Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Conservative gripe industry blaming LGBTQ people, 'woke ideology' for Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

 As we watch the situation in Afghanistan, an old but reliably annoying reality is playing itself out.

From Media Matters:

Right-wing figures are attacking “woke ideology” in the U.S. military and using anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in their tirades against the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, including spreading the false claim that the U.S. embassy in Kabul flew a LGBTQ pride flag on its rooftop ahead of the Taliban's takeover.

 . . . Right-wing media’s narrative of a culture war claims that American values are threatened by the rise of critical race theory (CRT), identity politics, and the LGBTQ rights movement. In the past year, right-wing actors have turned CRT into a cultural war by attacking school boards, corporations, and even the military in an effort to gin up their conservative base ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. After recently spending weeks attacking the military and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chief Gen. Mark Milley for their alleged “wokeness,” right-wing media are now roping anti-LGBTQ rhetoric into their coverage of the Afghanistan war:




Unfortunately, as the Media Matters article points out, the examples above are just a few of the right-wing feeding frenzy. Of course none of these folks making the accusations provide even the smallest iota of proof as to their attacks on the LGBTQ community and 'woke' ideology.' Why should they?

The people who follow their tripe aren't looking for proof nor are they looking for reasonable arguments. They only want validation of their prejudices, fears, and false sense of entitlement and superiority.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Matt Walsh, where on Earth did you hear that rainbow Pride Flags were flying around in Afghanistan? There never were any rainbow pride flags flying there, except maybe at some foreign embassies and that doesn't really count. Even when controlled by the Northern Alliance, the country was far too homophobic and transphobic too allow that to happen, even without the Taliban. Being gay didn't suddenly become legal and socially acceptable there once the Taliban temporarily lost power due to the might of the US. In fact, a case can be made that the fact that we didn't see rainbow flags there was actually part of the problem. If the Afghan populace under the Northern Alliance instantly became progressive, and enlightened enough that you could be openly gay or trans, it's doubtful that the Taliban would have been able to make such a comeback. We failed to win over there, largely because we failed to win the hearts and minds of enough of the people. In fact the Taliban in some instances gained popularity because of what we did. That's sad, but also a true, and it had little if anything to do with our support for gay people being allowed to live.

    In fact, when the Northern Alliance still controlled the country they were still sentencing people to death for leaving Islam, much like the Taliban.

    Controversy of apostasy in Afghanistan
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25732919

    Their society was still not even progressive enough get rid of the barbaric anti apostacy laws, and you expect me to believe that they were suddenly progressive enough that you could be openly gay or trans there without having to fear even being arrested? If Afghan society instantly changed that much with the Taliban out of power, the Taliban would have already lost. If only that had somehow happened. Everyone would be better off and we wouldn't be having this ridiculous conversation.

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