Peter Wehner on how Trump and his supporters have "a deep investment in promoting fear" — e.g., in lying about a non-existent crime wave under Biden.
But "for many Trump supporters, then, fear is not so much the cause of their support for the former president as a justification for it. They use fear to rationalize their backing for Trump."
This is, Wehner says, particularly true for Trump's white evangelical supporters.
I'm seeing so many new defenders of "Free Speech" out there, and while I believe in Free Speech as a principle too, society has learned that sometimes "Free Speech" is a cover for hate and harassment.
We even have a name for it, "Freeze Peach".
Yet I'm seeing the same people who would otherwise demand action be taken against Freeze Peach now defending people who make direct threats against Jews: calling for violence against them, calling for their murder, calling for their discrimination, villianizing and calling for de-funding of Jewish institutions.
I don't believe these people have turned into "Free Speech Absolutists" ; they would still recognize and rightfully demand the silencing of hate groups in favor of human rights in other cases.
The logical conclusion I've come to is that they believe Jews are sub-human, and thus undeserving of these same protections.
Once seen as subhuman, any action on them can be justified.