The Mythical Far-Right

 

Just a brief jumping-off point here. A Politico article begins with the following sentence-graph: “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists threw the party into chaos.” Well, I haven’t conducted a study of the thing, but informally, I cannot recall the last time I saw the supporters of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, ACORN, Organizing for Action, or any of the rest of that stuff referred to as “far-left activists” in an ostensibly balanced news outlet, especially when casually name-dropped as “tied to” a prominent figure on the left, such as a former president. Perhaps you can educate me, but I figured that likelihood of juice isn’t worth the squeeze, so I certainly did not bestir myself.

I don’t know what is going on in Nevada. Don’t care. Never heard of whomever it was mentioned in the article. I support the Trump guy. Hope he doesn’t suck.

You are allowed to support somebody without having to vouch for every blooming thing about him. As the left used to say of Clinton, “We’re voting for [office], not for [role in community].”

When you think “far-right,” please think of me. That’s what I tell my young relatives who are hypnotized by the left. And by the way, my young relatives are about evenly split between conservative politics and the other. Which is not bad, considering what Churchill (I guess) said about political positions of youth versus age.

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  1. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    That sentence is more loaded than a seven topping pizza.  In addition to “far right,” we have 1/6 dog whistle “insurgency” and the ever-popular yet sufficiently vague “with ties.”

    • #1
  2. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    As Glenn Reynolds likes to say (but I’m paraphrasing very loosely):

    If you think of the press as lying dog-faced pony soldiers, it all makes sense.

    • #2
  3. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan?  It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City. 

    • #3
  4. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Good catch, BDB.  I have to hand it to that Politico author.  That is a devilishly well-crafted lead, as a matter of rhetoric.

    I have one question.  Is Politico really considered ostensibly balanced?  I think of it as pretty far Left, though I rarely read anything at its site.  I don’t know what other people may think,

    • #4
  5. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that.  My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun.  No joke.

    • #5
  6. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    Sadly, I couldn’t find a video clip for Monty Python’s A. T. Hunalyzer.

    • #6
  7. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Some good stuff all through, but the relevant portion is at 16:44

     

    • #7
  8. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    I am surprised at the word ‘activist’ being spent on Republicans as it is generally used in a positive light. Until recently, a political activist was assumed to be liberal [good].

    While ‘far-right’ as a modifier clarifies how we are supposed to view these particular activists, It may also be that antifa and BLM have burned through enough of that positive light that the word is now dirty. 

    • #8
  9. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    BDB: You are allowed to support somebody without having to vouch for every blooming thing about him.  As the left used to say of Clinton, “we’re voting for [office], not for [role in community].”

    Only if you vote for an establishment appropriate candidate. Otherwise, you are a loon.

    • #9
  10. genferei Member
    genferei
    @genferei

    It appears that the “far-right activists” are the Proud Boys. The insurgent extremism consists in sanctioning the Secretary of State for failing to investigate voting irregularities and wanting more Republicans to be elected locally. I have no doubt there are grifters on both sides of the argument, but I found the most interesting passage to be:

    Earlier this year, Democrats in Washoe County, aided by national Democratic leaders, wrested control of the state’s midterm campaign operation away from the state party after a slate of Bernie Sanders allies endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America won control of it.

    • #10
  11. aardo vozz Member
    aardo vozz
    @aardovozz

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    So what’s your policy on Hun-control legislation? A one size fits all federal law, or should it be left to the states?🤔🤔🤔

    • #11
  12. DonG (CAGW is a hoax) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a hoax)
    @DonG

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”?     Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”.  Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad.  We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    • #12
  13. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    That pretty much is all we need to know.

    • #13
  14. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    aardo vozz (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    So what’s your policy on Hun-control legislation? A one size fits all federal law, or should it be left to the states?🤔🤔🤔

    I am more concerned about Han-controlled politicians.  

    • #14
  15. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    aardo vozz (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    So what’s your policy on Hun-control legislation? A one size fits all federal law, or should it be left to the states?🤔🤔🤔

    It is clear to me that the record should show that the Huns did not invade China despite what the Mouse says.

    • #15
  16. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    That pretty much is all we need to know.

    The far-left taint will be on me always, no matter how much I try to live it down.

    • #16
  17. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    DonG (CAGW is a hoax) (View Comment):

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”? Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”. Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad. We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    Whatever scare-quotes bogeyman term the left uses, they can use it on me.  I’m sure that none of them have definitions.

    • #17
  18. GLDIII Purveyor of Splendid Malpropisms Reagan
    GLDIII Purveyor of Splendid Malpropisms
    @GLDIII

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    Before or after his 4th birthday?

    You know, after he established a track record of re-ordering the domestic tranquility of the household

    • #18
  19. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    BDB: When you think “far-right,” please think of me.

    I say this all the time.  “I am about as far right a person as you are going to find.”

    “But Spin,” comes the refrain “I don’t always agree with you but you seem reasonable enough.”

    Yeah, exactly.

    “It is hard to hate up close.”  It’s all those other far right extremists out there.  Not the ones I know.  Just like it’s all those other far left extremists, not the ones I know.

    We are likelier much closer to each other, on balance, than social media and the ruling class would have us believe.  

    • #19
  20. Terry Mott Member
    Terry Mott
    @TerryMott

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    A friend borrowed my shotgun once to go duck hunting with Mike Huckabee.  He needed one that would shoot 3″ magnum shells, which his 1100 wouldn’t handle.

