My column at the Elder's Joint tomorrow, usually published at 11 AM EST, is entitled The Daily Kos "Jew Rule."
Here is a tid-bit:
As a progressive-left political blog, Daily Kos is infested with anti-Zionists and encourages what one participant has dubbed the Jew Rule. In The Jew Rule on Daily Kos, "dhonig" reminds us that for many participants when Jews are murdered by Jihadis in Europe, ultimately it is Israel's fault for allegedly being mean to the perfectly innocent, bunny-like "indigenous" population.
Of course when some horrendous maniac in North Carolina shoots up three young Muslims no one would suggest that ultimately it's the fault of the Islamic State or Saudi Arabia.
Since nobody on the internet will know if they're shooting guns in the air and handing out sweets, I guess Kossacks figure this is the best they can do to celebrate the acts of their jihadi heroes.
ReplyDeleteTo say it is infested may be an overstatement. What is accurate is that a small, disproportionately vocal group exists that is obsessed with Israel, and poisons any discussion. Because their obsession is ONLY with the one Jewish state, it is antisemitic. Of course, Kos tolerates this group, and he therefore enables the site to be this way. Isn't it nice to be a progressive activist, with lips that move in favor of all humanity, but who acts to bring down the very things that promote humans to have a good life.
ReplyDeleteBut just look at the increasing number of 'front-page' stories on Israel, and diaries from those not amongst the usual suspects, which demonstrate that the attitude is more widespread than you'd imagine.
DeleteCan't say I've seen this one in any of the usual A-I diaries, but their language is telling. 'Fangs' in reference to Jews is accepted speech there, to 45 people and counting. If somebody were to point out what's so troubling about that, is there any doubt whatsoever that dozens of people would immediately rush in to protest that he or she was 'merely criticizing Israeli policy?'
For every out and obvious antisemite at that place (a not insignificant number, of course), there appears to be at least 20 or 30 more, who, while not obsessively deranged to the extent that the former group is, share the same completely disconnected from reality view about Israel, and the nature of the conflict, and often have no problem engaging in bigoted rhetoric and hate speech to get their 'points' across.
Btw, there's ZOG in that linked comment, too. Even I missed that at first glance. Might be a new tactic. Distract from the use of one antisemitic meme by using another equally ugly one a few words later!
DeleteNot that I care much, but it is the same cast of characters that bully most from expressing any other narrative in their obsessive posts.
DeleteI think too much attention is given to these people, although I think that Kos and his buddy Blades should be given credit for allowing the hate to be disseminated and fester.
Generally, this fringe exists in a small echo chamber, where the false bravado and outrage are palpable. When it comes down to it, these players are rather dumb and uniformed, and the changing tide will make them more extreme and out of touch as they realize most people, who are coming to understand what lies ahead, don't really listen.
The same cast is 12 or 13 people. The comment I linked to above has the support of almost 50. The latter may not actively engage in bullying, but they are there and they agree with the bigots and the bullies.
DeleteThe echo chamber may be small in relative terms of the US population as a whole, but in terms of on that particular blog, it's possibly the majority view. As irrelevant as blogs ultimately are in terms of affecting real world policy, they do have a way of reflecting the thoughts of any given party's 'activist' base, and are valuable for what they show in that regard.
Even 50 is not even a drop in the bucket. Not saying that these haters do not exist, or that there is sympathy among a segment, only that many of these people have a sense of self-importance and influence that is a delusion, and reinforced among themselves.
DeleteAs a progressive site, it is no surprise that Israel is disfavored, but the antisemites there mostly engage in self-congratulatory repose they would not dare in public. Not to mention that as events pass them by, they will become more extreme and be exposed as true haters of the very things that protect and allow them to be so filled with "courage."
Hope you also include some Friedman, such as this:
ReplyDeleteThe West today is preoccupied with a feeling of guilt about the use of power. That’s why the Jews, in their state, are now held up in the press and elsewhere as the prime example of the abuse of power. That’s why for so many the global villain, as portrayed in newspapers and on TV, is none other than the Jewish soldier, or the Jewish settler. This is not because the Jewish settler or soldier is responsible for more harm than anyone else on earth – no sane person would make that claim. It is rather because these are the heirs to the Jewish banker or Jewish commissar of the past. It is because when moral failure raises its head in the Western imagination, the head tends to wear a skullcap.
One would expect the growing scale and complexity of the conflict in the Middle East over the past decade to have eclipsed the fixation on Israel in the eyes of the press and other observers. Israel is, after all, a sideshow: The death toll in Syria in less than four years far exceeds the toll in the Israel-Arab conflict in a century. The annual death toll in the West Bank and Jerusalem is a morning in Iraq.
And yet it is precisely in these years that the obsession has grown worse.
This makes little sense, unless we understand that people aren’t fixated on Israel despite everything else going on – but rather because of everything else going on. As Maurras wrote, when you use the Jew as the symbol of what is wrong, “all things fall into place and are simplified.”
I did not go that route, although it certainly would have held potential.
DeleteI mainly just stuck to the central point, when Jews get it, people often point the finger at Israel.
