Below is my column in The Hill on the recent New York Times podcast exploring the justifications for crimes ranging from theft to murder. The podcast with radical Hasan Piker, the New York Times Opinion Culture Editor Nadja Spiegelman, and New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino captured the moral relativism that has taken hold of the left in American society. Reading the manifesto of the accused White House Correspondents Association Dinner shooter Cole Tomas Allen shows the ultimate expression of a society where rage has replaced morality and decency.
Here is the column:
“It is so hard to live ethically in an unethical society.” That lament heard this week from New York Times opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman could well be the Democratic Party’s epitaph.
Spiegelman was interviewing two left-wing influencers about how everything from shoplifting to murder may be excusable today in light of the unfairness they see in society.
The podcast, a product of the nation’s newspaper of record, reveled in the moral relativism that has taken over the American left. It featured the ravings of the antisemitic Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, who calmly explained how the murder of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson was perfectly understandable. His rationalization came from Marxist revolutionary Friedrich Engels, who had called capitalism “social murder.” If capitalists are “social murderers,” then why not kill them? The logic is liberating and lethal for some on the left looking for a license for violence.
Mind you, this same newspaper had once condemned and effectively banned a U.S. senator for writing an op-ed advocating the use of the military to quell violent protests during the summer of George Floyd’s death. The Times even forced out its own opinion editor for having the temerity to publish such an opinion.
But glorifying murder? The suggestion of open hunting season on corporate executives did not appear to shock or repel Spiegelman. After all, we are living in “an unethical society.” She explained that many felt that the murder of Thompson, the father of two, meant that “finally, someone can actually do something about health care.”
Even liberal comedians are practicing a literal version of slapstick. Margaret Cho this week declared that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”
To be fair, Spiegelman did concede that it might seem a bit “scary” for some to start murdering our way to social justice.
She also explained that shoplifting can be justifiable because people are “stealing from Whole Foods — not just for the thrill of it, but out of a feeling of anger and moral justification.”
New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino also contributed to the podcast, titled “The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?” She immediately threw in her own experience with “microlooting” and explained why it is arguably moral: “I have, under very specific circumstances. I will say, I think that stealing from a big-box store [isn’t] significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest.”
She detailed her own past thefts and added, “I didn’t feel bad about it at all, in part because the store was a corporation. And it certainly felt, in a utilitarian sense, I was like, this is not a big deal. Right, guys?”
Not in the confines of the New York Times, where apparently you are entitled to all goods that are fit to pilfer.
The bizarre exchange highlighted the moral chasm that is opening its maw on today’s political left. In my book “Rage and the Republic,” I write about how rage helps people excuse any offense or attack. It dismisses the humanity of others and provides a license to hate completely and without reservation.
It is not really murder or theft if there are no real humans on the other side, is it?
Other columnists have defended such property crimes. Washington Post writer Maura Judkis ran a column mocking shoplifting stories as the “moral panic” of a nation built on “stolen land.” It is reminiscent of those who excused rioting in past summers “as an expression of power” and demanded that the media refer to looters as “protesters.”
Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones went so far as to call on journalists not to cover shoplifting crimes.
At its core, it is a denial of transcendent values and rights. It is a decoupling of our society from a grounding in moral or universal truths. It is a trend that extends not only to attacks on individuals but also to attacks on our constitutional system. There is a growing denial of our founding based on Enlightenment principles of natural rights, which come not from government but from God.
Some people seem to have forgotten this. In 2024, a celebrated political journalist memorably asserted that belief in God-given rights is a form of “Christian nationalism” — an odd claim about a concept the nation’s founders literally wrote into our Declaration of Independence.
Last year, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) — a man who represents Thomas Jefferson’s own state — attacked a witness in committee for espousing Jefferson’s immortal assertion that human beings’ natural rights are endowed by their Creator. Kaine disparaged this idea as something worthy of Iran’s mullahs.
The result is the type of moral free-fall and rejection of personal responsibility expressed on the New York Times podcast. Simply because they condemn our entire age as unethical, they feel justified in asserting a moral right to commit any offense, from microlooting to murder. This underpins the increasingly frequent justifications made for attacks against conservatives or law enforcement as a form of “defending democracy.”
Yet the feeling of “anger and moral justification” does not make an act moral. It is the morality of mayhem; a spreading decay within our society. History has shown us how democracies can become mobocracies.
During the French Revolution, journalist Jacques Mallet du Pan observed that “like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.” The sad fact is, it is not just the danger of fellow revolutionaries deciding that you are the next reactionary to be guillotined. It is the self-consumption of radicals who untether themselves from any higher order or purpose. It is the knowledge that all mortals carry the Saturn gene; all mortals share the capacity to become monsters.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
In 2020, we all saw 100+ nights of attacks on the US Federal Courthouse in Portland, Oregon. Bombs were thrown, officers were injured, others killed in St Louis, billions of dollars lost in property across the nation.
At the same time, in Seattle, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) was established as a direct challenge to government authority (also featuring attacks on police) where the Left killed their own within CHAZ.
the Left choose violence over dialogue. Civil wars start like this
It’s too horrible to listen to anymore. The culture is uncivilized, PT. That’s the word for it. Rage is anger. Anger is a vice. The culture doesn’t recognize virtue because it’s associated with magic. It’s a failure of the right to understand it’s reason, not magic that builds good civilizations.
