THREAD

The dumbest thing in American life is the way some supposedly intelligent people talk about antifa.

Come with me for a trip down memory lane for some of the greatest hits.

Starting with none other than resident conspiracy theories @JoyAnnReid

Antifa, for anyone unaware, is a loose constellation of groups currently setting fire to anything flammable in cities like Portland, Seattle & NYC.

But for some reason, since they call themselves “anti-fascist” the left welcomes them as heroes.

Here’s AG @keithellison.

You may remember when @ChrisCuomo went to bat for Antifa because they were on the side of the righteous or some such nonsense.

This sentiment is bizarrely widespread. It made the anniversary of D-Day this year...curious to say the least.

Here’s:
@MaraLiasson (of NPR)
@mattduss (of the Sanders campaign, because of course)
And the inimitable @pattonoswalt

What kicked this thread off was this galaxy take from @JoyceCarolOates.

I don’t have words for how dumb this is. Unfortunately, I can’t overstate how common this perspective is.

Remember Talia Lavin? She says all the quiet parts out loud here, as some kind of antifa expert I guess? @chick_in_kiev

I can just see how smart they think they are when they say this. @BFriedmanDC

Wh-what? @wagatwe

The big brain blue checks were really all over this one. I’ve only got so much room - and this whole conversation gets even dumber - so we’re combining. Here’s:

@waltshaub (of course)
@vote4robgill
@davidhogg111 (lmao)
@EricG1247

The media, drawn to absurd like moths to a flame, has taken on a similar tact when talking about antifa.

@nytimes may be the league leaders here though. This is just...something.

Who can forget this classic @TeenVogue piece. Educating the next generation!

Check out this quote from @npr.

You can always count on @thenation to go overboard.

And here we have @voxdotcom’s @atrupar

But this whole thing gets dumber. Because not only is antifa a noble band of merry warrior-patriots, they - get this - don’t even exist.

Here is, again, @nytimes.

@thedailybeast manages to pull off the same feat while pretending like calling antifa ‘Antifa’ and not ‘antifascist’ is Trump’s fault.

You see, antifa is “an organization that doesn’t exist” according to @PoliticusSarah

This here is why @kurteichenwald is and always will be my favorite account on this website.

Not only does he say that antifa is a right wing invention, he does it despite *roundly condemning antifa in 2017*

That takes balls.

Area foul mouth @tonyposnanski repeated this claim with more colorful language.

2020 @davidmweissman vs. 2017 @davidmweissman on antifa would be a debate I would subscribe to.

God this is all terribly stupid.

It must be tiring having all that brain power for @charlie_savage. Thankfully he wants us to rest ours. (H/t @RealSaavedra)

My patience has evaporated from all the stupid and I’m running out of room. Here is:

@thekjohnston
@RawStory (lol)
@strom_m
@JohnFugelsang

I just don’t know how to even wrap this one up.

Half the time, the media & bluechecks laude a collection of radical domestic terrorists as the good guys.

The other half, they pretend they’re a right wing boogeyman.

A hall of fame perspective even in our deeply unserious times.

This is my entire brain right now (cc @realDonaldTrump)

Creating this thread took years off of my life and will be the death of countless beers as I drink away the pain of putting it together.

It appears this thread has ruffled the feathers of a handful of people who fancy themselves fighters of fascism.

This thread has given me hope that, no better how bad it gets, there are an enormous number of easily duped people in the world who think that something is good just because they name themselves anti-something bad.

A lucrative fall back plan for me, surely.