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The images of the violent abuse of a young man at the hands of vicious Chicago youth are hard for any decent person to consume, but they pose particular challenges for the left.

In their world, the only racism worthy of note is practiced by whites; the only political violence they care about is what they see (or can concoct) from a Donald Trump rally. So four black teens torturing a white special-needs kid sends them into instant short-circuit, forcing conversations they have no interest in hearing.

To their credit, some liberals have found a way to reach the only coherent conclusion—that these monsters were motivated by hatred of white people and hatred of Donald Trump. It’s not as if mind-reading is required here. The attackers did us the favor of profanely identifying their hate on Facebook Live. Sometimes evil leaves a business card, as in Dylann Roof’s self-admitted murderous grudge against blacks.

But some voices on the left have made an observation that cannot be allowed to stand. Even as they are forced to absorb a hate crime perpetrated by blacks against a white victim, with the additional layer of Trump hatred as a contributing factor, they will say something like: “It is unfathomable how people can treat someone like this; there’s no understanding such an attack.”

Are they kidding? The toxic roots of this outrageous crime are on display every day. They are found in the sick and malicious rhetoric that filled the air in reaction to the Trump campaign, that has only intensified since his victory. And it wasn’t only from liberals.

How many people on TV, in elected office, from the stages of shrill rallies, have spread the following damnable lies:

-- Donald Trump is a racist.

-- Our cops are racist.

-- Our country is racist.

Pour this poison into the heads of kids already damaged by the societal dysfunctions around them, and we might wonder why we don’t get videos like this with nauseating regularity.

The animus of the left is on constant display. Black Lives Matter tells America that waves of racist cops are out to kill our black youth. Democrat politicians have maligned Trump as a bigot for pure sport, joined by some unhinged NeverTrumpers.

Astride it all, we have had a President for eight years who has discouraged none of this, while adding his own winking double-talk that makes clear his belief that racism is still rampant in the nation that elected him twice.

So don’t let anyone get away with feigned bewilderment over how this barbaric cruelty happened. The responsibility for it is shared by anyone who has engaged in the slanders that fill the daily talking points of the left.

As the week began, we were treated to another pathetic video of Hollywood B-listers wagging fingers at Congress to stop the hateful monster we have just elected. For about five minutes, it was easy to enjoy a “there they go again” chuckle.

Now it’s not so funny. Their venom, mingled with countless voices in grotesque harmony across the platforms of media and politics, can now be seen played out in the agonizing experience of a young man subjected to barbaric cruelty, spurred by racial and political hatred.

Clumsy myths of equivalency have arisen in calls for examination of what motivated Roof to his hate crime. But I’ll examine that all day, and offer a comparison which is the foundation for our nation’s skewed racial discourse.

Anyone suggesting there was a valid basis for the malice that led to Roof’s church rampage would be chased into the deepest corners of derision. But walk around spouting about racist voters elevating a bigoted President in a prejudiced nation policed by redneck cops? You can say those things and have a TV show or a high elected office.

And as long as such lies get wide nods of approval, no one should be surprised if unbridled hooligans occasionally act on them.