When other people get it, they point the finger at the perpetrator.
That is the central point, don't you think?
There are a number of central points. Friedman takes it past the idiocy of Daily Kos.
DeleteBut since you are writing about Daily Kos, if you refer to predictable reaction to NC to attribute it to religious bigotry by the progressive atheist who hated Muslims, perhaps it should be asked if he posted at Daily Kos, where there are plenty that seem to be progressive atheists.
Is it ok to ask,as a newcomer, why the Daily Kos is so important? NYT, Salon, Huffpo, Slate, Vox,Nation, DK etc. - they all have a similar tone. And tend to attract the same sorts. Leftwing / Anti-Zionist (Antisemitic) often bordering on the fanatical.
ReplyDeleteIt's like reading the Guardian and expecting it to be other than it is. Below the line comments in the Guardian are always a cesspool of hate when about Israel / Jews.
Guardian, Independent, BBC, Channel 4 etc- you know exactly what to expect. They are always going to be what they are. Anyone who despairs of their bias and general encouragement of jew hate tends to accept that. Horrible as it might be.
There is virtually no print media that isn't happy to promote a distorted view on Israel. And no broadcast media at all- in the UK.
Over here, we keep across what the Guardian,for example, is saying as it is so influential, but we know we can't make any difference.
Isn't it just something you have to accept?
I'm really interested.
Well, I was a long time participant on dkos and I seem them as broadly representative of the American Left.
DeleteWhat I used to do was mainly criticize dkos in a manner not unsimilar to what Matt and Zach used to do at the Huffington Post Monitor or what Adam Levick does so well with he Guardian.
dkos represents broad ideological trends on the Left and some of those trends are directly threatening to the well-being of the Jewish people, because directly threatening to the Jewish State.
Yes, I understand that, and appreciate people who monitor these sites. You are right to say those trends are dangerous. They are. Unquestionably. I just know from experience here that all of these outlets just carry on as they are anyway.
DeleteThey are dangerous, but what could change them?
Nothing will likely change them, but continued exposition of what they are and what they allow is valuable.
DeleteIn the particular case of Daily Kos, its founder and namesake has recently been mentioned to be considering a run for Congress. In that case, the antisemitism that he and his cronies tolerate and enable, as School notes above, now becomes much more of a public concern than just what a few idiots are doing on yet another otherwise insignificant corner of the internet.
Agree that comments most always suck and more for those tuned in. Most people ignore them, other than the players, especially when they quickly become mean and irrelevant.
DeleteOver time it's become clear that most comments have hardly any value besides helping the person understand his or her self. Serial comments are merely noise, but at least no trees are being destroyed.
k - love that moniker, btw! :O)
DeleteThey are dangerous, but what could change them?
We change how we speak on the issue so that it more closely reflects the truth.
We need to rid ourselves of the so-called "Palestinian narrative" and encourage people to think about the conflict in a broader manner, both historically and geographically.
By doing so we change the terms of the discussion in both our favor and in favor of the truth.
The great Arab nation has been at war with the Jews of the Middle East for 14 centuries for religious reasons and they outnumber us there by a factor of 60 or 70 to 1.
That is the truth and that is the way we should be framing the conversation.
If KKKos runs, then an all out bloitz needs to happen to prevent his winning. As long as he tolerates and takes no action of the bigotry of his site, he needs to be stopped!
DeleteSure, but he won't be the first person in Congress to have these views. It's now becoming more and more fashionable on the progressive flank of the Democratic Party. I know it's awful, but isn't it just the direction that party is going in? Sadly. And worryingly.
ReplyDeleteBut he's one who has at least been considerate enough to leave a trail of evidence that can enable voters who do not accept those views to keep him out of office.
DeleteThere is disagreement on the extent to which the 'progressive' wing of the Democratic Party is heading that way, if it is heading that way at all. I think there are troubling signs, like the boos at the 2012 DNC regarding recognizing the capital of Israel as the capital of Israel. Hopefully those types will be kept away from power, or even remove themselves altogether, when / if leadership of the party heads back in a more sensible direction.
As it turns out, we'll begin to find out right here where I live in Philadelphia, where next summer's DNC will take place.
American progressives are emulating their European brethren, rather than learning from their misguided notions how to create social unity.
DeleteJews are usually the first ones blamed when things fall apart. Antisemitism is the grandaddy of identity politics.
Very much hope the troubling signs are not indicative of a deeper shift. Philadelphia will be interesting. Whether the leadership of the party will /can head back in a more sensible direction: I hope so. But fear not.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the pessimistic outlook. I would like to share your more hopeful approach.
Maybe that's the difference between European politics and American politics on this issue.
It will be interesting to see how far the DNC mainstream goes in 2016 to placate the antisemitic ethnic cleansing far left. Personally, I don't really care what the Jews in the DNC think about that. But as an outsider it will be very entertaining once the first speaker gets up on stage and openly calls for something like an expulsion of Jews from the party. Half the Jews in the party will run for the door to the nearest mosque for a quickie conversion.
ReplyDelete