White Supremacists Celebrate Midterms as a Victory

Despite the fact that Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives in last week's midterm elections, white supremacists are puffing themselves up and claiming that they were the real victors.  Why?  Because what for years had been becoming an largely unspoken plank of the GOP agenda is now overt under Donald Trump: racists and white supremacists are openly welcome in the Republican Party.  (In Virginia, defeated GOP candidate Corey Stewart ran on a openly racist platform).  This reality, combined with the fact that Trump openly displays his racism and the re-election of some of the most racist GOP members of Congress - e.g.. Steve King - has white supremacists cheering.  The big question and fear is whether or not they will put their bigotry into action against non-whites.  A piece in CNN looks at this cancer on America.  Here are article highlights:

White supremacists are saying they were winners in last week's midterm elections.

They were already emboldened by the language used by President Donald Trump and senior members of his administration -- words like "nationalist" and "invasion" that have hateful dual meanings -- according to a review of sites frequented by white supremacists. And they saw Tuesday's results as a victory for white America with what they believe will be progress toward a border wall, an end to DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, and birthright citizenship.
 Memes and commentary on the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer site bashed nonwhite candidates who did not win, as well as losses by Republicans not seen as Trump loyalists.

"This changed history. It cleared away any of the remaining fog of confusion about what exactly we are dealing with in this country," Daily Stormer founder and publisher Andrew Anglin wrote.
 Anglin was buoyed by the win of Rep. Steve King in Iowa, even after King was pilloried for meeting with a far-right Austrian group linked to Nazis and retweeting an avowed Nazi sympathizer. King, a Republican, says he was unaware of the Nazi links in both those instances, but he has used racially charged and anti-immigrant rhetoric for years.
 King still won with 50.6% of the vote in Iowa's deeply conservative 4th Congressional District. In Illinois, Arthur Jones, a self-declared Holocaust denier and former leader of the American Nazi Party tallied almost 56,000 votes, more than a quarter of the total, standing for the GOP in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District. "Steve King won," Anglin wrote. "If last night was a referendum on Steve King's white nationalism, as the Democrats were trying to frame it, then white nationalism won."

On the campaign trail for Sen. Ted Cruz fighting for re-election in Texas, Trump declared, "I'm a nationalist, OK? I'm a nationalist."   A commenter on the 4chan bulletin board joked Trump was winking at them.

Earlier, another poster declared Trump was venerated by white supremacists: "What Dems, all leftists and pundits do not understand is that TRUMP is patriots' and Western/American Heritage's CHAMPION." To Alcindor, Trump repeated two more times how racist the question was. But he also never flatly denounced white supremacists. They were overjoyed, calling the press conference "glorious," and "beautiful" on 4chan, with one commenter writing: "I am honestly in awe of this man as a leader." "It doesn't take an overt slur for these individuals to basically become emboldened and to recognize and be excited by policies that they see would further their goals," said Keegan Hankes, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. "When they hear [Trump] the President say things like, 'I'm not a racist,' they turn around amongst themselves and say, 'He just has to say that for practical reasons,' 'he just has to say that basically to get himself cover, to do the things that we want him to do,'" Hankes says. What is not clear is if any extremists will follow words with violence, as allegedly happened with Robert Bowers, who has pleaded not guilty to killing 11 people at a synagogue late last month, allegedly because he believed Jews were helping "invaders."

On places like 4chan, false talk of the migrant caravan as "invaders" has taken over on some of the message boards and become a popular meme topic. Analysts say "the browning of America" where whites become a minority is what the white supremacists fear most. There are threads with memes containing photos doctored to look like people breaking down walls at the US border with Mexico. There are jokes about how the traditional rush of Black Friday shoppers is nothing compared to what would happen next. In another thread on 4chan, commentators speculate about how many people would be shot as they come over the border. The thread appeared to reference Trump's comment that US troops on the border could fire on someone in the migrant caravan if the person threw rocks or stones. "All of them," one poster wrote of a possible casualty count. "Not enough," said another.
 The administration's approach to immigration in particular has "electrified" many racists, Hankes said, "to the point where they're begging their followers to go out and find ways to put Republicans in office." "They believe it will be easier for these policies to sail through," he said. "And these are things that they think are essential for creating a white ethno-state." Perhaps this election did energize white nationalists to vote, if they thought they had a champion in government. But there is also the fear -- and the example -- of men taking matters into their own violent hands.
 Bowers, the accused synagogue killer, echoed Trump talking points when he wrote on the free-speech forum Gab that "I have noticed a change in people saying 'illegals' that now say 'invaders'." The post, made six days before the shooting, continued, "I like this."

