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The Fall of Michelle Malkin
At an alt-right conference running counter to CPAC, called AFPAC, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin fell further down the rabbit-hole:
.@michellemalkin on "anti-Semitism" pic.twitter.com/oFNMhVqLFj
— Zoomer Clips (@ZoomerClips) February 29, 2020
In this short clip Malkin engages in not just Holocaust denial, but also indiscriminately throws around charges of dual loyalty. It’s part of a trend for Malkin, who also endorsed anti-Semite Paul Nehlen in his contest against Rep. Paul Ryan.
In her opening remarks, Malkin referred to herself as the “Mommy” of the group and thanked the “Groypers,” the alt-right group hosting her, for pushing back against mainstream conservatives.
Today, the ConInc gatekeepers will welcome this lying asshole doxxer who does Antifa & SPLC’s dirty work back to @cpac. All the young culture warriors at @TPUSA & @yaf sit on their hands. Thank you, Groypers, for fighting back & hounding this toxic little menace! #AmericaFirst https://t.co/guZ3oCBmqF
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) February 29, 2020
It’s hard to overstate Malkin’s influence in the conservative media ecosystem; she is the founder of HotAir, Twitchy, and was a mentor to many up-and-comers over the course of her time at the helm of both.
Really embarrassing for anyone who continues to defend her and has refused to recognize she appeals almost exclusively to bigots now.
Hard for anyone on the right to complain about Omar, Tlaib etc. if we don't call this out.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) March 2, 2020
And because of Malkin’s influence, we (as a conservative movement) need to self-reflect about how reflective Malkin’s views are of our movement as a whole. Has Malkin always questioned the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust? Has Malkin always considered Jews to be agents of the Israeli government? How mainstream are the views she’s professing now in the conservative movement? They are uncomfortable questions, but ones we need to be asking as we continue to (rightly) call out the anti-Semitism on the Left with Omar, Tlaib, etc.
Published in General
So your answer is that this is forever off limits to joke about? Not only that, erring in breaking the no-joke rule gets you branded a Holocaust Denier even if you don’t actually deny the Holocaust. No thought or exchange required, just reflex.
Well, that’s the kind of thing that really gets my contrarian and screw-you impulse going.
I don’t find denying the Holocaust as a joke in good taste, to each their own at this point. I also don’t think he is making a joke here. I have stated my reasons why, based on his own words. As I said, he is propagating Holocaust denial in this clip. Nothing really funny about it to me.
If I was in the company of someone who decided to use the language he used and behave the way he did, thinking they were being funny, I would have a lot of questions and a lot of recommended reading. Conversation would be totally necessary.
You’ll need a little more evidence on that, cuz so far, thats exactly who they sound like. And some posters are finally admitting it. Or am I supposed to be dazzled by their oh so patriotic name and not dare say the reality of what they’re about?
But you are speaking to it – you’re assuming one particular characterization. And which behavior are you referring to – I thought we were talking about words?
You’re also using different terms as if they were interchangeable. A joke about the Holocaust is not inherently Holocaust Denial. It very well could be, but it could be other things besides. You don’t seem to care to find out or even to acknowledge such a distinction. Ok, you’re not obligated to. I probably share your side-eye view of these three, but but that doesn’t justify a reflex and then a smear by association based on that reflex.
Maybe they are doing it wrong. That doesn’t make them racists or antisemites.
Agreed
Ok, we’re going in circles. Good luck
He is talking about the Holocaust using Holocaust denial arguments and tropes, all while laughing and smiling. I don’t think he is making a joke here just because of his chosen demeanor. I think H0locaust jokes are inappropriate no matter how you would like to phrase it. But that is not what he is doing in this instance.
I judge Michelle Malkin based on her words at AFPAC that obliquely reference Holocaust denial.
Agreed. Good luck to you too!
So you think the Jews are all about racial purity and you think there’s nothing wrong with that?
