Is Pitts getting desperate?

“GOP being undone by its racist faction” – the headline of Leonard Pitts’ column (June 22) was so over-the-top I had to read it. And what an eye-opener it was!

Did you know that the “riddled-with-racism” modern GOP came into being when Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, causing racist Southern Democrats to switch parties and proliferating to this day? The “Repugnant Party,” according to Leonard, can’t attract even morally conservative blacks (as though they had no place in the Democratic Party). Plus, he cites some racist comments during the Obama campaign.

OK, that’s all the proof he needs. Not that he means to “paint with too broad a brush” or infer that GOP membership is synonymous with KKK membership. Because there are “Republicans of racial enlightenment,” and his column was written with their long-term interest in mind. Thanks, Leonard!

But here’s a news flash: Following an insult with magnanimity and sanctimony doesn’t get you off the hook.

You just stereotyped millions of Republican Party members, presumably those who didn’t vote for Obama. Is it because his poll numbers are steadily sinking, and you must play the race card now? I can’t think of any other reason for this out-of-the-blue column.

Anita Perry

Sandpoint