January 31, 2022

"Democratic officials have used the pretexts of COVID, 'the insurrection,' and Russia to justify their censorship demands."

"Both Joe Biden and his Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, have 'urged' Silicon Valley to censor more when asked about Joe Rogan and others who air what they call 'disinformation' about COVID. They cheered the use of pro-prosecutor tactics against Michael Flynn and other Russiagate targets; made a hero out of the Capitol Hill Police officer who shot and killed the unarmed Ashli Babbitt; voted for an additional $2 billion to expand the functions of the Capitol Police; have demanded and obtained lengthy prison sentences and solitary confinement even for non-violent 1/6 defendants; and even seek to import the War on Terror onto domestic soil.... For those who convince themselves that they are not battling mere political opponents with a different ideology but a fascist movement led by a Hitler-like figure bent on imposing totalitarianism — a core, defining belief of modern-day Democratic Party politics — it is virtually inevitable that they will embrace authoritarianism...."

Writes Glenn Greenwald, at Substack.

70 comments:

hawkeyedjb said...

Trump is the least authoritarian president in recent memory.

Change my mind.

TreeJoe said...

"...voted for an additional $2 billion to expand the functions of the Capitol Police"

I had a hard time finding what this actually was, as that's ALOT of money for ~2,200 members (almost one million dollars per employee).

Here's the breakdown:

National Guard: $520.9 million for pay and operations costs for the Guard's deployment at the Capitol and throughout the Washington, D.C., area from Jan. 6 to May 23.

District of Columbia Emergency Planning and Security Fund: $66.8 million to reimburse the District of Columbia for its insurrection response and other security costs.

U.S. Capitol Police: $43.9 million for responding to the riot, including $31.1 million for overtime until the Capitol Police can hire more officers and provide benefits to retain current officers, including hazard pay, retention bonuses and tuition credits. Also $3.3 million for the intelligence division and $5 million for equipment, such as gas masks, tactical vests and body armor. And $4.4 million for wellness and trauma support programs, including six new mental health counselors and wellness resilience specialists.

Architect of the Capitol: $40 million to pay for costs directly related to the attack.

Prosecution support: $39.5 million to process hundreds of prosecutions related to the siege, including $34 million for U.S. attorneys, $3.8 million for the Justice Department's Criminal Division and $1.7 million for the department's National Security Division.

Library of Congress: $13.7 million for upgrading an electronic security system and housing for National Guard personnel.

FBI: $5.5 million for insurrection-related costs.

National Park Service: $1.4 million for overtime and damages from the January attack.

Office of Employee Assistance: $500,800 for new trauma counselors and support for the Office of Employee Assistance.

....

HALF A BILLION for national guard?!?!? Can we consider that for a minute.

Also, $40 million for architect costs "related to the attack"....ahem. Granted I haven't seen everything, but from what I saw there was maybe MAYBE $100-250k worth of damage done to doors, windows, graffiti, stuff like that. Other stuff was stolen. Where on earth is say another $38-39 million going?

And then we have $5 million for equipment. These are CAPITOL POLICE OFFICERS. Are we saying they didn't have tactical equipment? I don't believe that for a second.

This is some serious slush fund shit here if I've ever seen it.

Mark said...

lololol

Glenn has caught one hell of a case of Biden Derangement Syndrome. That might have beat the most over the top TDS rants I read.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I like this part:

Substack's Vice President of Communications, Lulu Cheng Meservey was similarly encouraging and assertive. "I'm proud of our decision to defend free expression, even when it’s hard..."

"People already mistrust institutions, media, and each other. Knowing that dissenting views are being suppressed makes that mistrust worse. Withstanding scrutiny makes truths stronger, not weaker. We made a promise to writers that this is a place they can pursue what they find meaningful, without coddling or controlling. We promised we wouldn’t come between them and their audiences. And we intend to keep our side of the agreement for every writer that keeps theirs, to think for themselves. They tend not to be conformists, and they have the confidence and strength of conviction not to be threatened by views that disagree with them or even disgust them. This is becoming increasingly rare."

rcocean said...

