#right wing nutjobs

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Christopher F. Rufo

Published: Oct 22, 2024

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war more than a year ago, perplexing forms of open anti-Semitism have cropped up on both sides of the political aisle. First visible on the political left with an eruption of protests and even of violence on Ivy League campuses, it also appeared soon enough on the political right.

What has transpired is a complex story about the academy and the internet, the elite and the fringes—one that we must confront directly as it reveals something rotten in our politics. This concerning trajectory can only be changed through the restoration of higher principles that once kept these threats in check. In the face of dangerous identity-based ideologies, it is crucial to return to America’s historic defense of colorblindness, meritocracy, and fair play.

Left-wingers have participated in anti-Israel and pro-Hamas agitation, in some cases even defending the Hamas militants who massacred approximately some 1,200 innocents, including at a music festival. Keffiyeh-clad student protesters captured buildings at Columbia, eventually setting off a wave of copycat flashpoints at other universities. Elites institutions like Harvard—which previously had issued statements on political controversies ranging from Black Lives Matter and #MeToo to the war in Ukraine—suddenly went silent on the Israel-Hamas war in the name of protecting freedom of speech.

These institutions have failed to keep in check the simplistic oppressor-versus-oppressed ideology that undergirds the worldview of today’s left. The provincial-minded elites that call the shots in these institutions tend to filter every conflict through this ideological lens, looking primarily to skin color and then power dynamics as the main criteria for judging the rectitude of a cause. Palestinians, with their slightly darker skin tone and less developed economy and military, fit the “oppressed” mold, thus making the Jewish state their “oppressor.” 

Though this line of thought dates back to the 1960s (think of the Black Panthers’ alliance with the Palestinian cause), this is the first time that it has come to dominate discourse on university campuses. This is thanks in part to the collapse of intellectual diversity on campus. But it also has attracted numerous students and professors because of the prevalence of victim worship and the subsequent resentment toward successful groups. In their eyes, Palestinians are a kind of eternal victim. A pseudo-historical narrative tells us they have been victimized for time everlasting, and lack any agency in their own fate. Ironically, the oppression of the Jews dates back to biblical times, yet American Jews are one of the most successful groups in academia and other intellectual professions. The success of a minority group throws a wrench into the left’s narrative gears.

Across the political aisle, anti-Semitic ideologies have a history of appearing in the form of conspiratorial thinking on the fringes of American conservatism. Lately, it has been the non-traditional right-wingers—who, because of how our politics works, have been lumped in with “conservatism” writ large—who espouse such views. Take Kanye West, who was a kind of ally to Donald Tru.mp and then embedded himself within the right, eventually suffering from mental breakdowns and going off on anti-Semitic rants. 

Or Candace Owens, who, although always controversial, once understood where the lines lay. This was in part because of her employers, her partners, and the rules on platforms like YouTube or X (formerly Twitter). Yet in recent months, she began questioning whether the Axis powers deserved Western antipathy, and even apologizing for Kanye’s threat to “go defcon three on some Jews” and musing about a “small ring of people in Hollywood who are using the fact that they are Jewish to shield” their supposed crimes (always careful to hedge, she insists this characterization doesn’t apply to American Jewry writ large, but the hallmarks of classic anti-Semitism are unmistakable in her discourse).

On X, many right-wing accounts espouse open anti-Semitism, often posting allegedly ironic memes about Adolf Hitler. I once posted something about critical race theory, and was told by one of these accounts, “Well, you know that critical race theory was invented by Jews.” Though this kind of right-wing conspiratorial thinking is nothing new, the fact that it has become so commonplace on online platforms like X is an alarming novelty that merits our concern.

The growing distrust of mainstream institutions that is characteristic of today’s right can’t be written off completely. This sentiment—ushered in by figures like Donald Tru.mp—swept away the broken establishment Republican consensus, yet it has failed to fill the ideological vacuum it has created. Tru.mp tried to fill it with partisan politics but lacked an adequate intellectual framework. Those who retrofitted their ideologies to Tru.mp attempted to create an intellectual substructure for his presidency, in some cases ushering in a kind of chaotic element. To be sure, chaos can create space for creativity. But it always comes with a downside.

