This is a story about Tanya Gersh. She was threatened with assault and death, over and over again, simply because she is Jewish.
Tanya is a real estate agent in Montana. She was targeted by followers of The Daily Stormer, a far-right neo-Nazi website advocating for the genocide of Jewish people. In 2016, the website’s founder, Andrew Anglin, incited his followers to harass Gersh. Gersh, her husband, and their 12-year-old son received nearly a thousand messages filled with vitriol, including death threats.
Some of the messages she received: “Thanks for demonstrating why your race needs to be collectively ovened.” “You have no idea what you are doing, six million are only the beginning.” “We are going to keep track of you for the rest of your life.” “Hickory dickory dock, the kike ran up the clock. The clock struck three and the Internet Nazi trolls gassed the rest of them.”
The Daily Stormer posted Gersh’s personal information online. This is ‘doxxing,’ publishing personal information on the internet with malicious intent. The Daily Stormer also listed the names and contact information of other Jewish individuals in the area, called on readers to “take action” against them, and threatened a city-wide neo-Nazi rally.
Gersh brought a civil suit against Anglin, alleging that he had intentionally inflicted emotional distress. Anglin maintained that he was simply exercising his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
A federal judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ruled that Anglin’s harassment campaign was not protected under free speech.
In July 2019, Anglin was ordered to pay $14 million in compensatory and punitive damages to Gersh for cyber-harassment, which is a federal crime – and it is also a crime in many states, including both Montana and Minnesota. Anglin fled the country and will likely never pay, but this was a watershed outcome.
Tanya Gersh was threatened with assault and death – over and over and over again. She stood up, with wonderful support from people in her community, and used the legal system to force a stop to the hate.
This is one incident of antisemitic harassment. There are thousands and thousands more.
In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced that the number of reported incidents of antisemitic harassment, propaganda and assault in the U.S. had reached the highest levels ever recorded in more than forty years of documenting these crimes.
And then in 2022, the ADL announced that the number of reported incidents of antisemitism had outpaced even the record levels from the year before.
The ADL documented 3,697 incidents in 2022, up 36% from 2021. This amounts to 10 antisemitic incidents a day throughout the U.S., in 2022. On average, someone was harassed every few hours. Or a synagogue was vandalized. Or someone faced physical violence fueled by anti-Jewish hate.
Ten antisemitic incidents a day, 3,697 incidents in all, the highest level ever recorded.
Antisemitic incidents have doubled since 2018. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism reports that “religion hate crime” in major U.S. cities rose 27% last year, with anti-Jewish incidents accounting for 78% of the total.
PBS reports that this trend “shows little sign of abating worldwide as political radicals have gained mainstream popularity,” and “antisemitic hate crimes rose in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, home to the country’s three largest Jewish populations.”
High-profile entertainers, athletes and political figures are spreading hate. From the AP: “Former President Donald Trump hosted Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust-denying white supremacist, at Mar-a-Lago. The rapper Ye (Kanye West) expressed love for Adolf Hitler in an interview. Basketball star Kyrie Irving promoted an antisemitic film on social media.”
In October 2018, a shooter killed 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue in the worst act of violence against Jewish people in U.S. history. The shooter told a police officer that “he wanted all Jews to die” because Jewish people were committing genocide against his people.
Six months later, there was a shooting in a synagogue in Poway, California, near San Diego. The shooter made a 911 call minutes after fleeing the scene and he said, “I’m defending my nation against the Jewish people, who are destroying the white race.”
On Jan. 15, 2022, a shooter entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, taking the rabbi and three congregants hostage during a Sabbath service.
These shooters refer to “white genocide,” a conspiracy theory among neo-Nazis and the alt-right who believe there is a Jewish plot to overthrow white Christian rule and to make whites extinct.
Some perspective
Jewish people are 2.4% of the U.S. population and 0.1% of the population in the entire world – not even 1%. The proportion of Jews in Germany in 1933, when Hitler came to power? 0.7 percent. In all of Europe in 1933? 1.7%.
