The fantatics who aren't

Did you hear about those young snooty Republicans in Washington, D.C. who are looking for roommates to share expenses - and are placing ads that shamelessly say things like, "no smokers, no alcohol, no pets, no racists, no gay-haters ... and no one who supported Hillary Clinton for president?"

They're popping up all over the place — angry, closed-minded, intolerant conservatives ridiculously comparing liberals who voted for Hillary to bigots. How dumb is that?

Okay, I made it up.

Well, "made it up" is a bit of a stretch. The ads are real except it isn't Hillary-hating conservatives who are placing them. It's Trump-hating liberals who are showing how much they still detest the new president and anyone who supported him, by proudly putting "No Trump clauses" in their ads.

It's not exactly a bulletin that more than a few liberals are still in a state of shock and still fuming that Donald Trump actually beat Hillary Clinton. And so, a lot of libs - especially the younger ones - have launched a campaign to wage their war of resistance: ads with the not too subtle message: Trump supporters need not apply.

The New York Times - a newspaper whose reporters are on top of whatever it is on any particular day that irks progressives who think Mr. Trump is crude, vulgar and unfit to be president - reports that these young Washington libs are using social media to wage their resistance, posting their ads on Craigslist, Reddit and Twitter and putting messages up on Facebook.

And even though rents are pretty high in Washington, The Times reports that, "for some, it's becoming more important to make sure that political views align before they split the cost with a stranger."

A 23-year old woman posted an ad that said: "Alcohol, pets and meat products are not allowed in the house. Neither are Trump supporters."

Two women in their 20s posted this: "We're open to any age/gender identity/non-identity, so long as you didn't vote for Trump."

Another woman ran this ad: "Trump supporters this is not the house for you (no, seriously)."

The Times also reports that, "In one recent ad, a couple in the area who identified themselves as 'open-minded' and liberal advertised a $500 room in their home: 'If you're racist, sexist, homophobic or a Trump supporter please don't respond. We won't get along.'"

I'm always amused by how liberals who brag about being open-minded don't have a clue about how close-minded they actually are.

How do we think liberals would respond if conservatives, say in a deep red state like Utah or North Dakota, were attaching "No Hillary clauses" to their ads. "I'm looking for a roommate, but if you voted for Hillary, get lost, creep. You're not welcome around here (no seriously)."

I think we know how those "open-minded" liberals would respond. They'd be screaming about the hateful, intolerant idiots who voted for Donald Trump. And there's a good chance the word "Nazi" or "Hitler" would be thrown in for good measure.

Whether this kind of discrimination is legal in Washington isn't clear. The city has laws that go beyond the usual bans on discrimination. In Washington they have laws that make it illegal to discriminate based on political affiliation. But one lawyer in the Times story says it's unclear if a person's support of President Trump falls into that category.

A lawsuit would clear things up, but a Trump supporter taking the matter to court in a city where just about everybody voted for Hillary would be like rolling a boulder up a very steep hill.

In any case, we can all understand why a raging Hillary lefty wouldn't want to live in the same zip code — let alone the same apartment — as a rabid hard-right Trump supporter. Fair enough.

So let's not make more of this liberal act of defiance than it deserves. But let's acknowledge what it is: one more warning sign, the newest tidbit that tells us something is very wrong in America.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that the two opposing sides not only don't want to share the same apartment. I don't think they want to share the same country.

JWR contributor Bernard Goldberg, the television news reporter and author of several bestselling books, among them, Bias, a New York Times number one bestseller about how the media distort the news. He is widely seen as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. Mr. Goldberg covered stories all over the world for CBS News and has won 10 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism. He now reports for the widely acclaimed HBO broadcast Real Sports.

He is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey and a member of the school's Hall of Distinguished Alumni and proprietor of BernardGoldberg.com.