Dershowitz may have finally had enough
Alan Dershowitz is getting really fed up with Democrats, but I don’t know if he can make the break. It always amazes me that he still identifies as a Democrat. However, the last few weeks may really have severed that bond. He is a practicing Jew and he wrote an excellent book called The Case For Israel decades ago, and the Democrat stance on Israel post October 7 seems to have enraged him.
So now Dershowitz is writing this:
If something is not done immediately – if it is not too late already – the breach between Jewish voters who support Israel (and even those critical of some of its policies) and the Democratic Party will become unhealable.
Maybe – permanent.
There can be no compromise on this issue.
I have supported the Democratic Party since I first voted for John F. Kennedy in 1960, for much like my parents and grandparents, and since the days of Frankin Delano Roosevelt, a vast majority of Jewish-American voters could be reliably counted upon to cast their ballots for Democrats and contribute disproportionately to their campaigns.
This is unlikely to continue.
The silence of some Democrats, President Biden’s administration and America’s foremost liberal institutions in response to an eruption of left-wing anti-Zionism and Jew hatred is gut-wrenching.
It is nothing short of betrayal and Americans Jews must not move forward without a reckoning.
So far, he can’t quite see becoming a Republican, though. A mind – and a political party – is a difficult thing to change. Here’s Dershowitz:
Yes, centrist Jews have an alternative: they can become centrist Republicans. But that, too, will not be easy, since the Republican party is moving to the right on issues deeply concerning to many Jews – issues such as abortion rights, gay rights, climate control, gun control and the Supreme Court.
I saw that piece by Dershowitz a few days ago. And then yesterday I saw the following video, where he unloads on Barack Obama. Here, Dershowitz doesn’t pull his punches and he also expresses deep regret for ever having supported or trusted Obama. He gets quite revved up about it several times during the 14 minutes I’ve cued up, including at the end of the portion:
Dershowitz is just one person, of course. But he may stand for quite a few people.
The Dems are such ingrates.
And note well that in the latest poll, 22% of Blacks say they will vote for Trump. Historic.
Republican party is moving to the right on issues deeply concerning to many Jews – issues such as abortion rights, gay rights, climate control, gun control and the Supreme Court
I wouldn’t say the Republican party is “moving to the right” on any of those issues. As far as I can tell, the Republican party hasn’t moved at all on any of those issues. If anything it’s the Democrats that are the ones who have moved.
Abortion Rights? We all know that Republicans have always felt Roe V Wade was legislating from the bench, and we were happy when it was overturned, and the issue was left up to the States. I don’t think that most Republicans have really “moved” much on the issue itself.
Gay rights? Like what? Gay marriage? Most Republicans I know honestly don’t really care that much anymore about overturning it. Other than that, what other “rights” do gay people need to have specially carved out for them? What are we talking about here?
Climate control? (I’ve never heard it put that way, it makes it sound like air conditioning). I assume he means the whole “climate change” discussion, and again, Republicans haven’t really moved one way or the other on that issue. Generally Republicans remain against wrecking the economy under some quixotic notion of fixing this highly complex problem that’s been defined in vague ways and it’s uncertain if it’s 1). really fixable at all or 2.) if it’s really as great a problem as it’s been portrayed as to begin with.
Gun Control? Again, Republicans haven’t “moved to the right” on this issue at all.
Gay rights? I am continually mystified as to why Gays have extra rights that must be supported. Beyond that, I do not know what Republicans are doing to impinge on their legitimate rights. They got same-sex marriage; what next? Salute the Pride flag I guess.
Abortion is apparently a political killer. No pun intended. I have concluded that American women, broadly speaking, just don’t want to have babies. Too restrictive; too much bother. The declining birth rate supports the idea. Furthermore, they are willing to kill** to avoid having them. On the other hand they still want to ‘play’. It seems as though in any political contest, if abortion can be introduced as an issue, Democrats win. The ultimate irony to me, is that the ‘abortion on demand’ advocates never connect the dots as to what their own fate might have been if their position had been fashionable back when.
**Some might object to the use of the word kill. My position is that until it can be conclusively proven when life begins, common sense and basic humanity dictate caution. Abortion on demand flies in the face of that position.
