Hanne Nabintu Herland wrote in a Nov. 28 WorldNetDaily column:
What a brilliant strategy of the enemy to make conservative commentators fight amongst themselves, rather than explain to the Marxist indoctrinated, derailed young Americans what conservative values are all about. The devil must be laughing in hell, and the likes of George Soros definitively must be funding some of these pundits who keep spewing strife and division instead of grace, respect and unity.
Of course, we differ in opinions on a variety of subjects. It does not make us enemies that we see the world differently. It is rather a sign of a free society. The whole point of free speech is to allow educated, expert participants in public debates to discuss issues that concern the state, in order to arrive at elevated conclusions. So long as we do it within the bounds of civility, good manners and with respect for other, topics should be debated however harsh the arguments would be.
Rationality should govern intelligent debates, not the left-wing manipulative strategy of personal insults, twisting someone’s message for clickbait, demonizing the opponent, inflaming the toxic spew that leads to civil strife, one fan base against another. Most of the time, both parties are actually right on some level, each commentator sees a perspective that may be a part of the bigger picture. It may be one of the many elements that should be considered in the best interest of the nation. If it is completely wrong, the rational debate will pull it down.
Intellectuals pose critical questions to the government to highlight potential abuse of power. To silence discussions by requiring condemnation of commentators is the typical Marxist-socialist way of shutting down free speech by isolating, censoring and “killing” the one that represents views that powerful elites do not like. In my opinion, the Megyn Kelly approach is highly constructive. She brilliantly refuses to enter the trenches of conservative civil warfare.
Actually, “personal insults, twisting someone’s message for clickbait, demonizing the opponent, inflaming the toxic spew that leads to civil strife” is very much a strategy by right-wing columnists — just look at WND columnists like Mychal Massie and Ellis Washington, to name but two. It’s possible that Herland had in mind a couple of specific right-wing columnists to complain about. Josh Hammer wrote in an Oct. 11 WND column:
As an observant Jew, I was offline recently for the holiday of Sukkot – also known as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. Of all the Jewish holidays, it is the one most intimately affiliated with pure joy and happiness. As it says in Leviticus, “you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for a seven day period.” And so I did.
When I came back online Wednesday evening, I learned that while I was off, the unhinged conspiracy theorist Candace Owens had ludicrously accused me of foreknowledge – or perhaps complicity – in the murder of my own friend Charlie Kirk. This is appalling behavior, at best – demonic, at worst. Anything goes, it seems, to push the (utterly baseless) narrative that the Jews had something to do with a radicalized left-wing transgender-adjacent “furry” fetishist’s decision to murder Kirk in cold blood.
Owens is hardly the only prominent right-of-center voice who has embarked down this dark, well-trodden path. Tucker Carlson, the one-time cable news king now moonlighting as a dissident podcaster, has evinced an unhealthy obsession with the Jewish people and the state of Israel. From accusing Israel of “genocide” to entertaining Hitler/Nazi apologia to “just asking questions” about whether Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad asset to dismissing the Hebrew Bible itself, Carlson’s agenda has become entirely clear.
[…]The contrast of what I experienced during Sukkot and what I discovered afterward is both stark and illuminating. While I was “rejoicing” with my family before God, as I am commanded to do, agents of destruction were fabricating the most outlandish lies imaginable in order to sow division and resentment. It is the eternal struggle of humanity going back millennia: justice versus tyranny, order versus chaos, light versus darkness.
Owens cannot be credibly accused of being part of any “Marxist indoctrinated” campaign — she just wants attention, and she’s willing to adhere to any convenient belief to forward that idea, and what better way to push that belief than through anti-Semitism? Indeed, Hammer seems to understand that:
The immediate goal of this concerted information operation is the debasement of American Jews, but the more politically salient goal is the gaslighting of American evangelical Christians – the very core of the MAGA base, and an overwhelmingly pro-Jewish, pro-Israel constituency at that. By focusing so much on the Jewish people and the Jewish state, these provocateurs have a much broader goal in mind than merely ostracizing America’s small Jewish minority. They want to alienate evangelicals too.
The goal, then, seems to be nothing less than the complete supplanting of MAGA with a new political movement – an angry, ultra-conspiratorial, unbiblical, neo-pagan movement of misfits and their hangers-on.
Again, it’s not Marxism that’s making Owens do this — it’s a demand for attention. Instead, Herlaned rants:
While conservatives fight, the radical left madness of gender dysphoria continues with its hedonism that produces meaninglessness, nihilism and loneliness. In America, over 50 percent now live alone. The godlessness of the Marxist gospel has spread like venom into the minds of the young, preaching that God is dead and that man’s soul is existentially alone in a dark world, without hope. The scale of this cultural tragedy is unprecedented. The radical atheists have meticulously worked to deprive our culture of a meaningful life connected to God, the source of wisdom, and by so doing depriving humans of inner peace. We need the wisdom of self-discipline and hard work, reliability, trustworthiness and the benefits of faithfulness in a loving marriage.
The ideals that should be taught to the American public is much of what Dr. Jordan Peterson speaks about: Make your bed in the morning, dress well and you will feel better, don’t do drugs, avoid caving in to self-destructive urges, be honest, seek justice, be trustworthy and praise God for the gift of life. Work hard and participate constructively in rebuilding the nation, equipped with the relentless pursuit of that which is good, just and beautiful.
It seems that such things typically advance only right-wingers like Peterson. Why doesn’t Herland see that?