I never thought I’d have to write something saying that my friend and NR contributor Fred Fleitz is not a neo-Nazi but here we are.
He’s been appointed to a top position at the NSC, which is very good news and has put a target on his back. The Washington Monthly has run a piece that doesn’t hint subtly that he’s a neo-Nazi, but puts it right there in the headline: “Bolton Taps Neo-Nazi as National Security Council Chief of Staff.” This is preposterous and actionable, and represents — although there’s lot of competition — a new low.
All that is lacking from the piece is a shred of evidence that Fleitz is a neo-Nazi — naturally, since none exists.
It does link to an analysis of the Center for Security Policy where Fleitz works by the hackish Southern Poverty Law Center and calls Fleitz a “raving Islamophobe.” But he has been careful to distinguish between his critiques of radical Islam and all Islam. Fleitz wrote, for instance, of Pamela Geller’s “Draw Muhammad” event: “I did not agree with it and would not participate in such an event intended to offend Muslims just as I oppose events and artwork intended to offend Christians.”
In a better world, the web editor of The Washington Monthly would take down this disgusting and indefensible post; as it happens, the post was written by none other than the web editor of The Washington Monthly.