"Are You A White Nationalist?"

[pamela]

I've watched this past week as reporters asked some form of the question, "Are you a Socialist? " to any Democratic politician being interviewed. Once again, the media is doing the far right's dirty work as even our primary candidates find themselves having to explain the nuances of Democratic Socialism or, on the flip side, having to mount a defense of Capitalism.

I propose that all Republican politicians be asked "Are you a White Nationalist?" When they get outraged over the question, it should be pointed out that they support a president who is an icon of the White Nationalist movement and whose speeches are often indistinguishable from the speeches of known White Nationalists.

I know the media folks won't do this so I think we should do it. If a Republican politician posts something on Twitter or Facebook, ask them if they are a White Nationalist in the comments. Ask it of any Trump supporters you know or meet, too.

The current GOP has openly embraced White Nationalism and it is long past time to stop dancing around this.

[lagomorph777]

1. Trump is not merely an icon; he is the White Supremacist Supreme Leader

[hughee99]

2. If I recall correctly, someone called Nancy Pelosi a white nationalist last week

Because she’s a feminist (and, of course white). This was when discussing Omar’s recent comments.

[lunatica]

13. I'm sure if he was asked she responded truthfully

It’s a legitimate question.

[hughee99]

19. She wasn't asked. She was called one by a person who ran in a Dem primary

For a house seat. My point is, most likely, republicans will say no to this question, and given how often people are called this these days (accurately or not), I’m not sure how effective your proposal will actually be.

[lunatica]

35. I didn't propose anything

Maybe you mean to respond to the OP.

[hughee99]

37. Sorry, yes. Thought I was talking with the OP.

[lunatica]

38. I hate it when that happens!

[pnwmom]

47. Trump himself answered that question by saying he was nationalist. And he's obviously white(ish),

so . .. .

[hughee99]

54. Cam Newton said he was a Panther. And he's obviously black.

Are we going to pretend he admitted to being a "Black Panther"?

[uponit7771]

3. K&R, America's current president is an international Icon of hate

[dalton99a]

4. .

[lunatica]

15. MAGATs see that picture and believe he's shunning them

Or that they fear him or some such Idiocratic thing.

[SergeStorms]

46. You're correct.

They are a tad bit self-delusional, and they all know their orange hero never makes mistakes and is the most feared man on the planet.

[smirkymonkey]

57. It would never occur to them that he is the most despised, least respected man

on the planet. What is it going to take to burst their bubble?

[lunatica]

58. Since they're just like him they only care

that he sticks it to us and the world. They know he lies and cheats and connives and backstabs, but to them those are virtues. They do the same when they can get something out of it, even if it’s schadenfreude.

He isn’t foolingall of them.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

63. How to burst their bubble.... good question

I wonder that myself, often! I always come back to fux and am hate radio as the thing I blame most, keeping the reich wing rhetoric going. I think we need a strong, massive, continuing voice back at it, in my not very humble opinion! Murdoch needs to go, and Limpbutt with him.

[malaise]

5. Excellent post

Rec

[NNadir]

6. K&R. Some politician, when asked the "socialism" question should ask the asker if...

...he or she ever asks your question of a Republican.

[AlexSFCA]

7. it's an important question to ask

In present day context, nationalist also means white nationalist. Trump publically said he is nationalist (=white nationalist) and proud of it. We need to be asking this question of other repubs because saying no to that may alienate some of their voters.

[TeamPooka]

8. When they say no... Then you ask them about their policies supporting minorities

When they say no… Then you ask them about their policies supporting minorities
Have them explain them, enumerate, and defend them

[AmandaRuth]

9. yes, the reactions will be truer

than the answers. i guarantee it.

[B Stieg]

10. K&R!!

[NBachers]

11. You sum it up so well, I can't even elaborate beyond your words. Thanks for posting this.

[pamela]

24. Thank you

What a nice comment.

[DirtEdonE]

12. From the Southern Strategy to the teabaggers to the nazis

It was the only logical progression for the gop. Stay white or die. Now they're trying to apply that ridiculous axiom to the entire nation.

[pamela]

30. Yes, exactly.

The GOP has been the party of White Nationalism for some time now and it is dangerous to ignore that.

[cp]

14. K&R a million!

Thank you.

[ck4829]

16. K&R

[littlemissmartypants]

17. The expert, Kathleen Belew, says call it what it is

The "white power" movement...

Snip
“Belew’s book helps explain how we got to today’s alt right.”—Terry Gross, Fresh Air

The white power movement in America wants a revolution. Its soldiers are not lone wolves but highly organized cadres motivated by a coherent and deeply troubling worldview made up of white supremacy, virulent anticommunism, and apocalyptic faith. In Bring the War Home, Kathleen Belew gives us the history of a movement that consolidated in the 1970s and 1980s around a potent sense of betrayal in the Vietnam War and made tragic headlines in Waco and Ruby Ridge and with the Oklahoma City bombing and is resurgent under President Trump.

