With the reelection of President Donald Trump, much of the control that the left tried to impose on the country, like cancel culture and issuing decrees on words and phrases they deem unacceptable and "hate speech," no longer has the power it once did. Americans spoke loudly in November, and one of the things they said was that they are done with the speech police. Americans are caring people, and do not go out of their way to ridicule or offend. But one organization's list of watchwords contains a phrase that incorrectly labels roughly half the country:
On Tuesday, St. Louis conservative radio show host Jamie Allman, on "The Allman Report" on NewsTalkSTL, talked about a recent incident of antisemitism in a local community. Several cars on a residential street were set on fire, and an antisemitic message was written in the street in front of the home of a family where one of the family members served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The message mentioned the person by name and also said "death to the IDF." As yet, no arrests have been made.
Allman went on to comment that while, at the time of the incident, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) did speak out about the incident, they and other Jewish groups have been quiet since. Since the horrific attack on Israelis by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the incidents of antisemitism both in the U.S. and around the world have spiked. The ADL continues its great work in supporting American Jewish communities, and their awareness of threats to those communities is rightly heightened. But are their political leanings coloring that awareness?
On the ADL's website, there is a 109-page section called "the glossary of extremism and hate." The majority of Americans would agree that most of the words, phrases, and groups listed are, in fact, textbook examples of extremism and hate, such as various neo-Nazi groups, terrorist organizations, burning crosses, and words and phrases like "hate crime" and "extremism."
However, one phrase stands out like a sore thumb: "America First." America First? How does a campaign slogan that simply means that Americans... all Americans, and America should come first, be antisemitic?
According to the ADL's glossary, here is the reason the term is included:
"America first" is a term that references the World War Two-era "America First Committee," and is used by extremists in antisemitic, racist and xenophobic ways. America First, in conservative circles, often refers to an ideology that was promoted by Donald Trump when he ran for office and served in office, which emphasizes American nationalism, nonintervention and anti-immigrant and anti-globalism beliefs."
Are they kidding? America First has absolutely nothing to do with World War II and everything to do with American pride. Someone did some serious reaching to come up with that rationale. But it gets better. There are more completely innocuous phrases on the list, like "my heart goes out to..." The reason: that Elon Musk saluted a crowd of Trump supporters by giving what the media immediately branded a Nazi salute. At the time, the ADL defended him.
"Every single time" also makes the list, although the ADL acknowledges that this phrase is not always antisemitic. Ya think? Antisemites allegedly use it to reveal that those they don't like are always Jewish. And to paraphrase, if you use the word "noticing," you might be an antisemite. This is again allegedly used by antisemites when they begin to notice that Jews are somehow all-powerful...or something.
There are many more entries on the list that, while they may very well be legitimate threats to the Jewish community, most normal people have no idea what they are. Isn't that a good thing? To know what the majority of the things on ADL's hate list are, one would have to be heavily immersed in the neo-Nazi white supremacist movement, not the America First movement. Newsflash to the ADL: you might want to do a bit more research. These movements are two very different things.
The ADL might want to take a second look at its "glossary of extremism and hate." Their extremism is showing.
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