People throughout Nazi-occupied Europe were mobilized to hate that small percent of people – simply because they were Jews – and then ultimately to exterminate them.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) monitors hate groups throughout the U.S. The SPLC reports that the number of hate groups has climbed to nearly a thousand. Most are white supremacist and neo-Nazi, and they perceive “the Jew” as their major enemy.
[image_caption]Ellen J. Kennedy[/image_caption]
Nineteen thirty-three was the year that Hitler came to power. The murder of 6 million Jewish people in Europe didn’t begin at Auschwitz. It began in 1933 with words and incitement and smaller acts of violence. And we know how it ended.
What to do? Report hate crimes to the police and to the FBI. Stand up with and for those who are harassed. Today’s antisemitism must stop – before it’s too late.
Tanya Gersh will give a talk and receive an award from World Without Genocide in recognition of her courage in standing up to neo-Nazism. The event, open to the public, will be held on May 23, 2023 at 7 p.m. in Edina, Minnesota. Registration details are at http://www.worldwithoutgenocide.org/gala.
Ellen J. Kennedy, Ph.D., is the executive director of World Without Genocide and adjunct professor of Law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Did the author speak out against BLM and ANTIFA when they were marching on highways chanting “pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon “?? Extreme left and right groups should be called out when they do idiotic things. I see the Lefties again have situational outrage.
Fact checking Joe remains a full time proposition. Just because DJT says it, does not mean it’s true:
“As CNN reported in July, those words were chanted at a 2015 protest march held by a group in St. Paul, Minnesota, that was independent of, and not affiliated with, the national Black Lives Matter organization.
Rashad Turner, the organizer of the protest, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press at the time that the chant was not promoting violence against police, but to express that police who kill Black people should “fry” as other murderers do.
The chant lasted about 30 seconds during the hourslong march, protesters told the paper.
A police field supervisor overseeing the protest reportedly commented after the chant, “Everybody likes bacon. I think we can all get behind that.”
CNN’s fact-checkers reported that they could find no evidence that chant was used by the Black Lives Matter national organization or by BLM activists outside Minnesota.”
Wow, the fact that everybody saw the protesters stopping traffic and chanting “pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon” , means nothing?? Are you going to believe your eyes or the ludicrous spin being thrown out….. Most sane people believe their eyes!!
If “everybody” saw it (and I must confess that I didn’t), how come there are absolutely no credible reports of it beyond that one usage?
Yes, if we must go down the strawman road, taking exception to one thing and generalizing it to hundreds more to support a dubious point, we need Joe to apologize for and take full accountability for the Oklahoma City bombing. Then, all of us to the left of Mitt Romney can take responsibility for:
“pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon”
Joe seems to simply regurgitate whatever FOX “We are the fake news your orange idol warned you about” News-ertainment has slopped into the world. He seems to think chants at a protest are the equivalent of conservative congress members, state governments across the country, and their preferred presidential candidate openly advocating for fascist policies and defending convicted seditious terrorists, and their armed organizations, as patriots. This is the result of a worldview that has defined lies as truth and evil as good.
The fact that Christo-fascism is the primary driver of rhetoric and action for conservative constituents and their elected representatives is not equivalent to a chant during a protest. Suggesting as much it is a perfect example of how willing conservatives are to defend fascism and are completely incapable of holding themselves accountable. That they didn’t blink at the fact their preferred presidential candidate is a rapist shouldn’t be surprising since he himself said he could commit murder and it wouldn’t matter. Conservatives have for years directly lifted fascist symbolism, slogans, policies, and mythicized version of history. They support and are supported by fascist and white supremacist terrorist organizations across the country who represent by far the largest and longest-standing violent threat to the nation. The fourteen characteristics of fascism outlined by Justice/Demianiw are indistinguishable from the current GOP platform. Conservatives defend fascist ideologies at every turn yet want to feign incredulity when anyone points out the obvious.
