Throwing America Under the Bus

Beto O'Rourke has taken the measure of America and found it wanting.

"This country, though we would like to think otherwise," he intoned, "was founded on racism, has persisted through racism and is racist today."

This is now a mainstream sentiment in the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders said earlier this year that the United States was "created" in large part "on racist principles." The New York Times has begun the so-called 1619 Project, marking the 400th anniversary of the importation of slaves from Africa.

The series seeks nothing less than "to reframe the country's history, understanding 1...