Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jon Glascoe, of Randolph, who is a screenwriter, a filmmaker and a Democrat.
[E]very week, it seems, a new touchstone phrase enters our political vocabulary. This week’s buzzword is “moral equivalency,” and it should come as no surprise that ground zero for the brewing controversy … is Trump.
Our dismay at the despicable events in Charlottesville, Virginia, was quickly followed by nearly universal disgust at the comments made, retracted, and then made worse by the president during his surreal temper tantrum.
Claiming that there were “very fine people” among the Nazis, skinheads and white nationalists in that mob is like saying there might be an edible portion in the center of your maggot-ridden meat. And claiming that because there was violence on both sides, that both sides should share the blame is like saying that, because there was violence on both sides, both sides should share the blame for World War II. Tragic, laughable, head-shaking, pathetic, stupid, liar — pick your favorite description of our sitting president. Moral equivalencies from a man who has no morals.
But it got me to thinking — Are there any actual moral equivalencies to be drawn here? What does the alt-right most remind me of? The answer surprised even me. They remind me of the Islamic State. They remind me of ISIS.
I heard a report this morning on the recruiting policies of ISIS. They get their “warriors” very young, usually from schools and mosques. They put guns in their hands. They talk about the vague “enemy” out there who wants to change and subvert their culture. They talk about manhood. They talk about the purity of Islam vs. the decadence of the West. They promise glories in the hereafter. They offer community with the like-minded, friends for life and a noble purpose to what otherwise would have been a life without one. They teach them to hate. And the children learn.
Now let’s take your average skinhead. Their fathers, uncles, brothers (and too often the women attached to each) recruit them from birth. They put guns in their hands. They talk about the vague “enemy” out there (usually Jews, gays, people of color, Muslims, immigrants) who want to change and subvert their culture. They talk about what it is to be a man. Their fathers offer a noble purpose to what otherwise would be dreary lives. Their fathers teach them to hate, because their fathers taught them to hate. And the children learn.
Moral equivalency. The alt-right, and ISIS. Two sides of the same coin. And rather than disgust for both, a sense of empathy descended on me. On both sides, vulnerable not-very-bright children are turned into hateful, murderous young adults through intimidation, indoctrination and a desire to please their fathers both real, and in the case of everyone in that mob, their figurative father Donald J. Trump.
Don’t hold your breath that this president will use that analogy anytime soon.
