Grateful for both this post and your Forward piece.
I have been struggling all weekend with a thought that I think may be unfair but I am think maybe still worth sharing in the comments.
After reading your post I was struck by how American this tragedy was. An American victim, an American perpetrator, at the Capitol Jewish museum.
Now here’s the unfair thought I had:
A movement that can, at least in certain spaces online, support this shooting as legitimate political action BUT that failed to make even a media moment out of Ben Gvir’s visit to Yale 4 weeks prior is one that is, put most charitably , wildly mis-calibrated.
I think that is an unfair thought because the protesters at Yale have no connection at all to the individual in DC.
I think it is scary because my reaction under these circumstances would normally be to suggest that a movement needs clearer leaders OR those leaders need to clarify why this moment is not positive for their goals.
But just about anyone you might think of as a political leader or public figure on the left who might be expected to make a statement(Mehdi Hassan, Illhan Omar, Kat Abughazaleh etc.) forcefully rejected the shooter’s actions as illegitimate.
It seems to be the online commenting folks (however you want to take that these days) who are the ones driving the idea that this shooting was at all reasonable.
But I think all of that (the mis-calibrated protest movement, the internet commentary and the mistrust of authorities urging cooler heads) is a symptom of how every bit of international news is metabolized in the US as a way of talking about ourselves.
That’s not a new compulsion in the US but it seems supercharged with the return of the Trump admin.
I suppose this is mostly a very long winded comment saying:
I am glad, with some help from Beyonce and the holiday weekend, that you decided to focus this post on the US and not on Israel/Palestine/American Judaism. I think, for this story, there are a lot of reasons that is the most appropriate frame.
Grateful for both this post and your Forward piece.
I have been struggling all weekend with a thought that I think may be unfair but I am think maybe still worth sharing in the comments.
After reading your post I was struck by how American this tragedy was. An American victim, an American perpetrator, at the Capitol Jewish museum.
Now here’s the unfair thought I had:
A movement that can, at least in certain spaces online, support this shooting as legitimate political action BUT that failed to make even a media moment out of Ben Gvir’s visit to Yale 4 weeks prior is one that is, put most charitably , wildly mis-calibrated.
I think that is an unfair thought because the protesters at Yale have no connection at all to the individual in DC.
I think it is scary because my reaction under these circumstances would normally be to suggest that a movement needs clearer leaders OR those leaders need to clarify why this moment is not positive for their goals.
But just about anyone you might think of as a political leader or public figure on the left who might be expected to make a statement(Mehdi Hassan, Illhan Omar, Kat Abughazaleh etc.) forcefully rejected the shooter’s actions as illegitimate.
It seems to be the online commenting folks (however you want to take that these days) who are the ones driving the idea that this shooting was at all reasonable.
But I think all of that (the mis-calibrated protest movement, the internet commentary and the mistrust of authorities urging cooler heads) is a symptom of how every bit of international news is metabolized in the US as a way of talking about ourselves.
That’s not a new compulsion in the US but it seems supercharged with the return of the Trump admin.
I suppose this is mostly a very long winded comment saying:
I am glad, with some help from Beyonce and the holiday weekend, that you decided to focus this post on the US and not on Israel/Palestine/American Judaism. I think, for this story, there are a lot of reasons that is the most appropriate frame.