In Defense of John Fetterman, The Imperfect Progressive Left, & Understanding Israel
Really, John Fetterman is the person to call out?
Why is he getting called out? Because he says he stands with Israel.
The cool thing to do—the activist move—the counter-culture move—the misguided progressive move—is to be for the “Free Palestine” movement, to cry foul about the Gaza situation, and unintentionally buy into Hamas propaganda.
Hamas has a good PR team. That’s not a joke.
Gaza has been a disaster for a while. It’s not new. The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis. That’s also not new.
Why are we here? Hamas played the long game and they played it disturbingly well. Hamas has long made tactical moves to make the optics look bad for Israel. They’ve put Israel in impossible situations.
How do you get someone to blow up a hospital? You fill it with terrorists. Also, not a joke.
Disgustingly, Hamas uses Palestinian citizens as human weapons. They don’t care about casualties. Why? Because they are a terrorist organization. Maximum damage is their goal. This isn’t about leadership. Hamas is starving people and depriving them of medical treatment. Trust me, zero fucks given. These are the same so-called leaders who bought loyalty for a few thousand dollars and a rented room to get real people to commit vicious, sickening hate crimes. I won’t repeat the details here.
Look at Afghanistan, check out how the Taliban is ruling. Militants don’t suddenly put on a tie and become statesman.
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Let Fetterman Be Fetterman
I’ve followed John Fetterman as a candidate since his early days as Mayor of Braddock (in Pittsburgh). He’s an amazing person with strong ethics. His moral compass is impressive. He is a rare breed among politicians.
(Aside: Fetterman has one of the most interesting Wikipedia pages I’ve encountered. I’ve read it in its entirely. More than once.)
I call myself progressive but not part of the Progressive party.
Can we acknowledge that there are problems with the so-called “Progressive” movement?
Often, my complaints have to do with practicality. Many agendas feel like the subject for an “ideas campaign” as opposed to something pragmatic that we can actually put into action given the current (or near future) political climate. Fight the good fight, for sure. But at what cost?
All this being said, if you haven’t read Bernie Sander’s new[ish] book, I highly recommend it.
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The Progressive Left
Here are some stances that the Progressive Left stand for that I strongly agree with:
Social Progressivism (in general)
Support of women’s right to choose (Abortion Rights)
LGBTQIA2S+ rights
Contraceptives should be widely available (I’ll add, tax subsidized and free + women’s menstrual products should be free)
Same-sex marriage is a no brainer (What century are we in?)
Same-sex adoption is wonderful
Stem-cell research is important
+
AOC on the issues
Let’s look at AOC because she’s polarizing and remains in the spotlight of the Progressive Left movement.
Housing as a Human Right. I agree 100%. I’ve said this elsewhere. This is essential.
Real public safety. We need more community policing. Let’s leave it at that for now.
Honor in immigration. Agreed. We treat people terribly. This isn’t new. I’ll be talking about Passportism in the future and this is related.
Relatedly, on immigration—AOC wants to abolish ICE. As a compromise, the goal should be to repurpose ICE. ICE is a tool. Weaponized the wrong way, it’s cruel and unusual. This is true of any tool.
Justice for workers and small businesses. This is actually, for the most part, a mainstream Democrat position. Instead of the Republican Reaganomics (with a focus on “supply”), this is the position of focusing on “demand”. Yes, Unions, when done right, serve a very important purpose. Both sides of the aisle are actually remembering this (to an extent) in current times.
Relief for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico still hasn’t recovered from Hurricane Maria (2017). Six years ago. We tend to forget that Puerto Rico is, you know, part of the U.S. We have a terrible habit of focusing on the mainland and not treating territories with respect and dignity. They are Americans and deserve equal rights.
Green New Deal. We need this badly. We should be integrating this as much as possible. Unfortunately, we’re a large country and it’s not like you can just flip a switch. Some will say it’s that easy. It’s not actually that easy.
Elevate public education. Well duh.
Aging with dignity. Absolutely. Our country is reprehensible when it comes to how we treat our older citizens.
Pro Women’s Rights & Queer Rights. YES! YES!! YES!!!
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Interlude: Recommendation for The Gray Area
There are two recent episodes of The Gray Area with Sean Illing— ‘Late-Stage Liberalism’ and ‘A Jew and a Muslim get Honest about Israel and Gaza’ that I highly recommend checking to get better informed on these issues. As we know, it’s important to get outside your own bubble.
Bonus Episode: Hope from the other side. A conversation with Sohrab Ahmari on his book ‘Tyranny, Inc.’ He’s a smart person. It would be wonderful if there were more intelligent people in power in the GOP. This would really help with, you know, actually reaching across the aisle.
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The Situation in Israel
People don’t understand Israel’s history or the present situation.
>>> This piece remains the best write-up I’ve read. <<<
Looking at a situation out of the larger context is always going to get you in trouble. There are a lot of people who are well-intended but sadly misguided about the situation in Israel/Palestine/Gaza. There are also a lot of people being accidentally antisemitic. (An example is the use by some of the phrase “From the River to the Sea”.) There are other people who are being opportunistic and delighted to have found an excuse to be open about their antisemitism.
Israel is held to a higher standard. This, in and of itself, is borderline antisemitic.
Hamas is a terrorist organization. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists.” Imagine how the U.S. would have handled the October 7 attack? Simply consider what we have done since 9/11.
Let’s keep in mind, there is no excuse for war crimes. Also, there is a rule about not punishing a population of civilians for the crimes committed by a country or leadership.
Now, how do you negotiate a military operation against a terrorist organization? By definition, terrorists do not play by the rules of war. And there are rules of war. This is why, for example, the term “proportional response” is common.
Terrible actions are committed during wartime. No side remains unscathed.
What does Israel need to prove right now? That they are not going to stand idly by while terrorist organizations exist with language in their Mission Statement about the annihilation of Jews or destroying Israel as a Jewish State.
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Without this turning into Twitter-esque outrage culture, what are your thoughts?
Well said Mark. I'm irritated with those who refuse to show any compassion for what occurred on Oct. 7 and/or make Hamas out to be a freedom fighter or are unwilling to acknowledge their war crimes. What is happening in Gaza is horrific but it's disturbing to listen to people who are unwilling to see the gravity of that day or Hamas' intentions. Blanket statements of Palestinians good, Israelis bad (or even vice versa) just leaves us spinning in circles of hate and deepens the divide.
I happen to agree with everything I've read in your piece, and so am not going to share my opinions that would be essentially the same as yours. Always been "progressive" and always will be, but also reality-based in my more wisdom-ous years (and don't get me started on what seems to be age bias in multiple areas of publishing). And so "interesting" how Jewish writers/authors had to push so hard to be part of "diversity", and how Israel (whatever I believe about how differently they might have responded initially) is held to a standard so high that it's completely out of reach. My way to cope: keep writing and submitting; keep canvassing and doing voter registration; keep speaking out.