The other day, Ross Douthat – a conservative op-ed columnist for the New York Times – posted the following on social media.
“Another possibility," he wrote "is that we have radicalization on the left and the right at the same time because left-liberals got what they wanted -- a more secular and expressive-individualist society -- and unfortunately it made people unhappier and more open to radical critiques.” When I say “conservative columnist,” it’s worth clarifying that he replaced Bill Kristol -- one of America’s more disingenuous conservative voices -- on the paper’s editorial page. Because what Mr. Douthat wrote was empty, nonsensical bunk. The polite term. This is what passes for a conservative analyst trying to show he understands and can explain liberals. First of all, no, this is not a Both Sides thing. If the "left wing" of The Left is radicalized, the near entirety of The Right is radicalized -- and its "right wing" is literally fascist. It’s why people like Mitt Romney (their former standard bearer) is leaving the Senate. And why the party pushed out deeply conservative Liz Cheney, who was part of House leadership. And why conservative Adam Kinzinger and now very conservative Ken Buck decided not to run for re-election. Because they’re not conservative enough for today’s GOP. A party that remarkably is overwhelming supporting by over 45 points a man who has four indictments, 91 felony counts, been found liable for what the judge called the equivalence of rape, had his company found guilty of fraud, had his charity foundation shut down, enables white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and fomented an insurrection to overthrow democracy. No doubt to someone so far on the right that this description of Trump, which was actually short and polite to the larger reality, leaving out such things as following the fascist playbook to undermine competing sources of authority like the court system, the intelligence community, election security and the media -- as well as pushing xenophobic hatred towards minorities like Muslims, Jews, Mexicans, Blacks and “third world sh*thole countries, and promoting violence with threats to call out the military to attack protestors and kill people who disagree with him – will find this all a “radical critique,” since most things critical of them or that’s to the left of Genghis Khan is “radical,” when it’s really just an accurate description. But it’s Mr. Douthat’s instance that has “got what they wanted” that leaps out most for giving away his far-right perspective. Since today’s GOP does not appear to support compromise, but has a winner-take-all mentality (witness their difficulty electing a Speaker, kicking out the previous House leader because he dared reach an agreement with Democrats to pass a temporary budget bill and keep the government running), then when extreme-right conservatives see progressives get something, virtually anything they didn’t want them to get, then in their no-compromise minds, that tends to be seen as progressives getting everything they wanted. Because they don’t want them to get anything. No, the Left hasn't got "what they wanted." The Left hasn’t come close to getting “what they wanted. For starters – They don't want Merrick Garland not sitting on the Supreme Court. They don’t want Hilary Clinton defeated at the hands of Trump with help from Russia. They don’t want Trump to have been the one is office to appoint three Supreme Court Justices. They don’t want abortion overturned. They don’t want travel restrictions on women who travel to a state where abortions are legal. The don’t want semi-automatic weapons of war available to the public. They don’t want books banned. They don’t want the teaching of Black history banned. They don’t want voter suppression. They don’t want healthcare for transgender children banned. They don’t want laws against LGBTQ. They don’t want drag shows banned. That don’t want laws that ban saying “Gay” or “LatinX.” They don’t want a path to citizenship by Dreamers blocked. And they most certainly don’t want is for people to think that Ross Douthats of the world, who are trying to convince others that Left-liberals are radicalized and “got what they wanted,” have any idea what they’re talking about and instead are just pulling fear from out of their orifices in order to be intentionally divisive by passing off blatant lies as reality. And no, that is not hyperbole. Consider Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who before Tuesday was considering getting into the GOP presidential race – until reality fell on him after his state’s legislature election. Earlier in the day, he made a lie so huge that after showing the clip, an MSNBC guest said it made her sick. He was being interviewed before polls closed and said how Democrats want to make abortion legal up to birth. (And this is a common "fear tactic" theme from Republicans. Even Chris Christie has said this happens in his state of New Jersey...every day!) It doesn't happen, it's illegal, and there is no Democratic official, probably no Democrat anywhere period, who has called for abortion up to birth – and Glenn Youngkin and Chris Christie couldn’t find one if they had the Hubble telescope. And the day or so before that, Youngkin said that Democrats were the “party of hate, Republicans the party of hope.” Man, talk about upside-down world. When you’re the party of banning abortion, banning the right to travel for an abortion where it’s legal, banning books, banning the teaching of Black history, banning voting rights, banning healthcare for transgender, banning drag shows, banning Dreamer laws and supporting a white supremacist, neo-Nazi enabler found liable of rape, guilty of fraud and four-time indicted as your overwhelming party leader, and unanimously electing as House Speaker a man who blames school shootings on abortion, it takes a professional contortionist to make all that and more not the proud party of hatred. That’s the world Ross Douthat lives in. That’s the world where he sees those to the left of him (which is the majority of Americans) as “radicals.” That’s the world where he sees people get something (whatever that “something” may be) that he doesn’t want them to get and believes therefore they got everything they wanted. And wants you to believe it all, too. That’s why he doesn’t see that the Republican Party he’s enveloped by has become fascist. Because it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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