It sometimes seems that conservatives are accused of being “racist” any time they disagree with a black Democrat. The converse, of course, isn’t true. No one has ever called a Democrat a racist for disagreeing with, say, Thomas Sowell. It turns out that, crazy as it may seem, there are a great many Americans who think it is racist to disagree with a black politician (assuming that he or she is a Democrat).

This is Rasmussen’s stunning finding:

Thirty-two percent (32%) of Democrats, however, say it’s racist for any white politician to criticize the political views of a politician of color.

So being a “politician of color” means that your views are immune to disagreement. Unless–once again–you are a Republican. This, however, I can’t explain:

That’s a view shared by just 16% of both GOP and unaffiliated voters.

I can only assume that 16% of GOP voters didn’t understand the question.

The idea that politicians may or may not be subject to criticism or disagreement depending on their skin color is so un-American, and so profoundly stupid, that it is hard to imagine that anyone could assert it. Yet we live in such degraded times that one-third of Democrats are willing to tell pollsters that is what they believe. Obviously, these people are trying to shut down debate across a broad range of issues by branding their opponents as “racists,” even when the issue at hand has nothing to do with race. It is simply a cynical political tactic.

These are dark days, indeed.