Is Dersh saying that liberal Jews in America are okay with killing unborn children? There’s irony for you.
The Democratic Party is the Party of Betrayal.
Absolute Betrayal.
Of Everything.
It is the Party of Destruction.
The blind are beginning to see this.
Not all of them, mind you.
The reason why not all of them are able to see this is because of the EXTRAORDINARY success of the Democratic Party’s decision—with across-the-board, in-step MEDIA ASSISTANCE—to demonize Trump, unceasingly, incessantly, unabashedly, unashamedly and without end, as well as to demonize his supporters. Trump is the DEVIL they have assiduously created and crafted so that they can use that DIABOLICAL persona to cover up for their own criminal activities and destructive policies, 24/7
They are still pursuing, persecuting him, tying him up in specious legal knots, lying about him and his family in brutal third-world, banana republic style, this because there is more and more for them to cover up.
Indeed, the artful liars are the ones who, with some exceptions, control the media even as they attempt to hogtie, dismiss, deride, scoff, sneer at, ignore—and censor—any media they believe they do not control. The Democrats have been able to do this very effectively—scarily effectively—with the help of infotech media giants.
The Democratic Party’s decision to embark on this path of flagrant dishonesty as the means of achieving and maintaining total and absolute power has, in fact turned the country into a third world hell hole; a banana republic. But this has no effect on the Democrats, so steeped are they in lies, betrayal and destruction—so strong is their need to cover up their deceit, their betrayal, their crimes—in order to achieve total power and destroy their opposition—once again with the enthusiastic assistance of an equally evil media bloc.
Liberal Jews, who have participated in this utter dishonesty, this betrayal and this destruction—or who have supported it at the polls and/or financially—now find themselves on the receiving end of demonization from another direction. That is, assuming that they even understand what has been going on and the role they have been playing in it.
Dershowitz, in his principled commitment to support the Constitution come hell or high water—even if it meant defending Donald Trump—has, ironically, been criticized, tarred and “canceled” by former friends who, having swallowed the brilliantly-orchestrated Democratic Party demonization of Donald Trump hook, line and sinker, believe that anyone and anything that affords Trump potential protection—even the Constitution itself—should be negated and abrogated FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY.
TO SAVE DEMOCRACY as the non-stop liars in the Democratic Party like to crow.
Not sure how the country is going to get out of this huge mess, but those people whose eyes have been glued shut must start waking up and opening their eyes.
Alas, not even Dershowitz, it seems, can take that final leap.
And if not him, then who?
(The answer is that there are more than a small number of Jews who trend conservative, for different reasons. Tablet Magazine, for example, and many of its staff and contributors finally realized at some point over the past half-decade or so that they were being mugged and responded accordingly.)
Unfortunately, even if Dershowitz defects, he will be an anomaly. Most American Jews view “social justice” and even socialism as intrinsic to their identity. My relatives dismiss any notion that Biden’s and Obama’s policies had anything to do with the October 7 massacre? They still staunchly support JPOCA. They consider white nationalist Christians as far greater threat to their well-being than DSA or BLM. I am convinced that they hate Trump far more than they dislike Talib and would align themselves with her before ever voting Republican. It is in their DNA and it is putting their grandchildren in peril. Pathetic.
What occupation Alan? Read and watch Eugene Kontorovich
https://www.torahcafe.com/professor-eugene-kontorovich/the-legal-case-for-israel-video_33fb484b5.html
Gay rights? I am continually mystified as to why Gays have extra rights that must be supported.
==
A political program which was concerned with personal rights would have had the following planks (with some disputes over details): a repeal of penal code provisions defining consensual sodomy per se as an offense, an end to raids on public gatherings (in private homes or commercial establishments) absent probable cause that crimes were occurring therein that required a flood of officers and absent violations of ordinances contra public nuisances (and complaints from neighbors &c), restricting the use of agents provacateurs and undercover officers to investigations of species of organized crime, an end to categorical hiring bars in public employment, and an end to automatic discharge in public employment. Maybe you could find a Mattachine Society pamphlet from 1963 with this program, maybe you couldn’t. Such a program might have satisfied many rank-and-file homosexuals, but people so satisfied did not form a counterforce contra the motor of the ‘gay liberation’ movement after 1968.
