The New York Times continues to work tirelessly to maintain the narrative that the United States is now a fascist regime. Earlier, the Times demonstrated its view of balanced analysis by running a collection of legal opinions titled “A Road Map to Trump’s Lawless Presidency.” Now, it is featuring three Yale professors fleeing fascism for the safety of Canada, making direct references to the rise of the Nazis. The video is titled “These Yale Professors Study Fascism.”
All three professors are going permanently to Canada to teach at the University of Toronto. It appears that the systemic rollback of free speech for conservatives in Canada is not a deterrent for Yale professors longing to be free.
The seven-minute opinion video features the three scholars: Yale philosophy Professor Jason Stanley and history professors Marci Shore and Timothy Snyder (who are married).
Shore insisted that the United States is now a fascist country replicating the Nazi takeover. Indeed, she mocks those of us who believe that our constitutional system has proven itself for centuries as a guarantor of civil liberties, including our system of checks and balances. Shore dismisses such assurances while suggesting that the American people are a virtual ship of fools in not recognizing the fascists all around them: “The lesson of 1933 is that you get out sooner rather than later.” She added that Americans are
“like people on the Titanic saying, ‘Our ship can’t sink.’ We’ve got the best ship. We’ve got the strongest ship. We’ve got the biggest ship. Our ship can’t sink,” she said. “And what you know as a historian is that there is no such thing as a ship that can’t sink.”
Professor Snyder declared that Americans are deluding themselves:
“If you think there is this thing out there called ‘America,’ and it’s exceptional, that means that you don’t have to do anything. Whatever is happening, it must be freedom. Soon, you are using the word freedom, what you are talking about is authoritarianism.”
The New York Times splices in ominous images of migrants being detained, children crying, and anti-Israel protesters being arrested. It also shows the image of Elon Musk’s alleged Nazi salute, a ridiculous claim fostered by the media.
Previously, Snyder did interviews claiming an oligarchic conspiracy led by Musk:
“we’re shifting from a democracy, which had some pretty heavy oligarchical streaks running through it, toward something like an oligarchy, in which I think it’s fair to say that it’s not Trump who’s the most important person. It’s Musk. Trump has debts. Musk has money. Trump has debts specifically to Musk for getting him elected. And I think the burden of proof is actually on Trump to show that he has any room for maneuver in this system. And it’s going to be interesting to see how congressional Republicans react, because what this particular oligarch wants is to break the federal government. And whatever their views might be, not — many of them don’t actually want the United States of America to cease to exist so that oligarchs can pick up the pieces.”
That is who the New York Times featured in its latest apocalyptic diatribe. What is interesting about one interview is how Snyder predicts Trump will engage in censorship through litigation, noting that it will not involve direct censorship barred by the First Amendment. He entirely ignores the massive censorship system of conservatives fostered by the Biden Administration on social media. That was apparently not something that you would speak out against, let alone leave the country over.
Professor Stanley’s past contributions to the political debate include his condemnation of “the right-wing hateosphere” in a diatribe that he later reaffirmed:
I am really, truly, embarrassed by the fact that my mild comment ‘F[**]k those assholes’ is being spread. This wildly understates my actual sentiments towards homophobic religious proponents of evil like Richard Swinburne, who use their status as professional philosophers to oppress others with less power. I am SO SORRY for using such mild language.
In the New York Times video, Stanley clinically explains that “you know you’re living in a fascist society when you’re constantly going over in your head the reasons why you’re safe. What we want is a country where none of us have to feel that way.”
It is a curious statement. Most of us fight to preserve our civil liberties to maintain a country that remains the longest, most stable, and most successful constitutional system in history. We do not dramatically pick up our things and stomp out of the country in a self-aggrandizing huff.
Losing elections can certainly make some “feel that way,” but for the rest of the country, it seemed like democracy at work. In the meantime, our courts are sorting out challenges to Trump executive orders, with many judges, including Trump appointees, ruling against the Administration. Those are the pesky “checks and balances” that Professor Shore blissfully dismissed in the New York Times video.
What is truly striking is that even Yale (which has purged virtually all conservatives from its faculty ranks) is not sufficiently “safe” for these three academic émigrés. They are going to the University of Toronto and Ontario to feel truly safe.
