Beware the White Knights
More often than not, when the left rides to your defense, they are not doing it for altruistic reasons.
I hate to pick on Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post, especially now that the Post caught her lying in print – again.
Well, that is bit of a fib, a little lie.
I don’t mind picking on Lorenz because she is such a ridiculous character - but is hard not to feel a little sorry for her and wonder how mental illness has become a hiring characteristic at the Post and the New York Times.
Instead of just firing her, they moved her to another beat and assigned an editor to review and approve all her work before going to print (I thought that was what editors did – were they just printing whatever Lorenz submitted before?).
The Post’s move to babysit Lorenz instead of firing her suggests they know they have a problem, I guess they want to handle them one at a time, given they just fired Felicia Sonmez for her very public insubordination combined with a serious outbreak of victimhood.
But Lorenz just can’t help herself and that reveals a sickness that is all to common to activists, one that seems to especially infect those on the political left.
Yesterday on Twitter, Lorenz made herself the protector of all Covid victims, leaping in to defend them and attempt to shame another lefty, Matt Yglesias, after Yglesias made a joke about testing positive for Covid-19.
In a short thread of tweets, Yglesias said:
“Some personal news: I have contracted the novel coronavirus. Frankly, I think the virus should respect Father’s Day more than this. FYI, all future typos are due to long Covid.”
Of course, Lorenz, the defender of all that is good and Holy, chimed in:
“I’m glad it’s a joke for u Matt and that you’re lucky enough to get access to great care, but for those who have had their lives destroyed by the virus and who have had loved ones die from or suffer w/ LC it’s not funny. Hope you can have a little more empathy, especially today.”
I’m not a fan of Yglesias, but it was clear it was self-deprecating humor and what’s more, a tacit admission that Covid isn’t really a life-threatening condition.
What Lorenz did was to take a situation that had nothing to do with her and use it to call attention to herself.
“Look at me! See how virtuous I am! I’m taking a stand to protect others! They need my protection!”
Not really.
It’s called “white knighting”.
Remember what transpired after Jordan Peterson tweeted this about Yumi Nu, the obese Sport’s Illustrated swimsuit cover model:
“Sorry. Not beautiful. And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that.”
Peterson was barraged with attacks by people “white knighting” for Nu.
White knighting is when somebody jumps in, uninvited, to defend another person or group. Usually, it is a person with low self-esteem who feels an unwavering need to aid others who may or may not need it or want it. Being highly judgmental of others, the “white knight” usually leads an isolated personal life, surrounding themselves only with those who feed the knight’s desire to be seen as a savior. Incidents of white knighting are almost always simple virtue signaling and an attempt to draw attention to the knight, rather than the alleged “victim”.
If you look at most of the cause célèbres of the left, they all feature some form of white knighting.
From men participating in feminist rallies to whites making up large percentages of BLM marches, the knights are always present.
Psychologists have characterized traits of white knights, they:
Fear emotional distance
Are emotionally vulnerable and sensitive
Have a strong tendency to idealize the beneficiary of their actions
Have an extreme need to be viewed as important or unique
Tend to be very self-critical or reactively blame, devalue, and manipulate others
In short, their ardent defense of others is really evidence of weakness in themselves. It is a expression of extremely low self-esteem. The “knight” is driven by a fear of rejection and abandonment that comes from the belief that “knight” has no value outside of what they can do for the “victim”, whether that “victim” is a person or a group.
Beware of white knights riding to the rescue, especially if they are coming from the left.
Chances are they seriously mentally ill and are there for themselves, not for you.
Right on point - again. The gift you keep giving is not only Deeply, authentically accurate observations, and relating them to relevant issues, but also tying it all up neatly into truths that are instantly recognizable and increasingly difficult to find.
Thank you.
Your opening statement immediately reminded me of one of Reagan’s memorable quotes: “The most terrifying words in the English language are ‘We’re from the government, and we’re here to help.’ “
And, to distinguish truly altruistic souls who Do Care for and give generously to others from those who PRESUME to champion the cause of others - (with no actual cost or pain to themselves) - that “White Knight” syndrome is dead-on accurate, a form of mental illness that is looking like the Real epidemic.
Especially when there’s political capital to be extracted.
As for this part,
“ Instead of just firing her, they moved her to another beat and assigned an editor to review and approve all her work ….
…(The Post’s) move to babysit (Lorenz) instead of firing her suggests they know they have a problem…”
😄 I couldn’t help but see a parallel to the current incumbent. ~ Wait, make that So Many current incumbents, in high and low places.
“Failing Up”: The new creed.
And we’re all paying the price for this social experiment.
I think a lot of these people have no value. They know it. They are searching desperately for meaning.