I had four ethics stories all lined up last night, and then this ugly episode forced its way to the front of the line. I hate that. Still, attention must be paid.
Zohran Mamdani, the presumed next New York City mayor based on polls and the fact that his only viable competition for the job had to resign as New York governor in disgrace, posted a statement on the anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel. You can see it above.
To his credit, the “Democratic-Socialist” (that is, communist) was crystal clear about who and what he is, and honest observers from both sides of the partisan divide have not been reluctant to react with appropriate disgust. (The statement should not come as any surprise to anyone who has paid attention to Mamdani, the latest example of a charismatic politician emulating Andy Griffith in “A Face in the Crowd” (1957).
[Aside: in 2019, I listed that film first as one of eight films that were essential viewing to comprehend the 2016 Post-Election Ethics Train Wreck, which is still barrelling along.]
Trump-Deranged conservative David French put it squarely: “This is a genuinely useful statement. The chilly formulaic language about the 10/7 atrocity … the intense angry passion of the denunciation of Israel’s self-defense … together they arrestingly reveal what the author cares about and what/who he does not care about.”
That is, he cares about Hamas and Palestinian lives and not Jews.
NYC Deputy Mayor Fabian Levy, admittedly an ally of Mamdani’s opposition, was more specific: “This is a statement about how much Zohran doesn’t believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and one that criticizes our own government far more than a designated terrorist organization.”
The New York Daily News, a Democrat paper, issued a scathing condemnation of the statement; so far, at least, the New York Times has been silent, which is another strike against it—that makes 37,123, 755, 416, 002 by my count but I might have missed a few. Google, another Axis ally, made sure that Mamdani’s statement was way down its links list so that anyone searching for the latest news regarding his candidacy might not see it. Most of the Axis media, predictably, headlined the story as an “Israel pounces” narrative. Yes, Netanyahu condemned a rising Democratic Party star who doesn’t believe Israel has a right to exist.
So far, the prominent endorsers of Mamdani’s candidacy, such as AOC, Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and NY Governor Kathy Hochul, have been quiet. I assume they will default to Rationalization # 19. The Perfection Diversion, or “Nobody’s Perfect!” and “Everybody makes mistakes!” like the Virginia Democrats trying to excuse their candidate for Attorney General saying that killing a political adversary’s children can be justifiable because “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
We are about to see just how corrupted and ethically-warped progressives and Democrats have become.
Ethics Alarms 
All casualties counts that come from inside Gaza are de facto lies. They are all entirely and eventually sourced from Hamas spokesman (once you chase down their provenance).
Israel does absolutely everything it can to ensure non-combatants have had a chance to leave a targeted area. Hamas is known to force non-combatants to stay in harms way. The guilt of non-combatant casualties resulting then from justifiable military strikes is therefore placed entirely on Hamas.
Israel’s conditions to end combat are more than fair:
Give back every single hostage, body of a hostage or proof the hostage is dead and the body cannot be recovered.
Dismantle Hamas
The ugly truth about claims of “Israeli genocide” here is that while genocide is a horrible thing, if an entire society is geared towards supporting Hamas and its endeavor to destroy Israel, then the entire society has to be dismantled. But here’s the fix – if average Palestinians don’t actually support Hamas’ goals, then they can support Israel’s effort. The counterpoint is that if average Palestinians do support Hamas’ *actual* genocidal goals, then they *should* suffer.
Israel didn’t start this.
Hamas and its backers did.
The ‘apartheid’ is entirely self-imposed. Israel proper has Arabs and Muslims as full citizens. That Palestinians refuse to engage Israel peacefully is entirely on them.
I love that NONE of the formatting that the typing box showed actually carried over. Thanks WORDPRESS!
Welcome to my world….
The first paragraph is boilerplate verbiage designed to give him plausible deniability for accusations that he isn’t bigoted. Basically, it’s his, “What do you mean? My statement clearly indicated my disapproval of the Oct. 7th attack!”
And, of course, his fellow travelers and other slow-witted bobbleheads will nod their heads in agreement and repeat the talking points provided by their overlords.
Wonderfully composed statement. First Paragraph condemns the original massacre, suitable for quoting by the AUC. Avoids the BUT….
Rest of the statement oh so piously decries all the deaths as provided by Gaza organizations, whih are actually propaganda arms of Hamas.
Repeats the apartheid lie, then calls for diplomacy with terrorists that have broken every ceasefire and peace agreement since 1947.
States a truth about the last two years without pointing out that Hamas is the culprit.
<golf clap>
Zohran Mamdani has more ethical problems, and this maybe an October surprise. Townhall has an article up with the title “Zohran Mamdani Refused to Intervene to Stop Cairo Sexual Assaults, Citing ‘Cultural Sensitivity”; this is about the events in Egypt during the fall of President Hosni Mubarak which included the sexual assault on the journalist Laura Logan.
So, twenty-four years ago the Twin Towers were taken down by Osama Bin Laden. And now, New York City is electing an Islamist mayor? How does this happen? How do these sorts of people get into the country and become installed in positions of power? Ilhan Omar, the Congress woman from Detroit, and frankly, AOC. What’s going on? Certainly, the Islamists are playing the long game, and they are determined and they are succeeding. If you want an existential threat to democracy, look no further than this phenomenon.
An entire voting generation fully indoctrinated into the worldview that all other peoples are essentially good hearted but misunderstood while the only truly bad actors in the world are those who believe in the Constituonal Republic of the United States.
This is the exact type of false equivalence argle-bargle that served Kamala Harris in such good stead. Oh, wait…
David French, like a stopped clock, gets it right. The statement tells me who he is for and who he is willing to see dead.
I fought against communism in the 1980’s, and we always assumed that if the people of the Soviet Union knew the truth, they would overthrow their government. In fact, that very thing happened. Apparently very few people in New York City remember that the Berlin Wall was put there to keep people in, not out.
It is impossible for this old anti-communist to fathom so many people so willing to vote for an adherent to a transparently evil and irredeemable system of government. I guess that’s just a generational thing, and there is no substitute for lived experience.
Much like the United Kingdom, New York City has fallen, and it looks like they can’t get up.