If fascism comes to America, it will be waving a Gay Rights flag, attacking racism, be ADL approved, and cheering "The free market".

Oh wait, that's 2022 Amerika.

Achilles said...

The end is coming for the Regime.

Canadian Truckers are going to have a very nice place in the history books.

Big Mike said...

I knew there was a reason why I subscribed to Glenn Greenwald. He does cut through the crap, doesn’t he?

Leland said...

They would have done more, and in some local cases did. How many Democrats tweeted aghast what was happening in Australia lockdowns? It didn't happen. Instead, we had tweets by supporters suggesting unvaccinated shouldn't be allowed in public settings.

We also haven't seen much publicity of trials related to "the insurrection". For such a monumental event in US history (greater than December 7th or September 11th, so we've been told); it's amazing that news of the trials of the insurrectionist barely makes it to the public. We were told of a system of finding all these people around the various states, rounding the up, and bringing them to justice; yet the justice part seems rather quiet. How are we to be sure they got them all? How are we to be comforted that they got the right people? Are we sure the technology and dragnet didn't grab innocent people? Heck, the super important Congressional committee investigating "the insurrection" met with one of the guys holding the door open to the Capitol letting in the "armed" rioters; and nobody even knew of that hearing except via tweets well afterwards.

Original Mike said...

"Canadian Truckers are going to have a very nice place in the history books."

"I think it’s hilarious that the socialists are furious about the workers of the world uniting."

Yes, it is.

Richard Aubrey said...

Greenwald is taking a day off from journalism and instead doing Obvious.

I don't see any expenses for the Michigan Guard guys who were sickened by food provided, obviously moldy and containing metal shavings. A number had to be hospitalized and, afaik, the vendor still has the contract.

Brent said...

"Glenn has caught one hell of a case of Biden Derangement Syndrome. That might have beat the most over the top TDS rants I read."

Prove him wrong. Seriously. Pick just one. Amy one. Should be easy of you're right.



To borrow a left-wing cliche, we'll wait.

Iman said...

Agree, Big Mike, Greenwald - sock puppet of a distant past - cuts through the bullshit like a hot knife through brown fat.

Signs and wonders that I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. And with Biden and his bunch, it’s not the one thing, it’s hundreds.

Drago said...

Dumb Lefty Mark: "lololol
Glenn has caught one hell of a case of Biden Derangement Syndrome. That might have beat the most over the top TDS rants I read."

Every single thing Greenwald wrote is undeniably correct.

"- Both Joe Biden and his Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, have 'urged' Silicon Valley to censor more when asked about Joe Rogan and others who air what they call 'disinformation' about COVID.
- They cheered the use of pro-prosecutor tactics against Michael Flynn and other Russiagate targets;
- made a hero out of the Capitol Hill Police officer who shot and killed the unarmed Ashli Babbitt; voted for an additional $2 billion to expand the functions of the Capitol Police;
- have demanded and obtained lengthy prison sentences and solitary confinement even for non-violent 1/6 defendants;
- and even seek to import the War on Terror onto domestic soil....

- For those who convince themselves that they are not battling mere political opponents with a different ideology but a fascist movement led by a Hitler-like figure bent on imposing totalitarianism — a core, defining belief of modern-day Democratic Party politics"

Undeniably true....and even funnier, Dumb Lefty Mark has been one of the lefties at Althouse engaging in each and every one of those listed items.

Because every lefty knows that if they deviate so much as an inch from the party line, they too will be cast adrift as "alt-right" and controlled by Putin!

M said...

You know why CHEERS for the murder of Babbit? Leftist blacks. Seriously if you don’t frequent the parts of the internet with “diversity” you probably don’t know that a substantial percentage of young and even some middle aged black people celebrate every dead white person. I would not want to be an elderly n or very sick white person dependent on black nurses from what I have read and witnessed first hand. Any Boomers who are still voting Dem are signing their own death warrants if they live in an area that has a high percentage of American blacks who do nursing or elder care.

