Hard Truth

I’m a Democrat, and I grew up believing that a key feature of being a Democrat was that you didn’t do things like Mary Ann Lisanti.

I was wrong.

That makes me angry, it makes me sad, and it embarrasses me. I try not to use the expressions “that’s not who we are” or, “we’re better than this”, but in this case I wish that I could.

But I can’t.

Ms. Lisanti appears to be taking a page from Virginia Governor Northam’s playbook as she unrolls her multi-step response to racist speech:

1. Sure I said it. Everybody does.
2. Oh, I am so sorry that inebriation forced an awful word from my mouth, one that isn’t even in my vocabulary.
3. You can’t prove I said it.

It defies credulity, but it worked in Virginia. Will it work in Maryland?

It’s true that I don’t want to believe that Democrats can be racists. But adulthood is full of many hard truths that one must face. Looking the other way just won’t cut it. If we screw up, we need to take ownership of that and fix it.

Ms. Lisanti may be hoping that the controversy will die down and attention will soon be focused elsewhere. Her defiance shows a kind of selfishness that is completely at odds with the purpose of public service. But if the Maryland General Assembly allows that to happen it will taint everything they do this session. And it will hang over the governing body in perpetuity.