The time has come for my Republican "friends" to decide whether they are racists or not.  They cannot support a racist party any longer and then pretend that they are not complicit in its ugly agenda.  

Neo-Nazi Site Argues Anti-Jewish "Troll Storm" Is Free Speech

As a previous post noted, a ruling for the Christofascist plaintiff in Masterpiece Cakeshop could embolden white nationalists to make similar "religious freedom" arguments to support their active discrimination against minorities.  Already, one neo-Nazi site is claiming that a so-called "troll storm" that was unleashed against a Jewish target is protected "free speech."  Welcome to Trump/Pence's America.  It's an American where whites/Christian extremists are above the law and can abuse anyone who doesn't conform with their racial and/or religious views.  And the separation between right wing, evangelical Christians and white supremacists is much smaller than many want to believe.  It is no coincidence that the head of Family Research Council - an anti-gay hate group - has ties to white supremacy organizations.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at the insidious "free speech" argument being made by neo-Nazis.  Here are excerpts:

The founder of a popular neo-Nazi website who was sued after he called on his readers and followers to “troll storm” a Jewish Realtor from Montana is arguing that his actions are protected by free speech.

Andrew Anglin, founder of the Daily Stormer, has asked a federal court in Montana to dismiss a lawsuit that Tanya Gersh filed against him last spring. In court records filed last week, Anglin’s attorneys said that the First Amendment “is blind to viewpoint” and that the Constitution protects Anglin’s right to express his views about Gersh, “no matter how many people find those views intolerable.”

“If a local business were polluting the environment, any editor could rally his readers to write to that business in protest,” his legal team, led by First Amendment lawyer Marc Randazza, wrote in court briefs asking for the dismissal of the lawsuit. “If a local business were discriminating against black customers, the NAACP can exhort its members to send correspondence to it. And, conversely, the KKK can ask its members to send letters of protest to an establishment that treats all races equally.”

Gersh, of Whitefish, Mont., sued Anglin in April in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. The complaintdetails many of the more than 700 anti-Semitic and hateful messages, including death threats, to Gersh, her family, friends and colleagues.

The deluge of messages began after Gersh, who was involved with a local organization called “Love Lives Here,” spoke with Sherry Spencer, the mother of white nationalist and alt-right leader Richard Spencer.

“There are only 6,000 Jews in the entire state of Montana, yet they’re 100% of the people trying to silence Richard Spencer by harassing his mother. So Then — Let’s Hit Em Up. Are ya’ll ready for an old fashioned Troll Storm?” Anglin wrote.

Anglin’s attorneys argued that his articles do not constitute a “true threat” of violence against Gersh. Although there have been death threats, they said those did not come directly from Anglin, but rather, from third parties. The attorneys added that Anglin included disclaimers urging his readers to avoid threats of violence.

“Political hyperbole is not a threat. . . . The third parties’ statements are generally recognized anti-Semitic tropes, without actual harm reasonably construed,” the attorneys wrote. “And, even Nazi expression, no matter the psychic harm on Jewish residents, is nonetheless protected speech.”

The attorneys further argued that although the speech in question is unpopular, banning it would create a dangerous precedent for the First Amendment rights of advocacy organizations.

Gersh’s lawsuit, which is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, alleged invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of Montana’s anti-intimidation act. Gersh is represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Last summer, Anglin’s site was evicted from its home on the Internet after a violent white nationalist rally drew fresh attention to hate speech in the United States. The web hosting company GoDaddy announced in August that it will no longer host the site, after Anglin disparaged a protester who was killed in the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.

Anglin characterized Heather Heyer as a “drain on society” and insulted her appearance. Heyer, 32, was killed after a car allegedly driven by a Nazi sympathizer plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters.

