It's Not About Hating Trump: It's About Regaining Comity

“Why do you liberals hate Donald Trump?” is a question I and many of my fellow left-of-center writers get asked in many forums—from Facebook to Twitter to Quora to the letters-to-the-editor of the “Washington Post” and the “New York Times.” When we write columns, or speak on cable news programs, voicing our opinions of the current White House resident and members of his administration, as well as the Republican leaders in Congress, no matter how politely we couch our criticism, we encounter a fire hose blast of ad hominem bitterness mixed with vulgar explorations of our parentage.

I cannot speak for the body of journalists who continue to speak truth to Donald Trump’s power, who point out inconvenient facts and false narratives, who bring their Diogenes-illuminated lamps to the White House press room and the halls of the House and Senate looking for honest answers to anything; I can only speak for myself as one of many journalists for whom the pursuit of truth is a sacrosanct mission. And I have done so in most of my Huffington columns written since Mr. Trump set out on his path of lies and deceptions.