Our politics needs a basic review of ethics. First, making the charge of a heinous crime against anyone — including a political opponent — demands strong evidence. Evidence, let’s say, at least as compelling as that against former judge Roy Moore and former House speaker Dennis Hastert.

Second, past grievance is not an adequate justification for current calumny. Some conservatives are perpetually perturbed by the charge from the left that they are racists or white supremacists. I also have concerns about misapplying and diluting these powerful terms. But the idea that because an opponent transgresses a norm the standard no longer applies to anyone is a perversion of principle. It encourages partisans to unleash the most hyperbolic, vicious accusations they can imagine. Fighting unjust charges with other unjust charges makes our public life a theater of deception, defamation and unconstrained malice.

In the case of racism, however, clear evidence may lead to uncomfortable places. While Senate Republican supporters of Jackson have never attended conferences featuring advocates of pedophilia, Greene and some of her House Republican colleagues have attended conferences featuring advocates of white nationalism. This seems a strong indication that some members of Congress at least do not denounce racism in their political allies.