This November marks the date when the mask was torn off to reveal the true face of the Left. The fact that they tore it off themselves makes it even better.
This revelation of course involves Israel, the Gaza War, and the leftist anti-Semitism that has festered unacknowledged for generations. The poster girl for all this is Susan Sarandon.
Sarandon has for decades been a high B-list actress, not anyone who could carry a production on her own like Angelina Jolie or Nicole Kidman, but nobody to kick aside, either. She’s made a decent flick here and there (I’m particularly partial to Atlantic City, one of Burt Lancaster’s last efforts), amid the standard run of trash, and particularly in her case, agitprop. Because Sarandon’s trademark schtick has been one she inherited from Jane Fonda, the “socially conscious” left-wing Hollywood harridan. (This goes all the way back. Her first role was in 1970s Joe, a truly demented late hippie-era effort that attempted to mimic the effect of Easy Rider without its insight.)
Last week it turned around to bite her. Addressing a pro-Hamas rally while dressed like a bag lady, Sarandon made an obtuse, imbecilic, and unforgiveable remark concerning Jews and Muslims that doesn’t really bear repeating. The industry reacted swiftly. Within hours Sarandon was dumped by the United Talent Agency. This is a first. You can look as long as you like to find another leftie rabble-rouser discarded by Hollywood and you will not succeed. Let this be the first of many.
What was going through her head? Don’t ask me. It’s difficult to believe that anybody living in 21st-century America could fail to recognize what was wrong with claiming that Jews have never suffered and somehow deserve to be flayed over the ongoing suicide of Hamas. Not to mention how stupid it was to say it out loud. Sarandon’s remark came after a lengthy series of savage anti-Semitic demos and riots on college campuses and elsewhere (which included at least one murder), culminating on a mob attack against the DNC itself, egged on by the demure and soft-spoken Rashida Tlaib. Little Sue evidently thought she had the green light to attack the Jews. She didn’t.
By sheer historical accident, Jews, in the U.S. as well as Europe, have been deeply entwined with leftist political culture. Jewish emancipation occurred at the same time as the 19th-century rise of socialism. Both had the same enemies, which encouraged both to work together. The problem lay in the fact that many Jews didn’t drop the Left when the situation changed. The majority in the U.S. held on to leftist politics – largely of the New Deal socialism-lite variety -- no matter what the provocation. Leftists could turn against Israel following the Six-Day War, embrace Louis Farrakhan, excuse Black anti-Semitism, ally themselves with Jihadi terrorists, and it didn’t matter. The majority of American Jews simply refused to entertain second thoughts. It was a mystery, one that caused Judeophile conservatives – which is most of us – to simply shake our heads in bewilderment.
But this seems to be coming to an end. Jewish alumni are now cutting their ties with universities and organizations that have refused to curtail – and in some cases have openly supported – pro-Hamas activity. The Left has at last succeeded in severing one of its major pillars of support.
That’s not the only stupid action the Left has taken in recent days. The synthetic global warming panic has been largely a success story for left-wing environmentalists. Despite an almost complete lack of legitimate evidence, leftist Greens have, through incessant repetition by way of a compliant media, succeeded in terrifying a public which had little or no understanding of the topic. At the same time, they have corrupted, through manipulating the grant process, an entire scientific field and most researchers working within it (climatology can no longer be considered a science, and nothing worthwhile will come out of it for decades at least). Conservatives, as is often case involving fields outside their comfort zone, have fumbled the debate, arguing on the exact terms set by the Greens (for instance largely accepting the semantic switcheroo from “global warming” to “climate change.”)
Then, having snatched all the marbles, they decided to appoint as their standard-bearer a mentally unstable teenage girl. The logic behind this is not easy to grasp. I suspect that it’s much like the case of Lena Dunham, the auteur of “Girls,” the “hit” cable series that actually had only about 800,000 viewers. Greta Thunberg’s parents were Swedish notables active in environmentalism, and evidently needed to find a role for their strange daughter. Their circle obliged, and now the face of climate change is an unattractive young woman who can’t make a coherent argument, doesn’t seem to know anything apart from a few slogans, and possesses the most repellent public personality since Yuri Andropov.
Evidently channeling her inner Sarandon, Thunberg blew things up by attempting to transform a “climate change” demo into a Hamas rally. This prompted one activist to storm the stage, seize the mike, and declare that he wasn’t there for a political rally. Thunberg, as is her custom whenever anything not explicitly spelled out in the schedule occurs, simply stood there gazing off into the ozone, saying nothing in response.
Of course, this brand of left-wing stupidity is not limited to support for Hamas and terror. One of the major pillars of the Left in this country has been college-educated suburban housewives. These Sharons, to coin a term, with time on their hands, large circles of influence, little experience of the real world, and an impression of personal omniscience, have been critical in forcing the acceptance of various left-wing dogma, especially those involving social and sexual “reforms.” In particular, they played a key role in the social acceptance of gays. In response, the LGBT community, in the name of the “T” branch, has chosen to target them, largely through their daughters. Far from being any sort of “liberation” movement, transgenderism has clearly unfolded as a massive campaign directed against young women, for reasons that remain unclear. Since the mother/daughter relationship is one of the most profound in the human experience, it follows that anyone seeking to disturb it had best think twice. The transgenders, of course, are doing no such thing, instead doubling down to the point of actual physical injury to their victims.
White suburban females have been virtually impervious to any sensible consideration of political-related matters, as can be seen by the behavior of female politicians and public officials ranging from Hillary through Nancy and onward. But the transgender campaign may well prove to be the breaking point here. It’s difficult to imagine these stubborn, highly indulged, and vindicative females watching passively while their daughters are brutalized by the trans clown crew.
All this marks the most grievous flaw in the left-wing project. A movement based largely on the impulse to rebellion – one could easily add “mindless” here – will always be threatened by centripetal forces. These appear to be catching up with the domestic Left with a vengeance. American Judaism and upper-middle-class females have been crucial elements of the left-wing coalition for quite some time – a century or more as regards American Jews. Turning on them in the time-tested leftist manner suggests that the Left has decided to live dangerously, a trend that should be encouraged.
Can anything turn this around? It’s difficult to see what. One of the dangers of appealing to the crazies is that you have to accept them as they come – including their obsessions, fixations, and refusal to act rationally. Consider Bernie trying to talk sense to a contingent of transgenders and you’ll get the picture. The word you’re groping for, by the way, is “Schadenfreude.”
Image: MFer Photography
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