==
Identity politics is about status, and promotion of the status of the mascot group means reducing the status of everyone else. You do that in part by legal coercion.
I am always amused at “Queers for Palestine” marchers. They might enjoy their flying lessons, for a few seconds.
Great comments here.
The most fundamental thing to understand is that the Dems do not care about the American people. They care about power and power only, so they can raid the treasury and impose their notion of what society should be like, the people be damned.
“The ultimate irony to me, is that the ‘abortion on demand’ advocates never connect the dots as to what their own fate might have been if their position had been fashionable back when.” Oldflyer
They specialize in oxymoronic positions.
“Is Dersh saying that liberal Jews in America are okay with killing unborn children? There’s irony for you.” IrishOtter49
It is “a bridge too far” to expect intellectual consistency from today’s liberals.
The irony extends even deeper for the most radical of pro-abortion advocates. Those who vote for abortion on demand without limit have actively declared that the unborn have no inalienable right to life. In doing so, they forfeit their own claim to a right to life.
I am a very big Dershowitz fan. I consider him the honorable opposition.
..also expresses deep regret for ever having supported or trusted Obama.
But how is it possible that he ever trusted him? I find this difficult to believe.
its a question of survival, now local republicans like baker have been little to write home about, as dr gorka spells out, the islamists have been very clear first the saturday people,(jews) then the sunday people (christians)
Why wasn’t the Dersh up in arms in 2016 when it was made clear that no matter how many delegates and primary wins that Bernie Sanders collected, the party would not let him be the nominee. And how about the BS impeachments his party sponsored, the first attempt made before DJT was even sworn in. He can’t just now be noticing that the Dem party has gone batshit-crazy.
Gay rights? If the G is going to provide income tax breaks for people who are married, then all “the people” should be have that break. Since it is now baked into the government tax policy, it is a ‘civil’ thing, even if some religious people think marriage is theirs alone. Get over it.
Abortion? “My body, my choice” is the mantra when an abortion is sought, but why does the “my body, my choice” only come into play following a positive pregnancy test? There are many ways to avoid pregnancy if all a woman wants is to have recreational sex; some temporary and some permanent. There’s a ‘choice’ for you.
The Dersh needs to start “walking the walk” to be taken seriously.
well sanders would have been worse, largely his people like kjp staff the adminstration, I think the luggage stealer (brinton) matt duss, his chief policy man,
is in the same venn diagram, with rob malley,
Another Mike, your comments about Gay rights confuse me. Same sex marriage has been legalized for several years. We got over it. And yes, the argument about tax breaks was no doubt the clincher. On the other hand,the government frequently rewards behavior that it considers beneficial;e.g. tax breaks for buying a Tesla or getting solar panels. So, the tax break for marriage was presumably to encourage a stable environment in which to procreate the race. Certainly as worthy as rewarding all of those green energy scams, eh?
I don’t get the connection between Jews or Jewishness and climate issues.
The prehistoric urge to pay a huge, counter intuitive sacrifice to ward off a coming catastrophe not otherwise understandable shouldn’t have affected the Jews more than others.
Why should they be more likely than others to demand to be made to do stupid stuff? Like masks and vaccinations and lockdowns. Doesn’t have to work, just be stupid and inconvenient. Why should Jews want that more than others for the coming warming or not-warming period which will make no difference?
My break with the Democrats came during the Clarence Thomas hearings for his Supreme Court appointment. As Justice Thomas said, it was a “high tech lynching.” What an embarrassment. And, a “young” senator from Delaware played a major role in the Democrats’ strategy of persecuting Justice Thomas. It didn’t make me a Republican, but since then I’ve always been very reluctant to vote Democrat.
