I read this lib “how to” about Gaza - How To Speak To Voters Who Say They Can’t Support Biden Because Of Gaza. The substack is co-run by George Takei and he’s built himself into a super-popular lib brand. I wanted to know what he was promoting.
Most of it was exactly what I expected. But a surprising word stuck in my craw - “dealbreaker”. As if there can be a “deal” made on morality. And - of course - the “deal” is we must change 100% and see things the lib way while they don’t change an iota. Quite a deal!
Most of us know someone on the left who is dug in against voting for Joe Biden because of U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza. For them, the continued support of Israel and the flow of weapons is a dealbreaker, and they say they can’t support a president for reelection who would back a genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.
It doesn’t matter if we “never let them forget”. They write the history. They co-opt our victories and claim them as their own. They cynically throw minorities under the bus for political gain and then pretend to be their friend.
There is no “history will remember”. People don’t even remember the world kitchen murders from a month ago, or the flour massacre. Time is irrelevant in this context. All they have to do is cook up a different news cycle and all the atrocities of Israel will be forgotten in a weeks time.
In that sense the western world does live in an “end of history”, just not the kind commonly touted. Our end of history is the end of reality. In the US especially, it’s all a culture of vibes and heads in the sand and we’ll blow the whole world up if it ever thinks of challenging that. Nothing happens, and nothing ever happened. Today we brunch.