GOP's Steve King Confirm's He's a White Supremacist

Another thing that should surprise no one is the reality that Congressman Steve King is a white supremacists.  He has been making thinly veiled racist comments for years and his hatred of non-whites was on display again over the weekend when he said  "We can’t restore our civilization [white America] with somebody else’s babies.”  Like so many in the today's GOP, King is utterly unable and unwilling to recognize the common humanity of others of other skin colors, faiths, sexual orientations, and/or  national origin.  Indeed, the Neo-Nazi site, Daily Stormer, was lauding King's comments and urging that he be made Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Talking Points Memo looks at King's history of outright racism:

Today people are apparently finding out and being terribly surprised that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is a white nationalist and racist and has been that more or less openly for years. Before yesterday's paean to "culture and demographics", Steve King was saying that for every Dreamer who's a valedictorian there are a hundred running drugs. The list of similar statements is all but endless.

We've been on the King beat for years. You can go through our archives and find dozens of offensive, stupid and frequently outright racist comments from King. But there's something more specific about King. King frequently speaks in the language of white nationalists and neo-Nazis who speak of "white genocide" and America being overrun by non-whites.

"Cultural suicide by demographic transformation"—This is literally the kind of talk you can read from Richard Spencer and Stormfront.org any day of the week. Note also that King is there with Wilders, the rightist, racist Dutch member of parliament and Frauke Petry, the rightist, nationalist leader of Germany's Alternative for Germany party. These are the parties Trump's top advisor Steve Bannon wants to help loft to power and ally with in a rightist, north Atlantic political movement.

This isn't just one "controversial" member of Congress. King is part of American white nationalist, far-right political movement. That's not a softer way to say "racist." He's also a racist. But there are plenty of racists who have more conventional politics. He's part of a movement. So is Bannon. So is Trump.

Pro-Trump Neo-Nazis Plan Armed March Against Jews

Absent Donald Trump's incitements to violence and empowering of alt-right and Neo-Nazi groups does anyone believe an armed march against Jews and those who support them would be in the planning stages for a confrontation before Der Fuhrer's inauguration next month?   Its as if every foul racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic group now feels free to crawl out from under the rocks and social slime they have hidden under for decades.  Just as frightening, silence of any form of condemnation of such behavior coming bot Herr Trump and "good Republicans" is deafening.  To my GOP "friends," if you do not support this type of viciousness and hatred as you claim, why are you silent?  Or am I correct in assuming that you actually support it even if you will not admit so in polite society?  A piece in LawNewz looks at troubling events being planned by Neo-Nazi groups and "news" outlets.  Here are highlights: 

The neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer, is advertising an “armed protest” in the city of Whitefish, Montana “against Jews, Jewish businesses and everyone who supports either.”  The event is being organized by the site’s publisher Andrew Anglin as a result of ongoing controversy involving white nationalist Richard Spencer, and his mother who lives in Whitefish.

The announcement, which went up on Friday, says that the march will take place in the second week of January, “just before the inauguration” of President-elect Donald Trump. The post on the Daily Stormer instructs participants not to actually engage in violence, but does call for hundreds of people to walk the streets with guns, citing Montana’s “extremely liberal open carry laws.” People from outside the local community are being called on to join in the armed intimidation tactics, with the announcement saying that they are “busing in skinheads from the Bay Area” to increase their numbers. Anglin has also posted the names and addresses of various individuals, organizations, and businesses to target.

Montana Senator Steve Daines tweeted his opposition to the building anti-Semitic activity in his state.

The Anti-Defamation League said on Friday that they have “been in regular contact with the victim families, as well as relevant law enforcement authorities and other public officials,” including the U.S. Department of Justice.

I find this very frightening and can only imagine how much worse things may get after the inauguration of  Der Fuhrer on January 20, 2017.  