This ideological vacuum is compounded with relaxed censorship policies on platforms like X, thanks to its new owner, Elon Musk. To be sure, this has allowed more space to express legitimate viewpoints and is preferable to the old censorship system. But it has also allowed conspiratorial thinking to gain traction. Worse, it has opened the door to alt-right influencers and the so-called Groypers, who have taken politics as a method of garnering attention and then monetizing it either on or off their platforms. This has all been exacerbated by the disappearance of gatekeepers and overall quality control within the post-establishmentarian right.

At face value, the fact that such seemingly opposed cultural subsets can find a point of convergence is perplexing, to say the least. One is in the academy, an elite group pursuing prestige. The other is on the internet, a fringe phenomenon, pursuing clicks. But if we take a closer look, we find that both are identity-based movements. Both movements are driven by envy, resentment, fear, and the impulse to locate a scapegoat to achieve their general political objectives. What’s at stake in these two groups having such an influence over discourse is something much bigger than the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

Should we fail to restrain their growth, we will have two large factions in the United States that want to abandon the principles of colorblind equality, fair play, and judging individuals on their own merit. Thus, this isn’t just a question of anti-Semitism, but a question of how we want to govern our society. It is in our best interest as a nation to reject both left-wing identity politics, which seeks to categorize everyone in an intersectional hierarchy and then use the state to force equity or the equalization of outcomes, and right-wing conspiratorial thinking, a form of pessimism used to pin one’s failures on someone else’s success.

We are blessed to live in a country where people can succeed when they work hard and put their talent to good use. It is imperative that we fight to maintain a narrative that reflects this reality, rather than capitulating to pessimistic ideologies divorced from the facts. 

In 1790, George Washington wrote a letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, RI. This letter offers us a model of how American principles can assimilate minority groups and, in particular, American Jews. Some scholars view it as the first time that Jews were welcomed as full citizens of a modern national polity. Washington acknowledged that Jews have the same liberties, rights, and benefits of citizenship. And that citizenship requires all of us to work hard, to contribute to society, and to play by the rules. 

Washington’s letter should cause us to reflect on how far we have come since the time he wrote it. Today, our nation is home to a diverse mix of people from a variety of continental, racial, and religious backgrounds. The principles that Washington laid out are precisely the ones that can still work today if we are dedicated to them. The recent surge in racialist and conspiratorial thinking calls us to renew the case for these principles and to argue for them. 

This is the only way forward for the country.

[wildfeather5002]

So true. Also left wingers could say "right wingers think it's okay to tell kids they're going to Hell for eternity if they don't obey religious dogma unquestioningly but telling kids lgbt people exist is abuse". No exaggeration here either.

You ever notice that right wingers lie and exaggerate in order to make left wingers look bad, while left wingers who want to make right wingers look bad can just tell the truth with zero exaggeration?

For example

Right wingers say "left wingers want drag queens in lingerie to read books about boners to kindergarteners" which is nowhere near true.

Left wingers say "right wingers want to legally force preteen rape victims to give birth", which is 100% true with zero exaggeration.

[monzhoes]

jb being married and having a child with a trumpie so he fully just hates danica bc of misogyny cool cool cool

[redwinterroses]

i am begging you to tag your current events posts with the relevant personalities involved. i do not want to see it. this site is my safe zone. i have facebook for real world crap (yes. i'm old. shut up.) i come here for the block men.

tag or get blocked.

[sluttynurse]

see i wish this site wasn't so uscentric bc we're (canadians) going to have a similarly upsetting election next year

[orion-nottson]

the innate ironic comedy of having the joker as my lock screen, saying "we live in a society" and "why so serious", and threatening to become the joker at any minor inconvenience... vs the Consequences Of The Clown

[aoifereal]

Man I don't know should I take the early warning sign of Wes streeting meeting those Christian freaks and get the fuck out of here

[cheesebongdynasty]

I'm so pissed at all leaders involved in the conflict right now. I hate Hamas for obvious reasons. I hate Netanyahu for being a right-wing warmonger. (There are still hostages in those places he's bombing! No wonder Israelis hate him.) I hate whoever it is in Egypt that decides not to let Palestinian refugees in.

