The last 10 days - since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and slaughtered 100s of men, women, and children - have been remarkable from an American political discourse perspective. The pretzel-like logic exposed as caring, compassionate, tolerant progressives attempted to comment (or chose not to comment) on the atrocities without calling them atrocities, or supporting colonialism/apartheid/oppression, or being anti-semitic, or being pro-terrorist... was stunning.
We weren't alone in our astonishment, as Robert Sterling took to X and summarized succinctly:
"It’s been amazing this week to watch the left invert every rhetorical device they’ve used since 2020, all to avoid having to criticize terrorists dedicated to Jewish genocide.
It would be hilarious, if it weren’t so reprehensible."
Examples, you say?
2020: Silence is violence.
2023: People can’t be expected to comment on every situation. It’s okay to just keep silent, especially while events are still unfolding.
* * *
2020: If you’re nitpicking small details instead of focusing on the big picture, you’re doing so to avoid your complicity in atrocities.
2023: 40 babies weren’t actually beheaded. 40 babies may have been killed, and some of them may have been beheaded, but that’s not the same as 40 getting beheaded. Details matter.
* * *
2020: Universities must proactively take a stand and speak out in opposition to racism. “Academic freedom” is a false concept used to enforce oppression.
2023: Universities need to maintain neutrality and ensure that they do not make any statements that jeopardize the principle of academic freedom, which is a paramount virtue in the realm of scholarship.
* * *
2020: You must immediately and forcefully condemn an attack, even if investigations are ongoing.
2023: You can’t expect us to release statements opposing an attack within four days, when the facts are still being discovered. Israel hasn’t even allowed UN investigators at the scenes of these “alleged massacres.”
* * *
2020: People are responsible for their words, even if they are just working-class teenagers in small towns. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences.
2023: Graduate students at the most prestigious university in the world are just kids and cannot be held accountable for statements they sign. This is cancel culture.
* * *
2020: Believe all women.
2023: Where is the physical evidence of these “alleged rapes”?
* * *
2020: It’s not enough to be non-racist. If you are not actively anti-racist, it means that you are, in fact, racist.
2023: How dare you question whether I support terrorists just because I haven’t actively spoken out against Hamas freedom fighters.
* * *
2020: We don’t get to tell people in affected communities how to deal with their pain in the aftermath of violence.
2023: It is Israel’s responsibility to ensure that violence doesn’t escalate.
* * *
2020: Anything that disproportionately affects one group of people is oppression and must be condemned.
2023: Settlers—a term that includes all Israeli Jews—are not civilians and are therefore all valid targets for attacks.
* * *
But, hey, when did being genuine ever count for anything...
To be fair, hypocrisy has been turned up to '11' on both sides of the aisle, it's just the left seem to do it with less shame than anyone else.
Yup. Unfortunately, most people really don’t have actual principles anymore. We all just have our respective tribes and teams, and we leverage whatever “principles” are needed to support our side at any given time.
— Robert Sterling (@RobertMSterling) October 14, 2023