Of course, Ontario is not viewed as a safe space for many conservatives or contrarians. It proved hardly protective for University of Toronto professor emeritus Jordon Peterson when he was ordered to take mandatory training classes to curb his controversial writings. That order was upheld by successive Canadian courts.
So now these three academics will relocate to Toronto to teach Canadian students about fascism. They may, however, want to tread lightly on the subject of free speech.
“Richard Swinburne”
hey! thanks for the call-out! philosophers never get credit except, well, after the fact…
Jonathan: Three Yale professors moving to Canada has you in a tizzy. You call their clarion call about the dangers of fascism under DJT just an “apocalyptic diatribe”. You even falsely claim they are moving to a country not so friendly to conservatives. And then you ask why they would want to move after years of “massive censorship of conservatives fostered by the Biden administration on social media”? There is a lot to unpack.
First, you say professor Snyder “predicts Trump will engage in censorship through litigation”. Actually, that has already happened. One of DJT’s first acts in the second term was to issue EOs sanctioning law firms for representing clients he doesn’t like. This act of censorship resulted in some firms giving DJT millions. It was DJT’s first act of extortion and bribery. Joe Biden never did any of that. He never sued Fox News during his 4 years in office.
Then we have DJT’s lawsuit against ABC over George Stephanopoulus’s comments about the E Jean Carroll case. ABC paid DJT $16 million for that alleged libel. Now DJT is back at his threats against ABC. He just posted this on Truth Social:
“Why doesn’t Chairman Bob Iger do something about ABC Fake News…Everyone, including their lawyers, has been told that ABC must not say that Qatar is giving ME a FREE Boeing 747 Airplane, because they are not…[They are] donating the plane to the United States /Defense Department, AND NOT TO ME especially, since I just won $16,000.000 based on the Fake and Defamatory reporting of Liddle’ George Slapadopolus…Now I see they are at it again, and I again give these Sleazebags fair warning!”
So DJT’s threats and extortion of news outlets continues. He filed a $20 million lawsuit against CBS for editing the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Legal experts say the lawsuit has little merit but it now appears CBS is trying to settle. Why? Because CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, is seeking to merge with Skydance Media
and that requires DJT’s FCC approval. Some insiders think a settlement of the DJT lawsuit could amount to as much as $30 to $50 million and would result in FCC approval of the merger. That money will go directly into DJT’s pockets and could violate bribery laws.
One thing is clear. DJT is engaging in censorship, extortion and bribery. You can’t appease dictators and extortionists. They always want more. That’s something you obviously don’t want to discuss. It takes three Yale professors to point out the obvious!
Adios, pendejos. Please don’t ever consider under any circumstances returning to the USA.
Something about doorknobs not hitting buttocks on the way out the door.
“It appears that the systemic rollback of free speech for conservatives in Canada is not a deterrent for Yale professors longing to be free.”
It appears that the systemic rollback of free speech for Nazi sympathisers in Allied countries was not a deterrent for German professors in Nazi Germany longing to be free.
It’s transparently obvious that if you do believe that the USA is becoming fascist, you are not concerned about rollback of speech that you perceive as fascist in the country you choose to relocate to. In the same way that if you did believe that the USA is becoming communist, you would not be concerned about rollback of speech that you perceive as communist in the country you chose to relocate to.
And by the way, I have noticed you entirely unconcerned about the aggressive rollback of climate change alarmist speech in the USA, not to mention, speech about fossil fuel depletion. You are no free speech advocate. You are an advocate of the speech that you like. Just like everyone else.
Good riddance! 3 less academic liberals spreading their fallacious views to our students.
I am distraught that these people are coming to Canada. I am Canadian and don’t want more liberal people come here. We have more than enough. They ruin everything.
There is NOTHING “liberal” about them or their views. We must reclaim their language. They are genuine communists, and they should identify themselves as such.
Where is the Marxist-Leninist party, or anything like it, whose rule is the hallmark of a “communist” system? Can you give an example of a “genuine communist” within our system whom anyone pays attention to?
Well, good plan. If your career is studying fascism, you’re going to the right place.
Beat me to it.
But liberals have no sense of irony. I’m sure they didn’t detect any of it in their statement.
My heart weeps for Canada.
Spent many great vacations up there fishing. Years and years’ worth. Not anymore.
Why?
Its a match made in heaven.
Of course Yale dodged a bullet if these people claim to know fascism.