By Ted Belman (originally published on Dec 3, 2016)
This post started out as an email to my daughter who is part of the liberal intelligentsia and a regular reader of Haaretz. She was apoplectic at the thought that Jews, myself included, would support Trump and Bannon both of who are in some fashion connected to the alt-right.
Breitbart Editor Joel Pollak Insists They Have Nothing to Do With The Alt-Right, Calls NPR ‘Racist’ . This despite Bannon telling Mother Jones recently, “We’re a platform for the alt-right.”
“The only alt-right content we have is a single article, An Establishment Conservative’s Guide To The Alt-Right, out of tens of thousands of articles, which is a journalist article about the alt-right by Milo Yiannopoulos and Allum Bokhari,” Pollak claimed. “Which basically went into this movement and tried to figure out what it was all about. That’s not racist, it’s journalism.”
My daughter was particularly disturbed by it arguing that such an article should never have been published by Breitbart.
Haaretz just published the following articles:
After ‘Hail Trump’ scandal, alt-right leader tells Haaretz: Jews have place in my America
The Complete Glossary of the Trumpist Alt-right
‘Hail Trump’: Alt-right Nationalists Celebrate Trump Victory, Quote Nazi Propaganda
Haaretz has gone overboard on this and so have liberal Jews.
Liberal Jews believe that there is a troubling connection between Bannon and the alt-right and by extension between Trump and the alt-right. And I guess you might say, by extension, me.
I never knew about such a movement or connection to Breitbart until maybe two months ago. I know very little about it as I never see its platform in anything I read. That includes Breitbart who I read every day. I have full confidence in Joel Pollack who is the editor in chief and a Harvard law graduate from South Africa and who is married to a black woman. He is not of the alt-right in any way shape or form.
The complete glossary of the Trumpist alt-right provides much needed information on the one hand and misinformation on the other.
I object to calling the alt-right, “Trumpist alt-right” and to some paragraphs in it.
When referring to Bannon he writes “Some people describe his strategy as Leninist – fostering a revolution led by an avant-garde of highly idealistic professional revolutionaries, who will accelerate far-reaching social processes?”. He does not say what is wrong with “far-reaching social processes” nor does he say what they are so readers can judge.
As for Breitbart, he writes:
Breitbart.com: An ultranationalist right-wing news website, formerly edited by Steve Bannon, which combines misogyny, opposition to trade agreements, hostility to immigration and to foreigners, and opposition to abortion and gun restrictions. It endorsed Trump’s candidacy, and also supports Brexit, Israel (see below), Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders and the far-right movements of them and other European leaders. Ideologically close to the alt-right, in a more moderate form.
First of all “ultranationalist ” is meant as a pejorative but it is not defined.. Trump’s central theme was “Make America Great again” and “putting America first.” If this is what the author means by ultra-nationalist then I don’t see it as a pejorative although I would not call it “ultra-nationalist”. It is simply nationalist.
By suggesting it “combines misogyny, opposition to trade agreements, hostility to immigration and to foreigners, and opposition to abortion and gun restrictions.” it misrepresents Breitbart. I have never read a comment that would suggest misogyny. But it may have to do with a debate on a unisex world as opposed to a world made up of two different sexes.
Breitbart and Trump are not against trade agreements, just unfair trade agreements and trade agreements that in their opinion have sold America out. That’s a good thing. They are not against “immigration or foreigners”. They are only against illegal ones. They also want to restrict immigration to immigrants who love America and its values. As for being against abortion and (most) gun restrictions they are in good company. A majority of Americans agree with them on this and on their platform on illegals and immigration. It is for these reasons Trump won the election.
I am not defending the alt-right. I agree with all of Trump’s platform which is antithetical to the liberal view.
Essentially the liberal view is a universalist one where all people and cultures are equal. It denies the will of the people (democracy) in favour of an imposed ideology. It uses political correctness and intimidation to prevent the exercise of free speech. It denigrates anyone who rejects their ideology. It believes that liberals are morally superior for embracing this ideology.
The nationalists, including Trump and myself, reject this ideology. We believe in the nation first. Nations have no obligation to allow immigration and have every right to maintain its own values and culture. Nationalism, in the western mode, believes in equality for all its citizens. It does not hold that all cultures and religions are equal. Specifically it sees Islam as antithetical to its culture and thus rejects it. Muslims are only welcome if they want to embrace American values and reject Sharia and Jihad.
