Tag: Robert Bowers

The word “optics” was a reference to an internal debate in white nationalist politics that has been running since their murderous march on Charlottesville led to doxxings, arrests and other real-life consequences. Gab forced offline following anti-semitic posts by alleged Pittsburgh shooter Read more One the one hand, people such as Bowers advocated for an unapologetic embrace of the black-shirt role play that unmistakably marked Charlottesville out as a neo-Nazi gathering; the extremist ideology that underpinned the movement; and also the racist violence that is the only real endpoint of fascist politics. Those who dismiss the small numbers on the far right rarely consider how small the membership of modern political parties tends to be On podcasts and social media threads, white nationalists from this latter faction argued that young white nationalists should keep a low profile, stay in school and work, and carry out their political activism within established political institutions. James Allsup, who marched in Charlottesville with white nationalist group Identity Evropa, was elected as a committeeman for a local Republican branch in eastern Washington state. The plan — which is tactically sound — is to infiltrate moribund local parties in order to turn their relatively small numbers into outsized political leverage. This brings us to recent revelations in Australia about the “alt-right” infiltration of the NSW Young Nationals. According to the ABC’s Background Briefing report that first exposed this large-scale entryism, this was part of an explicit plan that exactly resembled the kind of strategy that James Allsup and others have been arguing for in the United States. When several of the members under investigation by the National party resigned last week , they did so with a letter crammed with alt-right talking points about “mass third world immigration” and innumerate fears about white Australians “becoming a minority in their own country”. This is the same strategy that has been advocated and implemented in the US. As conservative groups think these questions over, they should know the following: the strategy of “good optics” does not mean that the people carrying it out profess a moderate version of white nationalism.

Donald Trump will travel to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to mourn victims of the synagogue massacre, the White House press secretary has announced at a rare and acrimonious official briefing. He said the city did not have enough public safety officials “to provide enough protection at the funerals and to be able, at the same time, to draw attention away to a potential presidential visit”. The White House announcement also came despite an open letter to the president from the leaders of a Jewish group in Pittsburgh saying Trump was not welcome there until he publicly states opposition to white nationalism. Despite these factors, at a tense White House press briefing Sarah Sanders told reporters on Monday afternoon that the president intends to make the trip along with his wife, Melania Trump, to express the support of the American people and grieve with the local community. “The president cherishes the American Jewish community for everything it stands for and contributes to our country,” Sanders said. This was only the second one in October, whereas the president has been holding informal question and answer sessions regularly as he campaigns for the midterm elections. Asked why the president has been attacking the media instead of uniting the country, Sanders said testily: “The very first thing that the president did was condemn the attacks, both in Pittsburgh and in the pipe bombs. The very first thing the media did was blame the president and make him responsible for these ridiculous acts.” She added: “It’s outrageous that that would be the very first reaction of so many people across this country.” Cesar Sayoc is charged with federal crimes after being apprehended last week in the mail bomb plot against leading Democrats and cable TV company CNN, all of which have been targets of Trump’s rhetoric. Jim Acosta, the chief White House correspondent at CNN, asked Sanders if the term “enemy” should be reserved for people “who are actually the enemy of the United States rather than journalists”. The spokeswoman replied: “The president is not referencing all media, he’s talking about the growing amount of fake news that exists in the country, and the president’s calling that out.” Acosta asked Sanders which outlets she and Trump regard as enemies of the American people.