Jamie said...

I agree with the final quoted sentence... But it's also a warning to my side. It used to be said that Republicans thought their opponents were wrong while Democrats thought their opponents were evil, but there's a lot more "Democrats are evil" sentiment on my side these days - which suggests we're in danger of the same excesses.

But I'm at a loss as to what to do about it, because some of the things being done under the auspices of the Democrat party really are evil, in result if not in intent. And the defense of those things always seems to boil down to intent, ignoring result. If you say you want, for instance, young black men to feel safer on the streets of our major cities, but the policies you put in place (such as "defunding the police" by reducing police presence or replacing police presence with social workers whose approaches either don't work or don't scale) instead make them less safe, why should anyone care if your intentions were good?

It's my opinion that the old Republicans-see-opponents-as-wrong thing might be usefully replaced by "Republicans think their opponents are all about feelings and appearances, rather than results, which means that they're wrong and too often their well-meaning policies have evil ends, while Democrats place tremendous value on public compassion, and think their opponents, who they believe have no feelings because they champion policies that do not focus on making people feel better, are therefore psychopaths who can be ignored or even persecuted by what they consider to be the good people." But it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker so I won't hold my breath waiting for it to catch on.

Jim at said...

Glenn has caught one hell of a case of Biden Derangement Syndrome. That might have beat the most over the top TDS rants I read.

Then you should have no trouble telling us just where he was wrong.

Blue crabs in Space said...

To quote directly the most succinct points from a recent article from the Occidental Dissent blog, "Here are some of the things that the Left has done over the past five years while I have sat at my house and made fun of people on the internet:"

- Created a complex racial hierarchy based on social justice ideology and placed cishet White men at the bottom of it while accusing them of possessing White privilege
- Continued the ongoing purge of all cultural institutions of people who do not conform to woke progressive ideology. In many cases, liberals are now being purged by leftists, as conservatives and people further to the Right were driven out a long time ago
- Pioneered the deplatforming of dissidents by banks
- Weaponized the FBI and used it as a tool to suppress their political opposition
- Weaponized the “intelligence community” and government bureaucrats against the president and praised them for heroically subverting the president
- Created a 24/7/365 show trial of people who are associated with Donald Trump who are hauled before Congress to be threatened and harassed and in some cases imprisoned
- Spread fake news like the Steele dossier which was used as a pretext for the Russia Hoax which consumed the country for years
- Organized the worst nationwide race riots since the 1960s to further the effort to unseat the president
- Justified rioting and looting and violence in the press
- Progressive DAs dropped charges against thousands of people who engaged in violence and looting
- The FBI looked the other way at people who quite literally laid siege to the White House and burned down the country on national television
- Defended and protected Antifa in Portland who laid siege to a federal courthouse for months
- Deplatformed rightwing content creators from payment processors which have been politicized
- Demonized Kyle Rittenhouse as a “white supremacist”
- Redefined the term “racism” to mean systematic racism and “white supremacy” in which all White people are “complicit” and “racism” is baked into the law and institutions
- Made it nearly impossible to hold a professional class job or even in many cases a working class job for blacklisted political dissidents
- Deplatformed countless rightwing influencers and destroyed their careers like Stefan Molyneux, sued them, hauled them before the January 6th show trial committee
- Stalked private citizens at their homes to intimidate their families
- Stalked multiple mayors at their homes to intimidate them
- Repeatedly tried to cancel comedians like Dave Chappelle and anyone who says anything that is politically incorrect like JK Rowling.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Truth.

Truth to power.

it's the elite corrupt totalitarian authoritarian left who are the corrupt cancer.

Joe Smith said...

Check, check, and check...

Owen said...

Greenwald has nailed the issue very well.