I put it to you that our differences are not differences in morality. What makes the values of the liberal left morally superior? Nothing, other than the fact that the left considers them so.
Better to talk of our differences as difference in ideology rather than in morality.
****
The Complete Glossary of the Trumpist Alt-right
From dark enlightenment to post-truth: the alt-right’s figures and terms,
Alt-right (the alternative right): A term that defines individuals with extreme right-wing ideologies and ideas that have been disseminated in recent years on the internet, mainly in the United States, and which deviate from the ideology of the traditional conservative right. Until recently, the trend received only marginal media attention, but in recent months its proponents have received increasing exposure. They are for the most part white males who propagate ideas of male supremacy and white supremacy, which are considered taboo in the mainstream media. Alt-right activists often use code words to express racist sentiments: for example, “Skypes” is used when referring to Jews, and “Googles” is the preferred euphemism for black people.
Most alt-right activists write under assumed names, mainly on forums such as 4chan and websites such as dailystormer.com. However, the ideas they espouse are also found on the breitbart.com website, which has been described by its chief executive, Steve Bannon, as “the platform for the alt-right.” During the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton linked Donald Trump to the movement. Recently, there have been complaints that the concept of alt-right is in itself misleading, and conceals a simple racist-fascist ideology.
Alpha male: A popular compliment in alt-right circles for dominant and patriarchal men like Trump; opposite of a beta male, who is effeminate, weak and emasculated.
Bannon, Steve: Trump’s intended presidential chief strategist, chief executive of Breitbart (although he went on a leave of absence when he took over management of the GOP candidate’s campaign) and sponsor of the alt-right. Some people describe his strategy as Leninist – fostering a revolution led by an avant-garde of highly idealistic professional revolutionaries, who will accelerate far-reaching social processes when power is in their hands (and now it is).
Beck, Glenn: A conservative, Christian radio broadcaster affiliated with America’s Tea Party movement. Beck is opposed to the alt-right, which he describes as European and anti-American, and to Trump, whom he has compared to Adolf Hitler. Also warns against Alexander Dugin on the New Right. In February, he promised that if Trump came to power, he would move to Israel. Considered by members of the alt-right to be “cuckservative” (see below).
Breitbart.com: An ultranationalist right-wing news website, formerly edited by Steve Bannon, which combines misogyny, opposition to trade agreements, hostility to immigration and to foreigners, and opposition to abortion and gun restrictions. It endorsed Trump’s candidacy, and also supports Brexit, Israel (see below), Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders and the far-right movements of them and other European leaders. Ideologically close to the alt-right, in a more moderate form.
Cuck, cuckservative: A racist-sexist expression of contempt for old-school conservatives who oppose Trump and the ideology of the alt-right. Such conservatives are portrayed as castrated beta males.
Dark Enlightenment: An ideological movement that serves as an intellectual vehicle for many alt-right writers. Milo Yiannopoulos (see below) claims that “there are many things that separate the alternative right from old-school racist skinheads, but one thing stands out above all else: intelligence. Skinheads, by and large, are low-information, low-IQ thugs driven by the thrill of violence and tribal hatred. The alternative right are a much smarter group of people – which perhaps suggests why the Left hates them so much. They’re dangerously bright.”
The pioneers of Dark Enlightenment are nihilist philosophers such as Englishman Nick Land, libertarians and technological utopians. It is a kind of religion of misogynist geeks who toy with anti-humanist and anti-democratic ideas, whose principal argument is that liberty and democracy cannot coexist, and therefore democracy should be sacrificed. They reject what they call “The Cathedral,” their term for the contemporary gospel of liberalism and political correctness.
Dugin, Alexander: A Russian intellectual with close ties to the Kremlin. Promotes imperialist Eurasianism, which aims to destroy the decadent West by means of an anti-democratic, Asian cultural-political model, centered in Russia. He has been influenced by ideas of the “conservative revolution” and by the philosophy of Oswald Spengler, which was popular in Germany in the first half of the 20th century. Opposes the ideas of progress and liberalism in favor of ancient tradition originating in the East, and considers the idea of a democratic Russia as pseudomorphosis (see below). Although he has advocated a confrontation with the democratic Order of Atlantic, centered in the United States, he is often quoted on alt-right websites and encourages Trump-style American isolationism.