BTW, claiming this simple observation and all the problems we face are due to foreigners, LGBTQIA, non-Christians, unions, communists, George Soros (Jews), urban (black) crime, and anything else conservatives find doesn’t align with their “pure” version of the U.S. only reinforces the reality of who conservatives truly are.
Criticizing Soros is not antisemitic. He is a far left billionaire who literally has nothing to do with Judaism and routinely supports radical anti-Israel activity. He also doesn’t care how many Orthodox Jews are beaten in NYC in the name of “criminal justice reform.” I also notice leftists have no problem with our own government sending millions of taxpayer dollars to genocidal anti-Semites like the Palestinian Authority.
Criticizing Soros in and of itself is not anti-Semetic. When it is used as a general critique to mean “elite” and “communist” by people who are comfortable espousing Replacement Theory and have the same goals as groups like the Patriot Front, Proud Boys wearing 6MWE gear,and fly Confederate Flags (which just happens to be the symbol used by current German Fascists to get around the banning of Swastikas), it is simply shorthand.
Also, criticizing or pushing back on the country Israel for imposing apartheid isn’t anti-Semetisim. Thinking it is while claiming that Soros who was Jewish enough that he to needed actually to run from Nazis in Hungary in 1944 “has nothing to do with Judaism” simply shows you don’t know what anti-Semetism is. Or maybe you just don’t care.
BTW, just a reminder that most of the evangelical Christians that make up the conservative base think Jews are fundamentally evil and therefore going to hell. They don’t support Isreal because they support Jewish people, they just think Isreal is a vital piece for the second coming. Where they will get taken to heaven while everyone else suffers. But thanks for putting your own “Fine people on both sides” spin on things.
You are truly naive. Soros is Jewish. He’s rich and donates a ton of money to pro-democracy causes. There is absolutely no reason to attach his name to demonized political programs except as a dog-whistle to the Jew-haters out there who are a valued segment of the rightie coalition.
Two comments. Nazis murdered Jews, Romany, communists, homosexuals and disabled people. Modern white supremacists also are targeting other non-Christians and other races. Cooperation between all targeted groups has more power than one alone.
As for Anglin escaping the country and being untouchable, the name Eichmann comes to mind. Perhaps we need a new generation of Nazi hunters?
I’ve had the pleasure of both meeting and hearing Gersh speak at an event in Whitefish, and can recommend if you’re able to, attend, she has a powerful story of victory over these racist cretins.
I moved to Whitefish the fall of 2016, and was quickly made aware of Anglin and his neo-Nazi cohort Richard Spenser and their idea of fun. There were multiple incidences of local business’s either not allowing Spenser in, or kicking him out when they found out who he was – he was a very recognizable pariah in our community.
Anglin attempted to have a hate rally downtown, but the city attorney found a century old gun law that he was able to use to shut down their permit – it was poetic for sure.
There is anti-semitism on both sides…and it shouldn’t happen.
But trying to tie the US now to pre-WWII Germany is preposterous.
If you look at the data being presented, it’s all from those who are far Left.
What happened back then will never happen in our country.
Trying to tie that fear into those on the Right is just a fabricated and baseless smear campaign.
Jews will not replace us!
Jews will not replace us!
Jews will not replace us!
Jews will not replace us!
It’s a well known far Left slogan!
(Satire, for those too ignorant or stuffed with rightwing propaganda to know…)
What happened back then will never happen in our country.
Yes it will, if we continue to make the same mistakes the Germans did. We aren’t exceptional, or any different than any other population, get the notion that we are out of your head. Humans are humans, no matter where they live, and are subject to the same vices and vulnerable to the same type of manipulation by charisma and fear. I get it, to imagine your neighbors as the monsters you should have been taught about in history class is difficult, but all of us are just a few steps from barbarism, it’s human nature. Be upset that your conservative fellows feel comfortable going down that path, not that it’s being pointed out.
Since Hitler was appointed, not elected, how can that ever happen here? We don’t appoint our leaders, we elect them.
Hitler was appointed chancellor because his party won the most seats in the Reichstag. This was how the chancellor of Germany attained the office in those days.
