TL;DR
Get business pricing on office and shipping supplies
- Business-only prices and quantity discounts
- Tax-exempt purchasing
- Multiple users, one account, clear invoices
Noah Smith’s Noahpinion essay argues that President Donald Trump’s abandoned proposal to televise the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan revealed a gap between New Right politics and wider public attitudes. The supplied report says Trump canceled the livestream plan after polling showed opposition, but it does not provide the poll details or an official account of the proposal.
In a Noahpinion essay titled “Why are we ruled by barbarians?”, writer Noah Smith argues that a reported Trump administration plan to televise the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the convicted Fort Hood shooter, exposed a divide between the New Right’s political instincts and broader American opinion. Smith says President Donald Trump abandoned the livestream proposal after polling showed opposition; the supplied material does not include the poll or an official announcement documenting the plan and its cancellation.
Smith’s central example is the proposed public broadcast of Hasan’s execution by firing squad. Hasan was convicted for the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, and Smith writes that he deserves the death penalty while describing a firing squad as a relatively humane method. His objection is to making the execution a televised public spectacle. The report says Trump later declared the execution would not be livestreamed, following what Smith describes as poor polling.
The essay uses that episode to make a broader political argument: Smith says support for public executions has appeared in New Right rhetoric before, citing conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s past calls for them. He interprets the reported proposal not as an isolated controversy but as a sign of the movement’s values. These are Smith’s interpretation and characterization; the supplied material does not provide Kirk’s remarks or the polling data for independent review.
Smith also argues that Trump’s leadership may not define the movement’s future. He describes Trump as an unusually charismatic, corrupt and authoritarian figure, and says the New Right’s ideology could outlast him. The essay’s concern is that this movement may gain influence through factional politics even without Trump’s personal appeal. That is a forecast, not a confirmed political outcome.
The Debate Over Public Executions
The episode matters because it puts a question of state power and public spectacle into the political debate: should government carry out a death sentence as a nationally televised event? Smith separates the question of Hasan’s guilt and punishment from the question of broadcasting his death. His essay argues that the latter would normalize a form of punishment he regards as barbaric.
It also raises questions about how political movements relate to public opinion. Smith says opposition extended across social groups, with the exception of MAGA Republican men, and argues that the proposal was withdrawn in response to polling. Since the supplied account gives no survey figures, sample details or source, the scale and reliability of that opposition cannot be assessed here. The claim nevertheless forms the basis for Smith’s contrast between movement rhetoric and wider public attitudes.
For readers, the distinction is consequential: a leader’s decision to abandon a proposal does not establish that the underlying idea has disappeared. Smith warns that the ideology he associates with the New Right could persist beyond Trump. Whether that forecast proves accurate remains uncertain, but the essay frames the execution controversy as a test of which political ideas may shape future policy.
Products Worth Considering
Logitech MX Keys S Combo Wireless Keyboard and Mouse, Graphite
Logitech MX Creative Console with 9 Customizable Keys, Graphite
LG 34WR55QK-B 34-inch Curved UltraWide WQHD Monitor
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Smith’s Account of New Right Identity
Smith connects the execution proposal to his earlier writing on the New Right’s idea of “Western civilization.” In the excerpt provided, he says the movement defines that civilization through European racial descent, Christian heritage and reverence for those inheritances. He argues that the third element—veneration—is central, and that Christianity in this worldview functions more as a shared cultural boundary than as a measure of personal religious devotion.
Smith contrasts this outlook with earlier American right-wing currents. He says the Old Right of the early 20th century was often isolationist toward Europe and hostile to immigration from southern and eastern Europe, while the New Right sees the United States and Europe as belonging to one civilization. The report excerpt refers to remarks by Senator Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference but ends before giving their full wording, so it does not support a fuller account of that speech.
This background explains Smith’s argument that the New Right is not simply a continuation of older conservatism. It is his framework for interpreting the reported execution proposal as a political and cultural signal. The essay’s account of the movement’s beliefs is analysis by Smith, not a description confirmed by every person who identifies with the right.
““Something old and wild and blind at war with man and the works of man.””
— Noah Smith, quoting science-fiction writer Poul Anderson
Missing Details on the Proposal
The supplied report does not identify when the execution broadcast was proposed or canceled, who formally advanced the plan, or what legal and operational steps it would have required. It also provides no official statement from the administration, Hasan’s representatives, prison authorities or a court about the proposal. The account that Trump canceled the livestream after poor polling comes from Smith’s essay and is not accompanied here by a poll, figures or methodology.
The source excerpt ends partway through its discussion of Rubio’s Munich remarks. It therefore does not provide the full development of Smith’s argument, and it does not establish whether any separate plan for Hasan’s execution remains active. The distinction between a proposal to livestream an execution and the status or timing of the underlying death sentence is also not documented in the supplied material.
The Plan’s Status Needs Confirmation
The next step for readers seeking a fuller account is confirmation from official administration or corrections sources of whether a televised execution proposal was formally made, who authorized it and what action ended it. Any assessment of the reported public opposition would also require the original poll, including its date, sample, question wording and results.
Smith’s larger argument points toward future scrutiny of how New Right figures discuss state punishment and political identity, particularly if Trump leaves the movement’s leadership. The essay does not identify a specific upcoming policy decision or event that would test its forecast. For now, the reported cancellation and its political meaning remain as described by Smith, with key supporting details absent from the provided account.
Key Questions
What proposal is the essay about?
The essay discusses a reported Trump administration plan to televise by livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted in connection with the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. The supplied material does not document the proposal through an official announcement.
Was the execution livestream plan canceled?
Smith says Trump canceled the idea after polling showed opposition and declared that the execution would not be livestreamed. The provided report includes no poll data or independent official confirmation of the cancellation.
What does Smith mean by the New Right?
Smith uses the term for a political movement he says defines Western civilization through European descent, Christian heritage and reverence for those traditions. This is his analysis of the movement, not a claim that every conservative shares those views.
What remains unknown about the reported plan?
The source does not specify who formally proposed the broadcast, when it was considered, what legal process applied, or whether the death sentence itself has an active timetable. It also supplies no polling methodology or official documents.
Source: rss
