When Double Standards Rule: Why Berlin’s Scandal Matters to America

In Berlin-Neukölln, a local party chapter just voted—by more than 82 percent—for a mayoral candidate with a long record of radical anti-Israel rhetoric, appearances at extremist demonstrations, and language that would be career-ending in many other political contexts.

This is not a fringe rumor.
This is documented, public, and widely known.

And yet, almost nothing happened.

No national outrage.
No media firestorm.
No emergency debates.
No mass protests.

Just silence.
Excuses.
And the slow normalization of something that should never be normal.

This is not just a German problem.
It is a Western problem.
And Americans should pay attention.

Imagine This in the U.S.

Now run a simple thought experiment.

If a Republican mayoral candidate in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles had:

• Repeatedly demonized Israel
• Appeared at rallies with extremist slogans
• Used language widely seen as antisemitic

What would happen?

You already know:

• Wall-to-wall cable news coverage
• Emergency statements from party leadership
• Corporate sponsors cutting ties
• Protests in major cities
• Investigations launched
• Political careers destroyed in days

No “context.”
No “misunderstandings.”
No patience.

So why does the reaction vanish when the ideology comes from the left?

The Real Issue: Protected Extremism

The core problem is not one man in Berlin.

The problem is a political culture that protects certain radical positions because they come from the “right side” of history—at least according to its own mythology.

Today, in parts of Europe and increasingly in parts of America:

• Antisemitism is tolerated if wrapped in “anti-Zionist” language
• Extremism is excused if it attacks the “correct” enemies
• Hatred is forgiven if it aligns with fashionable ideology

This is how moral systems collapse.

Not through coups.
Not through tanks.
But through selective outrage.

Why This Should Worry Americans

The same patterns already exist in the U.S.:

• Universities where Jewish students are intimidated
• Rallies where terror slogans are excused as “speech”
• Politicians who dodge clear condemnation
• Media that frames extremism based on who commits it

The rule is simple:

If the radical fits the narrative, he gets protection.
If he doesn’t, he gets destruction.

That is not justice.
That is ideological law.

And once a society accepts that, no group is truly safe—because standards can always shift.

This Is How Free Societies Rot

Free societies do not collapse from outside attack alone.
They rot when they stop applying their own rules equally.

When:

• Hatred is bad—except when it’s useful
• Extremism is dangerous—except when it votes for you
• Morality is loud—until it becomes inconvenient

Then values become costumes.
And politics becomes theater.

Berlin is not an exception.
Berlin is a preview.

What you tolerate today becomes what you normalize tomorrow.
And what you normalize eventually becomes law.

That is not a German warning.

That is a Western one.