Sunday, October 28, 2018

The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting and the Political Blame Game

It should come as no surprise that anti-Semitism has returned. In Western Europe and America it has again become respectable to hate Jews. In Western Europe Jews are routinely harassed and attacked for being Jewish.

Islamic radicals and their leftist enablers bear the greatest responsibility for anti-Semitism’s return. True enough, some right wing fanatics have joined the party, but the reason why anti-Semitism, sometimes masked as anti-Israeli sentiment, has returned is that the progressive left has taken up the Palestinian cause.

As for America’s leading purveyors of anti-Semitism, we should count Rev. Louis Farrakhan and Congressman Keith Ellison. Let’s not forget Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s mentor. And Rev. Al Sharpton. And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Given the racial sensitivities of our day, no one on the left dares speak ill of the anti-Semites in their midst.

What with Farrakhan and Sharpton sitting next to Bill Clinton on the dais of the Aretha Franklin funeral, anti-Semitism has been made respectable again in America. Let’s not forget the Obama administration efforts to prop up and to fund the world’s leading promoter of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli violence… the government of Iran. The funds that Obama gave to Iran are currently being used to support the Hamas military campaign against Israel. The funds that Obama gave to Iran are being used to develop nuclear weapons... which the mullahs want to use to kill Jews.

Naturally, this must mean that Donald Trump is at fault. Because, hating Trump allows his detractors to excuse their god, Barack Obama.

Now, the horrors that were visited on a synagogue in Pittsburgh are being used to cudgel President Trump. After all, half his grandchildren are Jewish. His daughter and son-in-law are Jewish. As one brain dead reporter noted, he moved the American Embassy to Israel. And thus Trump had precipitated the attack. The man who gunned down worshippers in Pittsburgh hated Donald Trump for being pro-Israel.

You would naturally conclude that Donald Trump is at fault. Wouldn’t you? For those who hate Trump, Trump is to blame for everything bad that has happened since he was elected. If the killer hated Trump, Trump is at fault. If the killer loved Trump, Trump is to blame. If the media joins the Resistance and skews its news reporting against Trump, Trump is responsible. If Trump fights back against the bias, Trump is at fault. Groups that have been promoting violent insurrection against Trump blame Trump for their own actions. They blame Trump for their acts of violence. If it had not been for Trump they would not have become unhinged radicals. If it had not been for Trump they would have retained their veneer of civility and would have engaged in rational debate.

With an election approaching, everyone is looking for partisan political advantage. One understands the motivation. And certainly, Donald Trump has not restrained himself in his verbal attacks on the media and on Democratic politicians.

Then again, it wasn't very long ago that the Obama years saw a series of horrifying terrorist attacks, on the Boston Marathon, on community leaders in San Bernardino, on troops at Fort Hood, at a gay night club in Orlando. Did anyone believe that Barack Obama bore any responsibility for the horrors that were committed on his watch?

If they did, they didn’t say so. It was strictly forbidden to speak ill of the Messiah. And it was even more forbidden to blame radical Islamists for these terrorist attacks. Obama had shut down the war on terrorism and had declared war on bigotry, specifically on Islamphobia. The media meekly went along. Republican politicians were barely capable of uttering a disparaging word. Except perhaps against Obamacare.

America has a tradition of political violence. In modern times it dates to the Vietnam War era, when violence became an acceptable way for leftists to express dissent. Alan Dershowitz reminds us of the old days:

The entire episode brings back painful memories of the Weathermen and other radical left wing organizations that planted bombs in the 1970s. The Weathermen and other radical leftist groups targeted universities, army bases, police officers, banks, and other establishment places and people. The death toll was considerable, and the fear was palpable. At about the same time, the Black Panthers, the Symbionese Liberation Army, and other radical leftist groups terrorized the United States.

Let’s not forget, Dershowitz continues, how liberals at the time embraced these domestic terrorists:

… some liberals glorified the Weathermen, Black Panthers, and other hard left terrorists. Left wing lawyers, who would never defend an accused right wing terrorist, rushed to represent these radical groups, while prominent liberals contributed to defense funds and attended fundraising parties. Films, books, plays, and articles sought to understand the motives of these young murderers.

Among those who embraced Vietnam Era domestic terrorists was… you guessed it… Barack Obama. And it was not just Obama.

Dershowitz continues:

Years later, Barack Obama befriended Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, who had been active members of the Weathermen and supporters of violent terrorism. Both Ayers and Dohrn were invited to teach at well known American universities, as was Kathy Boudin, who had served a long prison term for participating in a terrorist inspired robbery that resulted in the deaths of two police officers and one armored guard and seriously injured another guard. It is difficult to imagine any American universities appointing a right wing terrorist, even one who had served time and claimed to be rehabilitated. It is fair to say that public attitudes held by some liberals were somewhat sympathetic to left wing terrorists.


Dershowitz reminds us that no one political party has a monopoly on domestic terrorism:

The Ku Klux Klan was a violent radical group with significant support from political figures and ordinary citizens. During the first decades of the 20th century, left wing anarchists planted bombs and engaged in other forms of violence that killed many innocent people. More recently, hard left violence was targeted at Republican lawmakers as they practiced for a charity baseball game, wounding several people, including Congressman Steve Scalise. A threatening letter claiming it contained ricin was sent to Senator Susan Collins because she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. These and other hard left threats have been directed against prominent Republican leaders.

Dershowitz continues that conservatives should be out front denouncing criminals like Cesar Sayoc. Liberals and progressives should lead the march against those among them who are promoting violence. They should begin by denouncing the Resistance, and by rejecting the Congressional leaders who have encouraged harassment-- which is an assault-- and also, by purging their party of leaders who have openly promoted anti-Semitism.

