[weberc2]

I agree that public shaming can and does serve a useful function in dissuading fringe right-wing ideologies (among others); however, the whole reason we're seeing an uptick in these fringe ideologies is because public shaming has lost its potency after it was repeatedly abused (mobbing moderate liberals and conservatives for violating far-left moral tenets under the overtly false pretenses of fascism/racism/white-supremacy). Basically

TL;DR, if you (like me) really want to push back against dangerous ideologies like racism, fascism, white-supremacy, etc, then you should oppose groups who try to combat moderate ideas by conflating them with the aforementioned dangerous ideologies.

NOTE: The author of "Liberal Fascism" is a moderate conservative, by the way, and trying to associate him with extreme right-wing views is exactly the problem (and we can acknowledge as much without endorsing his ideas).

[agentultra]

The difficulty I have with this is that many right-wing conservatives with radical opinions on everything from the rights of LGBTQ folks to race are trying, desperately, to rebrand themselves as moderate conservatives. In the same way that white nationalists are trying to avoid being called out as White Supremacists.

I'm sure Jonah would like me to believe he is a moderate conservative. The history lesson in Liberal Fascism is laughably inaccurate and built on a poorly thought-out premise. It was an argument made that had never existed before. In a word, I don't have any reason to believe he is any kind of moderate person.

I think what we're seeing with public shaming are dis-empowered people calling a spade a spade.

What I'm curious to see is whether people who have felt this kind of shame will change. Will they re-examine their behavior? Or will they, like the Jonah's of the world, dig in and continue to bloviate about leftist-shame-mongering hordes abusing their free speech? And in the process what happens to the rest of us? Will my kids be shamed and called a f-g when they get to school and end up in a hospital with a fractured skull? Will we ever change?

[weberc2]

Whether or not you or I agree with his book or his beliefs, Jonah Goldberg has a long and distinguished career as a moderate conservative. He's an avid critic of Trump and he vocally condemns racism and white supremacy. Casting him as an extremist is witch-hunting, and it hurts our ability to keep actual racists and white-supremacists in check.

> Will my kids be shamed and called a f-g when they get to school and end up in a hospital with a fractured skull? Will we ever change?

The world has been changing for decades before this "moderates are actually white-supremacists in disguise" trend kicked off. It's precisely this kind of conflation that jeopardizes the progress we've made.