Don't Mess With Zohran

When it comes to character assassination, American reactionaries have seen better days. Like so much else, the art of lying about political opponents has withered to the point of pointlessness. Things are too wide open, too many avenues to police, and while I wouldn't call this democratization, it has made it harder to focus on a singular target.

The assaults on presumptive NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani are, for the most part, pathetically comical, especially coming from absurd individuals who apparently make a living from this. Then there are the Israeli troll farms that crank out crazy shit 24/7 (your tax dollars at work). But that's machinery. I doubt those tasked for such a gig have any real idea what they're doing.

Mamdani's chief crime is not being sufficiently pro-Israel. NYC is seen by partisans to be Tel Aviv West, and anyone overseeing the city must cater to the needs of Israel and its domestic agents. I lived in NYC during the 1980s and '90s, and believe it or not, it was far worse then.

Mayor Ed Koch was a lunatic Zionist. He threw birthday parties for Israel on the city's dime. I remember him calling for the bombing of Lebanon, and wondered what that had to do with running the city.

Then there was Rudy Giuliani, the ultimate political panderer. He, too, courted the pro-Israel crowd, to whom he owed his campaign. But Rudy went beyond Israel. A year before he became Mayor, he helped whip up 10,000 off-duty NYPD cops at a violent rally, telling them that they were victims in a city they controlled.

Rudy was a malicious tyrant. Reactionaries and liberals loved him, because he kept NYC "safe." His allure began to fade until two jumbo jets crashed into the Twin Towers. Rebirth!

The universe has its own laws, and I don't understand them. But assuming that Muslims were behind the 9/11 attacks, they revitalized Rudy's career. He owed his political capital to fundamentalist Muslims.

Only in America.