Not really. If Christianity was a tiny , all white religion that was constantly subject to oppression in every country, then I’d want to live in a Christian state too. But luckily, thats not even close to the case. That said, my question remains…..whats the benefits of living in a pure white country for me, given that whites are the least Christian race?
When I was growing up, one thing that I laughed at and came to dislike among liberals was a mealy-mouthed inability to see things like a normal human being. They’d see dead bodies in the street and cluck their tongues. “Gosh, the people who did this really need some help”. They’d see rapists and say, “But how can we understand and combat this way of thinking if we just lock these people away, without a chance to access their unique insights?” Like the sarcastic gang members in “West Side Story”s Officer Krupke song, there was always another excuse.
Now, we’re doing it on the Right. It’s just as disagreeable here.
I judge Nick Fuentes to be antisemitic scum based on his words. I don’t go looking for ways to explain that his humorless “jokes” are actually his precious thoughts, or that his hate is constitutionally protected. A lot of things I rightly despise are constitutionally protected. It doesn’t make them right; only legal. No, Fuentes isn’t a “young seeker” of “forbidden truth”; he’s just antifa scum. I am not going to make a project out of looking up more of his moronic yappy crap about the Jews just to satisfy some threadster’s homework assignment, any more than I’d waste time studying the mindset and inner thoughts of a black antifa rioter promising to kill me.
Antifa is scum. But to some on this thread, it’s okay if it comes in the vanilla flavor instead of chocolate. Go ahead and reach for all the far-fetched excuses you wish.
You are assuming the argument is about a pure white country.
I didn’t say that. Patrick Casey didn’t say that. The dissident right didn’t say that.
You drew that conclusion based on my saying we want what Jews have.
By claiming that’s racial purity, you must think the Jews promote racial purity and since you are defending them from the spectre of anti-Semitism, you must think that’s ok for them.
I’m sorry but screw you on this one Gary. Name names and give quotes or go to hell. No one is being mealy mouthed here. Not the OP, VS, Stina, me, or anyone else. There’s been some strong claims made and discussed. Try engaging instead of sniping once everyone leaves.
You know, when I was growing up one thing that I laughed at and came to dislike among liberals was their slavishness to their own emotions and their unshakable conviction that they defined “normal” and “good”. Anything outside was necessarily not just wrong but either evil or stupid. It’s just as disagreeable when you do it.
This is where I start to get in trouble with this stuff. I don’t know anything about these groups. So when I hear America First my first thought is well yeah. Our policies and actions should first be looking to benefit our country and then look to how we can help the World.
Obama stated that he believed in American Exceptionalism just like the Brits or Greeks believed in their own nations exceptionalism, that is kind of how I look at this. I assume that most/all countries our look to their own people first.
There is not a racial component in this to me. We should be looking our citizens first, regardless of their race.
Most of the push back on this piece is kind of good. It mainly stems from the fact that we do not know who these people are. If they are truly awful then it is good I don’t know them. That said, some of this needs fleshing out. Too often it has been claimed that Republican= defacto racist or Trump voter= defacto White Nationalist. We don’t know these people and don’t accept being told anyone is racist. We need to be shown.
This in no way means there aren’t racists, or that these groups aren’t racist. It just requires more proof then claiming them to be racist.
For what it’s worth I found the link to Nick Fuetnes video to be disturbing and not what I want to associate with.
America first is a concept. America First seems to be this conference. rgbact is often loose with terms to serve his narrative, and he’s conveniently conflating all of it in order to… whatever it is he’s trying to do.
Moderator’s Note
Okay, this thread is beginning to deteriorate into personal attacks. Let’s put a stop to this and act like adults.
You’re the one that mentioned “ethnostate” and white Americans before. Casey is head of Identity Europa. They have a real agenda. Are you denying it? And yes, I’ve already admitted Israel’s “purity”. Now address my question I’ve asked repeatedly.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/white-nationalist-leader-plotting-take-over-gop-n920826
I don’t expect you to do a homework assignment. I do expect anyone to back up their claims.
