Celebrated linguist and certified left-wing nutjob Noam Chomsky was trending on Twitter yesterday because lame and annoying things trend on Twitter all the time.
According to antisemitically inclined MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, Chomsky’s popularity as a topic was due to his opinion that people who haven’t yet been vaccinated against COVID19 should be punished:
Noam Chomsky is trending because he wants to get tough on people who choose to stay unvaccinated.
Good for him.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 25, 2021
“Get tough on” is a euphemism for “punish,” just FYI.
Anyway, Jesse Kelly responded to Hasan’s take:
Y’all act as if those people won’t ever “get tough” back.
Not a great call. https://t.co/655bkHFYXW
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) October 25, 2021
Is that a threat, Jesse? Mehdi really wants to know:
Is this a threat?
I mean, the left’s version of ‘get tough’ is making people get vaccinated to enter public places.
The right’s equivalent of ‘get tough’ is launching an armed insurrection.
But, hey, both sides! https://t.co/DesTHaLD9C
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 26, 2021
“Armed insurrection.” Were the Capitol riots shameful and awful? Absolutely. Did they constitute an “armed insurrection”? No. And Mehdi knows it.
Communists shouldn’t be allowed in public places.
You sure you’re ready to play this game? https://t.co/C9o1fxNDfd
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) October 26, 2021
Narrator: Mehdi Hasan was not ready.
Are you sure you even understand what we’re talking about? 🤔
Keeping unvaccinated people out of public places is a *public health* decision and not a political decision. Not sure why this is so hard for the paranoid, anti-science right to understand.
Good night. https://t.co/GiiK5I8ACP— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 26, 2021
Keeping communists out of public places is a public health decision. https://t.co/5NqZZADbhR
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) October 26, 2021
Communism killed more people than COVID has. It‘s a public health threat. I guess anyone we deem a commie shouldn’t be allowed in public anymore. That’s the world you want right Mehdi? Just want to keep everyone safe! Right @JesseKellyDC? Safety is #1! https://t.co/vL2SougjUd
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 26, 2021
Fair point.
And one could quite convincingly argue that vaccine mandates and punishment for unvaccinated people are, in fact, political decisions. If nothing else, the COVID19 pandemic has given the government an excuse to come after even more people than before.
For what it’s worth, though, Newsweek editor-at-large Naveed Jamali — who, like Mehdi Hasan, is also chronically unserious — chimed into the discussion with a hot take of his own:
The incorrect use of the word “communism” or “communists” as @JesseKellyDC is using it, has been as a place holder for “Jews” and “Blacks” and other minority groups. It’s a thinly veiled attempt to hide his bigotry and racism. https://t.co/4QnPrSxhd1
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) October 26, 2021
Who does he mean specifically when he says “communist?” This is a not-so-coy way to make it seem as if his language is not hate speech. Think of how people say “Soros funded” and how that is a way to say anti-Semitic stuff, without coming out and saying it.
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) October 26, 2021
OK, well, sometimes “Soros funded” is indeed an antisemitic dog whistle. But sometimes, it’s just pointing out that George Soros, who is genuinely shady, is funding something. Crazy, we know.
Also, we don’t know how Naveed Jamali personally feels about Jews, but Mehdi Hasan doesn’t seem to like them very much. If Jesse Kelly had said “Jews,” Mehdi Hasan probably wouldn’t’ve been nearly as bothered as he was about Kelly’s “communists” tweet.
Imagine being THIS ridiculous.🤦🏻♀️ https://t.co/dANA3jHfSz
— Ge🎃rge Wept (@GeorgeWept) October 26, 2021
We tried, but it gives us a headache.
Last word to Jesse Kelly:
You seem to be confused.
That’s not going to work anymore with us, Communist. This is not the GOP. We don’t hide in fear when you use buzzwords you learned from the hive mind. “Bigotry”. Ha! Means nothing to us. Because you mean nothing to us.
Welcome to The New Right. https://t.co/eAZoicDBA0
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) October 26, 2021
Editor’s note: The headline of this post mistakenly referred to Naveed Jamali as Newsweek’s editor-in-chief. We’ve corrected the mistake and apologize for the error.
***
Update:
Forgive us for missing these tweets in which Naveed Jamali elaborated on his criticisms of Jesse Kelly:
I’m not confused, that your dog whistle drew your bigoted and racist followers prove my point @JesseKellyDC. You can’t explain who exactly is a communist and why you’re using the term communist. You use it to label POC like me. You’re a bigot and a racist, just not a smart one. https://t.co/0Td1TpN9VU
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) October 26, 2021
Jesse is espousing white nationalism and hate, yes he believes it, but also ir gets him attention. He thinks he’s clever because he doesn’t say who is a “communist” or why he thinks they are, as if that somehow makes it not racist. This is a playbook out of white nationalism.
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) October 26, 2021
Also I locked this thread, but Jesse can reply, he won’t – but he can. He doesn’t like it when POC call him what he is: a racist.
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) October 26, 2021
Give it a rest, dude.
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