#Right Wing Extremism

[shamebats]

Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.

This is such a wild story like holy shit dude

[usindistress]

They think "Trump is different" they think he's a "political outsider" and a "successful businessman". He is none of those things. He is just a conman bought and sold by the corporate elite, and not even a particularly gifted liar. His lies only work if you are VERY gullible, because they fall apart with very minor fact-checking. He's already admitted he can't do anything about the price of groceries, but SO MANY of his followers won't even notice the flipflopping or the betrayal.

[thashining]

......

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Spencer Sunshine at The New Republic:

Presidents don’t just wield power directly; they set the mood for the country. It’s not uncommon for their grassroots base to flourish under their administration, as the far right did during Donald Trump’s first term in office. It is less common, however, for that base to remain strong after defeat. But, defying the odds, the MAGA movement continued to flourish under Joe Biden. Now, with Trump returning to the White House, the far right grassroots is barreling into 2025 with plenty of momentum, while their leader both helps set their agenda while sustaining it by crowd-sourcing their conspiracies and lies for his own use.

Issues and Themes

The far right is currently animated by several themes, many of them interrelated. For several years, demonizing “DEI” (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) frameworks—which focus on identities, racial and otherwise—was an obsession. But the far right has gradually replaced DEI with “woke,” a vaguer and broader idea which can refer to the vast majority of left-leaning positions and be applied to any number of hot button, culture war topics.

The backlash over gender, sexuality, and reproductive rights continues, with trans issues front-and-center. After Roe v Wade was struck down in 2022, attacks on abortion rights increased. And when Trump was reelected, the slogan “Your Body, My Choice” spread like wildfire after being embraced by far right leaders like Nick Fuentes. Anti-immigrant rhetoric has also increased, particularly as Trump has promised to deport tens of millions. His racist vilification of immigrants was epitomized by his embrace of unfounded rumors that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio—who were, for what it’s worth, legal residents—were stealing and eating pets. Finally, completely discredited “race science” theories have returned, often focusing on bogus IQ studies. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has promoted them on his social media platform X, as has Trump, who has blamed violence by immigrants on “bad genes.”

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has different faces: the tax-cutting businessman, the international negotiator—and the authoritarian strongman. Sometimes he embraces different approaches at different times; mostly, though, he is everything at once: A demagogue and a xenophobe who is committing to cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy and who pitches himself as the only man who can keep the country—and the world—safe. Campaign promises have included setting up deportation camps for undocumented immigrants—in what he said would be a “bloody story”—and arresting critics and opponents including Kamala Harris, Mark Zuckerberg, and members of the January 6 House committee. Trump also said he’d consider banning vaccines and claims to have the power to halt congressional budget allocations.

His appointments have also been gifts to his far right base. The start of Trump’s first term was largely characterized by a raft of relatively moderate, establishment favorite picks, like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and chief of staff Reince Priebus. Now, the situation is quite different. Stalwart MAGA congressman Matt Gaetz was initially tapped to be attorney general until accusations of sex with underage girls quickly sunk him. Tulsi Gabbard, a sympathizer to dictatorships in Syria and Russia, was picked as his Director of National Intelligence. Arguably the most infamous selection was the appointment of Musk to a proposed advisory commission, DOGE (a reference to a dated internet meme, it stands for the “Department of Government Efficiency”). Musk himself has repeatedly tweeted support for anti-immigrant conspiracy theories and most recently for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far right party many consider crypto-Nazis.

The far right has two wings. One is openly white supremacist, and is vocally opposed to groups like people of color, Jews, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ people. The other is more moderate in its beliefs; people of color—themselves an increasing part of Trump’s base—are welcome, as are Jews. Both wings overlap in their hatred of “communism” (also a catch-all term for anything to the left of them), embrace of conspiracy theories, contempt for democracy, and desire for traditional social hierarchies.

The white supremacists and their moderate cousins often see-saw in popularity, one rising as the other falls. In recent years, the moderates have swung high. Moms for Liberty, which has focused on banning school library books—especially those with LGBTQ+ content but also ones with pro-diversity or antiracist messages—started 2024 with almost 300 chapters. But their influence has waned as the year went on. The notoriously violent Proud Boys, who played an important role in storming the Capitol four years ago, have faced even tougher times. With their leader Enrique Tarrio serving a twenty-two year sentence for his role in the assault on the Capitol, their scattered chapters now lack cohesion and focus.

One exception is the armed militia movement, which is having a mild revival. Hurt by a massive Facebook deplatforming in 2020, Tess Owen recently observed these groups “have been quietly reorganizing, ramping up recruitment and rhetoric” in recent months. Some groups hope to help Trump’s deportation scheme. Conversely, open white supremacists are doing quite well. Active Clubs—white supremacist MMA training gyms—are in full flourish, and have even expanded overseas. While they’ve had limited public activism, observers worry they could soon transform into a fully-fledged fighting force.