White Nationalist and Anti-Semite are kind of name calling to a lot of us. We have been called these things simply for being Republican or voting for Trump. As such they are exceptional claims. I don’t think they require exceptional proof, but they do require some proof. I am not suggesting that there are not racists or anti-semites nor am I defending the clip of Fuentes that was linked here.
It is not you that should have done the “homework” it is the author of the original piece.
More properly formatted it should have been, Malkin gave a speech to a bad group (insert some level of proof the group is bad), with fellow speakers who are bad people ( insert some level of proof that the fellow speakers are bad people). In this speech she said bad things.
It was a short cut to assume that most people follow twitter, or know who these people are. I also did not know that there was an alternative to youtube where Fuentes stuff can be found. Not going looking but there was just a lot that I did not know, and I think a lot of people didn’t know, that was glossed over.
I know nothing of Fuentes except he was a quick flash in the pan and got banned from YouTube just as he was gaining momentum. What called my attention to him was the Groypers questioning TPUSA. I listened to the questions (maybe not all) and found the ones I heard to be reasonable and Kirk very cringy in response. Canceling the questioning looked more like protecting a weak Kirk than anything else.
I have spent the last few hours listening to Patrick Casey interviews and speeches that aren’t easy to find thanks to… YouTube. Who didn’t see that coming?
He is boilerplate exactly what he claims to be in a Shield & Wren interview (not someone you should know, just a reference to make the interview easier to find). There’s a lot the right disagrees with in his views, but nothing we haven’t hashed out on Ricochet. There is no anti-semitism.
I may put some time into deep diving on these guys and providing information links so people can be educated about who they are smearing. In the case of Malkin and Casey, I’m not impressed by the use of the slur.
‘Jew’ is a religious creed(s), a race, a sort of birthright condition, and a secular identity – and a national population. I suppose one can be anti-Semitic toward all of the above, but the implications are different in each case. Regardless, the Constitution only properly covers the first two categories.
Yeah this comes back to the original thrust of this piece. I simply start from the premise that a minority woman married to a Jewish guy is not an anti-Semitic, white nationalist. I read/hear her speech through that prism. Regardless of the audience or the other speakers, I can not accept that Malkin is working toward a society for white people that would exclude her, her husband and her children, nor that she somehow hates her husband and feels that as Jew he is working against her country and for Israel.
Well, only in countries that are still de facto occupied or colonised. For most countries, not any more.
Wish I’d read further before my previous post. I didn’t reference Prager because I didn’t want to misrepresent him through poor memory.
So why do you use their language?
???
Had Malkin picked a low number I might be with you and @bethanymandel.
I agree with this. Nowhere in my comments do I call Malkin an anti-semite. I sure do say that about Fuentes. My original comment was I am very disappointed in her, a writer I used to admire.
The term “associates” is vague and often misused, as when hacks claim that Trump “associated” with Jeffrey Epstein. No, it would be unfair to turn against Malkin for merely being in the same room as someone at some time. But being on the same stage, that’s different. She’s lending them her once-good name. This wasn’t some cocktail party. Malkin knew who these people are. She deserves blame for going ahead with it anyway. This isn’t the person i used to read in 2008, that’s for sure.
Yeah, the OP would have been much better off using the formulation you suggest, which wouldn’t have been as sensational a headline, but would have packed 75% of the punch and only 25% of the commenting grief.
There’s a post defending Malkin on the Member Feed right now. It skillfully admits that perhaps it’s harder to defend Fuentes. That’s understating it greatly, and the point some of us are making: Groypers are not good people, not our friends, not fighting for us, not allies with rough edges. Endless legalistic attempts to cover up common sense with insisting that such-and-such Jew-hating statement does not quite meet a commenter’s own rather high tolerance for excessive Jew-blaming doesn’t cut it.
Not according to the left and their intersectionality theories.
That’s why white nationalists are asking why an ethnostate is good for some but not for them.