This is a febrile, statue-toppling time, one with some parallels to the politics of previous moments of authoritarian ascendancy, when hard-left movements sprung up in response to the right. But it’s not quite a “horseshoe” moment, either. That’s the theory that far-left and far-right ideologies often converge around similar ideas in times like these. As we watch Mr. Trump lay waste to multiple generations of conservative dogma, it starts to become clear that ideology of any kind is inadequate to capture what is happening in the electorate....
October 11, 2025
"It’s an emotional gas-main explosion, from people who felt unheard, patronized, left behind...."
Writes Michael Hirschorn, explaining why he's voting for Mamdani, in "With Mamdani, the Left Finally Has Its Trump" (NYT).
Posts
127 comments:
Trump Derangement: Is there nothing it can't excuse?
They’ve already made the sale for NYC voters. Who are they trying to sell to?
NY Socialist? Diversity? Human rites? There is precedent.
Why do progressives think progress involves implementing policies that have already been tried and proven to fail? How is that progress?
"This is a febrile, statue-toppling time, one with some parallels to the politics of previous moments of authoritarian ascendancy, when hard-left movements sprung up in response to the right."
Should be "when hard-left movements sprang up..."
Sprang. Not sprung.
"Spring has sprung..." but "Spring sprang"!
Because they’re convinced that if they’re in charge, things will actually work this time. Despite all evidence to the contrary.
Whatever national goodwill NYC had after 9-11 will be destroyed by electing this Commie.
All that really matters is that the Yankees lost.
"It’s an emotional gas-main explosion, from people who felt unheard, patronized, left behind...."
It’s all about the “feels.”
What a pile of horse hooey. The Right organizes in response to the violence and criminality of the Left. Only the historically illiterate don't seem to know this.
That makes no sense at all, except in the context of the old VeggieTales song, everybody wants a water buffalo. For water, buffalo, just substitute totalitarian.
So, how are they going to tear the playhouse down "metaphorically"? Can we make sure the the rest of us won't have to pay for the inevitable damage?
"As we watch Mr. Trump lay waste to multiple generations of conservative dogma"
The author is delusional if this is his basic assertion. I stopped reading after that statement.
They're talking about women voters.
By placing the blame on feelings and emotions, the writer is suggesting there is no rational thought or group of principles behind the MAGA/Trump movement.
While the "horseshoe" theory has some validity, as a 2024 first time DJT voter, I could/would never vote for the Red Diaper Baby.
“statue-toppling time”
Does this guy hear himself?
Would someone kindly tell me exactly what Trump has done that is “authoritarian?”
I didn’t know the left was looking for its Trump. I thought they hated Trump. Why would they want their own Trump? Did you know they were searching for their own Trump? I thought they were looking for their own Joe Rogan…
All that matters is that the Dodgers are no longer in Brooklyn.
- Krumhorn
Would someone kindly tell me exactly what Trump has done that is “authoritarian?”
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on that, if I were you.
Those words you are using
Writes Michael Hirschorn, explaining why he's voting for Mamdani, in "With Mamdani, the Left Finally Has Its Trump" (NYT).
Perfect. Absolutely Perfect.
One of them built many things and has a massive list of accomplishments.
The other one is a retarded actor who can't bench 135 and lived in his parents mansion and never had a real job.
This is the perfect comparison between the average democrat and average republican.
The people who feel patronized and left behind are apparently people with useless college degrees they can't pay for. I'm not sure that's a basis for a sustainable movement.
If the Left is looking for their 'Trump', does this mean they've given up looking for their 'Joe Rogan'? Asking for my dog.
"It’s an emotional gas-main explosion, from people who felt unheard, patronized, left behind...."
Is he trying to make Democrats feel bad?
He is basically admitting that the average Democrat voter is an emotional morally retarded idiot who is willing to burn everything down when they don't get their way.
We already knew that just by reading their own words. But he is essentially writing it out in capital letters with a crayon.
"Sprang. Not sprung."
A grammar lesson is beyond the ken of a newspaper writer.
Yeah, communism is communism. That you dislike Trump is no excuse.
I think the analogy to Trump is valid: they both set their sights on the disgruntled uneducated.
They’ve already made the sale for NYC voters. Who are they trying to sell to?