Returning to an America ripped apart by a war they felt they were not allowed to win, a small group of veterans and active-duty military personnel and civilian supporters concluded that waging war on their own country was justified. They unified people from a variety of militant groups, including Klansmen, neo-Nazis, skinheads, radical tax protestors, and white separatists to form a new movement of loosely affiliated independent cells to avoid detection. The white power movement operated with discipline and clarity, undertaking assassinations, armed robbery, counterfeiting, and weapons trafficking. Its command structure gave women a prominent place and put them in charge of brokering alliances and birthing future recruits.

Belew’s disturbing and timely history reminds us that war cannot be contained in time and space: grievances intensify and violence becomes a logical course of action. Based on years of deep immersion in previously classified FBI files and on extensive interviews, Bring the War Home tells the story of American paramilitarism and the birth of the alt-right.

Snip
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674286078

[bronxiteforever]

18. Kick and recommend. Brilliant!

[littlemissmartypants]

20. The expert, Kathleen Belew, says call it what it is

The "white power" movement... (quote at 6:29 on the video.)

Snip
“Belew’s book helps explain how we got to today’s alt right.”—Terry Gross, Fresh Air

The white power movement in America wants a revolution. Its soldiers are not lone wolves but highly organized cadres motivated by a coherent and deeply troubling worldview made up of white supremacy, virulent anticommunism, and apocalyptic faith. In Bring the War Home, Kathleen Belew gives us the history of a movement that consolidated in the 1970s and 1980s around a potent sense of betrayal in the Vietnam War and made tragic headlines in Waco and Ruby Ridge and with the Oklahoma City bombing and is resurgent under President Trump.

Returning to an America ripped apart by a war they felt they were not allowed to win, a small group of veterans and active-duty military personnel and civilian supporters concluded that waging war on their own country was justified. They unified people from a variety of militant groups, including Klansmen, neo-Nazis, skinheads, radical tax protestors, and white separatists to form a new movement of loosely affiliated independent cells to avoid detection. The white power movement operated with discipline and clarity, undertaking assassinations, armed robbery, counterfeiting, and weapons trafficking. Its command structure gave women a prominent place and put them in charge of brokering alliances and birthing future recruits.

Belew’s disturbing and timely history reminds us that war cannot be contained in time and space: grievances intensify and violence becomes a logical course of action. Based on years of deep immersion in previously classified FBI files and on extensive interviews, Bring the War Home tells the story of American paramilitarism and the birth of the alt-right.

Snip
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674286078

[dhol82]

27. Sounds like an interesting book

I’ll oorder it when I get home.
Thanks.

[jaysunb]

41. I suspect this is what the driving force behind the NRA and gun nuts is,

[pdsimdars]

21. Very good suggestion. I'll email some news organizations.

I also wonder about the skewed coverage. Warren announced and has has many many events and 3 major policy speeches. Barely covered. But now Beto, every time he moves all the media is licking his heels. Why is that?

[pamela]

33. Thank you

Emailing news orgs is a great idea. I'll join you.

[Ferrets are Cool]

22. Most "news" programs are so skewed

that I cannot even fathom watching them. TRMS and Lawrence are the only ones I can watch. CNN is a waste of time.

[jalan48]

23. White Nationalists don't threaten the current economic order, Socialists do.

[LiberalLovinLug]

26. Which is why the MSM networks are scrambling to demonize the word for Democrats

Well before the election. Forcing them on air to either accept this word or reject it on the spot. A word that they themselves don't feel the need to explain the nuances of....even though they are so-called news networks full of what was once known as "journalists", and even though much of the public is not clear either.

Not even explaining how every capitalist country, including their own, has socialist funded institutions already. All most Dems are advocating is bring in healthcare at the very least, into this kind of funding scheme as well. Making it cheaper, and universal. And most importantly, switching the thinking from healthcare being a privilege, to a right. Its not that hard. Yet it seems to me that on air personalities are told by their bosses to keep the word in the shady arena of being in the same arena as the dreaded "Communism".

[jalan48]

29. Exactly. Identity politics as practiced by the White Nationalists is all about race.

[DemocracyMouse]

42. Everytime a Dem is on camera:

STUPID PUNDIT: "So what's with the socialism thing?"

SMART DEMOCRAT: "Where have you been? It's not about Socialism vs Capitalism. Democracy has traditionally integrated the two. Was FDR a socialist for launching the New Deal? Capitalism surged when we pumped money into the social and physical infrastructure. Next question."

[LiberalLovinLug]

59. Is your name Alexandria?

Because you sound just like AOC! I can totally see her saying that exactly.

That is precisely how they should answer.

[DemocracyMouse]

61. As Spartacus might have put it, "I am Alexandrious!"

Seriously, tho, we need to conceptualize "socialism" as a natural and productive element in EVERY infrastructure going back 20,000 years. This word game has been won, but nobody realizes it.