Gamergate: A protest movement of misogynist gamers (that is, video-game players), which erupted in August 2014. It flourished on the forum site 8chan, and on Breitbart. The protest was directed against feminists who criticized male dominance in the gaming world. Was seen as a formative event of the new geek right, exemplifying a mix of geeky machoism and chauvinist violence.
Hipster right: Breitbart’s term for the young European identity movement, exemplified by educated and with-it young people who oppose German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policy and protest against the “self-hatred” of multiculturalism. Influenced by ideas of Frenchman Alain De Benouit’s New Right.
Human biodiversity: A racist expression commonly used in alt-right forums to describe the phenomenon of significant genetic differences among the various human “tribes.” It assumes that the “white tribe” can and must maintain itself and its lands, and prevent intermingling with other tribes such as black or Jews. This is the basis for hostility toward multiculturalism and immigration, which its purveyors perceive as “white genocide.”
Israel: A country in the Middle East that is described as “Judeo-democratic.” Many members of the alt-right support Israel because it is a frontline position in the war against Islam.
Neoreaction, NRx: An ideological movement that more or less overlaps Dark Enlightenment. To be distinguished from the old neoconservativism that flourished in the days of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, which the alt-right dubs “cuckservative.”
New Balance: A popular brand of sports shoes that was recently declared by the alt-right as the “official shoe of white people” This happened after the company’s spokesman expressed enthusiasm about Trump’s election, due to the opposition of the president-elect to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
Pepe the Frog: A cartoon character that has become a popular meme, and in the past year has been identified with white ultranationalism and with Donald Trump. The Anti-Defamation League officially designated it a “hate symbol”; Clinton’s campaign also attacked the frog, provoking derision from Trump supporters. Pepe illustrates the clownish nature of the new far right. As Israeli intellectual and Trump supporter Elad Pressman, editor of the website conspil.com, explained, “If the discourse of Hillary’s campaign is as strict as the Church regarding purity of language and preaching Christian morality, Trump’s campaign is seen as more emotional, dynamic and amorphous, and in effect is lighter, laughs more and is not as heavy.”
Pseudomorphosis: A term coined by German philosopher Oswald Spengler, author of “The Decline of the West,” published in 1918. It signifies a cultural disease that causes a young and vital culture to adopt the thinking modes of a foreign and dying one, thereby leading to pretense and hypocrisy. Popular with Dugin and neoreactionary philosophers, who claim that millennials have to free themselves from the liberal culture of the declining Baby Boomer generation.
Post-truth: A characteristic of the political culture of the Trump era, in which facts are of no importance in the shaping of public opinion. Several alt-right spokesmen, including Yiannopoulos, advocate such politics. The term was chosen by the Oxford Dictionaries as the word of the year for 2016.
Putin, Vladimir: President of Russia. Very popular among spokesmen of the extreme right in the West, as “the great godfather of extreme nationalism” in our time. Those who believe in white supremacy claim that the United States must hold off from waging the cold war against Russia that began during the term of President Barack Obama, and to ally itself with the “great white power” headed by Putin.
Excerpts from Richard Spencer’s speech, as published by The Atlantic. The Atlantic, YouTube
Spencer, Richard: One of the prominent spokespeople of the alt-right, editor of the alternative-right.blogspot.com website. Promotes identity politics, white supremacy, and anti-bourgeois and anti-liberal “heroism.” He claims he is not interested in restoring slavery, but rather in establishing an “ethnic state” for whites only. He claims that women are attracted to alt-right men out of an evolutionary admiration for the genes of alpha males. Does not oppose the activity of Jews, or gays, on the periphery of the movement – as long as they identify with “white European culture.” However, he stresses that “Jews aren’t white.” He and his wife, who uses the pen-name Nina Byzantina, distribute English translations of the works of Alexander Dugin. With Trump’s victory, he sees the alt-right as the leaders of public opinion in the new America. At a convention of the movement this week he gave the Nazi salute and shouted “Hail Trump! Hail victory!”
Strauss, Botho: A German writer and playwright. Began his career as an avant-garde playwright in Berlin, but since the 1990s has expressed conservative opinions considered taboo among the German public. One of the popular figures in the “identity right.” A year ago, he claimed that the wave of immigration signifies “the end of the history of the German spirit,” and declared that he prefers to see German society die out than for it to become intermingled with foreign peoples. However, he says that if the Germans become a minority they will rediscover their authentic identity.
