Standard Deviation

It amazes me how simple some people are. The other week on television I saw a sheriff investigating a murder who insisted he couldn't be racist for targeting a black man -- at whom no evidence pointed -- because he (the sheriff) "hadn't said the N-word in over 20 years." (It would be comical if this person didn't have the power to destroy people's lives.) Similarly, many people think that the only you can be "homophobic" is if you call someone the F-word. But this James Woods kerfuffle beautifully illustrates why none of this is true. Being racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, misogynistic (Hillary haters) or the like isn't usually demonstrated by outwardly disparaging certain groups. It's done by holding certain people to a different standard than you do others. (I know I'm mostly preaching to the choir here. But maybe it's something I better learned as an adult, so perhaps there's a lesson for some of you in here.)