As a person who has been both on the left and right, here’s the main difference. Both sides have an extremist wing that’s very nuts and completely divorced from reality.
But cuckoo right-wingers who believe in adrenochrome and a global Jewish conspiracy sit at home in front of a screen in their underwear. In the meantime, cuckoo left-wingers who believe that men can give birth and that there’s a global Jewish conspiracy sit on the Supreme Court and run colleges. Three people from my own department signed an open letter about the “global capitalist institutions that advance the Zionist agenda.” Groypers are scum but they don’t teach college. They have no impact. The left-wing equivalent of Groypers are rioting at Columbia and the President of the US adjusts his foreign policy to please them.
Clarissa's Blog 
You infantilize and downplay how dangerous and absolutely savage right-wing extremists can be. Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, etc. As a Hispanist you must also know about the many right-wing death squads that are still committing atrocities in the Americas.
So no, I do not believe for a second that right wing extremists just sit at home and watch TV and never do any real massive damage.
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I agree that McVeigh and Nichols were bad dudes but, my friend, that was 30 years ago. Everything changed. The Left wasn’t running around, chanting “rape is great” 30 years ago. My kid is asking to wear my scrunchie with the Star of David, and I’m afraid to give it to her. Columbia U is teaching remotely today, and it’s not right-wingers who closed down the campus.
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What about the violent tantrum they threw on January 6th because their candidate did not get re-elected? That was violent and many people got hurt. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. And it could definitely happen again and be even more violent. That’s way worse than anything happening at Columbia today.
Forcing children and rape victims to have give birth, I would say, is even worse than spouting some stupid shit about men being able to give birth. One has direct implications to many millions of women across the US, the other one is just talk and affects nobody. So I’ll strongly disagree with your assertion that right-wing lunacy is any less damaging than left-wing lunacy.
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Why are you afraid? Have there been anti-semitic incidents where you live? Is your daughter a student at Columbia?
Why is your unreasonable fear sacred but those receiving death threats should just chill out?
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My parents had to give me a talk about being Jewish and hiding it and being able to “pass” at the age of 7. They didn’t want to do it so early but their hand was forced by external events. Klara is 8 but I wasn’t planning this talk until she’s 12 or so. I can’t put Jewish symbolics on her without “the talk.” Let’s leave aside the unnecessary snark for a moment. Should I give the talk now or pretend I lost the scrunchie?
I’m seriously looking for input.
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Have the talk now then. Not that my opinion matters.
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It is a very nice scrunchie. I don’t really want to lose it. But still.
I’m conflicted.
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And it’s not the crazy left-wingers phoning in death threats to Republican politicians not voting the way Trump wants them to.
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That’s exactly what I’m saying. They are phoning. Not doing anything. Just spouting words. Did you see the footage of a Hasidic Jew at Yale last night? The scary dudes mobbing him on campus weren’t phoning. They were physically getting in his face. There’s a massive difference. Did you see footage of AOC chased by left-wing protesters? There’s a big difference between that and a phone call.
But even that doesn’t matter. Right-wing loons aren’t teaching students, they aren’t changing admissions standards in med schools, they aren’t running every university, every media organization, every tech company. Yes, there’s Elon but he stands out exactly by virtue of his loneliness. I’m due to write yet another batch of EEOC papers today explaining why I’m hiring white people. That’s not right-wing crazies who make me do that. Tomorrow I’m due for another reeducation session at work. I’m not going to be insulted and called bad words by right-wingers there. There’s a universe of difference between bitching online and on the phone and having the institutional power to force people to chant “I’m a racist” as a condition of employment.
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For some mysterious reason, the targeted politicians are not so cavalier about these meaningless phone calls: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/18/mike-gallagher-congress-quits-threats-swatting
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I see the entire part of my comment about the institutional power of the Left has been completely disregarded. Because it’s true and nobody can argue it isn’t, so let’s bicker about something else instead.
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And by the way, “for some mysterious reason” is my linguistic idiosyncrasy so please no language poaching.
“Vile freakazoids” also belongs to me.
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You’re in academia, so of course you’re going to be affected a lot more by left-wing extremism than right wing. However, that doesn’t mean right-wing extremism is any less of a problem for other people that may be more directly exposed to it.
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The most recent “rape threat” appeared right before my birthday last week, by the way. I don’t even mention it because it’s so boring. I used to in the first couple of years of blogging because at least it was funny back then. Now it’s simply tedious.
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The right has the Supreme Court and is favored by the electoral college and each state having 2 senators. Yes, I agree that the left dominates most universities.
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And the business. Please don’t forget the business. Business executives are more woke than any college Prof to the power of 10. Plus, the medical establishment. The economy, the medicine and the education – what’s even left?
SCOTUS has very little power because of the “second American constitution” of the Civil Rights legislation that negates much of the original constitution. So SCOTUS doesn’t have much left to interpret.
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Easy for you to say when you’re not the one receiving death threats.
There is such a long history of right-wing assassinations of politicians, it’s definitely not something that should be downplayed, especially in today’s political climate.
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My friend, I’ve been blogging since 2009. I have received more of these death, kidnapping, torture, and rape “threats” than I have hairs on my head. And I’m very, very hairy. People have sent me my home and work address to accompany these “threats.” And unlike these politicians, I don’t have a security detail or a gated mansion to hide.
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That’s crazy. I’m glad it hasn’t affected you. Sharing and discussing opposing views is incredibly important in a healthy society and those who want to shut that down are nothing but tyrannical vermin.
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My sympathies about the death/rape threats. I still think a politician (or a judge) is statistically more likely to be attacked than an ordinary citizen.
Very few members of Congress automatically get taxpayer-provided security detail. It’s granted sometimes when threats intensify, and that level is probably vastly beyond what you’ve experienced.
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They also get paid vastly more than I can ever hope for. Loonies are an inevitable part of any public role. It’s very unnecessary to take them seriously.
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I’m talking about the loonies getting much crazier than usual.
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In 2009 you were on the left.
just from the anthropological perspective – are there any differences between threats from the right and from the left?
v07
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These trolls aren’t political, I don’t think. They are just trolls who want attention.
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I wouldn’t retain this optimism. Sadly I’m personally acquainted with some of these nutsos online, and while many of them are isolated freaks like you say, way more than you’d like to think are law students or work in D.C. My friend who lives in D.C. is very concerned at some of what she’s seeing.
Obviously our problem pales in comparison to what you see on the left, but it’s gonna be a lot worse in 10-20 years if we just dismiss it as “crazy weirdos online.” I am starting to see serious pushback from people like Rufo, which is good.
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Did you see when Alex Jones said he doesn’t like Hitler and the crazies turned on him? Even Alex Jones isn’t too radical for them. They are really nuts.
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Similar to what David Cole says in “The Right’s Ideological Dysgenics”.
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My favorite journalist.
Did you hear Elon banned him from Twitter? Poor dude can’t catch a break, and he’s the best political writer of all. So unfair.
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