Robert demonstrates again that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Leave aside that our Hitler figure won the office by losing the popular vote by over 3 million, then staging an orchestrated rightwint coup, and then running again as a charged felon, who doesn’t make the slightest pretense of being able to win the popular vote (yet again). But no possible parallels with Germany 19, nosir!
Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January, 1933 by the President of Germany, Paul von Hindenberg, after the 1932 elections failed to elect any party that could form a parliamentary government. Hitler had lost his bid for that office to Hindenberg earlier in 1932. It is believed that Hindenberg was influenced by a letter written by “22 important representatives of industry, finance and agriculture, asking Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power
These industrialists and financiers believed they could control Hitler. After Hitler took that position, he took measures to outlaw the opposition parties and purged his own Nazi Party of potential rivals, like Rohm, head of the SA. After Hindenberg died in 1934, Hitler presented a measure to combine the Offices of Chancellor and President and submit it to the country by referendum which passed by 97%.
Can it happen here? Look at states like Wisconsin and Texas where the GOP has gerrymandered itself into long time control of the legislatures. Whenever it gains a modicum of power, the GOP acts like it wants a one party state.
Al Stewart Song “On The last Day of June, 1934”.
“We don’t appoint our leaders, we elect them”
DJT Would disagree with that statement along with a majority of all Republicans…
Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the GOP push to allow state legislatures throw out federal election results and “appoint” the votes of their state to the candidate of theirs (or their masters) choosing?
The entire conservative public ethos is indistinguishable from straight-up fascism. They have reused fascist slogans and symbols at every turn, including being completely fine with Confederate flags which are fundamentally no different than swastikas. They want to “Make America Great Again” by returning the law to the era and ideals that enforced a system the Nazis literally came to America to observe and was inspirational to how they handled categories of people they didn’t like in Germany. Conservative elected officials nationwide openly use the term Christian Nationalist as a positive. But yeah, “both sides,” sure thing.
Are we really going to keep comparing Conservatives to Nazi’s??
The reference was to conservatives as fascists. All Nazis are fascists, but not all fascists are Nazis. No less an authority than Francisco Franco said that fascism develops according to the national character of the people (why do you think the effort at starting a fascist international failed so miserably?).
Umberto Eco’s essay Ur Fascism is well worth reading, for those interested in more than platitudes.
All you have is platitudes and innuendo.
And all you have is the rhetoric of an elementary school playground.
No platitudes or innuendo is needed. Conservative words and actions are entirely indistinguishable from fascism. The only part about fascism conservatives don’t like is the label which is why it is the only part they complain about.
Thanks for pointing out another point. Conservatives are far more worried about being called fascists than they are about the fact they support that ideology.
Hate crimes and terroristic threats are dramatically rising against Jews, Asians, Latinos, transsexuals, Muslims, and in Minnesota, Somalis. If I’ve missed anyone, my apologies. And I would note that hateful and spiteful rhetoric and legislation aimed at the hated transsexuals is pretty much a mainstream position in today’s Repub party, whereas antisemitism (so far) is not.
The idea that this rise in terroristic threats is somehow independent of the rise of militant white nationalism (as rescued from the bilge by Donald Trump) is cretinous. As is the idea that this is a phenomenon found substantially on “Both Sides”. (Although one can see why the more decent conservatives and Repubs might want to engage in such wishful thinking, enabled by the Rightwing Noise Machine.)
The idea that “It can’t happen here!” is pretty much the height of wishful thinking, if we are speaking of a minority faction white nationalist party taking control of the government. Our failed constitution specifically permits it, and our 21st Century white nationalist movement has already staged an anti-democratic insurrection and coup to block our last national election. An insurrection the Repub party has come to sympathize with, if not openly support.
So America’s 1933, and our Reichstag Fire moment are already plainly in view…and getting worse with each passing month. It’s very difficult to make people better once they’ve gone rancid.
There is a surprising amount of casual anti-semitism in Minnesota. It is not unnoticed, every jewish person from I went to school with has left the state and don’t have much positive to say about growing up here.