....
it is not making sale = NYC is accessories before crime : beyond it is more accessories to crime after fact and then for bailout by rest of us
jim said...
I think the analogy to Trump is valid: they both set their sights on the disgruntled uneducated.
There are 2 types of "uneducated" people mentioned in Jim's comment.
1. Working class people who have working class jobs and contribute to society.
2. College educated baristas and protestors who can't even drive an Amazon Prime delivery van and sponge off of paychecks from George Soros and USAID.
Spring has sprung
The grass has ris
I wonder where
The birdies is?
"It’s an emotional gas-main explosion ...
....
nice turn of phrase for huge fart in history
That was painfully stupid like wishing the comet would strike sooner
With Trump there’s hope. With Mamdingle there’s dogshit, deterioration, and destruction.
Go for it, midwits!
As mcluhan says in annie hall 'you teach a class in this'
Aktually mamdani seeks out the highly credentialed without a lick of sense 'choose the form of your destroyer'
"There are 2 types of "uneducated" people mentioned in Jim's comment."
Pro-tip: If you have a plumbing or electrical problem at home you need diagnosed and repaired, you'll want to go with "Type 1" people, not "Type 2".
Was that a fart? Yes… mostly.
Some folks need to touch a stove to learn that it is hot. Lefties will get burned with this guy.
Regarding Hirschorn: The Kapos sold out their own and assisted their captors too. The urban left has a fatal blind spot per its willingness to cooperate with those who would destroy their culture.
I didn’t know the left was looking for its Trump. I thought they hated Trump. Why would they want their own Trump?
Apparently, somebody at the NYT was asking the same question. So that headline no longer exists. Stealth edit alert!
I Am Sorry That I Said Mamdani Was Like Trump. He Is Not Like Trump. Although I Do See Similarities
"in response to" is a funny way of spelling "slavishly Astroturfing" which is what the Left has been doing since the Tea Party.
"Would someone kindly tell me exactly what Trump has done that is “authoritarian?”
Our cheeky, beloved, Trump haters will soon break their silence.
“ This is a febrile, statue-toppling time…
There is a statue (ok, a bust) of George Floyd in a Brooklyn park that is available to topple.
I Am Ready To Blow Up the World, Just Like Those Trump Voters. But Mamdani Is Not Like Trump. Let Me Be Clear On That
Just wait until Mamdani orders the Yankees to change their name to the Commies! I can hardly wait for a statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky to be erected in Central Park! (Or is that Central Committee Park)?!
“Sprang. Not sprung.”
Or maybe the left gets sprung by febrile political action.
It’s a common adage that politics is a substitute for religion on the left. I would not be the first person to suggest it’s a substitute for sex, too.
If Mamdani is elected then it needs to be made clear that the people of NYC wished this on themselves and there will be no help coming when the parasites inevitably kill their host.
So the author of the NYT piece must be a member of the hard left.
.." previous moments of authoritarian ascendancy, when hard-left movements sprung up in response to the right."..
could someone give AN example of this? EVER happening?
It looks to me, like hard left movements spring up in response to WEAKNESS on the right. Or, is That what they're saying?
Anyway, please show me an example.. if you can
Sheridan said...
“Just wait until Mamdani orders the Yankees to change their name to the Commies! I can hardly wait for a statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky to be erected in Central Park! (Or is that Central Committee Park)?!”
I expect Felix to be re-imagined with west African features and MS-13 tattoos.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/michael-hirschorn yeah long since removed all doubt
Trump has attempted what even Reagan hadnt tried to hold the left at bay
Yes their sinecures are no longer sacred cows
He actually thinks unlimited immigration, dei, lawfare. Out of control spending, people children raped and murdered is what we actually need. Amazing.
"Does this guy hear himself?"
It is all he hears.
The reverse is more often true, the brigatte the rote fraktion et al
Mamdani will win 'cause poor and lower middle class people hoping for free stuff. Comfortable middle class don't expect to be affected.
And Cuomo has no seemingly beneficial change to offer.
This is delirium next thing you know he'll be shooting an arrow at his significant other (burroughs)
Well he did kill off many of his likely voters
sprung is both past and past participle; sprang is only past.
Govt run stores are being suggested in boston
It’s sprang time for Mamdani in New York City…
Sumer is icumen in.
