Senior Democrat calls for arrests of ‘leftwing fascists’ urging Gaza ceasefire | The Guardian

accidentally posted this in world news before bcs i forgot about the no internal US news rule by accident

Congressman Adam Smith says ‘totalitarian’ protesters are ‘trying to silence anyone who dares to disagree with them’

Protesters calling for Israel to cease fire in its war with Hamas who have disrupted US public events and infrastructure are practicing “leftwing fascism” or “leftwing totalitarianism”, a senior US House Democrat said, adding that such protesters are “challenging representative democracy” and should be arrested.

“Intimidation is the tactic,” said Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the House armed services committee. “Intimidation and an effort to silence opposition … I don’t know if there’s such a thing as leftwing fascism. If you want to just call it leftwing totalitarianism, then that’s what it is. It is a direct challenge to representative democracy now.”

AmbiguousProps,

I can’t wait to vote him out of office. He has done little for the state and district, and clearly doesn’t give a shit.

I like how he said intimidation is the tactic they’re using (while calling them fascists) and in the same breath says the protesters should be arrested. He’s literally complaining about fascism while supporting it himself.

Gradually_Adjusting,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

Twas ever thus, with fascism

Manos,

Arresting people who break the law is not fascism. Do you not think it should be illegal to totally disrupt government assemblies and college campuses? Or do you only think it’s ok when you agree with it? What if all these protests were anti-abortion protests, would you still be OK with them setting up shanty towns on campuses and disrupting classes?

Lefties are getting as bad as Republicans with diluting language.

prole,

Legality and morality are not the same thing.

AmbiguousProps,

🤡

Carlo,

Fucking Orwellian ghoul. Shit like this only helps Trump. What the hell is he trying to accomplish by calling anti-genocide protestors fascists? Who does he think is going to believe it?

Veraxus,

This is your daily reminder that the Democratic party is right wing and are just as ignorant of the mere definition of “leftist” as the Republican fascists are.

3volver,

“challenging representative democracy”

What he means is, they’re challenging this fucked system that doesn’t represent people equally. 2 senators per state, gerrymandering, and the electoral college. This guy is a fascist himself, and that’s why he immediately calls his opposition fascist. Imagine calling people who want a ceasefire fascist? That is something Joseph Goebbels would have said I bet. We don’t have a representative democracy.

sandman,

“Intimidation is the tactic,”

Yes, absolutely. There is a war against free speech and they’re trying to make people afraid to even fight back.

TokenBoomer,

No one has explained to me how the hostages are supposed to be released without a ceasefire.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/8707ac15-53d0-442d-a39c-735a10cdaf13.jpeg

RoseTintedGlasses,
@RoseTintedGlasses@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Don’t you get it? If they want to save the hostages they need to flatten the buildings they’re in and cut off the supplies of food and water that Hamas are feeding them with, oh and they also need to shoot the unarmed Israeli civilian hostages because they thought they were unarmed Palestinian civilians!

Fedizen,

How dare these “totalitarians” criticize Netanyahu. Arrest these “fascists” trying to influence “democracy” through nonviolent protests.

IndustryStandard,

Ironic

MehBlah,

These tools use the novel 1984 as a self help book.

tacosanonymous,

Come and try it, you old ,corporate cock gobbling, douche bag.

Asafum,

“the ranking Democrat on the House armed services committee”

Oh you mean the guy who almost certainly is being paid by the military industrial complex to keep arms sales going as much as humanly possible? That tracks.

Get fucked Smith. Hope your “totalitarian” base votes you the fuck out.

Burn_The_Right,

Friendly Reminder:

Neoliberals are conservatives. Always have been. The D next to the name does not change that.

We do not currently have a viable left-wing party. We have a conservative party and a more conservative party.

theotherverion,

My country is lead by a conservative but very left wing party and trust me, it’s really bad. Like really.

Veraxus,

Conservative or left wing? They are complete opposites.

Also beware rightists/conservatives claiming to be leftist while practicing rightism (i.e. consolidation of power, authority, and wealth).

theotherverion,

https://lemmynsfw.com/pictrs/image/d49f2776-f47d-4312-bc16-bbac32010120.jpegThis is where I would put them.

Well, you can have conservative left wingers (communism). I was referring to the political compass: www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2?ec=4.75&soc=-2…

Basically they are extremely left wing in terms of the economy introducing a bunch of social reforms, pensions 13 times a year, etc. but they present very conservative views on the topics like homosexuality, freedom of art, etc.

