A New York Times editor wrote an op-ed that might cause discerning readers to wonder whether she has been living in a cave in the mountains of Afghanistan over the past two decades.
In the piece, contributing editor Jessica Bennett makes the questionable claim that with Democrats using terms like “weird” and “creepy” to describe their political opponents, they are finally emulating former President Donald Trump and using a new strategy: Name-calling.
Yes, you read that right. The author, probably with a straight face, suggested that calling people names is new for the left. However, there is much she has missed since she started dwelling in that particular cave.
Bennett starts her clueless op-ed by describing how “MAGA” folks have been behaving like children, using name-calling against Democrats, who are the paragon of virtue and of taking the high road.
For years the MAGA movement has approached politics the way a bully would approach a schoolyard, sparring with labels so nasty, they seemed expressly chosen to appeal to the kind of people who stuffed nerds in lockers in sixth grade. And for years Democrats, abiding by the mantra to go high, not low, have responded by trying to be the adults in the room: defending themselves with facts, with context, with earnest explanations that nobody remembers (if they defend themselves at all).
The problem is that taking the high road only works if politics is a sport played mainly by people who act like grown-ups, which it is not. And also: Facts and context don’t make for particularly sticky messaging.
The author then claims that Democrats are just now getting into the dirt with those evil nasty MAGA Republicans.
Over the past two weeks, as “Brat” and coconut memes have taken over the internet and Kamala Harris inches closer to Donald Trump in the polls, the Democrats have finally gone low, deploying a bit of verbal jujitsu so delightfully petty it might just work.
Bennett continues, highlighting examples of the Harris campaign and other Democrats labeling Trump as “weird” and JD Vance as “creepy” to appeal to voters by making their opponents look less appealing. She notes, “Weird and creepy. Simple, gut-punching words. Not a threat to democracy or a menace to the ‘soul of America,’ not even ‘dangerous.’”
The author contends that using these terms is somehow effective because they are difficult to refute and pack a punch without being overt. Actually, refuting these terms hasn’t been hard for the right by any stretch of the imagination, as I pointed out in another article.
Here’s the thing: The notion that Democrats are just now joining the name-calling game is absurd on its face. For decades, the left has weaponized labels like “racist,” “sexist,” “homophobic,” and other epithets to smear and ostracize those who disagree with their politics. It has been their favorite tactic for ages.
However, the left’s version of name-calling has been far more damaging. These false allegations of bigotry have led to people losing their jobs, being publicly shamed, and suffering personal and professional harm.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden brd his entire campaign on the “fine people” hoax, which the media concocted to make it appear as if former President Donald Trump approved of white nationalists. They smeared him as the reincarnation of Hitler and his followers as neo-Nazis – with no evidence.
But let’s go back further than that. In 2010, The Daily Caller exposed a scandal among members of the activist media known as the “Journolist,” which was an email group set up by Ezra Klein for reporters, journalists, and other media figures to communicate with one another. Many of these emails were made public, showing just how biased our once-vaunted Fourth Estate had become. In one instance, one of the participants was discussing criticisms of then-President Barack Obama.
In the exchange, the individual suggested simply referring to Obama’s critics as racists.
In a key episode, Journolist members openly plotted to bury attention on then-candidate Barack Obama’s controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The Washington Independent’s Spencer Ackerman, for instance, suggested an effective tactic to distract from the issue would be to pick one of Obama’s critics, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.”
Note that this person did not recommend bringing up examples of these individuals being racist or referencing their racist history. He just simply said: “Call them racists,” showing that he did not care whether the label was accurate.
What about the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)? The organization, which began as a noble pursuit of equal justice for all, has morphed into a propaganda mill for the left. Their shtick involves placing organizations and individuals they deem to be hateful on their “hate map.”
The problem? Many of those the SPLC places on the list, alongside groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis, are not hateful. They just happen to reject progressive orthodoxy. This can be seen in the most recent “Year in Hate and Extremism” report.
This report, released on June 5, highlights the addition of even more right-leaning organizations on its “Hate Map,” including Gays Against Groomers and medical professionals and organizations that oppose using “gender-affirming care” on children.
These organizations are now on the SPLC’s list of hateful organizations, along with the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and others.
The Southern Poverty Law Center released its “Year in Hate and Extremism” report Tuesday, warning about encroaching “theocracy” and an “authoritarian takeover” as part of the “organizational infrastructure … upholding white supremacy in the United States.”
Among those placed on the list was the group “Gays Against Groomers,” who oppose using government-run schools to indoctrinate children into progressive ideas on sexuality and gender. The group fell under scrutiny for labeling Maajid Nawaz, a Muslim who opposes terrorism, as an Islamophobe.
Let us also not forget how the left has weaponized transgender individuals against those they don’t like. If you happen to disagree with pushing puberty blockers and hormone treatments on minor children or forcing people to use preferred pronouns, you are a transphobe who must be punished.
What is even most insidious is that folks on the left who wield these labels as weapons know they do not apply to those they use them against. They use these terms deceptively to avoid debate.
You can hardly glance at a left-leaning publication without seeing an op-ed, video, or podcast interview in which they are not calling someone a bigot. This is the political environment the hard left has created.
Bennett’s contention that this is somehow a new trend isn’t just a delusional take: It is a blatant lie. She knows better. But she is hoping to get readers to forget about her team’s history of using name-calling to advance a political agenda.