I wonder if some of Professor Dershowitz’ Jewish friends who have shunned him and publicly lambasted him due to his even handed opinions on the Trump prosecutions are now rethinking their stance?
you would think so,
https://twitter.com/MarkPaoletta/status/1722355450329305373
Professor Desrhowitz’ ire is accurate and justified, but, regarding this topic, I haven’t seen any on air personality more spot on than Douglas Murray. I don’t see how anyone can debate his main point:
Letting people who are actively, diametrically opposed to your nation’s values (he’s a Brit by birth and recently became a U.S. citizen) come into your country in significant percentages is untenable.
Citizens will either wake up to this fact and demand their legislatures, administrators and executors act to preserve their nations’ fundamental values.
Or they will not.
It is just that simple.
Let the Vandals, Visigoths and Ostrogoths in through the front gate and reap the whirlwind.
The antisemitism of the Democrat Party has been on full display and in your face for quite a while. The entire Congressional Black Caucus has been friends with the Reverend Lewis, “Jews are cockroaches”, Farracan for years. There is a photo of all of them, including Senator Obama at a party at his Chicago mansion. How did Dersh miss that and not make a connection?
Rufus T. Is exactly correct. You can’t import a large population of people who are fundamentally hostile to your culture and expect anything but catastrophy. Deport all Muslims who are not citizens.
Dershowitz is just one person, of course. But he may stand for quite a few people.
–neo
Indeed.
Change is hard, but it still can come.
The problem with Dershowitz is he, like alot of Democrats, greatly mischaracterise the views of republicans.
“But that, too, will not be easy, since the Republican party is moving to the right on issues deeply concerning to many Jews – issues such as abortion rights, gay rights, climate control, gun control and the Supreme Court.”
Parts of the Republican party may have “extreme” views on these, but he gives “extreme” views in the Democrats a pass.
At a federal level, abortion rights are played out – its now a state issue so to a reasonable person should be swayed by this issue federally. I’d even go so far that to most republicans its not a huge issue – its just that to a noisy minority of religious conservatives its a huge deal.
Gun rights – given the recent uptake of Jews obtaining firearms in the wake of the Hamas atrocities and rise in antisemitism a thinking person might revise their opinion of gun control. In any event, the republican view is hugely misrepresented and the current decisions really just represent a proper reading of the 2nd Amendment as originally envisaged.
Gay rights – exactly what gay rights are being infringed ? The right to indoctrinate children ? Again I’d ask Dersh to point me to which rights are being infringed. Its a talking point without substance.
All the Dems have to do is keep dolts like him from waking up until they’re as old as Dersh, and they have no problem. How many more elections will he see? And after that he’ll vote straight Dem anyway!
I listened to about the first ten minutes of the segment that Neo selected. It sounds to me like Dershowitz has merely a personal problem with Obama himself, not with the Democratic Party. I can certainly understand Dersh’s umbrage with His Holiness, given what he related in those two anecdotes, but as far as I can tell, that’s where Dersh’s outrage ends. Nothing about that sense of betrayal extended to the rest of the Left in those ten minutes.
So no, I see no real change here – Dershowitz is going to vote Dem until he dies, most likely, in spite of it all. Maybe later on in the interview, he elaborated more in a direction that refutes what I’m saying; but if it takes him that long to get there, I’m afraid he’s lost me.
“The problem with Dershowitz is he, like alot of Democrats, greatly mischaracterise the views of republicans.”
And right there you have THE reason Dershowitz will ALWAYS vote for the very political party that would throw him into an oven.
They are being blindfolded by the Corrupt Media and Infotech.
Correction: They are being WILLINGLY blindfolded by the Corrupt Media and Infotech.
The Party they support, whose goal is the destruction of the country, SCREAMS, SHRIEKS, HOWLS and WAILS that it is actually the Republicans who seek to destroy the country.
And they—perfervid believers of what the Corrupt Media has been feeding them for far too long—can only NOD THEIR HEADS in AGREEMENT with that message, which has been, is being, and will always be amplified hystrically—driven home—24/7/52.
It is a form of brainwashing, as has been mentioned several times already.
Some are waking up NOW, because of their support for Israel, and have finally begun to put 2 and 2 together—realizing, finally, that no, it is NOT 5.
HOWEVER, what many of them don’t seem to understand—no doubt due to the relentless corruption of the Media of the Democratic Party’s messaging and actions, as well as the non-stop demonization of Trump and those who support him—is that the Party that seeks to destroy the US is ALSO the party that will—NECESSARILY—undermine the Jewish State (as well as the rest of the West).
