Every former Democrat like me who has chosen to #WALKAWAY always experiences deja vu when they see others finally noticing and objecting to the way Democrats have become so unhinged that they’ve turned every aspect of life into a political battlefield. And they want everyone who disagrees with them destroyed, personally and professionally.
Various hardcore anti-Trump reporters have shown integrity by objecting to the crazed, rabid propaganda that their colleagues have been churning out, especially following the riots over George Floyd’s death. The police behavior involved in that death was so blatantly out of line that for a few brief moments the nation was united in sadness and outrage.
A nation united is something that Democrats can not stand to see, and even though the Minneapolis officers involved were quickly fired and/or facing charges the Democrats and their media outlets rapidly transformed the situation into hate-filled riots and looting that raged for days.
The Tom Cotton op-ed at the New York Times and what followed erupted into what some journalists have called “civil wars” in newsrooms across the country between rational reporters and their unhinged colleagues. Links are below, but first some excerpts from journalists whose anti-Trump credentials cannot be questioned.
First up, female journalist Bari Weiss:
The civil war inside The New York Times between the (mostly young) wokes the (mostly 40+) liberals is the same one raging inside other publications and companies across the country. The dynamic is always the same. (Thread.)
The Old Guard lives by a set of principles we can broadly call civil libertarianism. They assumed they shared that worldview with the young people they hired who called themselves liberals and progressives. But it was an incorrect assumption.
The New Guard has a different worldview, one articulated best by @JonHaidt and @glukianoff. They call it “safetyism,” in which the right of people to feel emotionally and psychologically safe trumps what were previously considered core liberal values, like free speech … there are dozens and dozens of examples.
I’ve been mocked by many people over the past few years for writing about the campus culture wars. They told me it was a sideshow. But this was always why it mattered: The people who graduated from those campuses would rise to power inside key institutions and transform them. (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: LINK TO MY PIECES ABOUT THAT SITUATION HERE )
I’m in no way surprised by what has now exploded into public view. In a way, it’s oddly comforting: I feel less alone and less crazy trying to explain the dynamic to people. What I am shocked by is the speed. I thought it would take a few years, not a few weeks.
Next up is Michael Tracey:
The NYT and other media institutions are being held hostage by millennials whose belief system includes such precepts as, “Publishing something I disagree with physically endangers me.” They use bizarre emotional manipulation tactics to assert their dominance. And they’re winning.