The cacophony is unbearable. The harm and pain being spread about is tragic. I don’t pray anymore. God doesn’t need to hear my trite pleadings. He knows them already before they’re voiced.
Adieu
OT: Sorry, Israel-haters — US aid pays off big for America and the numbers don’t lie
…Here’s the truth: It’s the best investment the US government makes.
Most of that $3.8 billion must be spent on American-made military equipment.
That’s not charity — it’s a subsidy for our own defense industrial base.
Israel’s largest purchases flow to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and General Dynamics.
The F-35 program alone — which Israel was the first to use in combat — supports 290,000 American jobs, generates $72 billion in annual economic output and has produced a $173 billion order backlog.
Israel’s real-world combat testing fixed critical glitches engineers couldn’t replicate in a lab, contributing to over $40 billion in export sales.
Then there’s the value of Israel’s intelligence assistance.
The intel Israel provides would cost America “five CIAs” to produce independently, US Air Force Gen. George Keegan estimated decades ago — and that has only compounded since.
The National Intelligence Program budget was $82 billion for fiscal year 2026; even attributing a fifth of that to CIA-equivalent operations, you’re looking at a return that dwarfs a $3.8 billion investment many times over.
Israel also shares daily operational lessons from every American weapons system it fields, saving an estimated 10 to 20 years and potentially billions in research and development.
In 2021, the Pentagon formally moved Israel into US Central Command — institutional recognition that the Jewish state was America’s strategic anchor in the Middle East.
That’s a crucial benefit in a region that sits atop 48% of global oil reserves and straddles the shipping lanes between Asia and the West.
A single Gerald R. Ford-class carrier costs $13 billion to build and up to $8 million per day to operate — and experts have assessed that Israel’s military effectively replaces multiple US aircraft carriers and ground divisions across the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
That’s without a single permanent US soldier stationed there, while in Europe we spend $25 billion to $30 billion a year to station 80,000 troops….
More at https://nypost.com/2026/04/25/opinion/sorry-israel-haters-us-aid-pays-off-big-for-america/?utm_campaign=nyp_postopinion&utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20260426&lctg=62680bbe38a279b1870b18c5&utm_term=NYP%20-%20Post%20Opinion
So convince them to stop attacking Israel. Then convince Putin to stop attacking Ukraine. Perhaps Vlad might trade energy for food. Wolves continue to eat sheep, mam. Wolves were endowed with such instincts. The tale of red riding hood is known.
Trump wants to build a ‘golden fleet’ of ‘Trump-class’ battleships for about $20 billion each. And ‘yes’, they would be floating targets for drones and missiles without serving any useful purpose. But no one has the guts to tell Trump that.
The primary advantage to a Battleship today are that ammunition is far cheaper and more abundant.
The primary disadvantage is that battleships must get much closer than carriers to strike targets.
Targeting US warships is extremely difficult.
Several decades ago the US conducted an exercise to test the survivability of a US Aircraft carrier.
The USS America was schedule to be scrapped. Instead she was taken out to the Caribbean and the Navy spend 6 weeks trying to sink her using every different type of weapon that we had.
Even without a crew on board to conduct Damage control – which the US navy is incredibly good at,
after 6 weeks it was necescary to set scuttling charges to sink the USS America.
You are not going to take out a US capital ship with a drone or even a missile – and that is if you can manage to hit it at all.
The US carriers attacking Iran right now are atleast 300+ miles from Iran.
Anything targeting them must have a range of atleast 300miles.
The vast majority of Drones being used in the Ukraine ware are antipersonel or anti-tank drones.
These do not have the range or the warhead to even ding a US capital ship.
Those weapons that have the range and the warhead to take out a US capital ship stand very little chance of evading the multilayered US defenses unless they are fired in very large numbers – only a few nations have large numbers of weapons with large warheads and long range. And even then – typically you are going to need MANY hits.
Simulations that result in the loss of a US capital ship generally require sufficient long range large warhead weapons to completely run through ALL US defensive weapons.
Iran has tried on multiple occasions to strike US aircraft carriers – it has not even come close.
Not even mentioned above is US Jamming systems and energy weapons.
In Venezeulla and in Iran Twice in the past year – the US has demonstrated the abiility to completely neutralize defensive weapons and take complete and near instant control of the skies. Stealth is part of this – but our newest aircraft – F35’s are not nearly as stealthy as F22’s
The big deal is electronic warfare systems.
Anything headed towards a US capital ship is going to have to be completely immune to all of our electronic warfare systems.
It can not use Radar to hit a target, it can not use GPS, it can not use optical systems – all these can be jambed.
The guidance systems that are immune to jambing are generally not suitable against a target that moves.
While there is no doubt that a US capital ship is not impregnable, they are still incredibly difficult to take out.
Most of us are familiar with the patriot defensive system or Israels iron dome. These are roughly the equivalent of ONE layer of the defenses of a US Carrier Battle Group – and there are atleast 6 layers to the defense of a current US aircraft Carrier.