BOTH of these policies go hand in hand; and BOTH must be disguised, concealed, covered up and lied about. Indeed that PIG MUST BE PERFUMED…heavily, cloyingly, disgustingly.
What American Jews and liberals generally—e.g., DERSHOWITZ—should be doing (and Canadian Jews have the same basic problem) is SUPPORTING the party that supports THEIR country, the country in which they live, or at least support the party that does not want to subvert their country—TRANSFORM it—see it destroyed; but their PREDILECTION to support the Liberal party for no-longer-extant historical reasons—since the Democratic Party is most definitely NOT liberal—at the expense of the Reactionary Party—likewise, the Republican Paty is most definitely NOT reactionary—is a sign of the mortifying success of Democratic Party and its adjunct apparatchiks in the Corrupt Media and Infotech.
They’re going to have to wake up.
But as we all know, changing is extremely difficult.
(But then, how many times does one have to be mugged…until one understands that one IS being mugged?)
The writers and editors at Tablet (all are Jews, generally conservative) have published a set of essays with varying personal reactions to the Hamas attack and the anti-Semitic/Jewish/Israel reaction.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/what-now
Those who still had Democrat friends (small-l leftists) were generally stunned at how fast their erstwhile compatriots threw them under the bus (or train?). It has been a common experience throughout America & the West since 10/7, and IMO most resembles the stories that used to be published by people “coming out” as gay, back when that was not yet an obligatory social-media trend.
(One irony that I’ve seen in the last few years is the conservative gays noting that they faced less hatred from the Right when they came out as gay, than from the Left when they came out as conservative.)
The biggest difference I see is that the liberal Jews aren’t “coming out” at all — everyone knew who they were — and the Left has never made its anti-Semitism a secret, so why are any of them surprised at all by this grand new betrayal?
As Andrea Widburg posted recently at Bookworm Room, they believed that their support for all the “catechism causes” of the left would give them some cover for being Jewish, but it didn’t.
The liberal Jews in 1930s Europe made the same mistake.
https://www.bookwormroom.com/2023/10/30/dear-jews-we-never-liked-you-we-were-just-using-you/
It just gets a bit exhausting. He’s been ‘about to break’ with Democrats for how long now?
I certainly understand the intense loyalty to the Democrat Party among various ‘ethnics’ (of the last century): especially Jews, but also Italians and Poles (like my grandparents). The party has long abandoned these groups, but a diminishing number of them still cling to the party.
I also understand political change cam be a slow and hesitant process (it was for me). It’s difficult to acknowledge your own mistakes and realize your outlook as truly changed.
But come on, Dershowitz! He’s been hinting at leaving the Democrats for years
He has every reason to now. Just do it!
BONUS catechism causes sign for conservatives:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2022/10/IMG_5648.jpg
I’m not sure that Liberal Jews espouse the causes they do so that they might be more popular with their friends, and upstanding members in the Liberal “club”.
I think they support those causes because they DO believe in Liberal causes—not that these two reasons are mutually exclusive, certainly—AND, perhaps even more significantly, they have bought into the brazen lies of the Democratic Party that it is TRUMP who is out to destroy the country—cue Two-Minute Hate here…make that 24/7 Hate—which THEY, as consummate supporters of the country, MUST DO EVERYTHING to prevent.
(But as mentioned above, the Democratic Party in its current incarnation—accelerated by Obama and the utterly corrupt Media—is ANYTHING BUT LIBERAL, while claiming—of course—the exact opposite.)
Related:
“Unhinged Democrats seethe at Republicans even existing”—
https://nypost.com/2023/11/08/opinion/unhinged-democrats-seethe-at-republican-existance/
Related, if with its bizarre moments….
“We liberal Jews are shocked by the world’s antisemitism — but won’t succumb to fear”—
https://nypost.com/2023/11/08/opinion/we-liberal-jews-are-shocked-by-worlds-antisemitism-but-wont-succumb-to-fear/
Bizarre graf (actually, not so bizarre, alas)…
‘…Progressives rightly condemned anyone who said, “The death of George Floyd was regrettable, but he was on drugs at the time,” or “All lives matter!” [Emphasis mine; Barry M.]
