Sleazy bigot Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart boss who Donald Trump wants as his chief White House strategist, isn’t terribly popular in Washington at the moment. But he’s getting a lot of support from the white supremacists he pandered to at Breitbart — from former Klan leader David Duke; from Richard Spencer, the guy who came up with the euphemism “alt right” in the first place; and (of course) from Andrew Anglin of the Daily Stormer.
“Bannon is the best person who could have been placed in this key role, besides perhaps Pat Buchanan and me,” Anglin wrote in a post on the Daily Stormer (archived here).”This is all going in the right direction, and I am very happy to see the Jews raging.”
Anglin cites one rather unique reason for supporting Bannon, above and beyond his ideological affinities with the neo-Nazi alt-right: Bannon was once arrested for allegedly beating his now-ex-wife.
Anglin quotes the following paragraph from a Washington Post piece on Bannon, putting the last sentence in bold text:
Bannon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence against his former wife more than 20 years ago; the charges included trying to prevent a victim or witness of crime from reporting, inflicting injury and battery. Bannon was never convicted and the case was dismissed. His former wife also accused him of making anti-Semitic remarks, according to a court statement obtained by the New York Daily News.
Anglin’s response?
He declares that “the age of bitch-slapping Jew-haters has dawned,” by which he evidently means a new age for (alleged) “Jew-haters” like Bannon who (allegedly) demonstrate this hatred by (allegedly) slapping those who show sympathy with Jews.
Bannon once famously declared that activists on the right needed to “bitch slap the Republican party.” Anglin evidently likes that, for Bannon, “bitch-slapping” isn’t just a metaphor (allegedly).
Anti-Semitism and violent misogyny, all wrapped up in one nice neat little package.
It’s amazing how every well known white nationalist is celebrating and yet, Trump supporters are still acting so shocked and hurt that people are pointing out they’ve cast their vote for bigotry. I wonder what if anything it will take to get them to realize what they’ve done.
That’s a really good point.
I’m just now coming to realize just how this works. “Jewish” means “Anyone who isn’t a white nationalist” to these guys. I mean, Jewish people are especially so, to them, I’m sure, but it doesn’t really seem to matter. I don’t really live around Jewish people and don’t really get to see much anti-semitism face to face, so this quite an eye opener. Ugh. Jewish people, I’m so sorry.
Trump wants a white nationalist for his chief White House strategist. And Trump supporters wonder why people took to the street in protest.
*sigh*
How do you even deal with people who think that violence and bigotry are virtues?
Bet someone is celebrating in Canada. 😛
Ottawa woman wakes to find anti-Semitic graffiti spray-painted on her home
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rabbi-ottawa-racist-graffiti-1.3851350
@Karalora. Your question stuck with me, and I kept thinking of Gandhi and the Indian resistance to the British Empire. I remember reading somewhere that he said something along the lines that he didn’t like to hear the movement called pacivism because that implied being passive, where non-violence can be anything but.
So what do we do when faced with people who think violence and bigotry are virtues? Accept that some people will never be swayed and are not worth our energy. Engage in non-violent non-compliance and protest. Use the system where possible to get in our opponents’ ways. Give them enough rope to hang themselves (ie. If someone tells a bigoted joke, a few calm and curious “I don’t get it, explain it to me. Why is that funny?” may result in an awkward explanation revealing the bigotry behind it all).
Unfortunately, even if people who had our values were in charge, we couldn’t just jail or deport all the assholes (not that we would, we’re better than that), so we have to live alongside them. That doesn’t mean we have to roll over and take the abuse and injustice, though. And at least we have fellow people here and elsewhere to remind us that the assholes are fewer than we are.
Bannon nauseates me. Anglin nauseates me. Trump nauseates me.
I’m just going to read this again, because it amuses me.
https://medium.com/@SnoozeInBrief/an-analysis-of-donald-trumps-election-win-and-the-prospects-for-his-presidency-f6a87eef6d70#.vm8uxpbvt
@Scildfreja
indeed, my husband was accosted on the street Sunday by a man demanding to know if he was ‘one of those Jews?’
This is how it begins.
@WWTH
I have been getting a LOT of that today. I had a couple people who did actively engage (sincerely I believe) and the rest all resorted to “ARGLE BARGLE HILLARY IS WORSE” along with the ever-popular “U LOST GRO UP SHUT UP!