Swift, Taylor: An American singer who was involuntarily named the poster girl of the alt-right, mainly thanks to her “Aryan appearance” (blond hair and blue eyes). Appears in innumerable, half-joking memes, accompanied by anti-Semitic and Nazi statements.
Trolls: A common term for users of social networks, discussion groups and websites who deliberately provoke anger and arouse antagonism. Many members of the alt-right act as trolls – that is, their strategy is not to commit to being serious, and to present every provocative claim as though it was designed to arouse debate and embody freedom of expression.
Milo Yiannopoulos.Richard Saker, REX/Shutterstock
Yiannopoulos, Milo: A British journalist and editor at Breitbart, one of the more eccentric spokesmen of the alt-right, identified with the right-wing gay movement Twinks 4 Trump. Describes himself as a violent homosexual and as a fundamentalist of freedom of expression; expresses anti-feminist and anti-Islamist views. Voices provocative ideas in lectures and speeches with deeply macabre and disturbing undertones. For example, he has hinted at a sexual attraction for Trump, whom he calls Daddy. Although he claims to be of partly Jewish descent, he also says that anti-Semitic caricatures are legitimate if used jokingly by free-spirited young people, which is meant to shock the adults, similar to “long hair and rock ‘n’ roll” in previous eras.
I also read Breitbard and it is very pro Israel. For US Publications only a few others are as pro Israel. It is pro Zionism. I just heard speech Bannon gave a few years ago and was very impressed with his depth of knowledge on several topics.
Painting this people at Breitbart as anything other than conservative is wrong. This is with the exception of this person Milos who is extremist to the max. You have to read him to see. I guess I would call him a queer racist literally.
Ted , I sympathize with U!
I know only two countries that really want peace: India & Israel.
All good stuff Bernard.
Most interesting to me is how Israeli Jews have projected their emotional needs onto the institutional enemies of Jews. the Jews want peace and assume everyone does, the jews will pay their patrimony for peace and assume that everyone will, the jews respect others and assume that everyone does,the jews have institutionalized decent moral values into their creeds and assume everyone has, the jews ignore violent and intolerant segments of their creed and assume everyone does, the jews are humble in victory and assume others are too, the Jews are generous in victory and assume everyone else is too, the jews see the weakness in others as humility whereas the other sees the jews humility as weakness….. the Jews are delusional and assume everyone else is too.
LOL, the real anti semites have really suckered the Jews. they got the Jews to focus on phantoms of labels and chat and to ignore the 8 years of skyrocketing anti semitism which is coming from the core of voters of the dem party.. leftists and muslims. No alt right mobs knocking out jews in knockout games, no neo nazi intrusions on meetings and speeches of jews and Israelis, no neo nazi voting of the GOP to ostracize and demonize Israel calling Jews in Judea Samaria illegitimate or illegal. Every single on of the real factual anti semitic, anti zionist and anti Israel skyrocketing attacks come from one source…. the supporters of the dem party the core of which is driven by an alliance of leftist and muslim anti semites who sometimes masquerade as anti zionists. The increasing base and core of the dem party are a coalition of leftists and muslims while Jews are being marginalized. they play along with the fool jews suckering them, like schuman and sanders into supporting them for leadership.
Jews need to wake up and see how they are being played as “useful idiots” because those playing them understand the liberal bent of Jews due to history. How have Jews rationalized their support of a creed who teaches their children that Jews are sons of apes and pigs… and acts it out in modern times?
the issues are not ideological.. ideology is the red herring and obfuscating cloud which covers up that these political battles are about ONLY power and money…. ideology is what gets the suckers: If you agree with part of my “ideology” you will likely then buy all my propaganda about every other issue. Folks who think ideology obtains at the top of the power pyramids should observe how the GOP covered up for the obama BC and then got ALL their important non ideologial money and power bills passed by Obama: TPP, HB1 and immigration cheap labor,etc. Horse trading giving fools beads for manhattan in exchange for the meat that no one notices. LOL, did folks really beleive that the GOP bush establishment were concerned about ideology in opposing Trump, same with Murdoch? At the political top both the winners and the losers continue to feed on the trough and collaborate to get through, surreptitiously, the important stuff that dummies hardly notice until trump arrived.
I read Breitbart serially and daily.. in all my readings for years I have not encountered anti semitism from the site. there have been anti semitic comments but I read more anti semitic comments on Jpost and Haaretz. Furthermore, due to all the false flag leftist propaganda about trump, I beleive, that it is leftist trolls pretending to be neo nazi who are making most of those posts. They skyrocketed when it was revealed that hillary was employing trolls for the internet.
