the alt-right

(re subjects of that VF piece)

I liked max's piece on this: https://maxread.substack.com/p/four-questions-about-the-new-right?s=r

def sounds like an alt-right rebrand to me, lots of throughlines from the pre-alt-right to the alt-right to whatever this is.

I thought "Red Scare" was more dirtbag left? I've never heard it, but after doing some digging around about that pod, it kind of sounds like some of the new right and dirtbag left pods share from a common guest pool. All of these "thinkers" that seem to float around, go to conferences, do articles on each other, guest on each others podcasts, just seem like attention-seeking borderline grifters to me.

I think that speaks to why “grifter” isn’t the best term, as it suggests the person proffering the shit doesn’t truly believe it, but you can’t know that. Hell, plenty of people like start believing their own schtick if they indulge in it long enough, and it’s not really a grift if you have a true believes hawking slop to other true believers.

I think “hustle” is a better descriptor.

I’ve never listened but RS’s vibe always coded to me as try hard “transgressive” kill Whitey type hipsters, updated for the politics & soc media-sick postTrump era. like if they were 10 (15?) years older they’d have been posting dumb drug pics and talking abt giving herpes to Carlos D

Aren't they transgressives, or 'anti-establishment'?

I think the thing about 'grifting' is sort of misleading, if the aesthetic is what matters

Red Scare was never left in any way I can think of, the first and last ep I listened to was just about how Israel Does Nothing Wrong. They do run in some of the same circles as some of the leftist podcasters, and their original cause celebre was telling an Infowars reporter she has brain worms; of course they ended up posing for a photo op with Alex Jones.

Anyway yeah as others have said this "the right wing is cool now!" type of article has been doing the rounds since the alt right first started making headlines and its ability to shock me has faded somewhat, seems like the same niche of dorks every time.

Gavin McInnes’s allies are turning on him as it becomes increasingly clear the Proud Boys founder faked his “arrest.” https://t.co/kxNR5lEKpn

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) August 31, 2022

Guess this would go here?

I've been covering bad parts of the internet for long time now.

For years, there was one site extremist researchers warned me not to cover because publicizing it would be dangerous.

But it's time people know KiwiFarms—and how they're chasing political enemies around the world.

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) September 2, 2022

"Heil Josh the Cornlord"? What the fuck is the matter with these people?

he had to change his epithet from Josh the Cumlord

God that is horrible. How do you change these people? My day was going find until being reminded that this side of the world exists

My god what a nightmare. I heard of kiwifarms for the first time last year when one of the people they harassed got arrested and it was in the news. I’m no lawyer but I don’t understand why this can’t be shut down—it seems to exist only to facilitate harassment, which is a crime.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FbrhOpJWYAAS-_o.jpg

Fascinating to read what repugnant pond scum Graham Glinner Linehan thinks about KF

So basically Glinner wants to promote a largely Nazi website because it hates trans people as much as he does, but wishes it were a bit less obviously Nazi.

So I guess he has picked his side. pic.twitter.com/0L4uyIzfJ7

— Roz Kaveney (@RozKaveney) August 9, 2021

What the fuck is happening in that guy’s long ridiculous head..

he fucked up his life for this so it's all he has now

terfs have these moments of cognitive dissonance when they notice the people they're doing fashy shit with are fascists but it basically never* causes them to rethink their fascism... if anything they tend to become more comfortable expressing any formerly latent far right sympathies more generally (which is how terf shit has become one of the most effective right wing recruitment tools in recent years esp in britain)

*the few cases I've known of weren't celebrities and hadn't got to the point of making terf shit their entire lives yet- they just had too much trust in their peers and/or the media until something or someone changed their minds

I didn't know this but it explains *a lot* about my experience with the platform and a lot of other things too

I'm now reading an article about extremism on Twitter. Evidently, they do identify nazis on here, but it seems like there was an internal plan for attempting to deradicalize extremists through algorithmic content rather than banning them, which is...a deeply naive approach.

— Elizabeth May/Katrina Kendrick (@_ElizabethMay) September 4, 2022

"Very dangerous people"

The Penn State admin “bosiding” the mess created by having Proud Boys invited to speak at the school, in which by most credible accounts masked alt right thugs attacked non-violent (if vocal) protestors. NYT helpfully picks up the official narrative.

Why is NYT just regurgitating the university's lacking recount? Why did NYT ignore video of McInnes supporters showing up and pepper spraying peaceful but loud students and members of media?

