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And it's important to realize that those laws passed with strong Democrat support and are still supported by the left-wing media, for example: https://www.huff

And it's important to realize that those laws passed with strong Democrat support and are still supported by the left-wing media, for example: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/clarity-on-israel-anti-boycott-act_b_598d0d5de4b0ed1f464c09c1 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/clarity-on-israel-anti-boycot... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-time-to-update-americas-important-anti-boycott-law-for-israel/2017/09/12/4a196a70-9728-11e7-b569-3360011663b4_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5c32a3ed7255 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-time-to-update-a...

AsyncAwait 8y ago
> And it's important to realize that those laws passed with strong Democrat support Absolutely. The Democratic establishment does not represent the views of the left in this country. Certainly not on economic issues. Paying lip service to social issues. On many issues, the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington are actually pretty aligned, their views on BDS being one of them. > are still supported by the left-wing media Which is why I tend to use the term 'neoliberal'. Left-wing they certainly are not, as the articles show. They're only left on social issues, not economics. The media tend to be pretty closely aligned with the Democratic establishment, which then gets conflated with left-wing, but figures like Nancy Polosi don't support leading left-wing economic priorities such a single-payer at all.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> And it's important to realize that those laws passed with strong Democrat support The dominant faction of the Democratic Party has for decades been center-right. (There are signs that a center-left faction may displace it soon, but that's uncertain.) > and are still supported by the left-wing media, Neither HuffPost nor, especially the Washington Post are “left-wing media”. WaPo is right of the dominant center-right faction of the Democratic Party, HuffPo is pretty much in line with it. And neither of those pieces you cite from those sources is even an editorial from the media outlet stating their position, they are outside opinion pieces of the type print and print-like online outlets that aren't narrow propaganda outlets tend to carry from a range of viewpoints that the outlet itself doesn't necessarily endorse. The actual left-wing, or even center-left, media doesn't support anti-BDS laws, and it's not even clear to me that the non-left outlets you try to suggest do even support them.
- leereeves 8y ago
  Left and right are relative terms. While the Democratic Party, WaPo or HuffPost might not seem particularly left-wing relative to, say, Europe, they certainly are left of center in the US. And what you're calling center-left or actual left-wing is far-left in American terms.
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    > Left and right are relative terms. Not really. I mean, you can use them that way and it has some value for some uses, but you lose a lot of insight particularly into natural strategic rather than tactical political alignment. The left favors the interests of the working class, the right favors the interest of the capitalist class. The “center-” of each does so while still favoring preserving some protection for the distinct interests of the opposing class; there is a natural strategic alignment across the right (and similarly the left), even if there might be a tactical alignment between, say, the left and center-right in a nation with an electoral system favoring duopoly and a somewhat right-leaning political culture.
    - leereeves 8y ago
      That line of thought leads to dismissing the experience of working people who are hurt by leftist policies (and know it) and claiming they are voting against their own interests when they vote Republican. But the left made healthcare worse for people who have health insurance. They lower wages for American workers by expanding immigration. They raise taxes to pay for benefits for people who choose not to work. That's not favoring the American working-class.
      - AsyncAwait 8y ago
        Your comment shows the problem with assuming that the Democratic Party == left. It does not, at least not on the economic front, not since FDR, which is why you get the sort of compromise 'centrist' solution that is Obamacare, which actually takes a lot of cues from what were right-wing proposals, (i.e. Romney). The left wants single payer/medicare for all, which polls extremely well, not crappy compromises. There should have been at least a public option, but precisely because Obama was no leftist, he took even that out. Bernie Sanders actually polls well among the working class people you're talking about. P.S. The notion that there is some significant amount of people who 'choose not to work' is... laughable. Life on benefits its not the comfortable sort of life you seem to imagine it being. In fact many people on benefits DO WORK, and they're struggling despite it. You can blame them for working minimum wage jobs, (like everyone can be an entrepreneur), however the real problem might be that the minimum wage has not kept up with the increases in productivity and inflation.
darkpuma 8y ago
Yeah, if anything anti-BDS laws is one of those cases where the mainstream right and mainstream-"left" support it, and the "far-right" and "real left" both oppose it (albeit for very different reasons: the far right because they dislike jewish people, and the "real left" because they view Israel as a right-wing apartheid state that is oppressing the Palestinian people.) One thing is constant though, it's a subject that inflames tempers.
RickJWagner 8y ago
It seems there are plenty of lefties that promote hate. - Kathy Griffin and her famous bloody head photo - Jim Carrey and his gruesome drawings - Chris Evans attacking the Covington Catholic high schoolers (along with others) - The racist Democrat Virginia governor (still in office) - etc. So why publicize only the right siders? It seems to me there's room to ban some on both sides.
- AsyncAwait 8y ago
  From the people you named, it seems clear to me you do not know what I mean by left. Celebrities that play lip service to social issues for PR value, sure, but that's easy. Now tell me how many of the same people advocate for single payer, or ending the war in Yemen, my guess is almost none of them. That's social vs economic left for you. Being socially liberal is logical, gays are also your customers. It's a different story when it comes to economics.

