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She should have realized that guilty by association in this era of hypersensitivity is sufficient to tank a career

She should have realized that guilty by association in this era of hypersensitivity is sufficient to tank a career. She was apparently so affronted by her rejection by mainstream media outlets, that she made some bad choices in accepting invitations to appear on the fringe outlets that would have her. She has at times been coy about using the third-rail 14-word catchphrase of some egregious white supremacists: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” provocatively making the point that by changing “white” to various other non-white adjectives neutralizes any offence. She is technically correct that the words are unexceptionable, but she should have known better than to create any perception that she gives credence to white supremacist ideas.

Her Icarian revolt against political correctness and carelessness in rushing headlong into a minefield of socially unacceptable subjects has contributed to her present situation. Her practice of tempting those of unacceptable racist views and taunting those eager to impute base motives to her, has caused these very foreseeable public relations problems. As someone with a media career and political ambitions, and a civilized person of reasonable views, she has no excuse for being so reckless.

Photo by Jack Boland/Postmedia News

But there is also no excuse for such a vicious pile-on, either. Suddenly, her unsuitability as a commentator on any subject was one thing Ontario’s Jews and Muslims could agree upon. Defamatory nonsense abounded, such as that she referred to “the Jewish Question,” which she did, but as one idea put forth by the right-wing extremists at Charlottesville, that good people should feel secure enough to engage and prove wrong in the public square. She was pilloried and barred from mayoral debates as a purveyor of race hate. My erratic friend Michael Coren, who has turned the former grace of religious conversion into a revolving door, accused me of an almost sociopathic act in acknowledging Goldy as a cordial acquaintance. Why not throw her into Lake Ontario and see if she floats?