[redstatebluegirl]

25. I always worried they would tar and feather us with the Socialism label, fair or not.

Americans are not as well educated as they used to be, that is a truth we all need to accept that. A high school graduate in 1960 was much better educated than some college grads of today. They actually had to learn about the constitution, they had to understand basic economics, the branches of government. We have diluted the education of students today, everything is compartmentalized.

I don't mean this like an old lady kicking kids off the porch, I don't blame the current generations, I am just pointing out where our educational system is failing our kids. This is partially on purpose, the republicans have infiltrated school boards, higher ed boards and school administrations. It is in their best interest that our kids be uneducated on areas related to our country and government. Just google what the Koch brothers are doing to economics and business education around the country with their donations.

Socialism is an easy tag, especially when so many people don't see the difference between that and the dreaded Communism. The GOP acts like they are both the same wink wink. The masses, especially many independents who we need to win, are frightened of those terms. Remember when they scared them away from Obamacare because they "could not choose their doctor", "death panels". All were false, but it worked.

I like the terms "economic equality", "fair wages", "everyone gets a chance to do well" things that people can understand and attacks their label of socialism. If we label ourselves democratic socialists, or allow them to label us socialists, we will lose the white house,and may lose the house and senate. If this happens in 2020 this country is doomed.

[DemocracyMouse]

43. Good points about US education. So Dems must TEACH via the press:

STUPID PUNDIT: "So what's with the socialism thing?"

SMART DEMOCRAT: "Where have you been? It's not about Socialism vs Capitalism. Democracy has traditionally integrated the two. Was FDR a socialist for launching the New Deal? Capitalism surged when we pumped money into the social and physical infrastructure. Next question."

[ProudLib72]

28. Reporters will never start that discussion

But congress people can. Heck, maybe there ought to be a committee looking into it. (That's not snark either. That's a legitimate suggestion).

[pamela]

31. I agree.

We've ignored this growing threat for too long. That's how we ended up with a president who is a White Nationalist. We need to know just how deeply they've infiltrated our government.

[ck4829]

48. Yell it, heckle them, ask them on social media

Go around the media, it's entirely possible.

[jimmyzvoice]

32. You make a good point.

We should push the media to do this and take every opportunity to ask Republican politicians this question ourselves.

[Oppaloopa]

34. Great idea.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

36. "Are you a radical right-wing extremist?"

Are you a typical radical Republican assault weapon terrorist?

[DemocracyMouse]

44. Yes! All Dems and Journalists should ask that of Republicans now.

And they need to EXPLAIN the obvious about "socialism":

STUPID PUNDIT: "So what's with the socialism thing?"

SMART DEMOCRAT: "Where have you been? It's not about Socialism vs Capitalism. Democracy has traditionally integrated the two. Was FDR a socialist for launching the New Deal? Capitalism surged when we pumped money into the social and physical infrastructure. Next question."

[ck4829]

50. Yep. Let's ask 'em.

[debsy]

39. Superb idea.

We need to use the R's playbook against them.

[kyburbonkid]

40. Are you a CONservative?

Conservatives are so full of hypocritical shit they should be buried in the cesspool sewage that spawned them.
Name one thing good that conservatism has ever spawned? Hard isn't it?

I mean, what political party separates kids from their parents and sends them to be locked up in KID PRISON?

[appalachiablue]

45. A very impt. point, and there's this:

[ck4829]

49. +1

[Stellar]

51. Great idea! And they are probably in excellent standing with the NRA.

They can't bear to give an inch on gun laws. But love giving out 'thoughts and prayers' just as long as you stay away from their second amendment rights.

[mpreorder]

52. Don't let them define the argument

The response to "Are you a Socialist?" can be many, including the above. I also propose a simple reminder to anyone who asks the question. The US already has many aspects of socialism within it.

From Dictionary.com:
Socialism:a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Doesn't the military fit this definition? How about education? Dept of transportation, building of roads, bridges, etc?? Etc, etc?

My father-in-law, not the sharpest tool in the shed, stated with utmost certainty that "no country was ever successful under socialism". I asked him about the military, and he had no response.

So we shouldn't let others define our argument for us. When asked the question, we should immediately, IMMEDIATELY, re-frame it. We ALREADY ARE a hybrid system of scoialism/capitalism. Democrats simply want to add a few other things, like universal healthcare, and maybe higher education. I think we'd be more likely to win some minds this way.

[duhneece]

53. Thank you for suggestion

I’ve asked Cowboys for Trump and its founder, ‘my’ County Commissioner Couy Griffin yesterday and got no answer so far.

[paleotn]

55. Why yes, actually, I am...

a socialist that is. In the great Danish tradition of socialism.

[DontBooVote]

56. Part of the problem is that you watch them, as you've admitted in your first sentence. I suggest you

STOP WATCHING!

As long as you continue to vote YES with your patronage of their propaganda, they will continue to poison and manipulate our society.

[Cold War Spook]

60. If I was asked if I am a socialist or a white nationalist my response would be,

what is your definition of a socialist or a white nationalist. Other wise, if I did answer a socialist or a white nationalist he or she might misinterpret what I answered.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

62. 👍🏾👏