “distress.” He said the administration “can and must do better” to condemn hate groups.

….

“Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK. I believe this administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities. As a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting ‘Jews will not replace us’ to cause this Jew to leave his job,” he said.

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“I am reluctant to leave my post as director of the National Economic Council because I feel a duty to fulfill my commitment to work on behalf of the American people. But I also feel compelled to voice my distress over the events of the last two weeks,” he told the newspaper.

Cohn indicated there is pressure among his colleagues to speak out on Charlottesville.

“This is a personal issue for each of us. We are all grappling with it. This takes time to grapple with,” he said.

The hypersensitivity around this issue has caused to people to hear things that weren’t said and misconstrue things that were said. It’s a frightening thing to realize that no matter what is said, it is likely that it will be turned into lies. That chills speech. Cohn apparently believed the lies, or at least felt so frightened of being smeared that he had to condemn words that were never even spoken. Racism is being propped up by these unethical practices.

It was during the historic election between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden that I first realized how powerful it was, and how being called a sexist didn’t even compare to the slur of “Racist!” The treatment of Palin was so shocking to me that I finally admitted our culture carried an undercurrent of thinking that women were second class. Any slights I had personally endured were still insulting but minimal, and I had dealt with them as any strong individual would – solely as a matter of respect, not a complaint based on gender. I despise making my gender an issue, but it was clear that many others were more than ready to make gender the issue. And no surprise, the overwhelming majority of this vitriol came from the Left. But they mostly got a pass.

Not so with anyone criticizing Obama. While Palin was outright bashed with gender based insults, Obama was criticized because of his associations with unsavory people, his Marxist ideals, his lies about who he was, his weak record of accomplishment, his outsized ego that could barely fit between Greek columns. The criticisms of him were completely disassociated from his race, and yet every criticism was met with the rallying cry of the Left: “Racist!”

Well, I think it’s fair to say that that constant drum beat wears on a society. So fast forward to where we are today, nine years later after Obama first planted the seed that America is racist. For that, I will never forgive that man. He has done a massive amount of damage to this country and from where I sit today, I am uncertain where the path of recovery lies. I do not know how we get there from here. But surely we do not get there through appeasement and indulgence. This browbeating and literal beating has not yet seen its zenith. When supposed allies of the president cannot see themselves clear to speak objectively, but are biased for fear of being a racist, it shows that the rot goes very high up and will be extremely difficult to root out.

The country is in a state of race nausea. We are ill with the constant waves pounding against us, demanding that we admit white privilege, a foundation of white supremacy, an inbred white genetic desire to subjugate all Others. It is literally sickening. But in November 2016, we rid ourselves of the cause of the cancer. We are now doing our radiation treatment and each round is miserable. Have courage and do the unpopular thing, because it is the right thing. Stay true to your non-racist heart. America needs you to survive.