From a future historian’s perspective, nothing the rap artist/fashion mogul formerly known as Kanye West said should deserve no attention. Twice, West, who now goes by the name “Ye,” is a product of 21st century celebrity culture. He was married to reality star Kim Kardashian.
In a world healthier than the one we live in, his anger will care no one but his family and those entrusted with his care. It’s silly to pretend that what you say or post on social media doesn’t matter.
His statements carry considerable weight among those who follow him, even admire him, and an entire genre of journalism devoted to reporting on those anointed as “influencers” by pop culture audiences. Provides food.
Ye’s life has become something of a celebrity sideshow, boosted by his admitted bipolar disorder diagnosis, but now he believes that our toxic media culture is polarizing Americans. It also has the distinction of providing an unfortunate illustration of more than just doing. Even those engaged in serious political commentary are willing to excuse and defend the kind of hatred that would never be tolerated if emanating from a political opponent.
As such, his remarks on issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement and abortion have been welcomed by conservatives, along with other statements that do not seem grounded in reason or reality. It is considered deserving of endorsement by leading experts in
We have seen throughout political history that the Left seeks to silence and eliminate those who challenge its brand of orthodoxy on a number of issues, labeling all its enemies “semi-fascists” or “insurgents.” We are living the moment we are trying to deceive and brand. ’” It has a particular interest in attacking African-Americans who do not conform to its orthodoxy.
This culture of intolerance is enabled and propagated not by politicians, but by journalists, who are overwhelmingly liberal. Reporters believe that endorsing former President Donald Trump or challenging left-wing ideologies like critical racial theories are evidence of malice, so they pretend to be objective. has been largely abandoned.
This toxic atmosphere is why most news outlets spent years touting Russian collusion conspiracy theories and silenced reports of corruption in the Biden family during the 2020 presidential election. Since January 6, 2021 and the shameful Capitol riots, it has gone further, basically demonizing anyone who endorses Trump or raises questions about the 2020 election numbers.
This trend has created a healthy dose of skepticism in conservatives about everything they read, hear, and see. Because they came to the not-unreasonable conclusion that most of the mainstream news outlets can’t be trusted to tell the truth about Trump and non-liberals. That distrust now makes anyone who is somehow labeled conservative and criticized in the media not just innocent until proven guilty, but innocent even if guilty. It creates a desire to deal with
In a divided political world where neither side gives nor asks, many on the right have come to believe that the only response to cancel culture is to embrace those on its corner. rice field.
Worse still, even those who don’t go that far, defending free speech in a country under siege by the Left requires a high degree of decency when it comes to rallying behind those guilty of anti-Semitic hatred. And it is on the altar supporting the aforementioned Yeh that some conservatives have painted themselves into an ideological corner they cannot support. is in
This is what happened with The Daily Wire, a conservative media company founded by Ben Shapiro. changed to
He has been a key voice and has courageously called out to the left on the ideas of cancel culture and other issues. He is also an observant Jew who speaks up for Israel.
But Shapiro and the rest of the Daily Wire are put in an unfortunate position by their colleague Candace Owens’ willingness to defend Ye against valid accusations of anti-Semitism.
Ye was given an hour last week on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show to talk on a wide range of topics. The most memorable of these was his attack on Jared Kushner and his family.
In an interview, Carlson told audiences that the clearly upset celebrity was clearly sane and had important things to say, whether they agreed with him or not. In particular, many of Ye’s inflammatory tropes about Jews have been removed from the broadcast. He was widely and justly criticized for his hate speech, until he engaged in more open anti-Semitism on social media.
Owens’ unabashed support for Trump and her willingness to engage in rhetorical fistfights with those who unfairly question her integrity as an outspoken African-American conservative has made her a celebrity celebrity. But she is also a personal friend of Mr. Ye, and has treated the criticism he brought of himself as another example of how the left unfairly preys on conservatives. I was. Moreover, she argued that “no one is honest,” and would view Ye’s remarks as anti-Semitic, which included typical demeaning tropes and threats against Jews.
Of course, Owens speaks freely. But when asked why Shapiro and her CEO of the Daily Wire, Jeremy Boreing, continued to give her a platform, they disagree with her position, but that’s just I replied that it was a disagreement and that I thought it should be tolerated. A forum that respects free speech.
It’s understandable that you don’t want to lose a valuable contributor with a large, loyal audience. But in essence, defending anti-Semites, and demonstrating ignorance of Jewish hatred, and engaging in arguments that could easily be construed as indifference would cross the line for them. says no.
Even media outlets that advocate free speech impose restrictions on the content they allow to be published on their sites. For example, if one of our contributors wants to use it to endorse a critical racial theory or transgender ideology, I doubt the Daily Wire would simply shrug it off as a fair subject for discussion.
There is nothing wrong with that. And the same is true of liberal and left-wing media outlets that do not publish articles attacking their cherished beliefs or defending ideas they dislike.
Yet we all judge publications by that standard. The left-wing media, which routinely publish anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic material, or justify and defend anti-Semites like Linda Sasur and Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, tolerate hate. It has been justly accused by pro-Israel conservatives of But how good is it if conservatives are now agnostic about their guilty colleagues doing the same?
What this controversy shows is that the toxic media culture championed by the left has not simply undermined the credibility of mainstream journalists. There’s also a growing belief among conservatives that anyone targeted by the liberal media, even if that person is really badass, should be circling the wagon.
It also led to a conservative trend of following Trump’s example and never apologizing for being wrong. Because, like Trump, he concludes that expressing remorse does nothing but help opponents. This doubles Owens’ response to being rightly called out for her illogical and insensitive claims about you, and dishonestly accuses those who question her of her intolerance of free speech. That’s why. She should study the International Holocaust Memorial Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism and apologize. But she’s more likely to endorse Joe Biden for her re-election than she does.
Of course, none of the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, or other liberal media apologized or returned the report for spreading misinformation about the Russian collusion. The same is true for much of the left, as is evident from The Pulitzer Prize they won for the story we now know about Trump was simply false.
Two mistakes don’t make it right. But it is the guiding spirit of modern journalism, as evidenced by conservatives giving a pass to Owens who gave Ye’s anti-Semitism a pass. can be a two-way problem.
Jonathan S. Tobin is Editor in Chief of JNS – Jewish News Syndicate. Follow him on Twitter. @jonathans_tobin.
.
Comments
Post a Comment