Farrakhan in Tehran

Liberals would prefer that he go away quietly. He won’t.

The Editors   @TWS_opinions   

There are disreputable characters that haunt the ranks of both Republicans and Democrats. The right has its David Dukes and Milo Yiannopouloses; the left has its Oliver Stones and Ward Churchills. Louis Farrakhan is certainly an embarrassment to Democrats. The Nation of Islam leader is an infamous and vocal anti-Semite with a long history of viciously racist rhetoric. Only last month he was heard on a video insisting that he’s not an anti-Semite, he’s an “anti-termite.” The comment drew criticisms from a few on the left—Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), Chelsea Clinton—but otherwise our left-leaning friends seem to prefer that Farrakhan just go away quietly. That’s understandable, perhaps, but regrettable nonetheless. .................. It’s tempting to say none of this matters, and that Farrakhan’s racist ideology has no purchase in American life. But Farrakhan boasts longstanding ties to and tangled relationships with several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, among them Maxine Waters of California, Al Green of Texas, and William Jefferson of Louisiana. Rep. Keith Ellison, the Minnesota congressman and deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has tried unsuccessfully to obscure his longstanding ties to the Nation of Islam leader. Farrakhan boasts enthusiastic supporters in the Women’s March movement. And, of course, Barack Obama himself was once caught on camera grinning with Farrakhan. ............To Read More....