Let me know how this sounds. pic.twitter.com/xf35KktXDH
— Colin W (@CWiebrecht) February 10, 2020
Thanks to Alexandra Halaby, who alerted me via Twitter to this clip from a Chuck Todd panel on MSNBC earlier today. In it, Todd rails against the so-called intemperate supporters of Bernie Sanders. He quotes Jonathan Last calling Sanders’ followers the “digital Brownshirt brigade.” Some have engaged in a bit of sophistry saying that Todd didn’t actually say the words (he did) or that he didn’t actually endorse the words (well, he did that too, but less explicitly). In fact, he raised the quote during the panel because he wanted to make the point that Bernie bros were a digital lynch mob. Last gave him a convenient hook using dramatic language to make the point.
There are a few repeated memes trotted out by the Never Bernie crowd: he’s gonna die of a heart attack; he’s a “Socialist!” And his disciples are really not-nice-people.
Todd’s comment covered the last base. But what the moderator didn’t note was that Jonathan Last is the managing editor of something called The Bulwark, whose website calls it a home for “rational conservatives.” I think they are second cousins to George Bush’s ‘compassionate conservatives.’ And you know what happened to them. If the accompanying image from the article doesn’t scream “red-baiting” to you, then nothing ever will.
USA Today published another column today by one Gabriel Schonfeld, who warns Bernie will be toast when Republicans dig up the candidate’s radical past. Among other things: Bernie supported the overthrow of the Shah and believed Iran would be better off with anything other than him, including Khomeini. Imagine that! The columnist even digs up the dregs of Ron Radosh, King of the Red-Baiters, to smear Bernie’s past. Schonfeld once worked as an advisor to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and was at the Hudson Institute. But his bio notes that he’s now become a Democrat. While I’m happy for him that he’s seen the light and abandoned the folly of Repugnicanism, he doesn’t seem to be in the right Party. Red-baiting went out of style among Dems some times ago.
The stronger Sanders’ candidacy becomes the more lame attacks like this we can expect; along with the Israel Lobby’s smears calling him and his surrogates anti-Semites.
The entire premise of Last’s piece was that American politics has come to the point where the only way a presidential candidate can win is by having thugs like Bernie bros and MAGA Trumpers enforcing political discourse. And yes, he makes only a minor distinction between the two poles, which is characteristic of those who seek to debase Sanders as a thug socialist.
The problem with this critique is that it ignores the legitimate bitterness provoked by pundits like Todd and Chris Matthews (the guy who said that after Sanders became president people like him would face “public executions”). When you hear enough wild-eyed bulls*t like this you’d get pretty pissed off too. The MSM has an instinctual hatred of Sanders. They are afraid of him. So they either ignore him to cover centrist candidates they “understand;” or they hate on him with idiocy like the Todd-Last-MItchell comments.
But the most disturbing aspect of the phrase Last wrote which Todd quoted on air, was the reference to Sanders supporters as “digital Brownshirts.” Yes, I understand that this is political punditry, in which you need to have cute sound-byte phrases to reduce your opponent to a one-note villain. But this went too far.
Bernie Sanders’ family lost members to the Holocaust. My family did as well. They died at the hands of real Brownshirts and Hitler’s SS. Using phrases like “digital Brownshirts” may be catchy as punditry, but it sucks in every other way that’s important. I support Bernie and I am not a Brownshirt and I deeply resent anyone using such terms.
Bernie Sanders may have supporters you don’t like. They may be mean or intemperate or intolerant. But they are not Brownshirts. And calling them that takes us one small step closer to when there really could be Brownshirts walking the halls of Congress (and even the White House).
If MSNBC and Todd were decent they would apologize for this stupidity. I doubt they will. But I say, surprise me!
Bernie Bullies are real.
If calling Bernie Bullies, ‘Brownshirts’, is intemperate, how about calling them ‘Red Guards’?
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/07/politics/bernie-sanders-social-media-attacks-invs/index.html
@ Lemontree: Grow up would ya? This is politics. If you don’t like politics here try them in Israel. There they have Judeo-Brownshirts policing political speech.