To all of the deniers, August 29, 2015 BLM marchers by the fair grounds chanted “pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon”…. It happened and you can watch yourself. Leftists have a hard time with simple facts, I hear steady the border is secure, vaccines stop transmission of COViD, Russian collusion actually took place with President Trump, the economy is great, policies don’t influence gas prices…… Unreal…
One time. It happened once, eight years ago. It is not a commonplace feature of BLM protests, but from your posts, it was a one time occurrence.
Unlike most other cherished beliefs of conservatives (tax cuts stimulate the economy, gun ownership makes us safer, Trump did not receive Russian aid for his campaign), this one does happen to be true. It has, however, been grossly overstated.
Oh so it did happen?? I thought it was all made up. FYI, they just cleared President Trump of any collusion with Russia., you may not have seen that on MSNBC.
Once. Do you not understand what that means? One time. No one is denying it happened one time, but to conflate it into being something equivalent to the hatred spewing regularly from the Republican Party is evidence of a profound moral blindness.
No one “just cleared” the Defeated Former President of anything. Frankly, if that’s the conclusion you draw from the Durham Report, I can understand where your factual challenges are coming from.
Well, no one saw that on MSNBC (or any other actual news site) because that is most definitely not what Durham investigated. But I have no doubt that (totally false) statement was what you heard on the Rightwing Noise Machine, because you’ve been woefully misinformed on this topic for years now!
“This other thing is also bad” is not an effective counterpoint to the substance of this column, even if the incident you cite were nearly as awful as the harassment and violence directed toward Jewish people such as Tanya Gersh, which, by the way, it is not. Have you any interest in what the writer is actually saying?
Thank you. The illogical “whuddabout” game-playing by certain “conservatives” is nauseating. The game itself is about all they care about.
And as though some offensive chants against the police in general at a single demonstration could possibly compare to a thousand[!] terroristic threats over months directly sent to a specific individual and her family.
The article above is “Echoes of 1933?” and the threat of right-wing extremism which the author then describes in terms of horrific racist, anti-Semitic attacks on a Jewish person in Montana. The comparison with the events of the recent past involving a certain Republican President and the Republican Party, which has been taken over by right-wing fanatics is inescapable to all but those who have eyes but cannot or will not see and ears but who cannot or will not hear of listen.
Your diatribe against “leftists” based on one event from 8 years ago which Edward Blaise fact-checked for you and showed it was not BLM but agitating minority is the most feeble form of “what-about-ism”. But it’s “leftists” who are the ones who have a “hard time with simple facts, . . . .”?
Sheesh, new day, same story:
Fact checking Joe remains a full time proposition. Just because DJT says it, does not mean it’s true:
“As CNN reported in July, those words were chanted at a 2015 protest march held by a group in St. Paul, Minnesota, that was independent of, and not affiliated with, the national Black Lives Matter organization.
Rashad Turner, the organizer of the protest, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press at the time that the chant was not promoting violence against police, but to express that police who kill Black people should “fry” as other murderers do.
The chant lasted about 30 seconds during the hourslong march, protesters told the paper.
A police field supervisor overseeing the protest reportedly commented after the chant, “Everybody likes bacon. I think we can all get behind that.”
CNN’s fact-checkers reported that they could find no evidence that chant was used by the Black Lives Matter national organization or by BLM activists outside Minnesota.”
Not to pile on, but:
Our right side commentariat is again almost beyond words to describe their unawareness:
“We don’t appoint our leaders, we elect them”
The Green Bay Sweep, the fake electors scheme, Mike Pence not being a P&*&^% and doing the “right thing” are all examples of appointing a leader, not electing one. The Constitution that describes how we elect our leaders also describes how we judicially resolve disputes to ensure we elect not appoint. Did not work so well last time. Worked great in 2000 as evidenced by these words from Al Gore:
“Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.”
Just imagine how much better our country would be if Trump could have croaked out these same words. Still waiting for the apology…
Well, if the only violence or threats (real or imagined) you can get yourself to be concerned about are those directed Fascists… you’re probably a Fascist. If you really want to put Nazis and ANTIFA or BLM in the same category, you’re simply revealing your own level of moral vacuity and degeneracy.
