Those who stand with Fuentes, stand on broken glass

By Alfred P. Doblin

When I was a youngster, two leading right- and left-wing intellectual pundits got into it on television. It was 1968, the Democratic National Convention, and Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr., were debating. Vidal called Buckley a “crypto-Nazi.” Buckley’s response was to call Vidal a “queer” and threatened to punch him in the face.

It was television gold at a time when many Americans still watched television in black and white. By today’s standards, both Vidal and Buckley would be dismissed as being too intellectually grounded.

No one can accuse the leading pundits of today of that. And to prove my point, ask anyone you meet, “What’s a crypto-Nazi?” I guarantee the majority would think it’s related to the promotion of bitcoin.

This week, Tucker Carlson, who had Hitler-praising Nick Fuentes on his widely watched podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, is at the center of a firestorm. Well, that’s not exactly true. This firestorm is like that attraction at Universal Studios – the one that simulates the film Backdraft. The fire is turned on and off for show… or cable… or podcasts.

According to the blurb on Spotify promoting Tucker’s podcast, “The Tucker Carlson Show is your beacon of free speech and honest reporting in a media landscape dominated by misinformation. The only solution to ending the propaganda spiral is by telling the truth. That’s our job. Every day. No matter what.”

Well, here’s a truth: Nazism is evil. People who promote or advocate for Nazi-values are dangerous. Giving an unchallenged platform to those people – whether you agree with them or not – is not defending free speech; it is giving legitimacy to evil.

I’m old enough to know that you cannot tell what many people secretly think. That was the whole point of Vidal’s crypto-Nazi comment. “Crypto,” by the way, refers to a crypt – the Nazi support is hidden. But I’m also old enough to know that giving someone like Nick Fuentes several hours of airtime, which Tucker did, is giving Fuentes added legitimacy.

Here in New York, antisemitism was a significant issue in the just-concluded mayoral campaign. On Thursday, I was walking in my Brooklyn neighborhood, and I overheard a woman on her phone saying, “they elected someone who hates Jews” as the mayor and she was concerned about what would happen next.

I don’t share that fear in New York as it relates to the mayor elect, but I do share the fear that antisemitism is on the rise, and that anyone who thinks it is strictly an academic concern is either a fool or an idiot. There is no “left” or “right” to being a fool or an idiot. They are in that small group of non-affiliated human beings.

Fuentes thinks Adolf Hitler was “cool.” This is not a joke like in The Producers. This is real. The people who believe what Fuentes says have a right to believe it, and Fuentes has a constitutionally protected right to say it, but no one is required to give him unchallenged airtime.

It is irresponsible, at best, to say that the backlash against Tucker for giving Fuentes a platform is orchestrated by a “venomous coalition” that wants to cancel Carson. But that is what the president of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, said.

His first reaction was to circle the wagons around Carlson and fellow conservatives. Now Roberts is in full retreat mode, but it’s a little hard to make your escape when you’re the one who ordered the wagons to encircle you in the first place.

The real issue is a lack of national moral leadership. It does not exist. There are no voices of clarity cutting through the noise. This isn’t new. Do a little searching on the internet and cue up Father Charles Coughlin, the antisemitic radio priest of the 1930s. At its peak, his radio show was listened to by more than 30 million people, a huge number back then – and would still be today.

America did not rush into Europe to save millions of Jews. It did not open its doors to those trying to escape. When you are searching on the internet, type in the German ship, MS St. Louis.

The toxic partisanship that prevails today prevents political leaders on both sides of the aisle from joining together to denounce Fuentes and, also to criticize in the strongest of language Carlson’s decision to give Fuentes a platform.

This is more odious because of the timing of this national conversation. This Sunday and Monday marks the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the November 9th and 10th, Nazi-orchestrated, antisemitic riots across 1938 Germany. Houses of worship, businesses, homes, and Jews – were all targeted for attack. It was a precursor of what was yet to come. The name “Kristallnacht” refers to the night of broken glass.

Perhaps by this weekend, someone will also make the connection, but I do not hold my breath. We do not live in an age of Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr.

Today, there are no crypto-Nazis. They are not being secretive about what they think, believe, and want to see happen.

We have a choice: We either stand up against hate and evil, or we stand on streets covered in broken glass.

Until next time, Alfred with a P