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.”
Smith was speaking – before the outbreak this week of mass protests on US college campuses, many producing arrests – to the One Decision Podcast and its guest host Christina Ruffini, a CBS News reporter.
It sounds like what he is complaining about is protestors not being civil, not letting him speak at his own event and going to his house. I don’t know if that’s a fair complaint given the circumstances, but a little different than the headline implication that he’s broadly accusing people objecting to Israel’s actions of being fascists.
The part about letting him speak might be reasonable. Let the man speak and see if he’ll say something helpful.
Everything else… well, boo-hoo, being harassed at your home certainly beats having your children murdered by drone attacks.
When every answer starts with blaming Hamas for the IDF continuing a genocide you’re going to get shouted down.
The point of a Town Hall is to see what your constituents want. I think they made it very clear.
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