@Dali
Well fuck… <3
@karalora
Protest, protest, protest. Nothing helps getting your ideas across quite like direct action does.
These are the same people who have been throwing temper tantrums ever since Obama won the presidency (including the popular vote) and embarked upon a mature, responsible eight year term, which, of course, was not perfect, or even close. The Republicans in Congress obstructed everything he tried to do, because they knew that Obama had won and they needed to grow up, so they threw a temper tantrum and shouted “I don’t wanta!”
A lot of these people proudly wave around the confederate flag . If they can’t get over losing a civil war 150 years ago how can you expect them to get over a election 8 years ago?
I just received a statement from the Chancellor at my alma mater. Several Muslim women were approached by men there and told to remove their hijabs. The Chancellor made it clear this is not tolerated and is a hate crime, and gave some information on how to report these kinds of incidents.
One of the things I love about my school is how diverse it is. The Muslim women I met there are amazing and brilliant and funny and don’t deserve to receive hatred for their head coverings. This is so awful.
I just thought of something. NONE of these guys have any idea how politics work. They think they’re going to get all this shit done, but they’re also pissing off people that they need to work with to GET anything done. President does not equal dictator, and at least for now we have the charade that Congress still matters. This kind of shit is going to piss off even some of the Republicans, and it’s still a numbers game; the number of people that like this shit and can afford to be seen to support it are fewer than those who don’t and can’t.
So, yeah. Be loud and proud of your bigotry, guys. Please do. You’re shooting yourself in the foot, and we don’t even have to do anything about that part of it (although we can laugh and point if we want).
Meanwhile Trump wants his 3 oldest children and son-in-law to have top level clearances. His son in law is jewish and Ivanka converted. Trump cares about himself and to a lesser extent his family and businesses, nothing else.
SPLCenter has two petitions, and the former is relevant to Steve Bannon:
https://www.splcenter.org/stephen-bannon-has-no-business-white-house
https://www.splcenter.org/tell-donald-trump-reject-hate-and-bigotry-0
I signed. I usually don’t share petitions but since this one is in the sidebar I figured it was OK.
Edit: I can’t words today apparently
@JoeB
I’d heard that they were Jewish. That just makes the entire affiliation with Bannon more confusing.
This tactic is so damn useful. It really works. Give them rope. Give them rope. Let them talk, let them show the world just how awful they are.
Politics is about compromise, and looking at data to come to cautious decisions. It’s the exact opposite of the way these guys think. They believe in brinksmanship and holding to a position however wrong. The world is an arena where victory goes to the strongest, instead of the world being the dang world, where people work together. The warlord versus the village.
@Moocow: Thank you for the links to the SPCA petitions.
(If history is any indication, none of this bodes well. I’ve been at a loss. Very much needed something concrete to do.
I have family members who were interned in camps during the second world war. Very much agree with Takei: this can’t happen to anyone again.
The rhetoric is terrifying enough. This appointment makes it all the more alarming.)
Fun article! Screw you, Bannon!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-bannon-hit-with-serious-fbi-federal-election_us_582b772ae4b0a904ef59ece6?
I’m somewhat relieved that the mainstream media is finally publicizing what a horrible person Bannon is. That should have happened when Trump hired him, but better late than never.
Bannon is the kind of Nazi who won’t stick a knife in your back himself, he’ll just publish the propaganda that inspires others to do it for him. I also find it reprehensible that Trump supporters coming to his defense are describing him as nice, intelligent, wise, ect. and saying the Bannon they know isn’t a racist or Jew hater. I’m sure the people who knew Ted Bundy and John Gacy thought they were perfectly nice people too. I’m sure plenty of Nazis tortured and gassed prisoners and went home to their friends and families and were perfectly nice to them. Just because someone is nice to you doesn’t mean they aren’t an amoral monster without any scruples.
Not sure how many people are still familiar with Orwell’s Animal Farm, but I was like, “Oh look, Napoleon has appointed his Squealer.”
I really wish I could! I just want everyone to be safe, even though it’s literally not possible. Regardless of the precautions that can be taken I know that people will get hurt, quite possibly even raped and/or killed by these bigots. People have already taken their own lives because Trump getting elected, despite all his hateful and divisive rhetoric (and quite possibly because of it), has completely erased all hope they had of having a life. At this point I only hope that the damage is minimal.