This is inexcusable censorship. The "safety" meme began with better cribs and car seats, it proceeded through "trigger warnings" to protect fragile self-important narcissists (but I repeat myself), it became part of the smash-mouth cancel culture and fully weaponized by every political charlatan (again, I repeat myself).

I don't see any easy way out of this. The main point of failure in our 1A strategy is the platforms. They are natural oligopolies and both produce and consume Prog money by the billion. They aren't government, but when their buddies in government speak (heck, the Platform Gods already know they're going to say: they all went to the same schools, they all go to the same Brie-and-Chardonnay receptions), they listen and --coincidentally-- they adjust their algorithms to spare us all the awkward voices.

They have way too much power: and we gave it to them.

rhhardin said...

Hitler thought he was doing what was best for the country. He had a bad economic theory (Limited Markets) and bad sociology (non-Aryan people weaken a nation, either through selfish cleverness (Jews) or oafishness (others)).

It's completely different from today's left.

rhhardin said...

The Liddy light was a good idea, you've got to given them that. It went world-wide.

Michael K said...

Lefty Mark illustrates why I am a subscriber to Greenwald's Substack. Also Matt Taibbi. I can put up with a tiny dose of TDS when the rest is truth.

Mr Wibble said...

Trump is the least authoritarian president in recent memory.

Change my mind.


I honestly believe that's why so many in the establishment hated him. The natural tendency over the past hundred years has been the accumulation of power within the executive branch and bureaucracy, enabled by a Congress which seeks to avoid responsibility for any decisions. Trump came into office and actually wanted Congress, and the executive agencies, to do their jobs and only their jobs.

Bilwick said...

Jamie, these days I lean toward the "Democrats are evil" thesis, although I would expand that to a more inclusive "statists are evil." If you point a gun at my head while trying to lift my wallet--while with increasing frequency try to silence me when I protest--you can understand why I might think you evil. I'm funny that way.


WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I wonder - and no I'm not saying I know - I do not know.
All of the Capitol police who committed suicide - I wonder if they were witnesses to the FBI insiders?

Gahrie said...

Well there's one good thing. When the Left finishes their control of the narrative, life will be pretty boring.

Gahrie said...

The "safety" meme began with better cribs and car seats,

For me it began with mandatory seatbelts. I still never wear one, and I've paid hundreds of dollars in fines over the years.

Narr said...

Forgive me if I repeat myself, and for plugging yet another blogger, but James Howard Kunstler's "clusterfuck nation" is been great lately. He was crying wolf long ago, and is probably surprised that the crisis took so long to get here.

And it has, make no mistake.

Gahrie said...

I agree with the final quoted sentence... But it's also a warning to my side. It used to be said that Republicans thought their opponents were wrong while Democrats thought their opponents were evil, but there's a lot more "Democrats are evil" sentiment on my side these days - which suggests we're in danger of the same excesses.

I agree. In fact I've gotten in several fights with my parents because I'm in the "wrong" category, and they're both in the 'evil" category now.

It's hard to tell people to turn the other cheek today, because it just means you get slapped on both cheeks.

The Tea Party was a plea that was not only ignored, it was scorned. Trump was an attempt to fix the system, and the Left responded with intense hate, hate for a man they embraced when he was on the Left. The final straw for many was how differently the government has treated the Jan 6 protestors to how it treated the BLM and Antifa protestors.

A second civil war would be horrific for all involved. But what happens when you truly are watching two different movies, living in two different realities, each convinced of their rectitude?

My only hope at this point is Musk. If he truly opens a new frontier in space, and gives those who believe in individual freedom and self-reliance a place to escape to, there is still a chance to resolve this peacefully.

Balfegor said...

Both Joe Biden and his Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, have 'urged' Silicon Valley to censor more when asked about Joe Rogan and others who air what they call 'disinformation' about COVID.