    A childhood friend married a woman whose first husband owns a barbecue place that catered BBQ for George W. Bush’s gubernatorial AND presidential inaugurations.

    I’m practically a member of the GOP Establishment!

    • #20
  21. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Terry Mott (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    A friend borrowed my shotgun once to go duck hunting with Mike Huckabee. He needed one that would shoot 3″ magnum shells, which his 1100 wouldn’t handle.

    A childhood friend married a woman whose first husband owns a barbecue place that catered BBQ for George W. Bush’s gubernatorial AND presidential inaugurations.

    I’m practically a member of the GOP Establishment!

    My wife’s paternal grandfather was a member of the KKK, until her grandmother cured of him that.  My paternal grandfather brewed his own alcohol in his basement.  A bunch of scofflaws…

    • #21
  22. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Spin (View Comment):
    “It is hard to hate up close.”  It’s all those other far right extremists out there.  Not the ones I know.  Just like it’s all those other far left extremists, not the ones I know.

    Yes and…

    I have relatives in the education mafia.  Sweet people.  But part of the problem.  

    • #22
  23. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Terry Mott (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    BDB: [quoting the hate media] “Republicans have been feuding for months in Nevada’s largest county after a pro-Donald Trump insurgency with ties to far-right activists

    Did you know that I have ties to Genghis Khan? It’s true. I attended an exhibit about him when it was being shown in Kansas City.

    I think that I can top that. My grandfather was actually named after Attila the Hun. No joke.

    A friend borrowed my shotgun once to go duck hunting with Mike Huckabee. He needed one that would shoot 3″ magnum shells, which his 1100 wouldn’t handle.

    A childhood friend married a woman whose first husband owns a barbecue place that catered BBQ for George W. Bush’s gubernatorial AND presidential inaugurations.

    I’m practically a member of the GOP Establishment!

    I was afraid that you were going to say you kissed a girl who kissed Bill Clinton.  Another near miss.  

    • #23
  24. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    DonG (CAGW is a hoax) (View Comment):

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”? Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”. Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad. We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    Interesting point – they have de facto control of language. 

    If they take all the words what are we left to fight with? 

    • #24
  25. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    TBA (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a hoax) (View Comment):

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”? Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”. Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad. We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    Interesting point – they have de facto control of language.

    If they take all the words what are we left to fight with?

    AR-15s are popular.

    • #25
  26. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    BDB (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a hoax) (View Comment):

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”? Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”. Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad. We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    Interesting point – they have de facto control of language.

    If they take all the words what are we left to fight with?

    AR-15s are popular.

    I do wonder how much not being heard, or its much darker cousin being silenced increases the likelihood of violence. 

    • #26
  27. Terry Mott Member
    Terry Mott
    @TerryMott

    TBA (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a hoax) (View Comment):

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”? Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”. Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad. We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    Interesting point – they have de facto control of language.

    If they take all the words what are we left to fight with?

    AR-15s are popular.

    I do wonder how much not being heard, or its much darker cousin being silenced increases the likelihood of violence.

    My totally scientific, peer-reviewed research indicates the answer is, “A lot.” Scientifically speaking.

    ETA: The problem with the modern American Left is that they seem to think they’re in the USSR or somewhere where the bourgeoise weren’t as well armed.  I truly fear where their hubris may take this country.

    • #27
  28. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Terry Mott (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a hoax) (View Comment):

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”? Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”. Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad. We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    Interesting point – they have de facto control of language.

    If they take all the words what are we left to fight with?

    AR-15s are popular.

    I do wonder how much not being heard, or its much darker cousin being silenced increases the likelihood of violence.

    My totally scientific, peer-reviewed research indicates the answer is, “A lot.” Scientifically speaking.

    ETA: The problem with the modern American Left is that they seem to think they’re in the USSR or somewhere where the bourgeoise weren’t as well unarmed. I truly fear where their hubris may take this country.

    Interestingly, it’s the Left that often uses “not being heard” or “being marginalized” as an excuse for violence. There was lots of justifications for the riots of 2020 that violence was necessary because it was the only path to being heard. 

    • #28
  29. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Terry Mott (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a hoax) (View Comment):

    BDB: When you think “far-right”, please think of me.

    Is “far right” defined as the opposite of “far left”? Steve Bannon once tried to create a new term for a populous right, which he called “alt right”. Then that tag got applied to some new-nazi and suddenly the term was bad. We should expect the Left to attempt to turn any widely used term for the Right as a slur.

    Interesting point – they have de facto control of language.

    If they take all the words what are we left to fight with?

    AR-15s are popular.

    I do wonder how much not being heard, or its much darker cousin being silenced increases the likelihood of violence.

    My totally scientific, peer-reviewed research indicates the answer is, “A lot.” Scientifically speaking.

    ETA: The problem with the modern American Left is that they seem to think they’re in the USSR or somewhere where the bourgeoise weren’t as well unarmed. I truly fear where their hubris may take this country.

    Interestingly, it’s the Left that often uses “not being heard” or “being marginalized” as an excuse for violence. There was lots of justifications for the riots of 2020 that violence was necessary because it was the only path to being heard.

    They think they’re not being “heard” if they just don’t get everything they think they want.

    • #29
  30. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Another example nymag.com, via roundabout sourcing:

    From Richmond to Virginia Beach, it is Democrats who are working to nationalize the campaign […] while right-wingers are trying to turn voters’ focus toward the hyper-local.

     

    • #30
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