Sad to see another poorly reasoned, superficial article from an ideologue on this Substack. Is CRT the only subject on which Bari can find writers who think and write critically?
A refreshing essay. As I look outside my Warsaw window and see a white landscape covered by an April snowstorm, I feel optimism that the opinions expressed in this article represent the majority of Western people, and that Ukraine will win this horrible war. The closing of the horseshoe, the extreme Left meeting the extreme Right, is a worldwide phenomenon, not just in America, and I hope that the catharsis we are experiencing will bring to the fore the great rational center, and that the stub ends of the horseshoe as represented by Trumpism-Putinism and Wokism will both be discarded as we resolve existential issues.
"Our friend Rod Dreher—author of the book “Live Not By Lies,” which we love and constantly recommend—was critical of Antonio’s take, echoing several of our commenters, so we’re sharing it here."
I had never heard of Antonio G. Martinez before this bit for Common Sense. Simply going on the article I thought he was a complete village idiot with a twist of full-of-himself. I just read the Dreher article. I didn't really know Dreher but had been on the American Conservative a few times. Dreher really is Martinez's friend because he was so charitable that I am willing to believe Martinez has moments of lucidity and maybe suffered from a brain fart - and is now digging in. The real test for him will be whether he can admit that or not. Dreher has an Olympian level of patience to take on explaining/refuting the moronic Martinez article.
Speaking of brain farts - our current president has gone from being a gaffe master/brain farter (even "Nobel Peace Prize" winning Obama warned that we ought never to underestimate Biden's ability to mess things up) to a dementia gaffe master. The Peggy Noonans and the WSJ projected their wishful thinking that he would be a moderate business as usual gentlemanly healer/bringing us all together president. Instead, the Woke Progressives run him but cannot call a lid on his playing president enough and keep him in a basement as they did during the campaign. Now we are in the real world - not a campaign. This could lead to WWIII. Maybe the progressive Marxists and the Republican and Democrat Swamp will be the end of us all? I hope not.
I appreciate that Dreher once said Putin got it right regarding Gender ideology. It is a cult catastrophe and a crime against humanity. This does not make Putin good. The very worst people can have one good thought. And, otherwise lovely neighbors can be brainwashed.
There is a world of difference between the America, and it's ruling class, of Reagans day and that of today. To think that America is more likely to bring chaos to the world than reasoned order is not, given today's leadership, exactly a radical idea. I don't know of these rightist intellectuals that think America has "historically has been a force for evil worldwide". They must stay pretty well hidden to not be more visible but the idea that we sow a fair modicum of chaos in the world needs only to look at the attempt to turn Afghanistan into a junior harvard faculty lounge for validation.
I love our beautiful country but one would be a blind fool not to realize that the forces that want to change or ignore our constitution and bend every political power to do so, do not. This is the modern face of the left. If you don't see the existential threat that the "woke" present to the American idea then I don't know what to tell you. Your sights seem to be focused on the wrong enemy.
From Putin’s point of view. Putin saw the opportunity emerge. And that continued through 2021 as he was building up forces. Trump cheerleading for Putin. Tucker Carlson cheerleading for Putin. Mike Pompeo cheerleading for Putin. These are the folks that signaled that the costs of this operation, this war, would be limited. Just as President Biden was attempting to signal that the toll would be heavy, half of the political leaders were signaling the opposite, undermining the ability to deter.
Thank you. I was beginning to think I had made a mistake forking over $50 for this substack. The New Right worships Russia because they worship fascism. Full stop. For those about to attack me, notice I said The New Right (ultra-Trumpists), not the Liz Cheney GOP, what little remains of it.
So, just on the general subject of Reality v. lack of Reality, I really enjoyed this from the Babylon Bee: "With Babylon Bee Off Twitter, Users Forced To Get Fake News From CNN"
"CNN immediately tried to capitalize on the influx of followers looking for good, comedic fake news by publishing an article on how Joe Biden is doing a great job and does not have dementia, a report on how World War III could have a negative effect on trans BIPOC representation in Netflix films, and an in-depth investigation into how many ice cream scoops Trump got as president."
And, senators, please please do the right thing and do not confirm Ms. "Doesn't Know What a Woman Is" Jackson for a place on the Supreme Court of the United States. She should not fake cry her way into such a post. Cory Booker's histrionics should not make it so either. Enough with the emoting one's way into Orwell.