I don't know First Amendment law, but I would think that private censorship on behalf of or coordinated with government entities would create an issue, no? Perhaps depending on the degree of specificity of the government's request. In the Fourth Amendment search and seizure context, heavy government involvement in private searches can convert private actors into de facto government agents. If a senior government official muses that it would be great if Twitter or Facebook would silence this or that turbulent priest, I would think a similar principle ought to apply, even if it hasn't yet been fully worked out on the First Amendment side. Otherwise, somewhat like that absurd Texas abortion law, it creates an easy loophole for the government to get away with censorship.

Although the direction here may be somewhat different -- the tech companies might want to coordinate collective censorship anyway and are just telling their puppets in the government to say something to help them avoid an antitrust or consumer protection lawsuit or something for coordinated refusal to deal or whatever.

narciso said...

somewhere between 2 and five protesters were killed by capitol police, these are boston massacre number, the cheka junior outfit is headed by an obama era dhs offical, julia farnam, which will traffic in uncorroborated rumors,

Gahrie said...

You know why CHEERS for the murder of Babbit? Leftist blacks. Seriously if you don’t frequent the parts of the internet with “diversity” you probably don’t know that a substantial percentage of young and even some middle aged black people celebrate every dead white person.

What do you expect from people that have been told their whole life that anything bad that happens is because of White racists, and that most White people spend most of their time thinking of ways to oppress Black people?

tim in vermont said...

"Prove him wrong. Seriously. Pick just one. Amy one. Should be easy of you're right."

He did prove Glenn wrong, he denounced him. What more do you want? Facts and logic are raycist according to the likes of Mark. This is the left's biggest weakness, that they can't get past the bumper sticker pronouncements like Mark's except in their hothouses, where dissenting voices are not allowed, since they would so easily bring the whole leftist house of cards down.

Fascists and communists are the same, both have government officials who wear quasi military uniforms, just different tailors. They are both so locked into their own idiosyncratic collectivist paradigms that they can't believe that anybody exists outside it, or they pretend to not be able to believe it so that they can mix in a collection of essentially powerless workers who have united with their beloved frenemies, the fascists.

Oh yeah, and both create piles of corpses that can be seen from space.

Achilles said...

""Democratic officials have used the pretexts of COVID, 'the insurrection,' and Russia to justify their censorship demands.""


On the other hand.

Greenwald left out using BLM to violently attack and burn down other people's property, kill police officers, foment discord and to blight inner cities.

The Democrats and their GOPe allies make the 1930's German National Socialist Party look like pikers.

CL said...

Greenwald is half correct. The hysterical reaction of the dems to Trump, the Jan 6 hoo-ha, siccing the FBI on VA parents, etc. is all simply an excuse to demonize their enemies and grab power. It is a ploy, like the Reichstag fire. We see the same wild exaggeration on twitter when failure to totally bow and scrape for the woke is "erasure" and "real violence". It has become their mode of operation. Annoying when it is college students, dangerous when the gov does it. There are serious claims that anyone questioning an election is engaging in insurrection, and that includes members of congress that they are trying to prevent from running or unseat. Wow. The fact that demonstrators on Jan 6 have been held without bail for a year in solitary confinement and then only convicted of trespassing should scare everyone.

mgarbowski said...

A few days ago I posted this on Twitter and FB: "I think I might block anyone who posts in support of Neil Young. What, you have a problem if I issue ultimatums that attempt to restrict what you can write, say, read or hear? Yeah, me too."
Oddly, some people thought this was an invitation for them to explain to me why deplatforming is good, actually.

wendybar said...

When are they going to censor The View?? Whoopie today said that the Holocaust wasn't about Race. They lie on TV everyday to (dumb viewers) women who believe the lies they spew. ABC considers the View part of their NEWS division.
When are they going to censor Rachel Maddow?? She lies about Covid all the time, and claimed in March that if you are vaccinated the virus stops. You can't get infected and you can't pass it on. All lies. If we censor EVERYBODY who says something that isn't right, there wouldn't be ANYBODY on TV or RADIO at all.

Ceciliahere said...

