Posted on 08/25/2016 4:22:01 AM PDT by servo1969
Hillary Clinton is set to deliver an entire speech on Donald Trump’s scary connections to a phenomenon known as the “alt right.”
If you paid deep attention to the news during this election cycle, you might have heard the term in passing during some CNN and MSNBC segments. When used by journalists, it basically denotes online white supremacists who love Trump.
Last week, the alt right earned its most attention yet after Trump announced Breitbart News CEO Steve Bannon was joining his campaign as its new executive. Breitbart has gained a reputation among some journalists as a platform the alt right due to the way it covers immigration, Islam, crime and its promotion of internet provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
Yiannopoulos himself wrote an extensive piece explaining the alt right to Breitbart readers — which drew a large amount of outrage over the perception it painted a sympathetic picture of an extremist group.
Which brings us to the questions: What is this thing called the alt right? And why does the nominee of the Democratic Party think it is important enough to devote a major speech to it?
The alt right is an online movement opposed to political correctness, multiculturalism, feminism and mainstream conservatism. It’s primarily comprised of young white men. While a large portion of its adherents are white nationalists, not all of the folks tweeting out the hashtag are concerned with enforcing Aryan supremacy. The alt right is an umbrella term which includes multiple ideologies — everyone from anarcho-capitalists, neo-monarchists, American nationalists, men’s rights advocates, “identitarians,” and even out-and-out neo-Nazis all claim to be apart of the alt right.
The main activity of the alt right is trolling. The Google definition of trolling is to “make a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.” The alt right getting a speech from Hillary Clinton is a sign their trolling is working.
Where does the alt right come from? The term comes from “alternative right,” which was first formulated near the end of the Bush presidency to describe the anti-Bush Right. Ron Paul fans, paleoconservatives and anyone else who opposed the policies of the Bush administration — particularly the Iraq war — could be placed under this umbrella in the beginning. That was how it was described by future Rand Paul adviser Jack Hunter in a 2009 article urging for the movement to take a more libertarian turn.
Instead, it became more white nationalist. Alternative Right became the moniker of a web publication run by Richard Spencer in 2010, which emphasized the racialist elements of the burgeoning movement while shedding itself of its libertarian elements.
Spencer eventually ditched AlternativeRight.com to head up the white nationalist National Policy Institute and oversee the “identitarian” (essentially an ideology in favor of white identity politics) Radix Journal.
What eventually became the alt right as an online phenomenon brought together white nationalist publications, most of “Gamergate” (a movement centered around a very convoluted controversy in video gaming), 4chan’s /pol/, men’s rights activists and various trolls to support Trump and attack his opponents on Twitter.
Now there’s a few things to remember what the alt right is not. Contrary to CNN contributor Amanda Carpenter’s assertions, the alt right did not arise from the birther movement, which was primarily older and more connected to the fringes of conservatism. If there was any connection to a larger political phenomenon prior to Trump, it would be to Ron Paul’s recent presidential campaigns.
The alt right also does not encompass the so-called “Counter Jihad” movement, as asserted by Mother Jones. The mainstream anti-Islamists are very pro-Israel, tend to be older and are generally respectful of mainstream conservatism. The alt right, on the other hand, dabbles in anti-Semitism, veers younger and despises mainstream conservatism.
Breitbart isn’t necessarily alt right proper either, even though it has done much to popularize the movement’s ideas and memes.
With the prospect of political correctness and radical left-wing movements like Black Lives Matter only growing stronger in the near-future, backlashes against these developments become a greater possibility. These elements give the alt right a chance to live on past this election cycle.
And the single event that what will do the most to popularize its ideas and memes is Hillary’s Thursday speech. While the talk may do a little bit of damage to Trump, it would only legitimize an internet theme as a serious political force.
If one wants a taste of the world of “alt right”, go to the takimag site.
On the positive side, the articles are generally insightful (and sometimes inciteful), and often amusing; the authors are generally fearless and proudly dismissive of political correctness. The site is a bastion of free speech, and does little (if anything) to moderate comments to posted articles.
On the down side, that freedom attracts an odd crowd to the comments board. While the stable of authors (at least one of whom is Jewish) are mostly at least skeptical of the place Israel holds among US conservatives, a significant number of those who comment at the site are frankly anti-Semitic, and a similar number openly express white supremacist views. Those folks really have a disdain for neo-conservatives (whom they see as Jewish infiltrators) and “cuckservatives” (essentially squishes on the right).
There’s a fine line there - IMO authors like MciInness, Goad, and Shaidle spit in the eye of political correctness without crossing the line into outright craziness, but that’s not the case for lots of those who comment there - they provide a view into the scary side of “alt right”.
Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Classic Leftist Move.
hmmm funny, I fit in that description rather nicely. Didn’t even know it. lol
I have seen ZERO evidence of anti semetism.
BLM is definitely racist.
Black Activists Call for Lynching and Hanging of White People and Cops
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/08/28/black-activists-called-for-lynching-and-hanging-of-white-people-and-cops/
Black Lives Matter Leader Calls for Running Over, Shooting Police
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/07/caught-video-black-lives-matter-leader-calls-running-shooting-police/
BLM activist advocates white genocide at Harvard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-Cqkq6zWc
Milwaukee Rioters: ‘They Beatin’ Up Every White Person!’
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/08/14/milwaukee-riot-beating-every-white-person/
One must erect the straw man before tearing it down.
Folks, this is simply a replay of 2009 - Media jumped early trying to define Tea Party. They tried to paint us as negatively as possible of everything ‘hateful’ under the sun.
It sounds like a bunch of hokum to me. It is yet another hit piece against conservatives, nothing more.
Were all RINOs now?
That is a great list of characteristics of the Alt-Right.
It fits quite well with my conservative/libertarian world view!
Aren't her speeches limited to 15-20 minutes now? It seems like she can't stand unassisted for any longer than that.
(Unless she's suspended from the rafters like the Borg Queen.)
>>iannopoulos himself wrote an extensive piece explaining the alt right to Breitbart readers — which drew a large amount of outrage over the perception it painted a sympathetic picture of an extremist group.
Unless the group is planning or executing violent activity, “extremist” is merely an epithet used to marginalize their opinions.
I do not consider myself alt-right, but I have read Mencken, Spengler, Evola, Sam Francis, and many of the writers at Taki’s Mag such as Steve Sailer, John Derbyshire, and Jim Goad. Many of their viewpoints are within the mainstream of conservatism. There views on race and culture are not too different from what one might have read in National Review or Commentary in the 90s.
I think the alt right is the left overs of the Tea Party, Blacks wanting the American Dream for their Kids, those who have stayed home the last 3 elections, Blue Collar workers and women who want America safe again.
Nah she’ll be seated and propped up by pillows and Meth!
Yes, yes, yes. “Alt-Right” is just a re-branding of the archaic 1990’s Vast-Right-Wing-Conspiracy.
I was surprised to find how much of my world view it encompassed.
Rabbit trail.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.