How are we supposed to confront the far-right when power holds the door open for it? https://t.co/FFPkxw8VIg

— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) October 25, 2022

That is galling, especially because up here the PBs are an officially designated terrorist group: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-proud-boys-terrorists-1.5899186

they've been pulling this shit constantly, a large part of the creepy liberalism thread consists of people credulously repeating these liberal media laundered far right narratives

it shouldn't be a requirement for the students to have been "peaceful" but i guess highlighting it makes the nyt's mendacity more obvious in this case

yeah that thread is embarrassing. I thought about starting a "free speech and creeping fascism" thread to replace it a few years ago but realized I didn't actually feel like talking about it much

NEW YORK — An ex-FBI official who allegedly urged rioters to "kill" officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was previously the supervisory special agent in charge of Homegrown Violent Extremism for the FBI New York Field Office's Joint Terrorism Task Force, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/ex-fbi-agent-feds-say-urged-jan-6-rioters-kill-police-worked-terrorism-rcna82775

(Couldn’t remember if there was a more appropriate thread for this.)

A guy in charge of catfishing Muslim teenagers was a white nationalist? Color me surprised.

Yeah when I saw “homegrown violent extremism” my mind jumped to the Proud Boys but of course you’re right.


Where’s that Thread of Institutional Rot?

Speaking of those creeps…

After a trial that stretched nearly four months, four Proud Boys have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection to the insurrection of Jan. 6.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/proud-boys-verdict-seditious-conspiracy-jan6-1234723171/

I was very shocked to see nazis at my high school this weekend. Brookline has a large jewish population, I'm a little surprised these idiots were not confronted more aggressively.

Patriot Fronts cars are in BROOKLINE if anyone can get there. pic.twitter.com/61CjG4q5jX

— Lauren “Dumpster Fire” Pespisa (@SplendidSpoon) April 29, 2023

Wtf? At a high school no less?

Lmao someone posted the Proud Boys story thirty minutes after me in the US Politics thread as “Breaking news”. Why do I even bother. Anyway I appreciate you, Moodles.

🐦[Get a real job, Jagger … pic.twitter.com/qB6CLQ4wGt🕸
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) March 15, 2023🕸]🐦

Nick Fuentes got in a fight after being called a “cum hunter” for attempting to locate remnants his roommates ejaculate after discovering he had sex pic.twitter.com/STGWiXKvBw

— Right Wing Cope (@RightWingCope) May 11, 2023

🐦[Get a real job, Jagger … pic.twitter.com/qB6CLQ4wGt🕸
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) March 15, 2023🕸]🐦

Nick Fuentes got in a fight after being called a “cum hunter” for attempting to locate remnants his roommates ejaculate after discovering he had sex pic.twitter.com/STGWiXKvBw

— Right Wing Cope (@RightWingCope) May 11, 2023

Don’t know why zing put that first tweet in there

Got the moves like jagger
Got the cum like hunter
Got the jizz like fuentes

wait wut?

Fights like Joe Besser

Screw Musk on Twitter or Trump on CNN, that asshole clearly needs a weekly reality show/sitcom. Sitcon?

NEW @RichardHanania is a right-wing star. A @UTAustin scholar, his fans include JD Vance, Thiel, Musk, Sacks, Rufo. @HarperCollins will publish his book "The Origins of Woke"

HuffPost found he used a pseudonym for yrs to write for white supremacist sites https://t.co/NOPSmIc0vH

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) August 4, 2023

That pseudonym? John Barron.

In his own way he's just trying to emulate the journey from mafioso to licensed casino owner.

Oh, so that's why he was always wearing a hat

Seeking leniency at sentencing in seditious conspiracy case, defense asks judge to consider Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's detention.. arguing the "isolation has impacted his mental health.. he has seemed very anxious during recent jail visits or telephone conversations" pic.twitter.com/GO2OBKp4Yx

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 18, 2023

David Cross noooooooooo

I love how these tin soldiers go to pieces while incarcerated.

This fuckin country

“We have got 360 security right now, so we’re just covering all angles” Mike Dunn explained of the various positions taken up by militia members outside the education center, where ‘Boogaloo Boys’ gathered today in response to four individuals being charged with carrying a… pic.twitter.com/AdM5x7GpHI

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 20, 2023

something really disturbing is happening in this country, I genuinely feel government has broken down and we are near Mad Max conditions--why aren't these fuckin' guys disarmed and declared terrorist groups? The government can't even assert its own monopoly on violence. One bright spot is the vigorous prosecution of Jan 6 people, I have to admit.

the foundation of the monopoly on violence is white supremacy

Meanwhile, and, unfortunately, probably not totally unrelated, a bomb threat was called in to (checks notes) “all over Cook county’s highways and librarys." I don't know what to make of the highway part, but there are 73 libraries in Cook County. They closed all of our libraries today out of an abundance of caution, but clearly all it takes are a few seconds of assholery to essentially cause state-wide chaos.

yeah they've been pretty serious about the J6 stuff, which actually gives me hope that Trump might actually see jail time, for despite their built in political advantages and the fact that the police tend to be on their side it does seem like the criminal justice system takes this shit seriously