And BTW, how come Todd-Last-Mitchell shouldn’t call Bullies for Bernie, ‘Brownshirts’, but it’s okay when Richard Silverstein labels HIS political enemies ‘Judeo-Nazis’?
https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2019/02/24/american-jewry-must-break-with-judeo-nazism/
Smells like hypocrisy to me.
@ Lemontree: Because there are actually settlers who murder Palestinians, just like the Brownshirts did to Jews. They haven’t yet organized a Final Solution for the Palestine Problem. But give it time.
When you find a Bernie Bro who offs a MAGA maniac, do let us know.
BTW, I strongly doubt you are physically located in the Bahamas, as the IP you’re using is. I do not like people using proxy servers. It tells me immediately you’re hiding something and identifies you as a hasbara troll.
In as much as the anti-semites of the world claim that the Jews rule/control everything if a Jew were to be elected president of the US that would be מכה בפטיש [last nail in the coffin]for the anti-semites.
The same would be for Bloomberg maybe even more so.
Richard – Lemontree called you out as he should have.
65 time the term shows on your website, sometimes in the title of the blog.
https://www.google.com/search?q=brownshirts+site%3Awww.richardsilverstein.com
If you cheapen a term, don’t get insulted when it used against you for something less severe.
@ Dani: First, I don’t like commenting as tag team wrestling. You make your point, someone else makes theirs. Separate points. You don’t repeat (as you’ve done here) what someone else has said after I’ve rebutted it.
Second, I can’t believe you thought it was important enough to find out how many times I used the term “Jewish-” or “settler-” or “Judeo-Brownshirt.” Third, Google retrieves multiple versions of the same result so the number is far less than 65. Count next time.
Fourth, as I said to him and am repeating here, I use terms like “Judeo-Nazi” or “Jewish Brownshirt” very deliberately and in careful parallel with earlier historic uses of similar terms precisely because the settler movement and its political puppets running the Israeli government are literally Judeo-fascists. The Vanguard of the movement acts as a militia, burning down religious sites, and killing and maiming not just Palestinians, but foreign nationals and even Jews who dare to support the cause. Precisely what Nazi Brownshirts did to German Jews and other enemies of the State.
Finally, calling Sanders’ supporters Brownshirts is historically impermissible precisely because they have nothing in common with those in Israel who use homicidal violence to advance their cause. Verbal fisticuffs, intemperance, etc. are far different than actual violence.
You are done in this thread. And in future, do not make me repeat arguments I’ve already offered to rebut points someone else has made.
RE: Jonathan Last is the managing editor of something called The Bulwark, whose website calls it a home for “rational conservatives.” ~ R.S.
WIKIPEDIA: The Bulwark is an American conservative[1][2] news and opinion website founded by conservative commentators Charlie Sykes and Bill Kristol. The publisher is Sarah Longwell.[3] A news aggregator at first with Benjamin Parker as editor (he is currently senior editor), it was revamped into a news and opinion site with “the core digital staff of The Weekly Standard.”[4] Like the Standard, The Bulwark has been described as neoconservative. . .
Date launched: December 2018
Editors: Charlie Sykes, Bill Kristol
SOURCE – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bulwark_(website)
Results NH are quite interesting compared to 2016 Sanders vs Clinton … illustrates in my opinion a stronger, more diversified field of candidates, plus how the DNC candidate was out of touch with voters. A lesson.
I am happy to see this so stated as the MSM losing it’s mind. Yes I notice. Jennifer Rubin at WAPO really irks me. And anyone defending Sanders is a ‘bro” so labeled by yahoo anti-Sanders brownshirts out there. I defend Sanders out of instinct cause I don’t get anything rational from his opposition.What i hear is “socialist” “not a real Democrat” “can’t win against Trump” (ie he has limits to his support) and even that it’s Sanders fault we have Trump. As for Chuck Todd, he’s looking for his lane into MSM heaven and has not found it yet…grabs onto what crosses his transom… not brilliant analysis.
Again, Thank you Richard.