Its bad prog fan fiction
I thought he was talking about MAGA when he talked about people who when they were not being ignored, were being patronized, or gaslighted,
His head is too far inverted for him to see that
jim said...
I think the analogy to Trump is valid: they both set their sights on the disgruntled uneducated.
************************
Yeah, all those MAGA and TPUSA people are the "disgruntled uneducated". They're notorious for taking their disgruntlement to the streets, to riot, physically clash with ICE and the police, set police vans on fire, and engage in political assassination attempts . RIIIIIIGGGHHHT
As for being "uneducated", Humorist Will rRogers put it best:
"Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects."
"It’s an emotional gas-main explosion, from people who felt unheard, patronized, left behind...."
By whom?
"Because things have gone dangerously wrong in this country, and like a lot of other New Yorkers, I’m ready to tear the whole playhouse down (metaphorically speaking!)."
Go for it!
Lifelong Jewish New Yorker here. Pardon my ignorance, but who the hell is Michael Hirschorn. Presumably, he’s a Jew whose religion is progressivism, with as much attachment to the Jewish people and Judaism as Mamdani bestie, the loathsome Brad Lander.
Mamdani is the perfect example of 30-somethings I know. College degree, but underemployed, working, but still reliant on subsidies from "Bank of Mom and Dad", intense, but unable to tolerate folks who don't abide by socialist-Marxist "white guilt" and "tax the rich" beliefs, supposedly "smart", but sadly unaware of history and precedent of political failure of socialist-Marxist creed in real life.
I remember NYC in late 70s, early 80s. The cheap rents, the ghetto fires, the constancy of street crime and street grime. Mamdani seems blissfully unaware that "rich people" can move away, their "rich people" income taxes evaporate, and the their "rich people" homes rapidly depreciate in a declining housing market. Ask Chicago, it's biggest taxpayer Ken Griffin up and moved to Miami, taking his entire Chicago office employees with him, and selling his ultra-expensive portfolio of ultra-luxurious hyper-expensive (for Chicago) homes at loss. Ken Griffin didn't care, he was sick of Chicago's progressive-liberal incompetent governance. Now its NYC's turn, worse, ecause Mamdani has no practical business nor administrative experience whatsoever. Any average person is as qualified to be NYC mayor as Mamdani, and that's no reason to put him in office. But hey, it must be fun to be part of the media circus, and the parents' checks will still be forthcoming, so it doesn't matter - right?
The one meaningful thing that the author said in his op-ed piece was that politics is no longer about left and right it's about top and bottom. This is exactly what Trump is figured out in order to be one of the most hated and ridiculed politician of our time but still managed to win to presidential elections and take complete and udder control of the Republican party.
A big chunk of the evidence is how many prominent public figures, not politicians, have switched allegiance from Democrat to Trump (not Republican). I don't see any evidence of Mandami drawing in any sort of conservative leaning libertarian leaning or right wing support because of his proposed solutions to the extreme top to bottom inequality.
omg - leftists are stupid.
Mamdamni is not going to save you.
The hearts of antifa thugs all join together in unison for Mamdamni. the Hamas representative. Marinaded in Marxism.
’Spring sprang’
Or, as we say in Alabama: Spring done sprang up…
For the bold and patient, great opportunities to buy a nice Manhattan apartment will come with Mamdani. Have no fear, for the next eight years neither a president or Congress will bail NYC out and NY state just doesn't have the financial ability to do so. I wonder what the bankruptcy court will allow to be discharged and what the appointed master will be allowed to do and cut. Again, for the bold and the patient.
Howard--Trump the most hated and ridiculed? Hated by who? As for "udder control", I'll agree that many Republican politicians have a bit of the bovine about them--or maybe they're full of bovine waste. But sometimes you measure a man by the nature of his enemies. And Trump wins that measurement for more than half of us.
Who will run Mamdani, and thus New York?
Maybe if he gets Annie Leibowitz to follow him around and take snaps…sarc off
If the good people of NYC want to elect a pinko, why in the fuck is it the business of MAGAts in Ohio? Luke warm moderates aren’t the answer to the open fascism that’s being embraced by the right.
Keep your side of the street clean, root out the grifter authoritarianism that’s taken over the GOP and you’ll have some credibility.
Howard said... "...and take complete and udder control of the Republican party."
Wait, I thought Trump grabbed them by the pussy?
