One of the year’s bestfeel-good news stories materialized late last month when Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin wasforced to releasemore than 1,500 beagles who had been bred by the corporation to be sold into gruesome, sadistic government-funded experiments, only to be unceremoniously killed thereafter. Ifirst reported onthese industrialized dog abuses at Ridglan and by other corporations like it back in 2018. The horrific conditions into which the dogs are bred, and the monstrosity of the government-funded experiments to which they were subjected, remain vivid to this day.
That 2018 article was enabled by activists long opposed to the industrialized abuses of dogs and other animals. Theyworked againstRidglan Farms for over eight years to make last week’s inspiring victories possible, often risking their liberty to do so. And one major factor in their success — arguably the most indispensable one — was that they took an issue long associated with left-wing activism (animal rights) and found a way to form coalitions and partnerships with all sorts of politicians and media figures who reside far from left-wing politics, including many in the conservative movement and on the broader American right.
Much of this transformative progress was due to the deliberate portrayal of this cause as appealing to values found both on the right and the left. The campaign from White Coat Waste Project, for instance,emphasizednot only the horrors of industrialized dog abuse and experimentation but also the wasteful government funds that sustain it, including horrifying dog experimentsfunded byDr. Anthony Fauci. Activists with the animal rescue group DxE deliberately courted right-wing dog lovers and, in doing so, catapulted their cause from a once-perceived ideological or partisan fringe issue into one that commands mainstream support from a remarkably wide range of individuals.
All of this devotion to assembling a trans-ideological, nonpartisan coalition against hideous dog experimentation paid off. In the weeks leading up to the liberation of those 1,500 Ridglan Farms beagles, the cause had been taken up and promoted by not only numerous left-wing animal rights activists and local liberal politicians, but also prominent MAGA influencers and institutions, such asLara Trump,Tomi Lahren,Laura Loomer,Megyn Kelly,Fox News, and by all sorts ofright-wing membersof Congress, including Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY).
The reason so many left-wing animal activists sought ways to form partnerships and coalitions with people on the right is extremely obvious: because that’s what people do when they actually care about a cause and care about realizing the goals to which they claim to be devoted.
If one begins with the premise that an unholy combination of U.S. government health bureaucracies and large corporations is funding morally grotesque, sociopathic, and gratuitous dog experiments, as well as subjectingbillionsof animals to systemized industrial torture in factory farms, then one will do whatever is possible to stop it or at least curb and reform it. That certainly includes forming majoritarian coalitions across partisan, ideological, and demographic lines, which is exactly what these activists did to achieve these ongoing and inspiring successes.
Then there are peoplelike Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and her liberal followers. They love to posture and parade as so deeply concerned and morally righteous, devoted to the most noble, compassionate causes for the most benevolent and selfless of reasons.
But in stark contrast to the aforementioned animal activists, who maintain a genuine devotion to achieving their stated goals and thus creating a positive impact, AOC Liberals are extremely picky, selective, and deeply judgmental of those with whom they would be willing to work to create majoritarian, issue-by-issue coalitions that would succeed. Their own political branding and sense of moral superiority are infinitely more important than stopping policies that they insist so deeply offend their elevated sense of right and wrong.
AOC, now a favorite of the Democratic establishment, and for good reason,appeared atthe University of Chicago on Friday night. It was for a regular event entitled “In Conversation With David Axelrod,” hosted by Obama’s long-time chief political strategist. During the Q-and-A portion of the event, a student asked AOC whether she was now more open to partnering with Republicans to pursue bipartisan policy goals than her previous comments suggested. He specifically recalled that she at one point said bipartisanship was close to impossible, given that the GOP is filled with “white nationalists,” yet he noted that one of her allies in the fight to eliminate congressional stock trading is Rep. Tim Burchett (R-KY), whom liberals haveaccusedof anti-black racism.
In response to the question, the progressive starclaimed thatshe will occasionally work with Republicans, if the goal is important enough, but that for many key issues — including the opportunity to work with former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) against the Iran War, against the American financing and arming of Israel, and for the rights of Palestinians to self-determination — she would never deign to work with someone like Greene because, under AOC’s verdict, she’s “a bigot and an antisemite.”
Source: Glenn Greenwald