19 comments:

Dr. Irredeemable Dreg said...

Denouncing. Yeah, that should work.
:-D

Anonymous said...

Lacking information to guide a proper conclusion which one of these two contradictory comments is a Symbionese-fantasy, perhaps both are:

"As for America’s leading purveyors of anti-Semitism, we should count Rev. Louis Farrakhan and Congressman Keith Ellison."

Vs

keithellison's twitter
"I am deeply disturbed by the attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and my heart breaks for the victims and their families. Anti-semitism and hate-motivated violence have no place in our society. We must all stand in solidarity with the Jewish community during this tragic time."

Both agree anti-Semitism is the blame.

The story of Itzhak "Ben" Bentov Ben-Tov is more interesting.


Anonymous said...

According to this logic, Everyone is now simultaneously both for and against everything and everyone, but at the same time are also those same people and things they are both for or against.

Anonymous said...

Well, at least until they're not neighbors anymore or become distant neighbors. Some distances are less comfortable than others to cope with.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Both Jews and 'leading purveyors of anti-Semitism' such as Keith Ellison agree anti-Semitism is to blame.

This comes across as instruction manual how to become a domesticated pet Walrus.

Uncle Max said...

Conservatives are called on to get out there and condemn the actions of a insane man with Trump stickers. Who CLEARLY was unstable... but had Trump stickers.

No. There is no comparison between activist on the left who brazenly commit domestic terrorism, and have all sorts of support and a compliant media willing to memory-hole anything and everything that is unhelpful... and these random crazies that do stuff but took a picture with a flag or put insane stickers on their van, but in no other way appear to be conservative AT ALL.

Nope. This plays into the left's game of " both sides do it ". Uh, no they don't. The left has been pulling these stunts since the 60's.. even with the Rosenbergs you can go back further. There is no equal on the right. None. There is no support group on the right that immediately comes out to help. And the media is the arbiter of what gets huge attention ( even if lies ) and what is a 24 hours story.

Hands up Don't shoot, vs BLM activist Democrat becomes a sniper in Downtown Dallas wounding 9 and murdering 7 police officers. That disappeared from the national news cycle within A DAY. Nothing to see here... move along!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Though malicious, Otherwise is a fascinating drawn out circus, each step a kid sticking hand into the same ant nest over and over.
As a feetsball conditioned nation the model does makes sense from that point of view. It beats the ME model.


Anonymous said...

Well, I became acquainted with a Walrus when I was lost at sea.

Anonymous said...

Walrus double bind is not for me.

The parasitism of hijacked identity politics.

Anonymous said...

The identity politics dispute is gamified with no intention to resolve it one way or the other.

No reasons are given except for short sighted misleading reasons as for why The Game exists in its current conformation therefore observers must make inferences.

Sam L. said...

Anti-Semitism is as evergreen as mold on cheese. It strikes me that the left likes the Palis because they are so incompetent and angry at the Jews because they ARE competent.
I could be wrong, of course. Totally off base and headed for the sidelines, but I don't think so.

Sam L. said...

"Dershowitz continues that conservatives should be out front denouncing criminals like Cesar Sayoc. Liberals and progressives should lead the march against those among them who are promoting violence. They should begin by denouncing the Resistance, and by rejecting the Congressional leaders who have encouraged harassment-- which is an assault-- and also, by purging their party of leaders who have openly promoted anti-Semitism."

I believe Repubs have,but Dems? Not happ'nin'!

Ares Olympus said...
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Ares Olympus said...

It all doesn't make sense to me, not in the slightest, but mass murder is real and horrific.

I can't say I've ever met a single person who has expressed a hatred of the Jewish people. Maybe it is because I am not sensitive to anti-Semitic rhetoric, somehow it passes right through me without awareness of invisible implications of hatred?

Lacking awareness I'm forced to go back to the question of how emotionally unstable people have access to weapons that can perform mass murder, and I see I find my fear of unstable individuals is greater than my fear of governmental tyranny. I've never been in a situation where I'd feel safer with a gun than without a gun. A gun makes you a target.

Maybe churches of all denominations need to keep armed guards to help keep people safe. Or maybe we need a society with less guns, and somehow we have to ween people away from their paranoia, that the government is going to take away their freedom if they don't have the power to murder with an itchy finger. We are an insane people to make guns our idols.

So until we stop being controlled by our most paranoid, it looks like we just have to accept mass murder is our future, and use statistical averages to keep us safe. Most of us will never be shot, and our lack of exercise and bad diet will kill many more of us.

p.s. Vox shows the US is off the scale in gun ownership and gun deaths, although it does seem that freedom for suicide is what guns are most about.
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/27/18032284/pittsburgh-synagogue-mass-shooting-gun-violence

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

This STOOPID DEGENERATE has been removed by a blog administrator.

Ares Olympus said...

This seems important to help understand the motive. So he did't target the church because of a hatred of Jews but a political intervention, because they were supporting the invasion of imagined violent nonwhites into our country. If we want a blame game, it can start with "social media" that allows hate groups to exist in their own echo chambers long enough to radicalize. But as well Trump's aggressive rhetoric against foreigners adds to that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/us/hias-pittsburgh-robert-bowers.html
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HIAS is one of nine agencies with contracts from the State Department to help refugees acclimate to the United States. ... It is also the target of many anti-Semitic rants posted on social media by Robert Bowers, the suspect in the mass shooting on Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh — including one post published only a few hours before the shooting.
Mr. Bowers’s writings on social media were bitterly hostile to refugees and to the agency that helped them, writing “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” he said in a post hours before the attack. “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
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