The Left's reaction to Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation in front of the Israeli embassy is creepy. I mean REALLY really creepy.
I woke up this morning and began my morning ritual of taking the pulse of the political and cultural battle, and was stunned to see that Leftists across the country are flocking to celebrate Bushnell's suicide as an act of moral courage.
My Twitter feed is filled with celebrations of his commitment to the cause, which suggests to me that the waves of protests in support of Hamas you see today will soon be eclipsed by a new level of violence, mirroring that seen at the height of the Vietnam war.
The political temperature, if you will, is getting even hotter. Not good.
Let us never forget the extraordinary courage and commitment of brother Aaron Bushnell who died for truth and justice! I pray for his precious loved ones! Let us rededicate ourselves to genuine solidarity with Palestinians undergoing genocidal attacks in real time!… pic.twitter.com/9F7dXOAYJt
— Cornel West (@CornelWest) February 26, 2024
Things are going to get worse. When presidential candidates who will get millions of votes--nowhere near a winning total, but considerable nonetheless--are embracing acts such as this...there is a sickness across the land. Cornell West teaches philosophy at Harvard. At a Divinity school.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
I saw a tweet with 122,000 likes lauding Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation outside the Israeli embassy.
— Carl (@HistoryBoomer) February 27, 2024
There is nothing good about suicide. It's gross to praise it—and risks copycats. It's also gross to ridicule the poor man—as some have.
Life is precious; hug your loved ones.
Cornell West is probably the most prominent celebrant of Bushnell's death, and perhaps he was the one who kicked off this bizarre wave of solidarity.
Or, perhaps, it is an organic expression of what is truly in the hearts of this movement's adherents. When you are desperate for a revolution, you gravitate toward this insanity.
Rest in power, Aaron Bushnell. You will never be forgotten ✊🏼#FREEPALESTINE pic.twitter.com/Lu5mbNtTQz
— hadir ☀️ (@hadirnossir) February 26, 2024
Mentally healthy people do not commit suicide by burning themselves alive to make a political statement. Aaron needed help, and celebrating his suicide as an act of bravery reinforces my observation that the Left is a death cult. The mentally ill are embraced as people living their authentic lives, and criminals as praiseworthy resistors to an evil society.
Abortion, suicide, antinatalism, voluntary human extinction, "revolutionary" acts, alphabet ideology, medical murder...they are all wrapped up in a package that leads to death.
Even the attachment to Hamas, which put out a statement that celebrated Aaron's act, is a symptom of that. "Martyrdom" and murder are at the core of their ideology, which obviously attracts the radical Left.
He was not mentally ill. He did not escape from some mental institute. He was on active duty in your army.
— Dyab Abou Jahjah (@Aboujahjah) February 27, 2024
He did not commit suicide.
He committed an act of resistance.
You do not recognise this because YOU are mentally retarded by propaganda.
Rest in power #AaronBushnel pic.twitter.com/pPz3st7RoV
Cities around the world are filled with Leftists who celebrate the rape and murder of Jews and who openly call for genocide. They identify with Hamas, not because of a desire for "justice"--the celebration and protests began before the Israelis even started rooting out Hamas.
It is death they celebrate.
Rachel Corrie and Aaron Bushnell are two brave Americans who stood up to Zionism, and were martyred in the struggle for a free Palestine and a Middle East free of imperialism. May they rest in power pic.twitter.com/OUOohwL3yo
— Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) February 27, 2024
In a country with 330 million people, you can find examples of every bizarre opinion under the sun, so if I saw one or two oddballs celebrating Aaron, I would shrug it off. But protests in support of Aaron have already popped up, and people with millions of followers have embraced Aaron's suicide as praiseworthy.
Yet another thing 9/11 took from us: the joy of those perfectly normal non-violent plane hijackings we all enjoyed. I remember it well. “Do you have a layover?” my parents would ask. “That depends,” I’d answer, impishly. And then we’d all laugh, and shout, “fingers crossed!” https://t.co/XxkrS1euxv
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 27, 2024
It is a genuine movement. Few people will go to Aaron's extremes, but many now see him as a martyr.
And when you praise something, you get more of it. This is a basic fact of life, so I expect the heat to be turned up in more ways than one.
Former intelligence officer Josephine Guilbeau said that "Patriots, true patriots, that's who's here today" at the Israeli Embassy in solidarity with Aaron Bushnell.
— Suppressed Voice. (@SuppressedNws) February 27, 2024
She quoted Bushnell's final words: "I will no longer be complicit in genocide. Free Palestine!"
Also another… https://t.co/8p7UdI7Qhe pic.twitter.com/7WAfmMPn1r
Hamas has expressed "heartfelt condolences" to the relatives and friends of US airman Aaron Bushnell, saying the US should be held responsible for his death.
Bushnell, a US airman, set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington as a protest against the war in Gaza.
Hamas expressed solidarity with the pilot's family in a statement published on Telegram on Monday, saying "he immortalised his name as a defender of human values and the oppression of the suffering Palestinian people because of the American administration and its unjust policies".
The statement added that Bushnell had paid with his life to highlight the "massacres and Zionist genocide" against Palestinians.
Hamas was hardly alone. Several statements praising Bushnell were put out by Leftist groups, including ANSWER and the Palestinian Youth Movement. Google and Amazon employee groups rushed to get out their statement:
No Tech for Apartheid, a campaign organized by Google and Amazon workers against the companies’ contract with the Israeli government and military, released a statement highlighting the role of tech workers, like Bushnell, in opposing the genocide. “Armed forces from the US to Israel employ thousands of tech workers as military operations become more and more AI-driven. These operations are also powered by tech companies like Amazon and Google, which are enabling the world’s first AI-powered genocide committed by the Israeli military.” The campaign called on tech workers of conscience to join the movement and refuse to be complicit in genocide.
These people are sick.
lot of assholes responding to this! 1. he is not my patient. even if he was, i could not have prevented him from setting himself on fire. do you guys think therapy is a black box people step into so they can step out as "good citizens?" it's hard work that takes willingness
— comeback jack (@meanunclejack) February 26, 2024
[updated to include last tweet]
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