‘ But Oct. 8, they were all saying, “What happened yesterday was bad, but this is what decolonization looks like,” or “Free Palestine — from the river to the sea!” — code for the elimination of the only Jewish state….’
Gosh, who woulda’ thunk how defending lies eventually boomerang to bite you in the backside…
well aktually, floyd was a stoned dude and a fmr rapist, that the minneapolis police were too patient with, the level of delusion and distraction they engage in,
This is one Jew who believes the highest political value is individual freedom, without which one would have a miserable existence. Accordingly I last voted for a Democrat, Hubert Humphrey, when I was young and naïve. I know I am in the minority of my religious kin, but I know I am right in all senses of the word.
It seems many Jews are also leery of populist movements, “MAGA Republicans.”
They have a long history of living as the minority in nations that become nativist, which didn’t work out well for the minority, Jewish population.
Rufus T. Firefly, I would refer you to the post by Stu that immediately precedes yours, and gently inquire why you think that the attitudes of so-called MAGA Republicans have proven inconsistent with his beliefs.
I would also be curious why ‘we’ are characterized as Nativist. Is it because we only support legal immigration, rather than a mass invasion by undocumented migrants? Other than the constitutional qualifications for President, I see no evidence that native born citizens have preference over legal immigrants. The experience of that notorious African-American, Elon Musk, certainly belies that notion.
BTW, I assume that I would be called a MAGA Republican even though I have no desire to see Trump as President again. You see, I do believe that a “Great America” has proven on balance to be beneficial to the world, and in particular to the people who flock here, legally, for the freedom and opportunity that a Great America has traditionally offered.
Rufus T. Firefly is spot on at 9:18 am.
This is something I have talked with several Jewish friends about and it goes beyond MAGA. In fact, this is THE reason many have given me for why Jews overwhelmingly vote Democrat. Fear of being “the other” in society is what it comes down to. Rightly or wrongly they have sensed that that is more likely in an America run by Republicans. If anything is going to change, they need to conclude that is no longer true.
I would suppose it is possible that Dershowitz doesn’t know what people on the right believe because he doesn’t actually know any and so he is foolishly going by what he has been told without any research at all on his part.
However, he DOES know Democrats and leftists and has been listening to them for years. How he can express shock and dismay at the beliefs they have made no secret of for decades is, frankly, stupid.
He is a highly educated and credentialed dumb person.
As Benjamin Franklin said, “Experience keeps a dear school; yet fools will learn in no other.”
And that goes for any and all Jewish people who uncritically bought the BLM, DEI, and Equity lies without noticing it was DIRECTLY aimed at THEM.
I was a Democrat for decades because I lived in a Blue City/Blue State and wanted to have a say in who would become Mayor and Governor in the hopes that that person (someone like Ed Koch) would not be a crazy but I registered as a Republican several years ago (although I can no longer stand Donald Trump’s behavior and I think he is an albatross for the G.O.P.) and briefly re-registered as a Democrat so I could prevent Maya Whiley (who is to the Left of Bill de Blasio!) becoming the Democratic nominee for Mayor (I voted for Eric Adams who despite his imperfections was and is infintely preferable to everyone else running in the Democratic Primary) and after the election I re-registered as Republican.
Overall, I’d say the Republican Party has moved left on abortion as they have taken on new voters and with the Dobbs win last year. Individual Republicans haven’t moved left but new Republicans or conservative voters are more left and Dobbs took the issue off the table at the federal level. Gay rights, too, are no longer such a burning issue whereas the “left” is on to trans rights which apparently involves taking control of other peoples’ children and mutilating them physically and mentally. Climate and gun “control” were always about taking away and/or seriously interfering with individual rights and it’s hard to pretend otherwise. I remember listening to Dershowitz in one of those NPR debates where the audience is stacked in favor of the lefty cause and the winner is determined by the amount of applause. It was a gun control debate and even Dershowitz couldn’t put on a strong show with facts or law so he pounded the table marvelously. The applause was tentative at first for his presentation, though it grew as the meatpuppets realized it was their job to make him win (and of course he “won” anyway, because NPR).
