Yes, the Left does mainstream repulsive ideas, too

It's a fairly common argument, and one with considerable merit in many situations. The moonbats on the far left aren't taken seriously by the center left in the same way that the wingnuts on the far right are by the center right. People like Pat Buchanan, who is increasingly close to admitting he's a white supremacist, gets respect from other Republicans and even the mainstream media. Well, when it comes to antisemitism, it's not true that the Left keeps its loonies in check.

From Gene at Harry's Place:

I noticed that another of the “Cesspool’s” guests was the pro-secessionist Kirkpatrick Sale, a frequent contributor to Counterpunch and a contributing editor of The Nation. Of course I don’t expect any better from Counterpunch, but The Nation has some credibility on the Left. What will it take to get him removed from their masthead?

I imagine there are different organizing principles at work in the left and right. The "socialism of fools" is more easily mainstreamed by left-wing moonbats and red-brown coalitions than it ever could be by David Duke. If Pat Buchanan were the most centrist individual railing against the power of "the Israeli defense ministry and its 'amen corner' in the United States" (long before Mearsheimer and Walt), no one would ever take him seriously.

It's time for the left to end its hypocrisy. Sure, they might be better on antisemitism as a whole than the right is when taken as a whole, but they can't pretend that their antisemites are harmless while simultaneously embracing them. There are many Jews more concerned about left-antisemitism than about right-antisemitism these days. And with good reason.