What happened to the Left? It used to be cool. In my younger, liberal days, I would come home from work, pour myself a glass of single malt, and relax in my easy chair to the dulcet tones of "News Hour" on PBS. Thus, I could consider myself erudite and well-informed. NPR debuted all the latest music, ensuring I was on the cutting edge. It even offered "Jazz Overnight," with classic and contemporary jazz presented by someone with a voice designed to mimic the effects of Valium.
The Left has the best clothes. It has the best art, ensconced in the trendiest galleries. It makes all of the good movies that debut within the trendy environs of the Sundance Film Festival, complete with hipsters and celebrities alike. My wife and I used to take mini-vacations in ski resort towns that had quirky boutiques and plenty of restaurants offering fusion dishes that combined foods with names that I had never heard of.
The Left used to be creative. Don't misunderstand me; the Left is still wrong about a plethora of things. But it used to be wrong with style.
One would think that with a cornucopia of writers, artists, songsmiths, and thinkers at its disposal, the Left would not have to resort to the same tired and threadbare tropes that it has been using forever (and with renewed energy since 2016) to attack anti-Semtism. But here we are.
According to the latest breathless missives from Leftists, the greatest threats when it comes to anti-Semitism and, for that matter, the world, are not the demonstrators calling for the elimination of Israel. It is not Hamas or Hezbollah. Rather, the threats are from:
- White Supremacists
- Christian Nationalists
- MAGA.
Actually, I'm surprised it took the Leftists this long to reach into the recycling bin for the above-mentioned usual suspects. For Leftists, white supremacy, Christian Nationalists, and MAGA are the top three entries used in the progressive version of Mad Libs that doubles for its news and commentary. For example, the Washington Free Beacon notes that at Tulane University, the group Students for Palestine recently made an Instagram post defending its use of "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." Of course, we all know what that means, but Students for Palestine claimed in a video:
What we have seen for far too long is that it is Israel and the fantasy of Zionism that results in the expulsion and mass killing of Palestinians, not the other way around. The biggest threat to us as Jews is and has always been white supremacy, not the struggle for Palestinian liberation and self-determination. You are hurting Jews and Palestinians when you conflate the freedom struggle with white supremacy.
Tulane does not officially recognize this group. The video in question was released a week after it sponsored an off-campus rally that turned violent. The organizers and supporters are not Tulane students.
A former senior White House correspondent for Playboy also aired his opinion that the election of the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (R-La.), is no less than a sign of the End Times. Fox News reports that Brian Karem called Johnson a "discount version of the apocalyptic orgasm the holy rollers have dreamed of for years." He also published an op-ed in Salon with the headline "MAGA and Christian nationalism: Bigger threat to America than Hamas could ever be." Apparently, Johnson and the MAGA mob will usher in a theocracy. I guess that is a problem, while the screeds of the Taliban and similar groups are no big deal.
Not to be outdone, VICE has an article bemoaning the fact that Neo-Nazis and members of the far right are trying to "hijack" pro-Palestine protests. The piece said that members of the National Justice Party showed up at a protest this past weekend, irking the pro-Palestine group:
“They’re not pro-Palestine, they just hate Jews, and they see this moment as an opportunity to get attention, get coverage, put their banners, their images, their ideas, into reporting patterns,” said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, told VICE News of the recent displays by brazen antisemites. “Nine out of ten of them would probably happily commit a hate crime against anyone [at the pro-Palestine protest]."
Yes, there are Neo-Nazis and white supremacists. They are not nearly as numerous as the Left would like us to believe, and no sane person, regardless of political leanings, supports them or wants to get within ten city blocks of them if possible. But has it occurred to any of the pro-Palestine crowd that the reason the tiki-torch skinhead crowd is showing up is because, at this juncture, they have similar goals, that for the moment, they have found a point of agreement? Could it be that these white supremacists look at these protests and see fellow travelers, at least on this issue? Just who is joining whom?
In the heat of self-righteous outrage, it is all too easy to become the thing one claims to hate and oppose. One would think that one of these pro-Palestine folks would have the self-awareness to ask themselves why the neo-Nazis are suddenly onboard.
In the end, summoning the ghosts of white supremacy, Christian Nationalism, and, yes, that tired, old specter of MAGA serves the same purpose as the best art, clothes, movies, music, and books. That purpose is to create a veneer to mask what lies beneath.
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