I have read the articles on Bannon and found them to be as ludicrous and intentionally libelous as those were that attempted to paint trump as an anti semite and nazi. the anti trump leftist camp… just like in Israel… use labels to spread lies: nazi, anti semite,white supremacist, white nationalist… all labels designed to manipulate idiots and lazy low information people. Those who publish this trash are well aware of the efficacy of those tactics and techniques. The easiest way to get a fool jew on your side is to call someone a nazi, a white supramacist, a white nationalist…. then you can just sit back like the dem party and snicker while you commit daily anti semitism against Jewish children and Israel and the fool Jews are instead looking at your red herring labels…. duh??????
Trump and Bannon are not anti semites, anti Israel, racists, white supramacists or white nationalists and the continuing effort to intentionally slander them with lies should wake intelligent people up from their comas…. especially Jews.
Haaretz is the greatest propaganda outlet wrt Israel upon whom all the foreign news oulets rely for their “false news”. The complete image of the Jew zionist, apartheid, child killer, land stealer originates with haaretz and the Israeli Jews who write for it, read it and support it. Wnenever a foreign news service publishes info and opinion on Israel they almost always cite Haaretz, or Haaretz contributors, as the source of their “news” and opinions. this is convenient because they know that Haaretz can be relied upon for a steady stream of blood libels on Israel and the Jewish people.
There are no neo nazi mobs roaming the streets in gangs attacking jews on the streets, in schools, on college campuses, at meetings…. ALL the anti semitic attacks on Jews and jewish children are from the leftists and muslims who support the dem party. Unsurprisingly the dem party, whose prime funder Soros also funds the BLM rioters and cop killer inciters, is the same party whose base is chock full of anti semitic, anti zionist and anti Israel leftists, muslims and blacks. Hence the leftist dem party propagates the “doublespeak” that it is the right, trump, bannon etc who are the nazis and attackers of jews. Low information Jews who are basically parrots who repeat whatever they are told, without checking, support and fund the elements most dangerous to Jews.
All of the meetings, talks, campus attacks are from dem party supporters… no alt right mobs, no neo nazis attacking jewish meetings… every single last one of them are leftists and muslims who are supporters of the dem party. You would think a Jew would have a clue when observing these facts. Why would I take news or opinion from those who are obvious proven ant zionists and anti semites… such sources must by their nature be tainted. Its like listening to a nazi calling a zionist a nazi. Furthermore, the anti semitic vandalism and muslim islamaphobia have often been exposed as hoaxes and false flags, commited unsurprisingly by the same leftists and muslims.
IMO Haarets, its owners, editors, writers and contributors are directly responsible for the anti semitic attacks and murders of diaspora Jewish children AND for the attacks on Jews by muslims in Israel. In both these instances none of the attackers have claimed any alt right or neo nazi motive for their slayings and abuse… what they claim as the reason for murdering jews are the same canards printed serially by Haaretz. Jewish, zionist, Israeli theft of muslim land, jewish killing of muslim children, jewish abuse of muslims….. it is my view that those related to Haaretz are responsible for murder, the murder of Jewish children. All who read and support Haaretz are funding and giving support to the role that Haaretz plays in spreading blood libels against Jews globally. It is like buying and reading Der Sturmer and supporting the nazi propaganda machine.
In order to manipulate Jews into self hate Haaretz focuses on muslim victim stories… the same propaganda technique and tactic is used in the USA in the media to manipulate folks into weeping for immigrants and innocent muslims and into forgetting about themselves. No rocket science here, its a known propaganda tactic. When bringing up the reasons for banning muslim immigration until we can figure it out we get the sob stories of what about them, what about their children… forget about your children, think of their children…. you know the children they teach that “Jews are sons of apes and pigs” who grow up to murder jews and other infidels.
@ Pinchas Baram:
Now all the more surprising is that she is Shomrai Shabbat and kosher.
sorry to read that your own daughter is on the other side of the ideological divide, Ted. it’s a common phenomenon today– and it’s frightful and more serious than most past disagreements among Jews. And that’s because the divisions are deep and full of angry emotions– lending credence to the old expression that if united we will stand, but if divided– WE WILL FALL.
The left is still impregnated with Alinsky fanaticism!