Congressman Adam Smith says ‘totalitarian’ protesters are ‘trying to silence anyone who dares to disagree with them’
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.
But don’t forget that MLK was hated by most people during his time, especially white liberals and conservatives. Liberal democrats and conservatives alike seem to have a nasty habit of opposing the current struggles for freedom and equality. If you want to see what people thought of MLK, here is a political comic from the time
Notice the similarities between this and BLM? If you replace the concept of violent civil rights marches with antisemitic pro-palestine protests, you’ve got another instance of a struggle for freedom and a struggle against genocide being defamed while it is currently happening.
The fact of the matter is liberal democrats support all social justice movements but the current one. In 20 years I will cringe at what democrats say about the plight of the Palestinians, knowing that many are opposed to it right now.
You may remember this guy (Adam Smith) from every other time Israel comes up...
Likewise, AIPAC gave Seattle-area Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), who has also failed to call for a ceasefire, more money than any other donor this year. Open Secrets found the defense industry and pro-Israel groups earned the top spots for Smith donors.
Yes - he framed his statement with one of the stock phrases that people use when they want to be able to say something, then later, if necessary, claim that that's not really what they said
I don't think a news source has a responsibility to include that bit of transparent rhetorical trickery in a headline.
“You come to our town hall meeting, it’s one thing to try to get attention. They got their attention. But literally, they wouldn’t stop screaming insults at me. They wouldn’t … even let me answer the very questions they were raising.
“I got two words into it and they started screaming at me again. So this is a different thing than your standard protest. In my view, the solution to it is if they are committing a crime – which by the way, shutting down a freeway, shutting down an airport, intimidating people, there’s a crime – [they] ought to be arrested.”
Protesting at public figures’ homes should also be subject to arrest, Smith said.
“The point of it is intimidation. And I think it is harassment. It’s a crime, and I think [they should] be arrested for it.
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.