The Lefties cannot stand Glenn Greenwald because he speaks the truth and has joined an entity that does not censor or cancel. None of the tech oligarchs, or corporate media would hire him since he’s not marching in lockstep with their new speak bullshit. He has the intelligence to think for himself and say what he thinks. Wash DC and the elites in tech, business, etc. do not want to upset the cozy arrangement they have with D.C. Just follow the money!!!

What's emanating from your penumbra said...

I really hope this keeps going for awhile longer. The worse it gets, the bigger the backlash will be. Keep digging!

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Trump is the least authoritarian president in recent memory.

Ms. Snoqualmie believes Trump is a fascist, possibly because he criticizes the Lie-Stream Media and says mean things about them. She also said that he had no plan for covid. He had a plan, develop the vaccines and provide public health guidance to the states. If he was a fascist, then covid would have been a perfect cover to consolidate power in the presidency and the administrative state. He didn't do that; instead he pushed public health efforts down to the states.

Joe Biden, on the other hand, has proved his fascist tendencies with his mandates. Mandates are the core property of fascism and require police powers to enforce, since not everyone will fall in line with the mandates.

chickelit said...

...made a hero out of the Capitol Hill Police officer who shot and killed the unarmed Ashli Babbitt;

They lionized a coward, the cowardly lion. They gave him a medal for "courage."

Robert Cook said...

"Hitler thought he was doing what was best for the country. He had a bad economic theory (Limited Markets) and bad sociology (non-Aryan people weaken a nation, either through selfish cleverness (Jews) or oafishness (others)).

"It's completely different from today's left."


WTF? Hitler was a fucking maniac and a murderous anti-semite. Vlad the Impaler, no doubt, thought he was doing what was right for his country. But, when the ruler is a murderous lunatic, one cannot "credit" him for doing what "he thought was best."

From the construction of your statement, I infer you think "today's left" (sic) is somehow crazier and worse than Hitler. Talk about crazy! Today's liberals are certainly self-righteous, politically correct assholes, but they cannot be compared to Hitler until they commit crimes as extreme as and on the scale of Hitler's.

Robert Cook said...

"The Democrats and their GOPe allies make the 1930's German National Socialist Party look like pikers."

This is craziness mixed with stupidity of a degree I am startled to see even from an asshole like Achilles.

DanTheMan said...

>>Oddly, some people thought this was an invitation for them to explain to me why deplatforming is good, actually.

Good for my side is good. Bad for my side is bad.

No further explanation required.

narciso said...

well greenwald is a lefty like say dos passos was in his early era up to the 30s, now the twist here, is the ruling class is almost entirely in favor of islamist element, the kansas jihadist that they apparently waited 5 years to arrest is the exception, the hezbollah operative who was smuggled in from venezuela, is par for the course,

narciso said...

black niedermeyer, who apparently was not interviewed by the committee, btw remember that rhodes character, what came of the arraignment,

n.n said...

"...made a hero out of the Capitol Hill Police officer who shot and killed the unarmed Ashli Babbitt;"

They lionized a coward, the cowardly lion. They gave him a medal for "courage."


The Capitol Hill Hero subscribes to the Pro-Choice religion. He aborted her with plausible cause for social, redistributive, or fair weather causes. Diversity may have been a motive.

That said, the evidence supports that Babbitt was caught and attempting to escape from a probable Whitmer-closet event and riot forced by Capitol Hill police that summarily withdrew the invitation to enter the People's House. There is no evidence of forced entry. No double-edged scalpels strewn about to threaten their viability.

Roe, Roe, Roe your boat...

Robert Cook said...

"The Lefties cannot stand Glenn Greenwald because he speaks the truth and has joined an entity that does not censor or cancel."

And yet, Greenwald is published on lefty sites, (currently on Scheerpost).

I must assume you make the mistake of conflating liberals with lefties. The Dems claim to be liberals, and many may be, (while others are not), but no more than a handful of them even pretend to be lefties.

Bilwick said...

Wait a darn minute there! Is someone saying that "liberals" are exploiting current crises to expand the power of the State? Go on! Statists NEVER do anything like that!!!