If you think blocking traffic is an act of terrorism, you have no coherent concept of terrorism.
Anyone who can’t simply condemn the anti-Semitism being described here unequivocally without rising to the defense of ant-Semites; is probably and anti-Semite.
Now we live in a free country, you can be a Fascist or an anti-Semite if you want to be… but the rest of us aren’t obligated to take your garbage seriously; and you certainly don’t to walk into the room and claim to be the champions of freedom and morality.
If you want to get serious about pointing out anti-Semites, they reside on the left side of the aisle in the US house of representatives.
It’s good that we know where they are, so Rep. Taylor Greene can call the Jewish Space Lasers to take them out.
Tell us Robert, as an esteemed (apparently) scholar of Judaism and Israeli geopolitics, is the Jewish faith and the Israeli government one and the same? Is it anti-Semitism to take issue with the continued actions of the Israeli government or is that just criticism of a foreign power? Do you understand the difference? Would it similarly be francophobia (if that’s even the word) to criticism the actions of the French government? If not, please explain, in careful detail, why? Then apply the same question to the Chinese government.
“If you want to get serious about pointing out anti-Semites, they reside on the left side of the aisle in the US house of representatives.”
And, apparently by using your logic, the real motherlode of antisemites can be found in Synagogues:
Haaretz
https://www.haaretz.com › U.S. News
Nov 4, 2020 — Democratic Candidate Secured 77 Percent of the Jewish Vote Compared to Donald Trump’s 21 Percent, According to Survey,
Yes indeed. The only party with actual Jewish elected representatives has all the antisemitic members, too!
This is called “jumping the shark”, robert. Well done!
Wait until he finds out that the elected government of Israel could most likely be termed to have fascist tendencies.
TIL that no Republican President since Hoover has appointed a Jewish Justice to the US Supreme Court.
Evangelical Christians make up the conservative base and think Jews are so evil they will spend eternity being tortured. They want a thoroughly reactionary and militant Israel because they believe it will bring about the “end-of-days” more quickly. If that doesn’t count as being anti-Semitic, I don’t know what would. But maybe conservatives think it is alright because they don’t hate Jews any more or less than they hate everyone who doesn’t hold their very specific religious point of view.
The comments on this post are the exact reason we can’t have a normal conversation about anything of substance. The 3rd grade rhetoric and name calling comes out. Fascist.. Fascist.. When that word rings out we all know you really mean Nazi. You can’t accept that it is ok to have an alternate thought to yours. Nobody ever said in any comments that anti-Semitism is ok, yet all of your comments point the finger others you propose think that way. You all obviously know what everybody thinks in their own heart and head. Truth be told, the term Fascist is specifically directed at the interwar period between the 1st and 2nd world wars, so any use of the term Fascist outside of that period is incorrect. Another tidbid, I am not anti anything, except anti-close mindedness and anti-moron.
“When that word rings out we all know you really mean Nazi.”
If “we” do, then “we” are wrong. As I mentioned before, all Nazis are fascists, but not all fascists are Nazis.
“Truth be told, the term Fascist is specifically directed at the interwar period between the 1st and 2nd world wars, so any use of the term Fascist outside of that period is incorrect.”
Truth be told, that is grossly inaccurate. There is a preference for trying to limit the use of the term thusly, but that is only because of the comfort to be taken from the decisive defeats of the two most prominent fascist regimes in the Second World War. Other fascist regimes continued in existence for decades after the war. Salazar’s Estado Novo outlived its founder by a few years, and the Franco regime lasted until El Caudillo’s death in 1975.
There are also fascist movements in existence all over the world. Any idea that fascism is gone is purely wishful thinking, indulged in as an easier alternative to learning and confronting what fascism really means.
Fascism, political ideology and mass movement that dominated many parts of central, southern, and eastern Europe between 1919 and 1945. Verbatim definition. You can call this Fascist like but they are not true Fascism. Many movements from ancient Greece, Rome and more recent actions are like Fascism, but not in fact Fascism.
