The Guardian's Blindspot

This is a crosspost by ModernityBlog
There is an excellent article in today’s Guardian, dealing with the growth of Far Right groups in America and it highlights how aggressive rhetoric from people like Glenn Beck may have contributed to that rise, as it reports:

“How far such language is now part of the mainstream political discourse was confirmed by Politico today, which reported that it had obtained a Republican national committee document detailing plans to raise election funds with “an aggressive campaign capitalising on ‘fear’ of President Barack Obama” and a promise to “save the country from trending toward socialism”.”

So the Guardian is right to point out that aggressive rhetoric in the public discourse can have dire consequences, the rise of the Far Right, the potential for incitement, racial violence, etc
All very observable and easily documented, based on the evidence.
Yet the irony is that the Guardian, in the form of its electronic service, Comment is Free contributes to such racism on a daily basis.
Granted, it is not the bellicose demagoguery of American talk show hosts, it is rather very English, understated, but the effect is similar.
Instead of attacks on President Obama, creeping socialism etc, instead of that Comment is Free posts outpourings of anti-Jewish racism, conspiracy theories and attacks on Israelis on a daily basis.
And that is the Guardian’s blindspot, their inability to see how they are actively contributing to anti-Jewish racism.
(H/T: Adam Holland)