Glenn Fleishman
I don’t entirely understand who Republicans are performing for. The ones who are most in the bag for Israel, no matter how genocidal Israel is, and are currently yelling about antisemitism on college campuses, do not care about antisemitism or students or Israel as a state or Jews. Many of them are either overtly or covertly antisemitic. Who is the audience?
May 23, 2024 at 9:48pmWeb
Show threadMaxilo OveritMay 23, 2024
@glennf
Billionaires and corporations. Each other. Corporate media validation. The vast right-wing conspiracy.
Show threadGlenn FleishmanMay 23, 2024
@aka_quant_noir why do they care!
Show threadOzzie D, NP-hard  May 23, 2024
@glennf @aka_quant_noir They're performing for the billionaires of this group? https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/16/business-leaders-chat-group-eric-adams-columbia-protesters/
Business titans privately urged NYC mayor to use police on Columbia protesters, chats show

A WhatsApp chat started by some wealthy Americans after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack reveals their focus on New York Mayor Eric Adams and their work to shape U.S. opinion of the Gaza war.

The Washington Post
Show threadEvilKiru 🇮🇸 he/himMay 23, 2024
@glennf @aka_quant_noir They care because they are narcissistic assholes.
Show threadMaxilo OveritMay 23, 2024
@glennf Well, money and power are attractive to fascists and their supplicants.
Show threadKyle GreenMay 23, 2024
@glennf The press.
Show threadGlenn FleishmanMay 23, 2024
@krg but people read the press. Why do they care if the press portray them as opposed to antisemitism and in support of Israel? I can’t imagine their voters care. And Jewish people vote mostly for Democrats, but a significant fraction vote for Republicans for social/economic/ideological reasons.
Show threadKyle GreenMay 23, 2024

@glennf It’s performative aimed at working the refs who cover news for the disturbingly large portion of the population that still thinks that there are two major functioning political parties run by adults in this country.

Also, it’s very important to their eschatology that Jerusalem remains governed by Jewish people.

Show threadPieMay 23, 2024
@glennf it divides the Democratic coalition
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCDMay 23, 2024
@glennf Campaign and super PAC funders.
Show threadRose Ⓐ 🏳️‍⚧️ (it/its)May 23, 2024
@glennf the goal is plausible deniability. They are fascist, they know they are fascist, and we know they are fascist. As long as they put it in terms liberals can in some way agree with then liberals can't go after them without stopping the fascist stuff they support
Show threadKevin Patrick Doyle 🍅🥫May 23, 2024
@RosethornRangerTTV @glennf I highly recommend reading The Anatomy of Fascism as it really elucidates the actions of the early stages of fascist movements https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_of_Fascism
The Anatomy of Fascism - Wikipedia

Show threadRose Ⓐ 🏳️‍⚧️ (it/its)May 23, 2024
@Kevin @glennf sounds like a good read, thank you
Show threadKevin Patrick Doyle 🍅🥫May 23, 2024
@RosethornRangerTTV @glennf fucking depressing, but yeah
Show threadRose Ⓐ 🏳️‍⚧️ (it/its)May 23, 2024
@Kevin @glennf well, if it wasn't i wouldn't trust it
Show threadIkerMay 23, 2024
@glennf Antisemites love the idea of Israel as the place they get to dump all Jewish people into as they're forced out of other countries. Recently an important Israeli diplomat went to a meeting of several far right leaders, including Holocaust deniers. It's less incompatible than it may seem. There's also the fanatical evangelicals who believe the end is near and Israel as a nation must exist in order for it to happen. The more boring answer but the one that explains all others is just economic interest. We saw the disaster that the Suez canal being blocked caused, now shipping is considerably slowed down because few ships dare use the canal after the Houthis attacked. Israel is at a very strategically important geographical location; the negative peace of Palestinian oppression is preferrable to corporate interest since it means smooth shipping.
Show threadJohn McKayMay 23, 2024
@glennf “Flood the zone with shit” 
In 2018, while watching Trump’s State of the Union speech, Bannon told author Michael Lewis that “the real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/misinformer-year-steve-bannons-flood-zone-shit-approach-destroying-american-democracy
Misinformer of the Year: Steve Bannon’s “flood the zone with shit” approach is destroying American democracy

Media Matters for America
Show threadDr. DrangMay 23, 2024
@glennf I assume there are two main parts to the audience, not mutually exclusive: antisemites who take delight in being able to call others antisemites and end-times believers whose entire support for Israel hinges on them needing it to be around for the whole antichrist/ascent into heaven thing.
Show threadBob SchultiesMay 24, 2024
@drdrang 100% this. These are the two reasons.
Show threadAsh DoyleMay 23, 2024
@glennf The motive for them is always self-serving. Their motive with the college protests is to attack college leadership. They see colleges as liberal factories, and they’ve attacked college leadership every chance they get in the idea if they can get those people out of power they then have a chance to replace them with people from “their side.”
Show threadJayMay 23, 2024

@glennf Republicans are for:
1. Evangelicals who believe the state of Israel must exist for the apocalypse to occur
2. Justifying violent crackdowns by police
3. Rich people whose fortunes are often tied into the military industrial complex

Republicans are against:
1. Higher education: anything they can say to tear it down, they will, regardless of what they said yesterday
2. Anything Democrats are for, regardless of their own previous positions, common sense, and factual reality

Show threadDrew PickardMay 23, 2024

@glennf
Christian Zionists.
They literally believe that the nation of Israel reclaiming the ‘Holy Land' will fulfill a prophecy in the Bible and Jesus will be forced to come back sooner. They will aggressively pursue a genocide if it means they can achieve their religious goals. They also largely believe Jews will then go to hell.

This is a stated or unstated core belief in many (most?) American Christian organizations.

Show threadМишаMay 23, 2024
@glennf their primary voters
Show threadDon WhitesideMay 23, 2024
@glennf Whatever number of dem voters they can discourage. They don’t need to convince all or most, just discourage enough to peel off a few percentage points so they can win.
Show threadIsaac FreemanMay 24, 2024

@glennf It's a category error to try to understand fascistic behaviour in terms of coherent policy. The purpose isn't to make sense, it's to perform power over others.

Fascism is bullying, and when a bully is illogical, that just demonstrates they can do whatever they want. In this context, “You're antisemitic for opposing Israel” doesn't have to make any more sense than “Stop hitting yourself”.

Show threadgrabeMay 24, 2024
@glennf so true. The MAGAs were the “Jews will not replace us” folks in Charlottesville.
Show threadRobert WatkinsMay 24, 2024
@glennf Apocalyptic Christians that see war in Israel as a sign of the second coming of Christ?
Show threadJan EdenMay 24, 2024
@glennf Probably antisemitic right-wingers who hate progressive students even more than they hate Jews.