Today’s NYTimes has a story crediting conservatives with keeping the Trent Lott story going. It says, in part: “The responses by conservatives have provided a marked contrast to the contention — put forth most recently by former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore — that the nation’s conservative news media acts as a monolithic Republican support system.” So there. The piece notes that Tucker Carlson, for one, says some conservatives have turned on Lott because they didn’t much care for him anyway, and this provides a convenient excuse to get rid of him. Maybe. But speaking for myself, I truly believe in the meritocratic conservative view on racial equality, and that it’s the only just and realistic way to organize our society. I am convinced most conservatives I know who share my view don’t do so out of racist conviction, but because they genuinely believe it. I also know that there are lots of liberals who are convinced that every conservative is dying to put on a white sheet and re-enact Jim Crow. It’s a lie and a slander, but then when we have one of the top Republicans in the Senate play right into the left-wing stereotype with foolish remarks, we see years of hard intellectual labor establishing our bona fides on this issue collapse. And, Lott has handed the Democrats a cudgel with which to beat us all for years to come. That’s where the anger comes from.