I'm not sure which of these explanations for the Trump Administration's detention of Khalil is most accurate, but either one and the subsequent effects are horrible for the country.
A) They know *exactly* what they're doing (or at least think they do), they're being very explicit, and deliberately as provocative & divisive as possible
OR
B) The arrest *began* as a deliberate & provocative exercise in right wing virtue signalling & red meat throwing . . . but, like what I believe is their overreach on DEI, they were not expecting a significant backlash and have no plan to salvage this, stake out a somewhat more sensible position, or maneuver closer to the center (that is, moderating a bit & trying to pick up independents & centrist Dems).
Yeah, both A & B are bad because a politically or ideologically motivated warrantless arrest is pretty frickin' horrible *AND* because the Left's over-the-top, vitriolic, response is going to radicalize our politics further, become as deliberately devise as possible, normalize anti-American/anti-Israel extremism, and--after putting the Democratic mainstream in a no-win situation--simply engender a doubling down reaction from MAGA.
A doubling down that will make Team Trump's anger over the 2020 protests & riots look like nothing.
Khalil was not "kidnapped." His detention does not prove correct any of the Far Left's predictable tropes about how evil this country is--especially since they believe that garbage regardless. Overall, Americans still support Israel because they recognize a democratic ally when they see one (like Ukraine), they know totalitarianism when they see it (whether it's red, black, or green), and--frankly--Jews were the most favorably viewed religious group in the country . . . at least up until relatively recently. Every group in a Pew survey rated Judaism more favorably than any other faith except their own. (And some respondents ranked Judaism actually above their own). Well, the only group that had a dim view of Jews was . . . Muslims.
The bizarre alliance between secular leftists & Islamism sympathizers may not play well in Peoria, IL but it doesn't have to. The "Campus Left", as part of a wider galvanized Far Left, has outsize influence in the Democratic Party.
Deliberately or not, Trump has unleashed a cycle of rhetorical and literal violence between Far Left & Far Right that will simply push out a lot of otherwise sensible voices & perspectives. Buckle up.
I'm not sure which of these explanations for the Trump Administration's detention of Khalil is most accurate, but either one and the subsequent effects are horrible for the country.
A) They know *exactly* what they're doing (or at least think they do), they're being very explicit, and deliberately as provocative & divisive as possible
OR
B) The arrest *began* as a deliberate & provocative exercise in right wing virtue signalling & red meat throwing . . . but, like what I believe is their overreach on DEI, they were not expecting a significant backlash and have no plan to salvage this, stake out a somewhat more sensible position, or maneuver closer to the center (that is, moderating a bit & trying to pick up independents & centrist Dems).
Yeah, both A & B are bad because a politically or ideologically motivated warrantless arrest is pretty frickin' horrible *AND* because the Left's over-the-top, vitriolic, response is going to radicalize our politics further, become as deliberately devise as possible, normalize anti-American/anti-Israel extremism, and--after putting the Democratic mainstream in a no-win situation--simply engender a doubling down reaction from MAGA.
A doubling down that will make Team Trump's anger over the 2020 protests & riots look like nothing.
Khalil was not "kidnapped." His detention does not prove correct any of the Far Left's predictable tropes about how evil this country is--especially since they believe that garbage regardless. Overall, Americans still support Israel because they recognize a democratic ally when they see one (like Ukraine), they know totalitarianism when they see it (whether it's red, black, or green), and--frankly--Jews were the most favorably viewed religious group in the country . . . at least up until relatively recently. Every group in a Pew survey rated Judaism more favorably than any other faith except their own. (And some respondents ranked Judaism actually above their own). Well, the only group that had a dim view of Jews was . . . Muslims.
The bizarre alliance between secular leftists & Islamism sympathizers may not play well in Peoria, IL but it doesn't have to. The "Campus Left", as part of a wider galvanized Far Left, has outsize influence in the Democratic Party.
Deliberately or not, Trump has unleashed a cycle of rhetorical and literal violence between Far Left & Far Right that will simply push out a lot of otherwise sensible voices & perspectives. Buckle up.