True enough. He adds of Nathan Phillips, “I respect him, I’d like to talk to him.” Whether that’s also true or something he chose to say at an adult’s urging for PR purposes, the feeling is … not mutual. Or wasn’t, I should say. Phillips’s initial reaction to a meeting with the students was icy: “At first, I wanted the teachers and chaperones to be reprimanded — some fired — for letting this happen. For the students, I was against any expulsions, but now I have to revisit that.”

But lo and behold, with public scrutiny of his own motives intensifying, he’s had a change of heart.

He’s offering to travel as a delegate representing the international coalition behind the Indigenous Peoples March to Covington Catholic High School for a dialogue about cultural appropriation, racism and the importance of listening to and respecting diverse cultures, he said in a news release…

“I have read the statement from Nick Sandmann, the student who stared at me for a long time. He did not apologize, and I believe there are intentional falsehoods in his testimony,” Phillips continued. “But I have faith that human beings can use a moment like this to find a way to gain understanding from one another.”

“Let’s create space for the teaching of tolerance to happen,” he went on to say. Ah, let’s not. Simulacra of “dialogue” are tiresome and rarely conducted in good faith. And of course they only go one way. I mean, really:

I’m not sure “privilege” is the word for being made into a national villain at age 17 by a mob that calls your face punchable and doxxes your family… and then, when much of what was reported turns out to be false, getting to explain your side.

— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) January 22, 2019

I assure you, Nathan Phillips thinks he has nothing to learn from anyone at that school about tolerating people from different cultures. He wants to lecture. So do the droogs expressing their “tolerance” by doxxing Sandmann and other Covington students. In the Orwellian universe of “teachable moments,” only one side has anything to teach and only one side has anything to learn.

By the way, have “cultural critics” really reached the stage of decadent wokeness in which key evidence of racism against Phillips allegedly was … the smile on Sandmann’s face during their confrontation?

This video shows the confrontation between Phillips and teenager Nick Sandmann—accused of harboring racist intentions, as evidenced by his unfailing smile—from a different angle. One of Phillips’ associates, another Native American man, is standing near Sandmann, and enters an argument with a different MAGA-hat-wearing teenager (start watching at 6:55). The Native American man says, “Go back to Europe where you came from. This is not your land, you have been here two, three generations compared to us. We’ve been here a million fucking years.” The MAGA teen responds, “That’s not true. Let’s go all the way back to Africa,” and proceeds to tell the story of the land bridge that once connected Asia to North America, which allowed humans to settle these lands some thousands of years ago. (His opponent counters that this a “bullshit theory.”)

Keep in mind, the teen saying that all human beings originally came from Africa is a member of the group of young people initially described by countless pundits as obviously, undeniably racist.

There’s no dialogue to be had. As much as we may and do despise each other, let’s try to respect each other enough not to engage in charades. In fact, why is Sandmann even doing this interview? The media isn’t his friend. Not a single liberal will watch this and reconsider what they think they saw on the video. Engagement is pointless. There’s your teachable moment.

"Do you feel from this experience that you owe anybody an apology? Do you see your own fault in any way?”

Tune in to @NBCNightlyNews for a preview of @SavannahGuthrie's interview with Nick Sandmann. Full interview tomorrow on TODAY. pic.twitter.com/7Croh0Toyj

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 22, 2019