AsyncAwait 8y ago

> And it's important to realize that those laws passed with strong Democrat support Absolutely. The Democratic establishment does not represent the views of the left in this country. Certainly not on economic issues. Paying lip service to social issues. On many issues, the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington are actually pretty aligned, their views on BDS being one of them. > are still supported by the left-wing media Which is why I tend to use the term 'neoliberal'. Left-wing they certainly are not, as the articles show. They're only left on social issues, not economics. The media tend to be pretty closely aligned with the Democratic establishment, which then gets conflated with left-wing, but figures like Nancy Polosi don't support leading left-wing economic priorities such a single-payer at all.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> And it's important to realize that those laws passed with strong Democrat support The dominant faction of the Democratic Party has for decades been center-right. (There are signs that a center-left faction may displace it soon, but that's uncertain.) > and are still supported by the left-wing media, Neither HuffPost nor, especially the Washington Post are “left-wing media”. WaPo is right of the dominant center-right faction of the Democratic Party, HuffPo is pretty much in line with it. And neither of those pieces you cite from those sources is even an editorial from the media outlet stating their position, they are outside opinion pieces of the type print and print-like online outlets that aren't narrow propaganda outlets tend to carry from a range of viewpoints that the outlet itself doesn't necessarily endorse. The actual left-wing, or even center-left, media doesn't support anti-BDS laws, and it's not even clear to me that the non-left outlets you try to suggest do even support them.

leereeves 8y ago
Left and right are relative terms. While the Democratic Party, WaPo or HuffPost might not seem particularly left-wing relative to, say, Europe, they certainly are left of center in the US. And what you're calling center-left or actual left-wing is far-left in American terms.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > Left and right are relative terms. Not really. I mean, you can use them that way and it has some value for some uses, but you lose a lot of insight particularly into natural strategic rather than tactical political alignment. The left favors the interests of the working class, the right favors the interest of the capitalist class. The “center-” of each does so while still favoring preserving some protection for the distinct interests of the opposing class; there is a natural strategic alignment across the right (and similarly the left), even if there might be a tactical alignment between, say, the left and center-right in a nation with an electoral system favoring duopoly and a somewhat right-leaning political culture.
  - leereeves 8y ago
    That line of thought leads to dismissing the experience of working people who are hurt by leftist policies (and know it) and claiming they are voting against their own interests when they vote Republican. But the left made healthcare worse for people who have health insurance. They lower wages for American workers by expanding immigration. They raise taxes to pay for benefits for people who choose not to work. That's not favoring the American working-class.
    - AsyncAwait 8y ago
      Your comment shows the problem with assuming that the Democratic Party == left. It does not, at least not on the economic front, not since FDR, which is why you get the sort of compromise 'centrist' solution that is Obamacare, which actually takes a lot of cues from what were right-wing proposals, (i.e. Romney). The left wants single payer/medicare for all, which polls extremely well, not crappy compromises. There should have been at least a public option, but precisely because Obama was no leftist, he took even that out. Bernie Sanders actually polls well among the working class people you're talking about. P.S. The notion that there is some significant amount of people who 'choose not to work' is... laughable. Life on benefits its not the comfortable sort of life you seem to imagine it being. In fact many people on benefits DO WORK, and they're struggling despite it. You can blame them for working minimum wage jobs, (like everyone can be an entrepreneur), however the real problem might be that the minimum wage has not kept up with the increases in productivity and inflation.

darkpuma 8y ago

Yeah, if anything anti-BDS laws is one of those cases where the mainstream right and mainstream-"left" support it, and the "far-right" and "real left" both oppose it (albeit for very different reasons: the far right because they dislike jewish people, and the "real left" because they view Israel as a right-wing apartheid state that is oppressing the Palestinian people.) One thing is constant though, it's a subject that inflames tempers.

RickJWagner 8y ago

It seems there are plenty of lefties that promote hate. - Kathy Griffin and her famous bloody head photo - Jim Carrey and his gruesome drawings - Chris Evans attacking the Covington Catholic high schoolers (along with others) - The racist Democrat Virginia governor (still in office) - etc. So why publicize only the right siders? It seems to me there's room to ban some on both sides.

AsyncAwait 8y ago
From the people you named, it seems clear to me you do not know what I mean by left. Celebrities that play lip service to social issues for PR value, sure, but that's easy. Now tell me how many of the same people advocate for single payer, or ending the war in Yemen, my guess is almost none of them. That's social vs economic left for you. Being socially liberal is logical, gays are also your customers. It's a different story when it comes to economics.