Narayanan said...

Bilwick said...
Jamie, these days I lean toward the "Democrats are evil" thesis,
--------
Democrats are >>> banal >>> are evil [to achieve the full progression]

banal = frequent every day occurrence and throws people off as inconsequential

Ceciliahere said...

The Washington deep state and their cronies in big tech, corporate media, and Wall St. are all in collusion to shut down middle class Americans. They are in favor of illegal immigration and educated legal immigrants who will work for them and do what they say. These corrupt people are all working with China regardless of how harmful CCP is to America. When there are billions of dollars to make legally and illegally these people will sell the American middle class out in a nano-second.

Trump left the White House losing money.

Biden has made money before, during, and probably after he leaves office. He and Nancy are experts at raking in the dough while “serving” the American people. What a joke, and what disgusting people they are. As Obama once famously said: “When is it enough?” Someone should ask HIM that question now.

Owen said...

Using the letters of “mandate” (with a few liberties) gives you “a damned mean demand” and the riposte, “eat me.”

tim in vermont said...

I am going to repeat it, when the workers of the world actually united, up in Canada and elsewhere, they were called fascists by socialists. This is the kind of stuff that is losing them the people in the center, which is why the right is so intent on amplifying the craziness of left.

Paul said...

Reap what you sow.... those that voted for Biden, or didn't vote at all, reap what you sow.

Paul said...

The Democrat Party... AKA the Cheka.

Ceciliahere said...

Today’s “liberals” are leftist progressives in sheep clothing. Democrats vote in a bloc, so there really is no difference when the bloc has been taken over by the Squad.

Jamie said...

If you point a gun at my head while trying to lift my wallet--while with increasing frequency try to silence me when I protest--you can understand why I might think you evil.

(This statement was in support of the "Democrats are evil" idea, as opposed to the old "Democrats are wrong" one.)

And I reply: yes, but Democrat social policies (and usually economic ones as well) these days are presented in terms of the injustice they will acknowledge/address/correct, which provides cover for the evil that results. That was the point of my comment up-thread: I don't want to move from "Democrats are wrong" to "Democrats are evil," but when the results of the wrong-but-well-intentioned policies are evil, how much does it matter that the original intentions were good?

And I'm sure that's also what rhhardin was saying with his Godwin violation: Hitler certainly at least sold his ideas as good for the German people, with the full evil of his plans obscured by the apparent intent.

(And who is going to be so bold as to claim that another such person isn't alive and in politics today? Certainly no one on the left - they see such a person every time a Republican is elected to high office. They just never see that possibility on their own side. But just as the German people of the early '30s probably thought of the leaders of England, France, and the US as the then-equivalent of "literally Hitler," and didn't recognize the evil on their doorstep, I'd advise us all to take a hard look at the results achieved by the policies we favor or reject, and the politicians we approve of or vilify.)

Drago said...

Robert Cook: "I must assume you make the mistake of conflating liberals with lefties. The Dems claim to be liberals, and many may be, (while others are not), but no more than a handful of them even pretend to be lefties."

Interestingly, you will find very few lefties even who will deny, obfuscate, minimize or ignore the fact that 100 million innocent souls were murdered purposely by the communists in the 20th century, yet our own Robert Cook, self-styled leftist in good standing, does precisely that.

Is refusing to admit the commies murdered 100 million in the 20th century a Robert Cook "No True Commie" litmus test?

I guess only Cook can answer that question.

Bruce Hayden said...

“ WTF? Hitler was a fucking maniac and a murderous anti-semite. Vlad the Impaler, no doubt, thought he was doing what was right for his country. But, when the ruler is a murderous lunatic, one cannot "credit" him for doing what "he thought was best."”

