Mona Charen: “When seven Democratic senators voted with all of the Republicans to reject Debo Adegbile’s nomination to serve as head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Harry Reid cried racism. It’s as if Reid was on autopilot, and the aide who usually touches his elbow to correct him wasn’t available. If the aide had been there, he would have whispered, ‘Um, Senator, you’re accusing your own side of racism.’ … ‘Racist’ has become the synonym for ‘conservative’ among liberals. … Republicans are wrong to ignore the smears. For every one person who is repelled by the false and libelous accusation, there are probably two others who think that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. A failure to demonstrate outrage at the accusation might be taken as evidence of guilt. … It’s obviously impossible for Democrats to acknowledge honest differences. That’s why they wind up even calling their fellow Democrats racists when things go against them.”