An American journalist, who writes for the Huffington Post, launched into an insane pro-North Korea tirade on Twitter–and refused to back down, even as he faced a wall of criticism from just about everyone.
The controversy started when journalist Dan Arel said he didn’t “claim any moral superiority of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, better known as North Korea]” because “by contrast, how is the US better?”
After Twitter users expressed their shock and began to point out that of course life just about anywhere on the planet is better than life in the most brutally-repressive regime on earth, Arel doubled-down, tweeting: “Tell me, how many DPRK citizens are homeless right now? How many lack healthcare? How many are in prison (per capita)? Now compare this to US numbers. I’ll wait.”
The blowback from Twitter users was fierce and severe, with virtually no one bothering to defend Arel’s ridiculous claims about life in the United States vs. life in North Korea–and many pointing out that North Koreans lack basic civil rights, access to food and electricity, and are routinely sent to Soviet-style gulags for thought crimes and even crimes committed by their family members.
But Arel still refused to back down, calling his critics “triggered conservatives,” and giving them a message: “f**k the US.” Arel added, “Things I didn’t think I would be doing today? Defending the DPRK against hyper white nationalists.”
After another Twitter user gave a thoughtful response about how most people taking offense weren’t necessarily conservatives, but rather people who believe in “common decency,” Arel hit back:
“‘Common decency’ in a country that lets 1 in 6 go hungry, imprisons an exponentially large numbers of it’s citizens, uses the 13th to continue slavery, especially against black Americans, allows million to go homeless, and does nothing to stop continued police brutality?” Arel asked.
He then added, “Whats most offensive is that liberals continue to defend the US when they act no different and claim moral superiority.”
Arel ended his diatribe by capitalizing on the attention he received–with a invitation for Twitter users to listen to his upcoming podcast.
Despite the outrage on social media, Arel’s screed will likely go unnoticed by the mainstream media–after many outlets were caught praising North Korea at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
