In that sense, Mr. Comey’s op-ed nicely captures what ails present-day American liberalism. Its defining characteristic is a labored ignorance of the other side. Liberals frequently neither know nor care to learn what nonliberals think. Their own views predominate in the universities and media; why bother considering lesser ones? Liberals take the other side seriously mainly when it has the bad manners to win an election and hold power.

Conservatives have no such luxury. However angular and ignorant a right-of-center commentator may be, he can’t ignore liberal opinion.

Turn your radio dial back and forth between NPR and talk radio. On NPR, references to conservatives and conservatism are few and awkward. The word “conservative” often attaches to people very few conservatives recognize as ideological associates, from centrist liberals like David Brooks to eccentric figures like Steve Bannon. Mostly conservatives and conservatism are absent, except perhaps in the form of a guest who “served in the George W. Bush administration” or in references to Republican officeholders.