It is also disturbing to note how deeply ingrained political identity is for some people. I’ve never had any issue switching teams when it became clear to me that the party I thought best represented me was no longer doing so or never had. Why remain loyal to an organization that actively treats you with such disdain and disresepct?
Dershowitz, Maher, etc. have forged a national identity being voices for the left, so these are special cases, but it’s true for less famous individuals as well. Searching and searching for reasons to stay loyal. It’s just sad.
Just Lily said “I would suppose it is possible that Dershowitz doesn’t know what people on the right believe because he doesn’t actually know any and so he is foolishly going by what he has been told without any research at all on his part.”
This is exactly on point. I think a lot of lefties are lefties because it feeds their egos. It is constantly implied that the left is superior intellectually and in every other way that matters versus those belief-clinging neanderthals on the right. To be a lefty is to automatically have superiority. It’s hard to leave the safety and security of a world that valorizes you just for your loyalty to a belief system.
Dershowitz is politically a progressive. Progressive issues – abortion on demand, gay rights, gun control, climate change, and control of the Supreme Court – are the very essence of his existence. He is also a passionate supporter of Israel. However, whenever he had to choose between his progressive politics and his Judaism, his progressive politics won out every time. This is not the first time he has threatened to no longer vote Democrat. Every time the Democrat party, especially under Obama, openly expressed its hostility to Israel, he would write an article threatening to leave the Democrat party. But it is an empty threat. He is psychologically incapable of leaving the Democrat party.
SMarter.
Perfectly described.
The Other must continually be derided as Know-Nothings along with every other social sin to keep the scam going.
It’s like those with no talent, distinction, or accomplishments who think themselves intellectual giants because they were born north of the Ohio River. The South must continually be derided to keep the illusion alive.
Hey, the system just ate my other comment!
FWIW, I wanted to recognize Just Lily for saying “I would suppose it is possible that Dershowitz doesn’t know what people on the right believe because he doesn’t actually know any and so he is foolishly going by what he has been told without any research at all on his part.”
I think this is exactly on point because I think a big draw for lefties is the automatic superiority that comes with being a lefty and don’t have to think too hard about opposing viewpoints. The leftist ideology is presumed to endows one with greater intellect and empathy, worldly understanding, and general Goodness. (Cue Judge Smails asking what you stand for, goodness or badness.) The far right (anyone not a Biden voter) is presumed to be a belief-clinging, uneducated neanderthal and/or part of a cult and/or standing for badness. It must be hard to give up the comfort of that warm enveloping security blanket and go out and fight your own fight for what you actually believe … much less identify what you actually believe. Scary! Intrusive thoughts!! Twuuuummpp!
I read the apologia in the Times for the butchery of simshah torah, the lead correspondent Ben Hubbard was always agita about Assad, but here he shows severe indifference,
Not sure I’d agree that Dershowitz is a progressive.
Seems like a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal who respects the law and defends the Constitution while attacking those who abrogate it—often to his own disadvantage (at least in the “Popularity” wars….)
Progressive?
Kindly elucidate…
Nothing to do with post, but:
Dershowitz was part of OJ Simpsons defense. It was his idea for the constant objections during prosecutions closing statement.
I think he, and a couple of other defense lawyers have been attempting to atone for their sin.
Obama is a noxious Jew-hater. That was obvious from the very beginning of his rise to prominence.
Perhaps it is the thrill of close proximity to power, the invitations to the White House, etc. that causes people, even one as brilliant as Professor Dershowitz, to suspend belief.
Finally, Professor Dershowitz realizes that he was used and now has so many regrets. Oh well, better late than never, as they say.
Human rites is a wicked solution, transgender… homosexual congruence (“=”) is selective exclusion with albinophobic symbolism, climate control… really?, gun privilege for government agents and criminals of course, etc.
Oldflyer,
Sorry my point wasn’t more clear. I thought putting “MAGA Republicans” in quotes would be sufficient.
I don’t believe the U.S. is overly nativist. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact. I know of no more successful a melting pot among nations current or past.