I'm with Sally327!
I'm skeptical that the skeptical voter has never heard of TDS. What a maroon.
Trump controls the purse strings of the RNC. According to famous 70's California state politician Jesse Unruh, money is the mother's milk of politics.
QED
Declare defeat without using the words ‘we are defeated’
Looking for their Joe Rogan. Are they looking for their Charlie Kirk? Now they found their Hitler. They are unfazed by reality.
Glad to see Althouse's only opinion about this festering boil of ignorance is playing the grammar police tag!
Give them what they vote for, good and hard.
Far-right is anarchist. Far-left is totalitarian. The left-right nexus is leftist.
Of course it's an emotional response. They're Democrats. If they responded rationally to reality, they wouldn't be.
A slit-eyed Islamo-commie with a mouth set in permanent rictus. Good luck, NYC… you dumbasses
The concern that MAGAts everywhere have about New Yorkers electing a commie, is that we know that somewhere down a short road we are going to be asked to pay for cleaning up the inevitable wreckage.
"we know that somewhere down a short road we are going to be asked to pay for cleaning up the inevitable wreckage."
Everybody knows this, even leftists. They're counting on it.
Also we dont want a great city to die an excruciating death
Rocco: “ There is a statue (ok, a bust) of George Floyd in a Brooklyn park that is available to topple.”
Nah, crazy glue one of those big green dildos to the mouth. Just the stump of it, so it looks like it’s gone in balls-deep. Very fast stealth operation at about 6 am, when all the shitheads have gone to sleep and before the working people are out. CC, JSM
Achilles: “ If Mamdani is elected then it needs to be made clear that the people of NYC wished this on themselves and there will be no help coming when the parasites inevitably kill their host.”
Maybe that’s the pitch that can defeat him. Trump should just do an address from the Oval saying exactly that, followed by “It’s up to you, New York, New York: do you want to take that chance? On total disintegration, with no one coming to help?”
Might actually work. RLTW, JSM
I have acquired a set of blessings over the years that I enjoy thinking about when I get worn down by the daily B.S. of life:
1) I'm still alive 20 years after being told I only had months to live.
2) I have no alimony, child support, or crazy relatives to deal with.
3) I can no longer imagine anything that could leave me broke.
4) I can still work, move, think, and love as well as ever.
5) I never gave into any addiction.
5) I'm no longer a Democrat.
6) I'm no longer a Californian.
7) I don't let emotions drive me.
8) Trump beat them twice despite their trying every possible way to stop him.
All those things bring me comfort.
"With Mamdani, the Left Finally Has Its Trump"... No the left now has it's neo-Lenin... and it will not end well.
Mamdani Is Like Obama, If I Could Rewrite My Damn Article Please, Thank You
narciso said...
"Also we dont want a great city to die an excruciating death."
Sometimes you need to make an object example for people to really learn... if NYC goes bankrupt due to far leftist ideology... so be it. They just gotta learn the hard way.
Howard--as a Republican, I will not be cowed.
If You Suffer From the TDS, You Might As Well Try Communism. It Might Not Be a Cure, But At Least We Can Share the Crazy
I'm Not Saying Shoot Trump, But Maybe We Can Replace Him With This Guy in a Peaceful Revolution? Just Spitballing Headline Ideas.
The left doesn't share- they take. And they don't need more crazy.
I'm Not Sure What Trump Has To Do With a Mayor's Race, But I'm Voting For Mamdani, Because Many People Voted For Trump and This Is My Revenge
Mamdani Is the Anti-Trump!
Moooooo
Mamdani is the perfect Democratic candidate for 2025. He brings a bounty of the promise of unintended consequences. Those are such fun.
Does the author realize Mamdami is part of the clique that want to ban gas mains?
with the left- emotion is center stage. Along with mental illness.
I'm enjoying the liberal Democrats, moderate Republicans, and Neo-con all getting hysterical over Mamdami. I mean, Please pass the popcorn.
But he's like AOC and Bernie Sanders. A fake radical that will change nothing.
This too shall pass, because it has nothing to keep it alive but empty promises. Mamdani is another of those strange cases of being famous for being famous. You can't quite put your finger on why or when it happened.
The left are obsessed with removing the need for education and qualification from those who would rule over us, as kings.
