[dsc]

"the politics of personal destruction engaged in by the far right"

The politics of personal destruction is practiced exclusively by the left. Period.

What you are referring to are legitimate concerns as to the man's objectivity and character.

After all, what kind of a person chooses scumbags for friends?

[Theosis]

"After all, what kind of a person chooses scumbags for friends?"

Let me think for a second... prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, sinners, over-zealous Roman on his way to Damascus in order to muderer more Christians... could it be Jesus of Nazareth?