A new wave of swastika-waving neo-Nazis has emerged, too. The media-friendly Blood Tribe, who use striking aesthetics and a confrontational approach, were early promoters of the pet-eating rumor. A Columbus, Ohio march by their splinter group Hate Club 1488 grabbed so much attention that even President Biden denounced it. Blood Tribe was only one of three groups that descended on Nashville this year for public events. They were joined by the antisemitic Goyim Defense League, who spent two weeks harassing local residents, as well as Patriot Front, one of the largest U.S. fascist groups. All three groups represent a new, flourishing neo-Nazi movement—one that will likely continue to grow during Trump’s second term.

The New Republic reports on how Donald Trump is building an army of foot soldiers for his far-right agenda.

[queerism1969]

[usindistress]

I wish to join the Alliance to Destroy Elon Musk's Testicles with a Spinning Kick!

[stephen-barry]

[kenrakenokwaho]

Romania won, today, in the hybrid war launched by Russia during presidential elections. The Constitutional Court annulled the first round, and the process, which was vitiated from the very beginning, will be restarted from step one.

Everything after the president in office, Klaus Iohannis, listened to the people, and declassified all the documents about Călin Georgescu's Russian-supported campaign with shady financing and TikTok schemes.

The risk of having a pro-Russian president was too high to let things slide. We couldn't be another victim of Putin's meddling. The people who voted for Călin Georgescu scream that it's unfair, that their choice is being overlooked, but they forget that they aren't the majority. They are 2 million out of 19. Their self-proclaimed "Apostle" isn't what he says he is.

If the national institutions – having information on him from all the secret services – took CG seriously, we wouldn’t have reached this point.

The Sun will shine on us again!

[usindistress]

If Biden lifts one finger to aid Trump's transition (he has already objectively done more than that) He is making it smoother than Trump did when he incited an insurrection and then flounced off to Mar-a-lardo with no transition cooperation at all.

🖕

[agentfascinateur]

The Rafah coverup preparations:

Getting rid of the witnesses..."democratic" "allies", undemocratic accomplices.

[nando161mando]

And the few trans people that identify as and surround themselves with nazis and right wingers, typically are predators, and don't care about that because that is how their own "friends" see them as. And of course, they believe throwing everyone else to the Leopards to assure their own safety.

[blackflash9]

Beware Project 2025: A Disaster in the Making

This is Project 2025, and America's future hinges on the people's vote this November. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. WAKE UP AND GO VOTE PEOPLE!

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canada is in deep crisis. It’s unfashionable in centrist circles to say so, but it’s true. The country is literally on fire and facing extraordinary and growing threats from climate change. It is staring down rising extremism, creeping toxic polarization, and low trust. Wealth inequality is on the rise. Its federal system is showing cracks, particularly when it comes to the relationship between Alberta and the national government. Oligopolies and monopolies run wild, exploiting consumers.

There are plenty of other problems too. But of the lot, the confluence of a few major challenges scream, House of cards coming down! Those are the country’s housing crisis, consumer debt, and high — and potentially rising — interest rates. Taken together, they paint a picture of working people staring down lives they can’t afford in the day-to-day. This hellish scenario persists, no matter how hard people work, and no matter how rigidly they follow the rules of the game — rules they were told are fair and just.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[contemplatingoutlander]

Yoel Roth, PhD used to be in charge of the trust and safety team at Twitter. This is a must-read article to better understand how the far right is attacking anyone who wants to guard against disinformation being shared on social media. Consequently, the link above is a gift 🎁 link, so anyone can read the entire article, even if they do not subscribe to the NY Times.

Below are some excerpts:

When I worked at Twitter, I led the team that placed a fact-checking label on one of Donald Trump’s tweets for the first time. Following the violence of Jan. 6, I helped make the call to ban his account from Twitter altogether. Nothing prepared me for what would happen next. Backed by fans on social media, Mr. Trump publicly attacked me. Two years later, following his acquisition of Twitter and after I resigned my role as the company’s head of trust and safety, Elon Musk added fuel to the fire. I’ve lived with armed guards outside my home and have had to upend my family, go into hiding for months and repeatedly move. This isn’t a story I relish revisiting. But I’ve learned that what happened to me wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t just personal vindictiveness or “cancel culture.” It was a strategy — one that affects not just targeted individuals like me, but all of us, as it is rapidly changing what we see online. Private individuals — from academic researchers to employees of tech companies — are increasingly the targets of lawsuits, congressional hearings and vicious online attacks. These efforts, staged largely by the right, are having their desired effect: Universities are cutting back on efforts to quantify abusive and misleading information spreading online. Social media companies are shying away from making the kind of difficult decisions my team did when we intervened against Mr. Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Platforms had finally begun taking these risks seriously only after the 2016 election. Now, faced with the prospect of disproportionate attacks on their employees, companies seem increasingly reluctant to make controversial decisions, letting misinformation and abuse fester in order to avoid provoking public retaliation.

I encourage you to use the gift link above and read the entire article. It is worth your time.

[shutinthenutouse]