To parrot what I just read in the comment section, now if we don’t agree with how our government is handling the war in Ukraine we are a Russian spy or some sort of Putin loving communist??
I have yet to hear where any of the folks cited in the story as right wing pundits announced their support for Russia or Putin. In fact every time I hear them speak (something I would encourage our writer to do) they denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Putin. However, they like many of us question our current governments ability to navigate this incredibly difficult political situation. Pushing Putin too far, someone who is obviously unhinged could lead to a thermo nuclear holocaust. I think what most of us want to see is our government doing everything in their power to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, to negotiate a way out of this for the Ukrainian people, so they’ll stop dying. Rather than what I see the left doing currently, which is “no-fly zone” we need “boots on the ground” we need to consider a “hot war”. 
So no not everyone that doesn’t agree with our government stance on the Ukrainian war is a Putin loving down with America radical right wing nut. 
This article is unbecoming of the content. Rather than a thoughtful critique of a valid representation of the right it is nothing more than a straw man.
Here is what's really going on:
I don't have confidence in our overseas involvement because like 6 months ago I watched the president get 13 Marines killed plus hundreds of Afghans as the last parting disgrace in 20 years of wasted fighting against goat herders.
I don't have confidence because while Afghanistan was collapsing our military leaders were concerned with understanding "white rage" and rooting out "right wing extremism" in the ranks.
I don't have confidence because while you are trying to justify WW3 right now, last year our Secretary of Defense declared COVID the greatest threat to the military.
So forgive me if I don't cheer being led by these incompetent morons to a slaughter. Having actually worn a uniform before I have no interest watching Americans die to secure the far fringes if Europe which did everything it could to make itself vulnerable while also spending the last generation disparaging my values and my culture.
Also if you didn't vote for Trump don't lecture the rest of us about security and America's place in thr world. You don't even have the balls to own up and say "maybe electing a senile man who shits himself and has been wrong about literally everything on foreign policy wasn't a good idea." This is you're damned mess.
Obviously as so many of the comments on this article attest, the truth hurts.
You can gauge the intellectual and moral level of the New Right by its devotion to Donald Trump, whose post-election behavior made obvious what many people suspected: that he was and is both unfit for and unworthy of the presidency. I will concede that he did some good things, but they hardly compensate for the damage he did with his election trutherism. And he's still at it, and the New Right is cheering him on. Joe Biden is of course a befuddled old fool who's no more qualified for the presidency than Trump. But Trump's the reason that Biden's now the man in charge. That is a fact. No one stole the election from Trump. He blew it.
Leaving Trump aside, however, let's examine some other New Right obsessions. There's the one in which V. Putin is a misunderstood Russian patriot and defender of Christian civilization who was goaded into invading Ukraine by NATO aggression. There's the one in which the US has been funding secret bioweapons research by labs in Ukraine. There's the one in which Joe Biden & Co. are covert warmongers. (Yes, the same Joe Biden who bugged out of a perfectly good war in Afghanistan.) There are stupid comparisons between the behavior of Putin's repulsive fascist regime and US mask mandates. There is a general willingness—indeed, eagerness—to believe the very worst of every American institution. There is a perversion of patriotism that reviles other Americans as worse enemies than any foreign tyrant. There is the stupid isolationism. And on it goes.
Particularly repulsive is the New Right's excuse-making on Putin's behalf. Sure we get some pro forma denunciations of his actions—as preface to "but." But American meddling something something NATO aggression something something Ukraine corruption mumble mumble Hunter Biden blah blah blah. The fact that Russia launched an unprovoked, brutal attack on Ukraine that the people of that country are resisting with notable heroism is called a "narrative."
Of course hardly anyone on the New Right has taken the trouble to examine the historical background of relations between Ukraine and Russia. They don't know—probably don't want to know and wouldn't care if they found out—that Putin's attempt to destroy the very idea of Ukraine as an independent nation was the policy of the tsars and the Bolsheviks before it became Putin's. Under the latter it was a policy of genocide that claimed as many as seven million lives. Small wonder that Ukrainians today want nothing to do with their Russian cousins. They know what lies in store for them if they submit to the invader.
Self-righteous ignorance and mendacity used to be the preserve of the postmodern Left. But now the comrades have to share that ground with their counterparts of the New Right.
