One thing that contributes to the weaknesses of the left that you call out is the human tendency to attempt to simplify everything into categories that are easy to reason about. So the complex phenomenon that is Clarence Thomas gets reduced to one thing--a Black man--and to deplore his behavior is therefore to be anti-Black. And of course, to observe this condemnation is appallingly racist on the part of the left (my peeps, BTW) makes the observer a full blown MAGA lunatic because everything has to be left or right; you can't be against any part of what is deemed to be "progressive" at this moment, or to have ever been against it, even if "it" wasn't a thing back when you weren't a proponent. It's a level of conformism that even 1950's man-in-the-gray-flannel-suit would have been amazed at. In this respect, I think the conservatives have become much more liberal than the liberals. They have a huge and inclusive tent, and shrug off all sorts of quirks and idiosyncrasies among their members.