Veraxus,

Oh, look it’s that right wing propaganda meme, again. Not a big fan of reading, I take it?

theotherverion,

I don’t know what’s right wing propaganda on the political compass. The squares are equally big.

Veraxus, (edited )

It’s fundamentally wrong, and it is wrong on purpose.

Leftism IS egalitarian. It is fundamentally anti-authoritarian. It is concerned with ensuring that power (and wealth, which is inextricably linked with power) are equally distributed. Anarchism and Direct Democracy are forms of “extreme” leftism.

Rightism IS authoritarian. It is fundamentally anti-egalitarian. It is concerned with consolidation of power and wealth. Monarchism and Dictatorship are forms of “extreme” rightism.

Economic policies are completely beside the point.

A dictator who nationalizes things is still right wing, and has merely brought those things under his own personal control. “Benevolent” Rightism is still rightism.

A leftist society that votes to nationalize things is still leftist because they have achieved a quorum and share the control equally.

Rightism needs to muddy language and understanding to achieve enough support to seize power. “I am a leftist” some will say as they seize power for themselves and entrench themselves like a monarch or ruling class. They are rightists and they know what they are doing.

“Look at those authoritarian leftists” others may say, as they point to extreme-right power structures who may or may not call themselves “leftist.”

Social and economic policies are often thought about as left/right on their own, as some may be seen as advancing either egalitarian goals or authoritarian goals, but left-seeming policies under a rightist regime is merely self-serving for those in power and easily changed without the consent of the populace… and therefore not leftist at all. Likewise, even a leftist society could enact policies that could be anti-egalitarian, though such policies would put that society at ever-increasing risk of drifting right as power is gradually stolen from the people.

TL;DR;

The political spectrum is entirely about power and who wields it. Specific policies are utterly tangential since they are nothing but tools wielded by who is in power… an entrenched, consolidated entity… or the people themselves. The political compass twists this into knots in attempt to bolster “both-sidesism” and distract anyone exposed from the true and simple nature of rightism: hoarding power. When the people understand and can talk clearly and unambiguously about these topics, the entrenched powers stand to lose their privileged, predatory advantages… and they will fight against that with everything they have.

TotallynotJessica,
@TotallynotJessica@lemmy.world avatar

Rotate the compass 45° clockwise, name the new vertical axis to state economy vs private economy, and name the new horizontal axis to left and right. At the far left(green) you have total destruction of hierarchy and flattening of power inequality, while at the far right(blue) you have absolute hierarchy and centralized power.

State centralized economies(red) lead to increased hierarchy by empowering government officials to become powerful lords. Privatized economies(purple/yellow) lead to increased hierarchy by empowering capitalists to become powerful lords. Trying to reach either the top or bottom tip of the diamond leads you the right tip.

Horseshoe theory kind of applies to Marxist-Leninists like its pro-capitalists creators imagined, but they didn’t realize that they were the other end of the horseshoe. This is because both capitalism and the state are the dangers. The problem with both stems from allowing the unrestricted accumulation of power.

Government officials use political capital, while capitalists use economic capital. They can feed off of each other, with the rich helping politicians and the politicians helping the rich. My preferred solution to both is to redistribute capital from the rich directly to the poor, growing the middle class by putting a ceiling and floor on the rich and the poor.

Wogi,

We have two parties, conservative and fascist.

We used to have a centrist and far right party. And before that, for a brief time, we had a liberal and a Conservative party.

One party makes outrageous and unreasonable demands that only move to the right, and the other party is happy to negotiate with those demands, and so the country moves further and further to the right.

We’re told the only way to stop this is to keep doing what we’ve already been doing.

Tryptaminev,

From an outside perspective you have a an economic far right party with gay rights and systemic racism and genocidal imperialism as well as a fascist party w.o. gay rights

brlemworld,

“democrat”

NOT_RICK,
@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world avatar

Not a true Scotsman?

Tryptaminev,

Pointing out the desolate state of the Democratic party and its inhumane policies internally and abroad is just botting for Trump didnt you know?

RoseTintedGlasses,
@RoseTintedGlasses@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

he’s literally a congressman for the democratic party, i dont see how he could be any more of a democrat

Wogi,

So was Joe Manchin.

RoseTintedGlasses,
@RoseTintedGlasses@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

yeah, joe manchin’s a democrat too, i dont really get your point

Djtecha,

This headline seems very very misleading at best, a lie at worst.

DragonTypeWyvern,

“Why do these pinko commies keep talking about what happens when they scratch me?”

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