Many historians and political theorists would disagree with your online encyclopedia. Britannica.com is pretending that Spain and Portugal were not fascist dictatorships. That would be news to anyone who has studied either government.
PS You really should name the sources you quote “verbatim.”
“Nobody ever said in any comments that anti-Semitism is ok”
That’s a pretty low bar that ignores a litany of bigoted comments made regularly by several of the regular conservatives here. Don’t want to be called a fascist? Don’t act like a fascist.
It’s almost as though conservatives value differentiating themselves from liberals more than standing up for core american values.
Where are the litany of bigoted comments, besides in your own mind?
Core values? packing the court, and the latest, using the 14th amendment to cheat the checks and balances inherent to our Constitution.
Yeah, because Mussolini’s fascist party was eradicated in 1944 and Hitler’s Nazi party was annihilated in 1945,”fascism” thereby ceased to exist as a political concept and cant be used as descriptive term. The dictionary says so! Sounds reasonable…but what exactly are we to call today’s actual Nazis? You do know they exist?
You don’t understand the concept of fascism and its ongoing validity any more than you understand the federal budgeting process.
“using the 14th amendment to cheat the checks and balances inherent to our Constitution.”
Now THAT is an interesting take. I’m sure that you will describe the following as a clear expression of the founder’s intent:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
And this is cheating the Constitution?:
“Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.”
Any chance you could enlighten us on why the former is the equivalent of the Stone Tablets conveyed to Moses by God, and the latter is irrelevant drivel?
Or, just another Republican norm of treating the Constitution like a menu from a Chinese restaurant: pick the ones you like.
“The comments on this post are the exact reason we can’t have a normal conversation about anything of substance.”
Well, not exactly. The reason we can’t have a reasoned debate is that our right wing commentariat excels at dropping verbal bombs and then refusing to further engage on the topic. The admittedly majority left wing commentariat is filled with thoughtful, intelligent, reasonable folks more than happy to engage in a debate. Never better illustrated than this one:
Right Side point:
By robert weir
on May 17, 2023 at 11:02 a.m.
Replying to Matt Haas
Since Hitler was appointed, not elected, how can that ever happen here? We don’t appoint our leaders, we elect them.
Left Side counterpoint:
By Edward Blaise
on May 18, 2023 at 8:14 a.m.
Not to pile on, but:
Our right side commentariat is again almost beyond words to describe their unawareness:
“We don’t appoint our leaders, we elect them”
The Green Bay Sweep, the fake electors scheme, Mike Pence not being a P&*&^% and doing the “right thing” are all examples of appointing a leader, not electing one. The Constitution that describes how we elect our leaders also describes how we judicially resolve disputes to ensure we elect not appoint. Did not work so well last time. Worked great in 2000 as evidenced by these words from Al Gore:
“Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.”
Just imagine how much better our country would be if Trump could have croaked out these same words. Still waiting for the apology…
Right Side rebuttal:
Crickets…
C’mon fellas, you can do more than assign blame and complain. Defend yourselves! As an occasional commenter at PowerLine, it is easy to ignore the gratuitous insults and name calling which are plentiful in their 95% right side commentariat with minimal content moderation. It is NBA trash talking applied to the issues of the day.
It’s always kind of humorous when the guys who embraced the terms “Feminazi” and “Libtard” and “Sheeple” and on and on try complain about all the name calling, intolerance, and closed minds. Whatever.
Here’s the thing, speaking for myself, when I use the term: “Fascism” or “Fascist” it’s to describe real people I think are are Fascists. This isn’t just an insult. Unlike “Feminazis” and “libtards” Fascism is a REAL thing, and Fascists exist. And yeah, like someone said… if you don’t want to called one, don’t act like one.
