What Is "the Left"?

I just did a livestream on the latest in the Charlie Kirk investigation, my article yesterday on the killing, and my piece on anti-Indian hate.

As soon as I got off, I saw that a Congressman had just tweeted that he will try to permanently ban from social media anyone who “belittles” the Charlie Kirk assassination. He also says such people should not have business or driver’s licenses or be allowed to attend schools. This is by far the most authoritarian thing I can ever remember hearing an elected official say. People who complained that I shouldn’t have had a take so soon after the assassination should look at the kinds of rhetoric that Republican officials and conservative influencers are engaging in. One cannot cede the floor to these people. It would be different if there were a broad norm to not express political opinions on the news of the day in times like this. But that’s not where we are.

I discuss the two-step conservatives engage in, where they:

1. Point to crazy things said by online leftists on Bluesky and TikTok who have no positions of power or influence

2. Use that as an excuse to call for repression of mainstream Democrats, even though literally 0% of them talk or act like the leftists the right complains about

This is completely dishonest, and facilitates hysteria by telling conservatives that deranged leftists are half the country rather than a small and isolated minority. You can’t make some mentally ill communist the avatar for an entire side of the political spectrum.

The trick is to start by calling something bad “the Left”, and then declaring half the country responsible for anything they say or do. From the perspective of judging the Democratic Party and mainstream liberals it’s actually impressive that a movement can, among influential figures, be 100% in lockstep in terms of not celebrating the death of a political opponent. Again, that is much more than can be said for conservatives when they face similar circumstances. This is the human capital difference, which applies not just to intelligence, but also ethical norms.