None of them care about the Palestinian civilians. Hamas uses them as chess pieces. Netanyahu uses any excuse to carpet bomb them. The Egyptian government doesn't want them. And leaders of other nations only pretend to care about them for political points.

And I can't fathom what the families of the hostages still in Gaza are going through right now. Nosferatu doesn't care about them either.

[db-1986]

Still think you're smart when you are really stupid? You and your silly friends suck

Well I'm still smarter then you. Your conspiracy theories are absolutely hilarious and the fact that you think I'm part of some orchestrated attack on you with multiple people on this platform is just pathetic. Have you maybe thought that maybe multiple people, independently, came to the conclusion that you are a raving loon? Of course not. Because you can't play the victim, that you so wish you were.

Jan 6th insurrection was a real thing. Trump really lost. The pandemic was real. The vaccine is real. No one is coming for your guns or your stoves. And for fuck sake! There is no globalist shadow government.

You see, the thing about people is they are loud assholes. If your conspiracy theories were real, there would be actual evidence. From time to time crazy shit does come to light, but do you know what it's always backed up with? That's right, evidence.

PS. And atleast I don't have you living rent free in my head, unlike you, with your constant asks and comments. Honestly, after I post this, I will once again forget about your existence until the next time I stumble across your stupidity. Because unlike what you think is real, I don't really care about your bullshit. At this point it's amusing, but not worth seeking out. I have zero respect for your inability to provide evidence and so for the most part, ignore you. But I've said this before, if someone sends me a message or an ask, I'll answer.

[eyedontgettumblr]

perfect example of right wing asshattery and lust for blood. get help. go to therapy before you commit a mass murder you fucking clownshoe.

there is one fucker on earth whom i want in jail just as much as djt

i would give my phantom left nut and watch with rapture,

Mark fucking Meadows

make his way into jail and do time in prison

after the jan 6 testimony i want to see this shit eating grin fucker go to jail

[kitmarlowe]

so i thought ofmd came out this evening but it turns out it's already out and all over my dash

[wild-magics]

Remember that post that was something like ‘celebrities are often not as liberal as you think they are just because you like them?’

Yeah…can we also add on to that ‘you don’t know how left leaning a celebrity is just because they like/post a few things that you read as liberal’

[sparrownnax]

THE COOL BOOKSTORE IS DOING TRIVIA NIGHT AGAIN YEAHHHHH

[failfemme]

oh my gosh the politics just keep getting worse

[lewvithur]

they're about as liberal as our liberal party is

[lib-and-learn]

Lol. I playact that I am thrown across the room and 'sploded.

Seriously though, I understand and share those concerns, but look at this:

A trans person is trans when they decide they are. Some medically transition with hormones and some don't (and some legally aren't allowed to).

So consider a trans girl who recently decided or discovered she is trans. She has just begun to (or hasn't yet, or won't) medically transition. Up to this point in her life she has developed as a male.

Is it fair that she then compete against people who have developed as girls? One day she is competing on the boys' team and the next day on the girls'? No, not fair. Girls' leagues exist for a reason.

What if she has begun to medically transition? At what point is she declared female enough to compete? Where do we draw the baseline for what is and is not female?

This is where we get into genital inspections and discrimination against masculine girls. This is where we would be creating a definition of what is and is not female.

Since it isn't fair for a trans woman who is developmentally male to compete against other girls, and we don't want to create a situation where we are forced to decide when someone is "girly" enough for girls' sports - well the obvious answer is that non-gendered league I was talking about.

I think I am pretty aware of my biases - please don't let yours take away from rational thought. And one of your biases seems to be thinking that all trans girls are on hormones. Another is thinking that anyone who disagrees with you is biased, when they may just be considering points you haven't thought of.

So... yeah. Un-'sploded.

Remember, just because someone is from a marginalized group doesn't mean they'll act in the best interest of that group.