In Vlad’s defense, those impaled were supposedly mostly Muslim invaders trying to conquer and destroy his kingdom (or whatever it was). It was apparently done for its in terrorem effect - though he probably should have let it be known that he was greasing the spikes with pig fat first.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Democrats are neobarbarians. They smear anyone who disagrees with them. They sow division, pitting Black Americans against White Americans. They think they can spend any amount of money and not cause inflation. They divert "infrastructure" money from infrastructure to their pet projects, like bike lanes and social spending.

n.n said...

They sow division, pitting Black Americans against White Americans.

Woman against man. Mother against child. Roe, Roe, Roe your ... All's fair in lust and abortion.

What's emanating from your penumbra said...

Robert Cook said...

"Today's liberals are certainly self-righteous, politically correct assholes, but they cannot be compared to Hitler until they commit crimes as extreme as and on the scale of Hitler's."

You had me at assholes.

Sebastian said...

"For those who convince themselves that they are not battling mere political opponents"

Do progs need to "convince" themselves? Did the left ever think otherwise?

Achilles said...

Robert Cook said...

"The Democrats and their GOPe allies make the 1930's German National Socialist Party look like pikers."

This is craziness mixed with stupidity of a degree I am startled to see even from an asshole like Achilles.

In 1938 Krystalnacht was carried out. By then they had killed around 91 Jews in violence. Several hundred committed suicide.

The BLM riots did 100's of times the damage of Krystalnacht.

Defund the police and BLM/Antifa violence have killed 100's

Suicide rates have skyrocketed all across the country caused by the lockdowns. Thousands of people have committed suicide because of tyrannical governments.

Governor Cuomo by himself killed over 10000 people in nursing homes stuffing COVID positive patients in with sick elderly people.

The NAZI's in the 1930's didn't really get rolling til they invaded Poland.

We are just in time for Biden to start a war with Russia. It will be nice having another war right Cook?

So let us see your rebuttal Robert. How am I crazy?

Critter said...

With regard to Democrats, evil is as evil does. Democrats: (1) implemented bail reform and not enforcing the law fully knowing that innocent people would die because of it, and people did die; (2) during a pandemic, let COVID positive illegal aliens into all parts of the country knowing that people would die because of it, and undoubtedly people did; (3) organized and supported riots that killed double digits of people and destroyed the lives of innocent people, then bailing them out and not prosecuting them so they can do it again; (4) lauded health care workers who risked their lives during the pandemic but pushed to fire them if they don't take the jab even if they have natural immunity from surviving COVID; (5) sacrificed the education and lives of our youth by shutting down schools for the benefit of the corrupt teachers' unions despite knowing the harm that would come to children (deaths up greatly as a result, more deaths than from COVID); etc. The list goes on.

Which one of those items is NOT evil?

Rollo said...

"Asymmetric polarization" was the buzzword of the last decade, and some circles still cling to the idea that Republicans are farther from the middle than Democrats. It's hard to believe now that people still take the idea very seriously.

There was always a little drag or friction from anachronistic elements in the party that hindered the Democrats' move leftward. Those elements are gone now, and we can see how far even the party leaders and mainstays have moved left.

Rollo said...

One blogger commenting on Greenwald compares politics and the media to pro wrestling. It's fake. Everyone knows it's fake. People watch anyway. Being fake doesn't discredit or delegitimate either wrestling or the media or the government in the eyes of their supporters.

Robert Cook said...

Achilles,

What is there to rebut in your amorphous list of allegations, unmoored from any sort of hard stats or documentation? You just sound like a crazy guy venting your spleen, with spittle and sweat and corkscrewing eyes.

That aside, you weasel out of admitting how crazy wrong your accusations are by limiting your comparison--after the fact--to the Nazis' actions prior to a specific date, after which their campaign of mass murder really "got rolling," as you put it.

Drago said...

Robert Cook: "Achilles,

What is there to rebut in your amorphous list of allegations, unmoored from any sort of hard stats or documentation?"

Lets try something easy: did the commies murder 100 million people in the 20th century?

Hows that for a non-amorphous assertion quite moored to stats and documentation?

Feel free to answer.