"The 'no enemies to the left' posture makes it difficult to separate the democratic left from its undemocratic elements. If you meet any objection to abuses on your own side by changing the subject to the greater evil on the opposing side, then you never have to define what kinds of ideas or behaviors by your allies you won't accept. If they are willing to justify authoritarian abuses abroad, they would be willing to justify them domestically if given the opportunity."
Jonathan Chait at New York writes that "[w]hether to denounce illiberalism on the left when it occurs or instead to aim all hostile fire rightward is, in my observation, the key divide within the progressive intelligentsia."
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