Neo-neocon is probably my favorite ex-lefty. She actually was never an extreme leftist but nonetheless she was not, as she is now, a neocon. My own political persuasion registers most strongly as neocon and as moderate libertarian on all those political tests. Neocon is misunderstood by many, and most neocons are former leftists (David Horowitz) who had a very radical and deep change of heart. It is characterized primarily by a hawkish foreign policy and often, socially liberal attitudes. That’s me: pro-Israel, anti-radical Islam, hawkish on defense, and fiscally fairly conservative — socially liberal (pro-choice with reservations but pro-choice, and — pro-gay marriage). And I don’t whine on about “white supremacy” or the “patriarchy” or even about “transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, racism and sexism”. Those things exist, in some way, shape or form, but they are not the screen through which I view the world. I am a happier person for that. I believe in individual liberty and individual rights first and foremost over the primacy of collective identities.
I consider now, most of what I believed in the past, these obsessions with race, class and sexual orientation and gender identity to be “mind trash”. I mean, while certainly again, there are concerns about discrimination that are real, an obsession with who is “privileged” and who is not, with deconstructing for instances of these “isms” — is a waste of time. A big waste of time and of a life.
Neo-neocon writes often about her own journey from left leaning to right leaning and all the pain along the way. Mainly, the sudden and abrupt loss of friendships, sometimes, amounting to people leaving in the midst of a conversation at a party, and never speaking to her again. Yes, it can be that way. It is a common story, nearly all political apostates from left to right tell it and — it is most likely the hardest thing about this transformation. And, it is a transformation, a “paradigm shift”. Today, Neo-neocon writes below about this and refers to the Ace of Spades here at his blog…
It’s called a paradigm shift. It’s going to seem a little weird and scary at first, but it will also be thrilling and ultimately liberating.
A lot of things that have bothered you for…years — which haven’t seemed to make sense to you, because your brain was screening the truth from you — are suddenly going to make a lot of sense indeed. And you’re going to be kicking yourself for not seeing it sooner, like an optical illusion that suddenly changes from a lady’s face to a candle.
I think it’s a great description of a process I know well. But Ace, what’s with this “lady’s face to a candle” business? I always thought it was either two faces to a vase:
And, at Ace’s blog there is an excellent post about Media Matters and their anti-semitism:
Formerly Reliable Liberal Alan Derschowitz: I Vow I Will Not Vote For Any Candidate With Any Direct Association With the Anti-Semitic, Nazi-Friendly Media Matters
I have read about recent outings of Media Matters as being very connected to the white house, like through an IV drip. Apparently, Media Matters gets daily updates from Valerie Jarrett, who is a top adviser to the Prez. And, they’ve attempted to target Fox News by finding dirt on the personal lives of their anchors and pundits, and – by even “planting a mole”. Pretty crazy stuff. Here more about Derschowitz and his take on Media Matters:
Here from a Daily Caller article by Jeff Poor:
In 2008, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz came out in favor of then-Sen. Barack Obama in his presidential election contest with Arizona Sen. John McCain. He said Obama and McCain had similar positions on Israel, but gave the nod to Obama because of his liberal stance on things “unrelated to Israel.”
That could change in the 2012 presidential contest between and the yet-to-be-determined Republican candidate. In an appearance on Jay Severin’s Boston Talk 1200 radio show, Dershowitz spoke out against two organizations that have close ties to the Obama White House: Media Matters and the Center for American Progress.
“Media Matters and Center for American Progress are two extremely left-bigoted groups that are so virulently anti-Israel and anti-supporters of Israel that they’ve gone over the line from anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism,” Dershowitz said. ”They now use the term ‘Israel firsters,’ the way anti-Catholic bigots used to use the term ‘Vatican firsters’ or ‘Irish firsters,’ as if to suggest Americans who support Israel have dual loyalty. This false charge goes back to the Bible — goes back to the Book of Esther, goes back thousands of years. It was one of Hitler’s justifications for killing the Jews: ‘Dual loyalty, they’re not good Germans, they’re not good Americans,’ whatever it is.”
Dershowitz has been vocal against Media Matters in recent days, making that charge of anti-Semitism. However, his classification of the Center for American Progress as borderline “anti-Semitic” is noteworthy because both Media Matters and the Center for Progress have received money directly from billionaire left-wing financier George Soros, who has faced similar charges in the past.
“These two organizations have been found to be anti-Semitic by many of the objective monitoring groups,” he said. “And now they are closely associated with the Democratic Party and I have said very clearly there is no room in this tent for me on the one hand, and for Media Matters and for this other group on the other hand. We can’t be in the same tent. I will not be in a tent with fascists, with supporters of Ahmadinejad, with supporters of Hamas, with supporters of Hezbollah, with anti-Semitic bigots, whether they’re Jewish or not. Some of them are Jewish. Some of them are not.”
Read more: David Duke of the extreme left