…by the Democratic Party.

I’m being told I’ve been “radicalized.”

I say that depends on one’s definition.

Last week I wrote about the metaphorical perfection of Democratic National Convention delegates plugging their ears to avoid hearing the names of Palestinians killed in Israel’s genocide being read over a PA system. I spoke of the inherent evil of people who prefer to downplay the genocide so they can support their preferred presidential candidate with “clean” consciences.

I also abhor attempts to frame the genocide as but one “issue” amongst many that U.S. voters should consider come November 5^th.

As if an Israeli sniper splattering a 7-year-old Palestinian’s brains all over the rubble of Gaza from 1,000 yards away is morally equatable to the state of the economy, the viability of Medicare or migrants entering the USA from Mexico.

I was back and forth with people on social media all day after sharing the post, including many who like to call themselves progressives, trying to shame me into supporting Kamala Harris.

I kept asking two questions:

• Would you be saying the same things if U.S. taxpayer funds were being used to bomb and brutally murder your children or grandchildren?
• Do you really think it makes any difference to Palestinians who’s going to be bombing them tomorrow, Harris or Donald Trump?

Not shockingly, they chose not to address those questions. Rather, they “informed” me over and over again that Trump will be worse, as if that justifies the ongoing slaughter of innocents by the Biden-Harris administration. Then they called me childishly naïve, foolish, stupid and many other nasty things I’ll not repeat here.

Regarding their assertion, my fellow Substacker JM Smith put it well:

But that doesn’t even phase establishment Democrats. Not in the least.

Meanwhile, over on X, a band called Deerhoof was making a lot of sense:

Another Stacker, best-selling author Sarah Kendzior, wrote about Democrats reveling in statements like Harris’s promise to build “the most lethal fighting force in the world”:

The earliest of which, apparently, are being called childishly naïve, foolish, stupid and many other nasty things I’ll not repeat.

Which brings me back to my perceived radicalization.

Historically, radicalized has meant, “to make radical or more radical, as in politics: young people who are being radicalized by extremist philosophies.”

Thing is, I do not see anything radical about objecting to the U.S. government’s use of my taxes to pay for the genocide of the Palestinian people, or any other people for that matter.

There’s nothing radical about refusing to support a presidential candidate who promises to continue funding and providing weapons to the regime perpetuating the genocide.

It’s far from radical to insist my government and the politicians within it refrain from propping up and providing political cover for a government and a nation where a majority of citizens are not only OK with inflicting genocide, but also feel justified in their snipers targeting children, the sexual abuse of prisoners, deliberate poisoning of lands and waters, the expansion of a nearly 80-year-old apartheid state and the state’s continuous lying about all of it.

The way I see it, behaving as if genocide is justifiable in any circumstance, let alone supporting a politician who promises to continue enabling one, is much more radical in the negative sense.

Further, I suggest the people who now see me as radical reflect on their own moral codes rather than commenting on mine.

Lately, it appears this includes a majority of Democrats.

Democrats are choosing to ignore the fact that their tax dollars and favorite politicians are responsible for the deaths of at least 186,000 Palestinians. Which, by extension, means that they – we – are all guilty.

While they choose to ignore the fact that their taxes and politicians are responsible for an ongoing genocide, I refuse to ignore the blatant evil.

So, yes, in that sense I’ve been radicalized, not by extremist groups, religious zealots or subversive intellectuals, but as a result of the rhetoric and actions of a political party I once believed reflected my morality.

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• Source: https://ivwords.com/2024/08/27/radicalized/