I don’t believe Donald J. Trump is nativist, or racist or has a problem with Americans of any religion, skin color or ethnicity as long as they believe in the Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution.
I was speaking from the reference point of Jewish people I have heard discuss the matter. Although I think their concerns are misdirected regarding present day, U.S. politics, I can understand their perspective.
Dershowitz realizes that he was used and now has so many regrets
He has the right to abort, trans-form his choices, but time progresses and remediation is not retroactive. Such a “burden”… uh, burden.
I’m not holding my breath. Dershowitz has had a remarkable conscience and principles but he is still so wedded to the D label, in part to preserve what little influence he has (sort of similar to the MSM going out for “Conservative” or “Republican” consultants that would go after Republicans and Conservatives).
Though on another page and a rather calculated note, this IS the kind of issue that’d make a defection or abandonment of the D Plantation more palatable. Hamas revealing what it truly is again in such a visceral, evil fashion has triggered backlash even in many corporate or leftist mainstream elements, hence the blackballing. If Dershowitz is going to jump ship, it’s hard to figure out a better occasion than this. He can’t do it over the obviously political and politicized abuse of the law against Trump, he can’t do it over “the conspiracy theory” of election rigging. He can’t do it over mundane Jew Hatred by the Left. Or at least not while maintaining a fraction of his influence.
But I won’t be holding my breath on him actually making the plunge, and if he doesn’t do it over this I don’t see him doing it.
But maybe the times really are a-changin’
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/end-dei-bari-weiss-jews
Fullmoon,
I’ve heard Professor Dershowitz discuss the law on many occasions. He is a firm believer that every defendant deserves the best defense possible. Even if he believed O.J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson (and I think it is likely Dershowitz believed that before, during and after the trial) it is his nature to put forth the best defense possible as a fundamental, legal principle.
Again, I’m making assumptions based on what I understand of his philosophy, but I do not think he feels he has to atone for anything regarding the Simpson trial. He fulfilled his role for the defense in a manner consistent with his legal philosophy. Even if he thinks an innocent man went free that day (and my guess is, he does) that was to be determined by the jury. If anything the prosecution is to blame for not putting forth a case that convinced the jury (or seating a convincible jury). However, I doubt Professor Dershowitz would think the prosecuting attorneys or jurors need to “atone.” Each performed their role in the trial and the results were the results.
I think the problem is Dersh cannot let go of the other leftist shibboleths and “causes” so he would never be comfortable as a Republican. I quit voting for Dems about 20 years ago. Now I wonder why it took me so long but while recognition of leftist anti-Zionism and antisemitism was an important factor it was far from the only one. Even when I was a lib Dem I never liked the hard left and I had been diverging for quite some time before my final break.
Rufus: “Even if he thinks an innocent man went free that day (and my guess is, he does)”
You mean “guilty man”, right? In any case your meaning is clear and I agree with the overall comment.
A very well worded and extremely important point made by Bari Weiss in the substack article Mike Plaiss linked. Support for progressivism, especially DEI, guarantees Jews and Asians will be the first groups attacked.
FOAF,
Yes. Yikes! The edit timer expired and I can no longer fix it. My miswording sure destroys the gist of my point!
No worries, the pith of your gist is clear.
What gets me is how many people misread the stuttering clusterphuck known as Obama.
Its not a better late than never thing. Its too late.
The democratic party has sitting representatives in congress who have the exact same beliefs as that mad mustache guy, yet Hillary compared trump to Hitler just today with crickets from Jewish organizations: https://www.foxnews.com/media/hillary-clinton-compares-trump-hitler-while-warning-could-win-again-hitler-duly-elected
Democratic Jews, you voted for it, you own it. You never come to my aid or help, so you’re on your own. I’m just going to sit by and be silent watching you reap what you sowed in US society.
“Yes, centrist Jews have an alternative: they can become centrist Republicans. But that, too, will not be easy, since the Republican party is moving to the right on issues deeply concerning to many Jews – issues such as abortion rights, gay rights, climate control, gun control and the Supreme Court.”
Difficult? Easy!
If you’re against me, I’m against you!
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