Listen now (5 mins) | Do not praise that man to me Do not praise that man to me. Tell me Never again that there are things to admire about him, even still. I do not care if he made some rockets, or seemed to, or if he made some cars, or seemed to. I do not care how rich and therefore right he must be. I know how Right he is. He is so Right he would wipe me from the earth, deny me a future, because only Rich Men own the future. Do not praise that man to me. I do not care if he has turned around a failure of a business, or two, or so he claims. Do not say well yes perhaps he has been radicalized, now, as though he had no agency in the matter. As though his plain words and acts have not always been of hate, contempt, self-aggrandizement. I’ve seen that movie. He speaks in tongues with Nazis. If a man speaks in the language of Nazis, if he speaks with them, if they speak together, that man is a Nazi. I will not have you tell me otherwise. I will not listen to your excuses for him, I do not care what you think he’s done for the world, what a genius, what a success. What a Real Man, worth admiring, for some things, anyway. We can hate the man and love his money, can we not? I do not want you to tell me that you’d never bet against him. If you do not bet against him, you bet against me. I know you meant only in the market. You wouldn’t bet against him in the market. Against his business. It’s all the same to me. You rate his so-called skill with money to be more important than my life. To watch from comfort over there while here in my bluest blue of homes it’s nearly every week the high school scrubs a swastika off a wall, finds one carved into a desk, removes the desk, writes another note to parents, has another assembly to address The Hate. The Hate comes ever closer, and what do you know of it? Did they call your father a kike? Did they tell you you didn’t belong, that this was meant to be a Christian nation? Did they teach you that in school? They taught me that in school. Do not praise that man to me. If he speaks and acts as a fascist, he is a fascist. If has truck with Nazis, he’s a Nazi. That is a plain fact that we all can see, he shares his own receipts. He demeans women, you can find those receipts. He hates Black people, you can find those receipts. He has visited cruelty after cruelty upon those who work for him, or did. He taunts me with his contempt while he burns down a place in which I have found love, understanding, solidarity, and some strength. Do you think I would like to hear you praise a man who stole that platform from me, how he threatens me from it, with all the most powerful people in the world standing with him, with no one to stop him as he cuts down what I have loved? Do you think I care if he managed to put some satellites in the sky? What good will those satellites do me against the meteor coming my way, a glowing fireball of Hate which puts me and all whom I love in mortal danger. Do not praise that man to me again. You must not praise a Nazi. You must not turn aside as he raises the voices of Nazis, fascists, insurrectionists, -- all those who would blame me for their troubles. Do you call me a social justice warrior? Do you call me deviant, crazy? They do. Do you say I see catastrophe where there is no catastrophe? My people fled a catastrophe. The ones who didn’t, who said it wasn’t so bad really, surely they didn’t mean it, that’s just talk, they died in it. The ones who stayed and fought died too, mostly. But they did not die of an illusion. They died speaking the truth, they died standing up for it, and if you praise that man again to me I will show you their pictures, one by one, and I will dare you, say it again to my face. Say again you would not bet against that man. Tell me how little you care for my life. - Amy Isikoff Newell, November 2022
Do Not Praise That Man To Me
Do Not Praise That Man To Me
Do Not Praise That Man To Me
Listen now (5 mins) | Do not praise that man to me Do not praise that man to me. Tell me Never again that there are things to admire about him, even still. I do not care if he made some rockets, or seemed to, or if he made some cars, or seemed to. I do not care how rich and therefore right he must be. I know how Right he is. He is so Right he would wipe me from the earth, deny me a future, because only Rich Men own the future. Do not praise that man to me. I do not care if he has turned around a failure of a business, or two, or so he claims. Do not say well yes perhaps he has been radicalized, now, as though he had no agency in the matter. As though his plain words and acts have not always been of hate, contempt, self-aggrandizement. I’ve seen that movie. He speaks in tongues with Nazis. If a man speaks in the language of Nazis, if he speaks with them, if they speak together, that man is a Nazi. I will not have you tell me otherwise. I will not listen to your excuses for him, I do not care what you think he’s done for the world, what a genius, what a success. What a Real Man, worth admiring, for some things, anyway. We can hate the man and love his money, can we not? I do not want you to tell me that you’d never bet against him. If you do not bet against him, you bet against me. I know you meant only in the market. You wouldn’t bet against him in the market. Against his business. It’s all the same to me. You rate his so-called skill with money to be more important than my life. To watch from comfort over there while here in my bluest blue of homes it’s nearly every week the high school scrubs a swastika off a wall, finds one carved into a desk, removes the desk, writes another note to parents, has another assembly to address The Hate. The Hate comes ever closer, and what do you know of it? Did they call your father a kike? Did they tell you you didn’t belong, that this was meant to be a Christian nation? Did they teach you that in school? They taught me that in school. Do not praise that man to me. If he speaks and acts as a fascist, he is a fascist. If has truck with Nazis, he’s a Nazi. That is a plain fact that we all can see, he shares his own receipts. He demeans women, you can find those receipts. He hates Black people, you can find those receipts. He has visited cruelty after cruelty upon those who work for him, or did. He taunts me with his contempt while he burns down a place in which I have found love, understanding, solidarity, and some strength. Do you think I would like to hear you praise a man who stole that platform from me, how he threatens me from it, with all the most powerful people in the world standing with him, with no one to stop him as he cuts down what I have loved? Do you think I care if he managed to put some satellites in the sky? What good will those satellites do me against the meteor coming my way, a glowing fireball of Hate which puts me and all whom I love in mortal danger. Do not praise that man to me again. You must not praise a Nazi. You must not turn aside as he raises the voices of Nazis, fascists, insurrectionists, -- all those who would blame me for their troubles. Do you call me a social justice warrior? Do you call me deviant, crazy? They do. Do you say I see catastrophe where there is no catastrophe? My people fled a catastrophe. The ones who didn’t, who said it wasn’t so bad really, surely they didn’t mean it, that’s just talk, they died in it. The ones who stayed and fought died too, mostly. But they did not die of an illusion. They died speaking the truth, they died standing up for it, and if you praise that man again to me I will show you their pictures, one by one, and I will dare you, say it again to my face. Say again you would not bet against that man. Tell me how little you care for my life. - Amy Isikoff Newell, November 2022