GREGG JARRETT: Long-hidden documents reveal first Trump impeachment was a total fraud
Tulsi Gabbard sends criminal referrals to DOJ targeting the inspector general and the CIA analyst whistleblower
By Gregg Jarrett – Fox News (Opinion) ~ April 17, 2026
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gregg-jarrett-long-hidden-documents-reveal-first-trump-impeachment-total-fraud
That impeachment was NO FRAUD! Trump was trying force Zelensky to say actors in Ukraine had hacked the DNC. Not only was that a lie, it was also a Putin talking point. Like Zelensky really wanted to parrot Putin!
We have the transcipts of the call – No Trump was not trying to get Zelensky to say that Ukraine hacked the DNC – where do you loons get this batschiff crazy stuff.
What Trump asked of Zelensky was an investigation into the Firing of Ukrainian Prosecutor Shokin.
Which we have ALWAYS know was driven by Biden.
And which has been solidly established was in return for millions paid to Hunter.
This is called bribery.
Yes Trump sought to have an allie investigate a political enemy.
He did so with Ample probable cause that the political enemy had actually committed a crime.
Democrats impeached Trump for going after their crimes and corruption.
Breaking: New FBI Clinton Doc Reinforces Deep State’s Dual Standard Of Justice
The extensive evidence of potential pay-to-play criminality among the Clinton family confirms Department of Justice politicalization.
By: Margot Cleveland ~ April 27, 2026
https://thefederalist.com/2026/04/27/breaking-new-fbi-clinton-doc-reinforces-deep-states-dual-standard-of-justice/
Ref.: FBI Washington Field Office’s 12-page “electronic communication” (EC)
https://www.scribd.com/document/1031877620/2026-04-27-CEG-to-DOJ-FBI-Uranium-One-Et-Al
P.S.: Keep your eye on Teflon Granny (et.al.), We’ll see how she waltzes away from this one.
Professor Turley,
I’ve read your book “Rage” and think it should be required reading in high school and certainly college history classes. You captured the essence of what is destroying our country. It’s not just intolerance it’s ignorance of basic truths such as the fact that socialism has never been a successful economic model. There’s a new movement to incorporate “dignity” in our political discourse which is really laughable when the media and the democrats consistently lie about facts such as inflation, the state of the economy, etc. The late democratic Senator from New York, Patrick Moynihan, stated “you are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts”. That certainly applies today. It would be great if you would continue to promote changes in our system that can turn back the rush to socialism. President Trump has been trying to do that with a number of initiatives such as reduction of regulations but there are a lot of headwinds because the establishment doesn’t really want less government, especially the democrats.
This is just one more example of why collectivism is a mind virus. Like collectivized debt, collectivized guilt is everyone’s problem, hence no individual actor is ever responsible. Add to that their unflagging belief in their own moral superiority, and that the ends justify the means, and you get a recipe for the worst possible outcome.
It is reasonable for ABC to lose its broadcast license after Kimmel’s remarks about killing President Trump.
They can still stream and say anything they want. But the slots for broadcasting are limited and therefore held by the public and licensed to a few who, presumably, are acting in the public good.
Joking about murdering the chief executive of the country seems to encourage murder and likely does not serve the public good.
Pull the ABC broadcast license.
ABC comedian Jimmy Kimmel is at again. Jimmy targets Melania Trump with DNC jokes. Jimmy jokes, DJT and his wife should be dead.
While Jimmy is on the ABC clock collecting a pay check and laughing all the way to the bank, how about someone run past security check points and punch Jim in the head with a right hook. Or get an ass whopping from Chuck Norris….If Chuck were alive.
It would seem that Mr. Turley is always quick to jump on any and all liberals, progressives or any other so called ‘leftist’, especially if they call themselves Marxist to condemn them. Many of these ‘so called’ or ‘self proclaim’ Marxist are either poorly informed or ignorant about the writings of Marx, Engles, Lenin,etc. As a lawyer, Mr. Turley should know and practice his ‘due diligence’ before making snap judgments regarding peoples references to historical figures in particular. His taking the reference to Engles using the term ‘social murder’ has nothing to do with advocating or implying that murder is appropriate in bringing about social change. Engles use of the term is fully explained in his writing in his explanation of “The condition of the working class in London in 1845. I suggest that Mr. Turley and others read this cogent and well thought out piece on why he uses this term .
It’s hard to take seriously one who three times misspells Engels.
Or one who doesn’t know that the title of his work is _The Condition of the Working Class in England_ (not London).
P.S. JT’s interpretation of “social murder” is spot on:
“When one individual inflicts bodily injury upon another such that death results, we call the deed manslaughter; when the assailant knew in advance that the injury would be fatal, we call his deed murder. But when society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, […] knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, *its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual* . . .” (From *Engels*, emphasis added)
Professor Turley is “quick to jump on” morally depraved pundits, politicians, and criminals that are ruining civil discourse and destroying civil society. That is a virtue.
I’m thinking that this info be redirected from Turley towards the actual marxists attempting murder. They are the ones that seem to having the cognitive issues, one of which may be defining ‘social murder.’