There is nothing "new right" about this. None of us want to see American military forces led back into a war by the people who lost the last war.
I know Russia isn't doing that great in Ukraine so we probably should help the Ukrainians out and keep Joe Biden from fucking things up for them.
Afghanistan was a massive shit show that we got to watch live on TV. Brought to us by absolute idiots who were more concerned with ideology and battlefield reality (like yourself). I don't care to see more Americans die for the DNCs talking points.
He makes some valid points like that everything that happens is not CIA plot, but... Come to think of it, where DID Ukraine get all those weapons and how ARE there trained soldiers sending out anti-tank missiles etc? Hmmm, I think NATO and/or the USA must have been sending some pretty considerable help in the forms of weapons and training... Second point: He doesn't acknowledge that Russia has a reason for being concerned about its next door neighbor (the USA would never allow Mexico to be in a military alliance with Russia or China). Once you acknowledge that Russia has a legitimate gripe in terms of Ukraine joining NATO and being armed - the whole Putin Bad, Putin is Hitler, we must fight him to save the world narrative, doesn't work anymore.
I am glad this article is here as its healthy to hear different things. But...... There is little for me to add that other commenters have not already pointed out. In regards to foreign policy, outside of W bush's HIV/AIDS push in Africa how many polices in the past 20 years have advanced America's interests and made the world a better place?
I love when lefties explain the right to us. "Some of my best friends are bla- er, republican." Nobody in my circle thinks as this guy would have you believe. Maybe if all sides of the news media actually reported news and quit covering each other? Too much to ask?
Your reporting on the spot is laudable. Here is your most true and insightful statement: "This is the supreme narcissism of the American activist class, left or right, thinking the entire world is downstream of domestic U.S. politics." Now apply the words "activist class" to everything else in your article and you would be correct on all points.
False binaries, false equivalencies, strange exaggerations galore. Does the writer really think that the only two reasons to question the American War Machine are that one is either a hippie or a nazi? Wrong.
Sad to see another poorly reasoned, superficial article from an ideologue on this Substack. Is CRT the only subject on which Bari can find writers who think and write critically?
A refreshing essay. As I look outside my Warsaw window and see a white landscape covered by an April snowstorm, I feel optimism that the opinions expressed in this article represent the majority of Western people, and that Ukraine will win this horrible war. The closing of the horseshoe, the extreme Left meeting the extreme Right, is a worldwide phenomenon, not just in America, and I hope that the catharsis we are experiencing will bring to the fore the great rational center, and that the stub ends of the horseshoe as represented by Trumpism-Putinism and Wokism will both be discarded as we resolve existential issues.
I appreciate that the TGIF posted:
"Our friend Rod Dreher—author of the book “Live Not By Lies,” which we love and constantly recommend—was critical of Antonio’s take, echoing several of our commenters, so we’re sharing it here."
I had never heard of Antonio G. Martinez before this bit for Common Sense. Simply going on the article I thought he was a complete village idiot with a twist of full-of-himself. I just read the Dreher article. I didn't really know Dreher but had been on the American Conservative a few times. Dreher really is Martinez's friend because he was so charitable that I am willing to believe Martinez has moments of lucidity and maybe suffered from a brain fart - and is now digging in. The real test for him will be whether he can admit that or not. Dreher has an Olympian level of patience to take on explaining/refuting the moronic Martinez article.
Speaking of brain farts - our current president has gone from being a gaffe master/brain farter (even "Nobel Peace Prize" winning Obama warned that we ought never to underestimate Biden's ability to mess things up) to a dementia gaffe master. The Peggy Noonans and the WSJ projected their wishful thinking that he would be a moderate business as usual gentlemanly healer/bringing us all together president. Instead, the Woke Progressives run him but cannot call a lid on his playing president enough and keep him in a basement as they did during the campaign. Now we are in the real world - not a campaign. This could lead to WWIII. Maybe the progressive Marxists and the Republican and Democrat Swamp will be the end of us all? I hope not.
I appreciate that Dreher once said Putin got it right regarding Gender ideology. It is a cult catastrophe and a crime against humanity. This does not make Putin good. The very worst people can have one good thought. And, otherwise lovely neighbors can be brainwashed.