And if you want to be taken seriously, don’t try to play high school debate games when we’re talking about serious adult subject matter. Comparing BLM demonstrations to anti-Semitic assaults on Jews and Synagogues isn’t a serious conversation. Deflecting responsibility from Fascists, racists, and anti-Semites isn’t “fairness”, it’s degenerate hatred. Denying the existence of Fascist or Fascism isn’t clever rhetoric, it’s evasive duplicity. So again, it’s a free country, you CAN do all of these things… but don’t expect to be taken seriously.
I suppose we could step back for moment and channel our inner Eric Black who used to worry about using terms to describe people that people don’t use to describe themselves. I would note that years ago, I actually had comments rejected on occasion because I used the term: “Fascist”, so times have obviously changed, I would say for the better.
At any rate, Eric had something of a point as a journalist when it comes to appropriate terminology and journalistic practice. As a journalist, the fact that someone is an: “Oath Keeper” or “Proud Boy” is a reportable fact, but describing them as a Fascist is subjective judgement if they don’t refer themselves as such.
However, as citizens, community members, and responsible adults, recognizing threats to our way of life is an essential responsibility we dare not evade or ignore. Do rapists call themselves “rapist”? Is that how they self identify? Do traitors call themselves: “Traitors”? Are we obligated to refer to White Supremacists and Neo Nazis as: “patriots” because THAT’S what THEY call themselves?
I can explain why I use the term “Fascist”, and I’ve have done so in past comments. We can discuss the differences and nature of historical European Fascism vs. contemporary American Fascism if we want to, but frankly I’ve found that it’s simply not necessary, the word works because it describes exactly what we’re facing regardless the particular brand i.e. or group affiliation. The only people who really get hung up on the term are Fascists trying to obscure their agenda, and political scientists or historians who insists you can’t be a Fascist unless you’re an Italian living between what? 1900 and 1945? Obviously those aren’t the Fascists Sinclair Lewis was talking about. Sure, we can understand why someone like Donald Trump doesn’t want to be called a Fascists… but that doesn’t he’s not a Fascist, and we don’t have to call him a “patriot” because that’s what he prefers to be called.
It’s important to remember that one of the features of Fascism is it’s inherent duplicity and deception. Deception is an indelible feature of Fascism and always has been, hence the pretense of patriotism and nationalism.
So when you see an article written by a Jew about lived experience with anti-Semitism referenced back to 1933, no one should have to explain the relevance of Fascism to this discussion. And anyone who tries to claim that anti-fascists are the REAL anti-Semites is deliberately trying to obscure and disrupt the conversation. Now who would deliberately and instinctively want to or try to disrupt a conversation about anti-Semitism? Who would deny that Fascists are the REAL anti-Semites in the room? Who would claim that BLM is JUST as or more violent than White Supremacists who attack Jews, Muslims, and police stations in order to spark a race war? I ask you… who does that? Do we really need to invent a NEW word for this?
Hear, hear!
Maybe we should just ask how people identify themselves as before we tag them with a name??
Sure Robert… you go first: How many people identify themselves as feminazis, libtards, or sheeple? Does Walz call himself a dictator? What about all the socialists and communists in the room? What was that one a last week or so that Danny Nelson used… oh yeah… how many people self identify as “Washington Swamp Creatures”?
Actually no, we’re not going to give Fascists the power to control our language, been there done that, didn’t end well. As we existentialists are wont to point out: you are not what you call yourself… you are what you are. You can tell us what you call yourself, you don’t need our permission to do that… but we’re not obligated to recognize that. It’s not tagging, it’s recognition.
And the most telling thing for conservatives is that they never have any problem supporting fascist ideas and using fascist slogans. They just would prefer it if nobody describes them accurately.
You are the only one name calling here. So, you go first.
You are just doubling down on the idea that you are only worried about the label rather than the issues which illustrate that it is being accurately applied. It is no wonder the conservatives largely prefer a rapist who brags about his ability to commit sexual assault at will as their presidential candidate. They have zero connection to any sense of ethics or morality. They simply want to win at all costs no matter how much damage they do to others.
No, No, No
They are saving us from socialism and socialists.
Just ask them: this big bucket that includes everyone from Mitt Romney to Karl Marx.