53 Comments

This may not be a popular sentiment, but I wish his bandmates had stood up for him publicly. VERY publicly. If they are as close as Marshall says, they should have been willing to stand with him. He clearly regrets having issued the apology. Had they united behind him, perhaps he wouldn't have had to do that. I only followed the issue loosely, but I kept waiting for one of them to come forward and state with certainty that they stood with him. Yes, they have a lot to lose. But, they have a tremendous well of success, especially financially, to weather a storm.

Expand full comment

Hi Bari, I'm a big fan. However, I do think your tendency to equate the impact of the far right and far left on American politics is misguided. While both are enemies of freedom and the principles of our founding, the left overwhelmingly commands the heights of our culture and institutions. Thus, its impact and threat to our American way of life is exponentially greater. Please keep your eye on the ball and resist the temptation to equate current dangers from extremists on the left (huge) and the right (minuscule). Thank you!!

Expand full comment

When they came for X, I didn't say anything. When they came for Y, I didn't say anything. When they came for me, there was no one left to say anything. Familiar?

Expand full comment

Hi Bari, I was on the free plan, and look forward to reading your posts. This one got me off my butt to pay for your words! This is the answer. What you and WM have done is face down the schoolyard bully, and guess what? They got scared and backed off. Like they always do. Imagine the compound effect if we all did this. I got banned from commenting on Steven Beschloss platform, of all people! This piece will be the impetus for a now post I am conceiving of as now comment.

I write at riclexel.substack.com and would love your take on my content.

I will tag you when I post and link to you in my piece.

thanks

Ric

Expand full comment

My hat goes off to you Mr Marshall.

Expand full comment

Thanks Bari and Winston. Great look inside the aftermath. You’re allowed an opinion sir…. Turns out we ALL ARE. Well done.

Expand full comment

I'm autistic and the downstream effects for people like me are downright terrifying. We can't speak to please people on a good verbal day where everyone is in a great understanding mood, and the subject is light. Let alone in this day in age. It's like I'm reliving all of those childhood memories of being bullied. I believe autistic individuals such as myself have to be SO careful now! I won't talk about anything remotely serious, sometimes even with my own spouse and friends!

Expand full comment

"What I do know is that, in our individual lives, rooting down into the things that matter -- for me, that is my Judaism, it's my family, it's my relationship, it's living a life that my future children would be proud of and also like absolutely refusing to participate in mobs. If enough people did that, it actually seems to me like it would make a difference."

What a beautiful testament. The world needs more of this and less of Twitter.

Expand full comment

I've never heard his band and don't know his music or any personal details about him, but just based on this interview and what I have read about Winston, I think anyone would be fortunate to have him for a spouse, a father, or a son. It's refreshing and rare to see a rock star who is unabashed about the importance of his Catholic faith, instead of trashing the church like most of them do. A man of substance and integrity.

Expand full comment

Andy Ngo is a photojournalist who was in Portland. He's the child of Vietnamese immigrants and is gay. Leftists HATE him!

Expand full comment

This is simply an amazing interview and I can't wait to go and listen to your podcast. The very best thing I did was sign up for your substack subscription and the second best was get involved in FAIR. I thank you both for your courage and eloquence and hopefulness. I think organizations like FAIR (which Bari helped found) offer people the chance to connect and feel again like we are in this together in a way that has been missing, and the courage to speak up and out and have true and open discussions. This is a perfect 4th of July piece for me - it gives me hope for our country. There are far more of us that feel this way and each day more are having the courage to stand up. Thank you and Happy 4th!

Expand full comment

Good discussion.

Expand full comment

You may think I'm off topic here, but cut me some slack.....

Ever see the film "The Forbidden Planet"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet

Great film and a precursor to the Star Trek franchise in a way. A space mission in the far-off future comes to a planet where another spaceship crashed years ago. They find two survivors, as well as the infrastructure and machinery, in perfect working order, of a civilization that apparently perished long ago. They eventually discover that the civilization was so advanced that they had created the technology to allow its citizens to telepathically create anything they could imagine through mere thought. This ability was so compelling that the inhabitants of the planet quickly destroyed each other. "Monsters from the Id".

Now come to our world today. Everyone....the educated, uneducated, informed, uninformed, good, evil, well-meaning, sinister, those with agendas and those without....has the technology at their fingertips to anonymously blast facts, fallacies, opinion, falsehood, slander and innuendo across the entire world in seconds, faster than one can even think about what one is saying, with chilling effect on the reputations of the innocent and the institutions of our society. We're seeing "monsters from the Id" unleashed in a different way and we should all worry. Each of us, journalists and leaders in particular, must act responsibly with this power and call out those who do not.

Expand full comment

For a while I thought many people did not think or feel the way I did. I have long held the belief that to reject a kind of radicalism while simultaneously supporting another type is hypocritical—it not only leads to double standards, but also continues to fan the flames of discontent. This in turn, seems to lead to further polarization and continues to create a gap between a country/community that would be much better served if unified.

Expand full comment

The irony is that those who go around calling people "facists" have no idea what the word really means. In fact, few can actually define it. For all practical purposes, it's a word people call others who don't agree with their leftist views. Remember that the main enemies of facists were communists. True in the 1930s and true today.

Expand full comment

Bravo Marshall. And Bari for your steadfast fierceness… Godspeed to you both. And to this very battered country and world. I sit uneasily glancing toward the future. Prayer helps..

Expand full comment