There is a world of difference between the America, and it's ruling class, of Reagans day and that of today. To think that America is more likely to bring chaos to the world than reasoned order is not, given today's leadership, exactly a radical idea. I don't know of these rightist intellectuals that think America has "historically has been a force for evil worldwide". They must stay pretty well hidden to not be more visible but the idea that we sow a fair modicum of chaos in the world needs only to look at the attempt to turn Afghanistan into a junior harvard faculty lounge for validation.
I love our beautiful country but one would be a blind fool not to realize that the forces that want to change or ignore our constitution and bend every political power to do so, do not. This is the modern face of the left. If you don't see the existential threat that the "woke" present to the American idea then I don't know what to tell you. Your sights seem to be focused on the wrong enemy.
Alexander Vindman in today's Washington Post:
From Putin’s point of view. Putin saw the opportunity emerge. And that continued through 2021 as he was building up forces. Trump cheerleading for Putin. Tucker Carlson cheerleading for Putin. Mike Pompeo cheerleading for Putin. These are the folks that signaled that the costs of this operation, this war, would be limited. Just as President Biden was attempting to signal that the toll would be heavy, half of the political leaders were signaling the opposite, undermining the ability to deter.
Thank you. I was beginning to think I had made a mistake forking over $50 for this substack. The New Right worships Russia because they worship fascism. Full stop. For those about to attack me, notice I said The New Right (ultra-Trumpists), not the Liz Cheney GOP, what little remains of it.
So, just on the general subject of Reality v. lack of Reality, I really enjoyed this from the Babylon Bee: "With Babylon Bee Off Twitter, Users Forced To Get Fake News From CNN"
"CNN immediately tried to capitalize on the influx of followers looking for good, comedic fake news by publishing an article on how Joe Biden is doing a great job and does not have dementia, a report on how World War III could have a negative effect on trans BIPOC representation in Netflix films, and an in-depth investigation into how many ice cream scoops Trump got as president."
https://babylonbee.com/news/with-babylon-bee-off-twitter-users-forced-to-get-fake-news-from-cnn
And, senators, please please do the right thing and do not confirm Ms. "Doesn't Know What a Woman Is" Jackson for a place on the Supreme Court of the United States. She should not fake cry her way into such a post. Cory Booker's histrionics should not make it so either. Enough with the emoting one's way into Orwell.
To parrot what I just read in the comment section, now if we don’t agree with how our government is handling the war in Ukraine we are a Russian spy or some sort of Putin loving communist??
I have yet to hear where any of the folks cited in the story as right wing pundits announced their support for Russia or Putin. In fact every time I hear them speak (something I would encourage our writer to do) they denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Putin. However, they like many of us question our current governments ability to navigate this incredibly difficult political situation. Pushing Putin too far, someone who is obviously unhinged could lead to a thermo nuclear holocaust. I think what most of us want to see is our government doing everything in their power to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, to negotiate a way out of this for the Ukrainian people, so they’ll stop dying. Rather than what I see the left doing currently, which is “no-fly zone” we need “boots on the ground” we need to consider a “hot war”. 
So no not everyone that doesn’t agree with our government stance on the Ukrainian war is a Putin loving down with America radical right wing nut. 
What the hell is this guy talking about?
This article is unbecoming of the content. Rather than a thoughtful critique of a valid representation of the right it is nothing more than a straw man.
Here is what's really going on:
I don't have confidence in our overseas involvement because like 6 months ago I watched the president get 13 Marines killed plus hundreds of Afghans as the last parting disgrace in 20 years of wasted fighting against goat herders.
I don't have confidence because while Afghanistan was collapsing our military leaders were concerned with understanding "white rage" and rooting out "right wing extremism" in the ranks.
I don't have confidence because while you are trying to justify WW3 right now, last year our Secretary of Defense declared COVID the greatest threat to the military.
So forgive me if I don't cheer being led by these incompetent morons to a slaughter. Having actually worn a uniform before I have no interest watching Americans die to secure the far fringes if Europe which did everything it could to make itself vulnerable while also spending the last generation disparaging my values and my culture.
Also if you didn't vote for Trump don't lecture the rest of us about security and America's place in thr world. You don't even have the balls to own up and say "maybe electing a senile man who shits himself and has been wrong about literally everything on foreign policy wasn't a good idea." This is you're damned mess.