Pro-Trump Nazi Site Launches Campaign To Harass Gays, Women, And Minorities

It's another morning where I find myself waking up and realizing that the last three days have not been a bad dream or nightmare, but are in fact a frightening reality.  American democracy seemingly has committed suicide although death will be a while in coming as the poison unleashed by Donald Trump and his more extreme supporters slowly spreads through society and our political structure.  The KKK is having celebratory marches and Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups are jubilant and announcing plans to target and harass gays and minorities and one hears not one word from their anointed fuhrer in condemnation.  It's as if we are reliving the early minutes of the 1971 movie The Garden of the Finzi-Continis or the 1978 mini series, Holocaust. As in those works, where initially normalcy seemed to continue until creeping changes began to unleash a nightmare, the media and even Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama want to convince themselves that something horrible and dangerous is not really happening.  But it is happening.  Denial does not make it untrue.   A piece in Newsweek looks at the plans of a Trump supporting Nazi organization to embark on a campaign of harassing gays, women, minorities - and, I'm sure, Jews - to the point where they will commit suicide. This is the new America.    It MUST be stopped.  Here are article highlights:

The Daily Stormer, a Neo-Nazi website, published a list of dozens of Twitter users who expressed sadness over the election outcome on Wednesday, urging its readers to target and harass them to the point of suicide.

The frontpage of the white supremacist website shows a large photo of President-elect Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, meeting with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. “You should probably go ahead and be afraid now,” writes Andrew Anglin, the website’s publisher. The post suggests it’s readers “can troll these people and definitely get some of them to kill themselves.”

Several of the tweets embedded in the Daily Stormer post show fear over the fate of women, people of color and LGBT individuals in the U.S. under a Trump presidency. One person says they're worried about possible nuclear war.

Reports of hate-based violence against Hispanic people, Muslims and women continue to be documented around the country in the wake of  Trump’s victory in the polls on Tuesday.

Shaun King, writer for the New York Daily News, has been collecting and publishing on Twitter alleged incidents of intimidation and violence since Trump’s win. They include a group of middle school students in Royal Oak, Michigan chanting “Build that wall,” a reference to a wall Trump said he hopes will be built along the U.S.-Mexico border. King has also tweeted photos of pickup trucks in Brooksville, Florida covered in the words: "All Muslims are Terrorists," "Deport them All" and "I Hate Muslims."

A website, Why We Are Afraid, is similarly chronicling such incidents. One of the first images shows two water fountains at a high school in Jacksonville, Florida, with “Colored” and “Whites only” signs over each one.

People have good reason to be fearful.  As regular readers know, I am a strong advocate of gun control and have heretofore been very anti gun.  Now, I and others are looking to form a Pink Pistols chapter in Hampton Roads (chapters exist in Richmond and Northern Virginia) which assist members of the LGBT community to learn how to own and use handguns for self protection.  I have received death threats before in comments left on this blog - one reason I moderate comments - and heretofore never took them too seriously.  Now, things may be different and a new vigilance needed.  I have always been proud to be "out" and visible.  Now, one has to wonder if that makes you a potential target.  81% of evangelical Christians supported Trump.  Every death threat I have received in the past has come from someone professing to be a conservative, Bible believing Christian.  All of it, too me, underscores the toxicity of religion.

I am not alone in my fears.  Mother Jones reports that calls to LGBT suicide prevention hotlines have soared in number since Trumps victory.  Here are excerpts:

Two LGBT suicide prevention hotlines told Mother Jones that calls to their services have spiked since Donald Trump was elected president.

Trans Hotline, a nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention for transgender people, has received at least five times the call volume it normally gets. And the Trevor Project, the nation's only LGBT youth-focused suicide prevention hotline, received more calls, texts, and online chats on Wednesday than it's gotten on a single day in four years, more than double its normal daily volume.

"We started getting increased call volume at about 10 p.m. on election night, and it hasn't slowed down at all," said Gretta Martela, director of Trans Hotline, on Thursday afternoon. "In fact, it's on the rise still." The hotline receives about 100 calls a day normally. In the 24 hours prior to speaking with Mother Jones, Martela said it had received 523 calls.

Callers expressed fear that many of the gains in LGBT rights made under the Obama administration—like access to trans-related health care—will be lost under Trump, Martela said. Medical experts have said that access to appropriate hormones and other treatments for gender dysphoria can be essential to a transgender person's physical and mental health. "The Republicans are looking to repeal Obamacare," Martela said. "So a lot of people are looking at losing their health care coverage."

Callers were also concerned about a potential Supreme Court ruling that could deny them access to bathrooms that match their gender identity, and a rise in anti-trans hate crimes. This year was the most violent on record for trans women of color, Martela noted.

 Welcome to Donald Trump's Amerika.