Sorry, but yes, there is an alt-left. And they owe us all an apology.

There must be pie.

In response to the tragedy in Charlottesville that saw the death of Heather Heyer, Markos issued the following tweet:

x

Anyone still pretending last year's election was about "economic anxiety" anymore? I mean, outside of the alt-left that is.

— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) August 13, 2017

Diarist dyrrachium called Markos out for his poor timing, with which I won’t argue, and this led to the most energetic discussion seen here since the primaries. Good. Dyrrachium also had this to add:

“What is perhaps somewhat more surprising is that Markos, in the aftermath of a Nazi attack, cannot simply accept that our undivided focus should be on combating this scourge.  A great opportunity to snipe at Bernie Fucking Sanders, again, and lob the alt-left label.”

I agree that our focus must be undivided in this time. But I also believe our side must wrestle with some critical recent history before achieving that unity.

Yes, Trump shares responsibility for Charlottesville

Nobody but James Alex Fields was driving the car that deliberately took the life of Heather Heyer. Nobody but James Alex Fields could have stopped the car once he in motion, otherwise resulting in nothing but (perhaps?) a reckless driving summons. James Alex Fields didn’t stop. And Heather Heyer is dead.

But Trump shares the blame with Alex Fields. No, Trump didn’t organize the rally. Nazi assholes did that. But Trump green-lit it. 

x

Trump spewed racism+bigotry in campaign against Latinos+Muslims plus refused to denounce David Duke. Why would we believe his words today?

— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@Deanofcomedy) August 14, 2017

With the Presidency comes the awesome power of the Presidential pardon, universal(1) and always without recourse. Donald Trump has not been shy about wielding it. He just recently openly mulled pardoning Sheriff Joe Arpaio. I am certain that before his terrible reign ends, he will use it to pardon guilty friends, family, and associates(2).

Trump is quick to denounce a lot of things; Morning Joe, CEO Kenneth Frazier of Merck, his own Senate Majority Leader. But Trump dragged his feet to issue a statement on the Charlottesville Tragedy, and then did so in the most dreadful way possible. Why? Because he agrees with the white nationalists. White nationalists know a phony condemnation when they hear one.

But Trump’s choice of words — and the silence that preceded them — are being cheered by at least a few groups of people: neo-Nazis and white nationalists.

And the signal of Presidential support was received loud and clear. This is why even our most ineffective Presidents have always measured their words carefully: the pardon lies right behind.

And yes, the alt-left helped elect Trump Many factors combined to elect Trump. Probably the most important is also the most overlooked: it's just really darn difficult for a President's Party to win three terms in a row in the modern era, even more so when the Nation is so divided. This isn't 1988(3) and Trump was a better and more instinctive candidate (N.B., not person, candidate) than Michael Dukakis. Obama, a highly effective and well-loved President, won reelection with only 51% of the vote in 2012. Then there were the problems with Hillary Clinton herself, and her campaign, which are overly documented (here, here, here, et al.) and with which we needn’t belabor. There's Comey and an as of yet non-quantifiable assist from Russia. But there are other parties who helped elect Trump. And here I single out our side as well for a supporting. The Alt-Left blurred worked incredibly hard, after the primary was concluded, to blur the distinction between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

x

Brother Bernie and Brother Trump are authentic human beings in stark contrast to their donor-driven opponents.

— Cornel West (@CornelWest) August 25, 2015

We must ask if Cornel West still considers "Brother Trump" his brother, after implementing the same racist policies he campaigned on? The Alt-Left made the Left challenger out to be a dangerous and risky proposition. Here is Lee Fang, of The Intercept:

x

Stakes were too high to simply to take a chance on Clinton.

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) January 29, 2017

Lee Fang has not apologized for considering Hillary Clinton (whose candidacy was often derided as boring) a greater risk than Donald Trump, even in the face of a nuclear war with North Korea. The Alt-Left went further and inverted positions held by the candidates. Here is Zaid Jilani, also of The Intercept, claiming Trump is the pro-LGBTQ candidate:

x

Hillary's wars are made up? lol. Also trump is pro lgbt https://t.co/tj0ekM55o7

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) April 28, 2016

I asked Zaid Jilani on Twitter if he feels he owes the transgendered members of the military an apology. Zaid has yet responded to my request. And who can forget the most notorious claim that Donald Trump is really the peace candidate?

x

Donald Trump Is the Peace Candidate https://t.co/UGBIQr8yMX

— Rosa Brooks (@brooks_rosa) July 29, 2016

Donald Trump has killed more innocent civilians in the first 6 months than Barack Obama suffered in 8 years in Office. These are all examples of moderately visible people on the left, with a platform and a voice to reach tens to hundreds of thousands, and a documented following of the same. And this is just a sampling of the profoundly destructive things they (and others) said aloud during the 2016 campaign. Scholars like Norm Ornstein blame BothSides™ journalism for: 1) blurring the distinction between Democrats and Republicans in voters' minds and 2) normalizing Republican misbehavior. How is BothSides™  from the Alt-Left any less destructive? 

IF we blame the corporate media for this malfeasance, then our side shares the blame as well. So yes, the alt-left is partially responsible too.

If Trump is responsible for Charlottesville, and the Alt-Left is (partly) responsible for Trump, it's not a great effort to deduce that the alt-left, ergo, is (partly) responsible for Trump.

This claim is going to invoke consternation, especially because Bernie Sanders inexorably gets wrapped up in any discussion of the alt-left. Going back to the Markos tweet that set this pie fight off, Markos referenced the alt-left. Diarists just assumed he was talking about Bernie Sanders.

Yes, the alt-left identifies (too) strongly with Bernie Sanders. But that following is one way(4). Supposedly 90% of Bernie Sanders primary voters would ultimately end up backing Hillary Clinton in the general. And while this may not sound like much, it's far more than the 83% of Hillary Clinton primary voters in 2008 who responded that they would end up backing Barack Obama. There’s also evidence that Sanders supporters didn’t back Clinton in those numbers.

Regardless, we're not talking about people who voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary and for Hillary Clinton in the general, even grudgingly -- we're talking about people who engaged in destructive behavior and enabled a Trump victory long after the primary contest was over.

And Trump’s words don’t change that

There is debate here and elsewhere whether there is even such a thing as an alt-left, or it’s just a pejorative for people with whom you disagree (not unlike ‘neoliberal’). Raptavio has a diary up arguing that no, there is no such thing. Matters were compounded today, as Donald Trump has irrevocably mangled any meaning the word ‘alt-left’ ever had.

x

Repeat after me: there is no such thing as the alt-left. There's no real left-wing counterpart to this new Nazi movement.

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) August 15, 2017

Jeet Heer, who I tremendously admire, is throwing up a classic straw man here.

No one, except Trump, said the ‘alt-’ prefix implies naziism, nor that both alternative sides be equally powerful, hateful, organized, or coherent.

No one, except Trump, said antifa, IWW, and DSA, who did the actual work of showing up to fight the alt-right, and whose member died fighting the alt-right, are by definition alt-left simply because they opposed them.

We have to go back to the original(5) invocation of the term in Vanity Fair:

...loathing of Hillary Clinton,disgust with “identity politics,” and a craving for a climactic reckoning that will clear the stage for a bold tomorrow…

And those folks owe us all an apology.

_____________________

(1) At the federal level.

(2) With nothing short of a 25th Amendment intervention to stop him.

(3) Amazing to see California and Connecticut red and West Virginia blue.

(4) I have plenty of issues with Bernie Sanders as a politician. The alt-left support of him isn’t one.

(5) Well, first real time it became prominent.