Judges
Politicians from high to low.
Mayors
Governors
Presidents
Attorney Generals...
No qualifications needed!
Here is Hirschorn's real complaint:
"As we watch Mr. Trump lay waste to multiple generations of conservative dogma"
I have been politically aware since I was about 9 years old- in that entire time conservatives here and overseas have conserved nothing at all. Somehow, conservatives were convinced to do nothing to rollback or even stop progressives' changes to the political system or culture. Trump, to his credit, is trying to rollback a few things and has to fight his own party in Congress to get even that minor amount of rollback. And for that modest amount of success, he is called Hitler by know-nothings like Hirschorn.
"Somehow, conservatives were convinced to do nothing to rollback or even stop progressives' changes to the political system or culture."
The best you can hope for from GOPe republicans is to slow down (just a little) taking the country further left. Actually move to the right? Forget about it.
Howard said...
The one meaningful thing that the author said in his op-ed piece was that politics is no longer about left and right it's about top and bottom. This is exactly what Trump is figured out in order to be one of the most hated and ridiculed politician of our time but still managed to win to presidential elections and take complete and udder control of the Republican party.
A big chunk of the evidence is how many prominent public figures, not politicians, have switched allegiance from Democrat to Trump (not Republican). I don't see any evidence of Mandami drawing in any sort of conservative leaning libertarian leaning or right wing support because of his proposed solutions to the extreme top to bottom inequality.
+1. This can't be stated any more clearly.
I make a bit over 100k and if I didn't have other assets that would be barely enough for a pretty small house and old cars with no car payments. My wife can pull in as much as I do if we want her to work but most of her effort goes to raising and teaching the kids.
I obviously get wrecked by Obamacare and so does anyone who actually makes enough to live without government subsidy. Because of home costs and Obamacare that puts the floor at 100k a year in earnings which is nearing top 10%.
The average American income is half that which means the mean American income is much lower. 70-80% of Americans are being squeezed out of the American dream completely.
This is the 80% that is being left behind and forgotten. Some of them work and some of them sponge off government.
It is obvious which party has the working poor and which party is full of sponges.
If only conservatives could roll back slavery, child labor laws, women’s suffrage, Environmental protections like banning DDT, segregation, slaughtering native Americans and food safety regulations.
Conservatives have been on the right side of history on every issue in American history and were not done yet!
-MAGA
I can't wait for this guy to get elected. His awful ideas have been in opposition too long, and people need to be occasionally reminded what a disaster they are. Better do it quickly than slide into it like San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland have. That way it's harder for people to adjust and come to think of failed government as normal.
I think the analogy to Trump is valid: they both set their sights on the disgruntled uneducated.
Well, in my case, he picked up strong support from the disgruntled well-educated. I went to an Ivy League grad school and hold a doctorate. And I am just wildly enthusiastic about the kicking Trump is giving to the Democrats, the mainstream media, and the Deep State, if I may be triply redundant.
It’s a common adage that politics is a substitute for religion on the left. I would not be the first person to suggest it’s a substitute for sex, too.
Most men are right-wing. Most "male feminists" and other flamboyantly leftist men are there for the pussy and not much else.
The best you can hope for from GOPe republicans is to slow down (just a little) taking the country further left. Actually move to the right? Forget about it.
The prudent and marginally less spendthrift caretakers of the welfare state.
Does anyone even respond to the TeaBag Hag any more? Seems like it's been a while. She's shouting into the void with me, that's for sure. A total waste of time to even read her screeds to the end.
NYC is already a sewer hole that I refuse to visit now, and have for the last 5 or 6 years. Cuomo told us that we conservatives don't belong there. Okay. Good to know.
Now they want the communist, and not the guy who has been protecting New Yorkers for decades.
I don't really care anymore. Let it burn. They really should be careful what they wish for, because they are going to get it GOOD and HARD.
Mason G said...
"The best you can hope for from GOPe republicans is to slow down (just a little) taking the country further left. Actually move to the right? Forget about it.”
The left & the Democrats are Thelma & Louise racing to take us over the cliff. Their motto is “True jumping off cliffs has never been tried!”
GOPe Republicans and Never Trump “conservatives” are a little nebbish in the back seat saying “Do you have your seat belt on? You didn’t signal the last turn. The speed limit is only 35.”
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.