Obviously as so many of the comments on this article attest, the truth hurts.
You can gauge the intellectual and moral level of the New Right by its devotion to Donald Trump, whose post-election behavior made obvious what many people suspected: that he was and is both unfit for and unworthy of the presidency. I will concede that he did some good things, but they hardly compensate for the damage he did with his election trutherism. And he's still at it, and the New Right is cheering him on. Joe Biden is of course a befuddled old fool who's no more qualified for the presidency than Trump. But Trump's the reason that Biden's now the man in charge. That is a fact. No one stole the election from Trump. He blew it.
Leaving Trump aside, however, let's examine some other New Right obsessions. There's the one in which V. Putin is a misunderstood Russian patriot and defender of Christian civilization who was goaded into invading Ukraine by NATO aggression. There's the one in which the US has been funding secret bioweapons research by labs in Ukraine. There's the one in which Joe Biden & Co. are covert warmongers. (Yes, the same Joe Biden who bugged out of a perfectly good war in Afghanistan.) There are stupid comparisons between the behavior of Putin's repulsive fascist regime and US mask mandates. There is a general willingness—indeed, eagerness—to believe the very worst of every American institution. There is a perversion of patriotism that reviles other Americans as worse enemies than any foreign tyrant. There is the stupid isolationism. And on it goes.
Particularly repulsive is the New Right's excuse-making on Putin's behalf. Sure we get some pro forma denunciations of his actions—as preface to "but." But American meddling something something NATO aggression something something Ukraine corruption mumble mumble Hunter Biden blah blah blah. The fact that Russia launched an unprovoked, brutal attack on Ukraine that the people of that country are resisting with notable heroism is called a "narrative."
Of course hardly anyone on the New Right has taken the trouble to examine the historical background of relations between Ukraine and Russia. They don't know—probably don't want to know and wouldn't care if they found out—that Putin's attempt to destroy the very idea of Ukraine as an independent nation was the policy of the tsars and the Bolsheviks before it became Putin's. Under the latter it was a policy of genocide that claimed as many as seven million lives. Small wonder that Ukrainians today want nothing to do with their Russian cousins. They know what lies in store for them if they submit to the invader.
Self-righteous ignorance and mendacity used to be the preserve of the postmodern Left. But now the comrades have to share that ground with their counterparts of the New Right.
There is nothing "new right" about this. None of us want to see American military forces led back into a war by the people who lost the last war.
I know Russia isn't doing that great in Ukraine so we probably should help the Ukrainians out and keep Joe Biden from fucking things up for them.
Afghanistan was a massive shit show that we got to watch live on TV. Brought to us by absolute idiots who were more concerned with ideology and battlefield reality (like yourself). I don't care to see more Americans die for the DNCs talking points.
He makes some valid points like that everything that happens is not CIA plot, but... Come to think of it, where DID Ukraine get all those weapons and how ARE there trained soldiers sending out anti-tank missiles etc? Hmmm, I think NATO and/or the USA must have been sending some pretty considerable help in the forms of weapons and training... Second point: He doesn't acknowledge that Russia has a reason for being concerned about its next door neighbor (the USA would never allow Mexico to be in a military alliance with Russia or China). Once you acknowledge that Russia has a legitimate gripe in terms of Ukraine joining NATO and being armed - the whole Putin Bad, Putin is Hitler, we must fight him to save the world narrative, doesn't work anymore.
I am glad this article is here as its healthy to hear different things. But...... There is little for me to add that other commenters have not already pointed out. In regards to foreign policy, outside of W bush's HIV/AIDS push in Africa how many polices in the past 20 years have advanced America's interests and made the world a better place?
I love when lefties explain the right to us. "Some of my best friends are bla- er, republican." Nobody in my circle thinks as this guy would have you believe. Maybe if all sides of the news media actually reported news and quit covering each other? Too much to ask?
Your reporting on the spot is laudable. Here is your most true and insightful statement: "This is the supreme narcissism of the American activist class, left or right, thinking the entire world is downstream of domestic U.S. politics." Now apply the words "activist class" to everything else in your article and you would be correct on all points.
False binaries, false equivalencies, strange exaggerations galore. Does the writer really think that the only two reasons to question the American War Machine are that one is either a hippie or a nazi? Wrong.
This is disappointing content from the author and Common Sense