Showed how his beliefs were built upon hate and misinformation

Hunter of Daily Kos reported it isn’t easy writing an obituary for Pat Robertson. And yes, an obituary is appropriate – Robertson died at the age of 93. It isn’t easy because by cultural convention obituaries tread lightly on the worst things a person has done. Thankfully, Hunter didn’t follow that convention. Hunter did note there are no real claims that Robertson was a deeply spiritual man. Which is accurate, because though his Christian Broadcasting Network he was a political voice. So let’s look at the damage. Robertson was the one who turned television into a weapon. After 9/11 he and Jerry Falwell used Robertson’s 700 Club to blame the attack on a long list of progressives, including LGBT people. Robertson also laid blame on Haiti after its 2010 earthquake.

He was a political figure through and through and through. God's enemies were conservatism's enemies were Republicanism's enemies, and that was all there was to it. So when a disaster struck, there was never talk that it was because God was angry at the greed of those who had cut poverty programs to give private jet owners slightly better tax treatment. God never smote those who pressed for less aid to poor children, or towns that treated immigrants with contempt. And when hurricanes hit places where hurricanes usually hit, it was never because God had gotten good and tired of a state's racist gerrymanderings or gun policies. Conservatism's enemies were all the same to him; he could not be bothered to suss out any difference.

Robertson was a bully who as fully in support of keeping straight white Christian men at the top of the social hierarchy. Even worse, he claimed his bullying was at God’s direction. LA Knightlock tweeted a cartoon (creator not identified) with the caption “Freedom of Religion in action.” It shows a person wearing a shirt saying “God loves me not you” and cramming a Bible into the mouth of another.. Mike Luckovich posted a cartoon on Kos showing Jesus at the Last Supper. A bit of explanation for my non Christian readers. This is his Passover meal, his last meal before he was arrested, tried, and executed. In the original scene in the Bible Jesus says one of his twelve disciples will betray him, telling authorities a place where they can arrest Jesus. In Luckovich’s version Jesus says:

By your cruelty to LGBTQ+ members, one of you will betray me...

David Hayward tweeted a cartoon showing Jesus saying, “Let’s go love everybody!” and the disciples all thinking “Everybody??” Well, look at that, something not at all surprising... Charles Jay of the Kos community reported Harlan Crow, the sugar daddy for Justice Clarence Thomas, has also been making strategic buys of members of Congress. Crow and colleagues donated to Sens, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the big blocks of Biden’s progressive agenda in the Senate. He also donated to the Unbreakable Nine, Democratic members of the House who were instrumental in sinking Biden’s Build Back Better bill. SemDem of the Kos community discussed New College in Florida and why that appears to be a particular target of DeathSantis. I’ve mentioned the way DeathSantis has been attacking everything that has even a hint of “woke” about it, including education. SemDem also documents how much DeathSantis is doing this for white supremacists. This is his base. And he has been doing a lot. He has banned teaching about race and LGBTQ issues with laws vague enough that teachers self-censure. That came with book bans. Voters approved a measure to restore voting rights to felons, yet the policy repeatedly gets roadblocks (hint: most ex-felons are black). He threatened public universities that have anything associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which is an attack on marginalized communities. A moment now for another Luckovich cartoon. At a press conference there is this exchange between DeathSantis and a reporter:

I’m waging a war on woke because woke is broke and I will make woke croak, no joke... But my question was about climate change...

Back to SemDem’s story. In addition to all that, there have been actual Nazi rallies, complete with swastikas. When asked about it DeathSantis deflects the question. But New College has been under particular attack. He installed six of his cronies on the board, people who had no education experience. They ousted the president. The new prez, a DeathSantis guy, is now being paid close to triple what the last prez got. The board abolished programs that supported minorities, and denied tenure to progressive professors (and since New College is progressive…). Why? It all revolves around Derek Black. He’s the son of Don Black, the grand wizard of the KKK and founder of Stormfront (the website that radicalized Dylan Roof, who murdered nine black victims in a South Carolina Church). Derek is also the son of David Duke. Derek grew up in this stuff and was nicknamed “the heir,” destined to inherit his dad’s empire. And he was all for it, giving speeches just as fiery as his dadn’s. The lad popularized the term “white genocide,” a term that implied if minorities outnumbered whites, “white culture” would be destroyed. Derek wanted to go to college to study medieval history in the belief it would prove European superiority. He convinced his parents to let him go to New College, where one can design their own plan of study in whatever one wants. Yeah, the supremacist heir chose the progressive school. Derek tried to hide his beliefs, but a quick search told other students who he was. They demanded his expulsion. The college refused. A progressive Jewish organization invited Derek to their weekly Shabbat services. Being otherwise isolated, he accepted the offer. And just by being friendly with him he saw the terrible things he had said about Jews weren’t true. Allison Gornick, a fellow student and a Jew who once refused to be in the same room with him, decided to talk to him.

They had similar interests, which they bonded over, and eventually she confronted him about his ideology. She went through point by point to demonstrate how his beliefs were built upon hate and misinformation. She would send academic studies to refute his many beliefs that minorities were inferior due to everything from IQ scores to crime. Through the fights, they forged a strong friendship, and eventually, a romance. ... In 2013, Derek sent a letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center that rocked the white supremacist movement to the core, and outraged the hate communities in Florida. The key phrase was this: “I do not believe advocacy against ‘oppression of whites’ exists in any form but an entrenched desire to preserve white power at the expense of others. I am sorry for the damage done by my actions and my past endorsement of white nationalism.” The diversity of the college and their willingness to challenge his ingrained beliefs wound up saving him from a lifetime of hatred. But suddenly his complete denunciation of white supremacy was the top discussion on hate radio and hate chat sites. Instantly, his father banished him from his home. The callers to his radio program were beside themselves with rage. The man they had groomed to be their leader had been “brainwashed” by the libs at New College. Derek, for his part, did not disagree that New College changed him. ... The attack on New College is not just another piece of fodder on DeSantis’ culture war, or another attempt to “own the libs.” It was a deliberate assault on an institution that wounded the white supremacist movement.