Not Doing Us Proud: Silence Speaks Volumes – and Matters (OPINION)

By Jay Brown and Rachel Posner

On August 15, 2017, long-time Marty Golden employee and loyalist John Quaglione stood in front of a crowd at Xaverian High School and said this:

“I’d be remiss not to say that we just saw a tragedy over this weekend with Charlottesville, and this community has for decades sent men and women from Fort Hamilton and from throughout this neighborhood to go fight in wars to stop … Nazism and fascism, to shine and be the beacon of light throughout this world …  and for us not to condemn what happened in Charlottesville is to spit on the graves of all those who died.”

Quaglione, then running in the Republican City Council primary, clearly denounced the fascism of the far-right white nationalist extremists who had rallied in Charlottesville, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others in a surge of violence. What a relief that, despite the President’s evasiveness, a member of the GOP could still have moral clarity when it came to such extremism.

Golden himself had remained mute on the violence in Charlottesville. And here we are in October of 2018, and Quaglione’s boss, State Senator Marty Golden, has taken his unacceptable passivity in the face of right-wing extremism to a new level: He has refused to speak out against or fire Ian Reilly from his campaign office payroll, despite the fact that Reilly is responsible for bringing white nationalist Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes to speak at the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan, after which McInnes’s followers committed and celebrated vicious acts of violence against those there to protest their fascist, white supremacist ideology.

In our polarized and overstimulating times, there’s a tendency for many to tune out information like this. Some might characterize it as tangential, no big deal, because in the moment the normalization of fascism doesn’t have a direct impact on their lives. Despite just 2 degrees of separation between the Proud Boys and Senator Golden, people inundated by sensationalistic news and media might instinctively deflect the story as “inside baseball.” Golden supporters seem to view any criticism of their beloved Senator, however legitimate, as a calculated smear drummed up by opponents.

But no one has to drum up anything here, because the facts themselves are clear:

Golden has been consistently paying a man who intentionally promoted the appearance of a renowned anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, misogynistic white nationalist, offering him a platform to propagate extremist views at what is considered a “mainstream” GOP club and thereby uplifting his message.

Make no mistake, Gavin McInnes proudly uses the N-word, throws up the Nazi salute, refers to himself as an anti-Semite, defends holocaust deniers, says Muslims are inbred, and describes himself as a western chauvinist. But as Gothamist reported, “In addition to espousing racist, misogynistic and Islamophobic views, McInnes has repeatedly encouraged members of his group to commit violence, and bestows the highest rankings on Proud Boys who have beat up left-wing protesters.” The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the organization as a hate group.

Gothamist reported that, when questioned, Golden’s employee Reilly told them that “the Republican organization does not have any misgivings about hosting McInnes, noting that the Proud Boy founder’s views don’t differ much from those of previous Metropolitan Club guests, like Tucker Carlson, Newt Gingrich, and Ann Coulter.” So according to Reilly, there is no difference between inviting these so-called mainstream right-wing figures and an avowed white nationalist: “He is part of the right… We promote people and ideas of all kinds from the right.” However, even GOP gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro expressed feeling “ashamed” and “embarrassed” that McInnes was invited to speak, telling the Daily News Editorial Board, “I think the institution was wrong (to invite him) and I think we were wrong not to call it out for what it is.” Apparently, Republican candidates are still capable of moral clarity when confronted with extremism being tolerated within their party.

There are plenty of conservative or even centrist individuals who can do this job and receive Marty Golden’s re-election campaign money who are NOT enabling or propagating fascist white nationalists. How hard is it to perform the duties of an office manager “capably and professionally,” as Golden’s spokesperson Michael Tobman told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Reilly’s work for the campaign? Golden is choosing to align himself with this individual, as opposed to just doing the wise, sane, and honorable thing and replacing him with someone actively opposed to these abhorrent views. Again, to quote John Quaglione, in response to the Kings County GOP inviting white nationalist Sebastian Gorka as a featured speaker, “There are so many great Republicans who can lead this party into the future, other than this controversial figure. … [A]ny extremist views can be damaging. … [W]e need to govern by what is right and wrong, not left and right.” Quaglione seems to understand what Golden does not: that leadership is not about digging your heels in when you’re wrong; it’s about trying to do what’s right as soon as possible.

Let’s reiterate this: All those who risked their lives to defeat fascism in WWII, and all those related to WWII veterans, or even all those who were paying attention in school when studying the rise of Nazis and fascism in Germany should know, unequivocally, that this isn’t just unacceptable, it’s offensive. Marty Golden has a choice of whom he hires, whom he pays, and whom he rallies behind. As a public figure and an elected official, he has a voice that can speak powerfully against the worst and most dangerous forces in our society. But he has chosen instead to remain silent – and tacitly supporting hate speaks loudly.

This is a simple situation: Do you choose to uphold fascism or oppose it? Marty made the wrong choice and must be held to account.

Jay Brown is an engineer from Bensonhurst, and Rachel Posner is a teacher and Bay Ridge resident. They are members of the leadership team of the South Brooklyn Progressive Resistance.

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