the full-on discursive assault against Mamdani on twitter has been astounding to watch the last few days. It’s a barrage of histrionic fear-mongering, which blankets my feed even though I exclusively follow communists. It’s a: Vile resurgence of Bush-era Islamophobia, fiery 9/11 imagery, Thomas Sowell quotations, “1 million residents pledge to flee New York,” Michael Rappaport’s annoying voice, AI-generated actresses in burqas, digs at his wife, Orientalist forensics on how he eats dinner, vulgar nativism, pro-Zionist talking points… the works! I hope someone data-mines all this mania and puts out an analysis one day.
The looking down on eating food with your hands is so strange to me because it’s probably one of the most cross cultural aspects of eating. Do these people eat burgers with a knife and fork?