By David Futrelle
It used to be that when you — and by “you” here I actually mean “I” — went to find pictures of Nazi-adjacent media provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to use on your blog, all you had to do was to type his first name into Google Images and ta da! there were dozens to choose from.
Today, you get this:
Row after row after row of pics not of Mr. Yiannopoulos but of MILO, which Wikipedia tells me is a
chocolate and malt powder that is mixed with hot water and milk or milk to produce a beverage popular mainly in Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, Colombia and some other parts of the world.
Milo — the person, not the chocolate and malt powder — must be feeling a bit sad about being ignored, because he’s once again cranking his obnoxiousness to eleven. From The Observer today:
Milo Yiannopoulos has started issuing reporters threatening messages when asked to comment for stories.
“I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight,” the right-wing nationalist told Observer over text message, in response to a longer feature in development about an Upper East Side restaurant he is said to frequent.
That seems like a somewhat harsh response to questions about one’s dining habits. But apparently he sends this message to all the journalists who contact him.
When asked to elaborate on who specifically had upset him, Yiannopoulos explained that the statement was his “standard response to a request for comment.”
Yiannopoulos also sent the message to The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer in an article examining the struggling U.K. Independence Party, which the conservative commentator is reportedly seeking to join as part of, what an Info Wars host describes as, a “soft coup” lead by nationalist figures.
Yiannopoulos posted a picture on Instagram of the veiled threat issued to Sommer, captioning it “where is the lie.”
In addition to making jokes-cum-threats about murdering journalists, Milo Not The Chocolate Powder seems to be really embracing his fashy side these days — sending $14.88 to Jewish journalist Talia Lavin and posting about it on Facebook, “1488′ being a popular alt-right signifier referring to the white supremacist “14 words” catechism and the phrase “Heil Hitler.”
Many on the right, and the far right, and the far, far right, including The Daily Stormer, have in recent days targeted Lavin, the former New Yorker fact checker who resigned after posting (then retracting, then apologizing for) a tweet wrongly suggesting that a tattoo on a particular ICE officer’s arm was a German Iron Cross, a symbol associated with Nazis.
Yes, that’s right, the Nazis at the Daily Stormer are mad at her for wrongly suggesting a non-Nazi was a Nazi.
Anyway. I’m sure Milo Not the Chocolate Powder’s fans will say he was just being “ironic,” that he’s not really a Nazi, but it seems to me that if you’re sending a literal Nazi catchphrase (catchnumber?) to a Jewish journalist who’s being targeted by The Daily Stormer, all the while joking about death squads killing journalists — well, let’s just say there’s no real functional distinction between you and a completely non-ironic, Hitler-worshipping/Holocaust-denying-but-approving capital-N Nazi.
@PirateJennie
Mish is fine, and I will always accept an apology from a pirate 🙂
Seriously, though, it’s all good. It’s pretty common (and tiresome) to see people referring to Oz as some kind of wasteland but I didn’t think you were doing that.
The image of Milo wandering into the bush is definitely funny. He’d last about 5 minutes – mind you, the same goes for most of us white Australians (heavily urban-dwelling population).
Nowadays, I associate the name Milo with Milo Murphy.
@Mish
I did pause over that comment because of the exact reason you listed.
I was clumsily trying to reference the “bush camps” you mentioned in your comment but that was ill considered on my part. I should have chosen my words better. Apologies again. I’ll consider your words as I go on and thank you for the reminder.
Thank you for being so gracious as to give me the benefit of the doubt.
I’m from a state many people make tiresome assumptions about so I understand your frustration in my own limited way.
I know this sounds overwrought but I can’t express enough how much I appreciate this community right now. You lovely people are saving my life. I don’t want to derail so I’ll leave it there and say thank you.
This Would Be [and IS] Hilarious,but the Downside is that it gives the Odious Brat Milo what he CRAVES : Publicity !
PirateJenny is PirateJennie.
WordPress can be weird.
Mish:
Maybe the Primitive Technology guy would be an exception?
When I hear the name Milo, I still think first of Milo Minderbinder from Catch-22, who taught me about capitalism and the American Dream.
@kate
The problem there is that milo can’t reuse that trick indefinitely, because it reminds all his alt-reich buddies that yes, he is in fact a walking taking example of everything they hate. Combine that with him wishing journalists be murdered and he’ll suffocate his own media presence, too.
He’s already been reduced to seeing vitamins for alex jones, which is pretty much the nadir of right wing loser welfare options, and whining about people being mean to him.
Maybe him and roosh can for a support group.
OK I appreciate I’m probably out on a limb here, but I can’t help worrying that ‘cockwomble’ might be a homophobic slur. Although the thought of the Wombles gathering up roosters on Wimbledon Common is rather funny.
While we’re nominating superior Milos, I’ll suggest boxer turned musician and TV presenter Milo Kerrigan. His cover of Bob Dylan’s “Fafenefenoiby” is a modern classic!
@Kevin – Sadly, I suspect you’re correct. The etymology I’ve heard is that it’s a disparaging reference to cruising.
@Moggie
Does … does that guy ever talk? It’s unnerving.
@PirateJenny / PirateJennie
You derail away if you want to. It’s a derailable thread, as far as I can see. No obligation, but if you want to talk, go ahead.
@Kevin,
Sorry, just saw your comment now. I thought it was just a general insult of the kind that British people are so good at, but if it does have any homophobic connotations, I’ll not use it again!
While looking around online for the etymology, I did find that there’s a Womble family that came over to UK just after the Norman conquest – so there’s a Womble coat of arms. This pleases me.
@ Mish
Are we both talking about Elizabeth Beresford’s Wombles here ?
@Kevin, well that’s what I think of first. I have the song stuck in my head right now 🙂
To find there are humans who are literally called Womble is extremely funny to me. I wish my name was Womble.
In fact, I’m thinking of changing my name to Mish Womble. I would never be depressed again.
@ Bina
I’m generally a lurker and a very infrequent poster, and I worry that I may be stepping out of line here, but I really would appreciate it if you wouldn’t conflate his well-earned status as an asshole with a supposed alcohol addiction.
Not sure if commenting about addiction or substance abuse as such is against the comments policy, but it seems similiar to attributing someone’s terrible behavior to depression/bipolar disorder/”insanity”, etc
I fully admit that this is a very sensitive subject for me as I’m currently in a dark place and self-medicating my depression, anxiety, and OCD. Addiction is hard. Relapsing is hard. Mental illness is hard. It’s a struggle, but it certainly doesn’t make me (or anyone) an asshole. Yeah, lots of addicts are also assholes, but it’s not BECAUSE they’re addicts.
I enjoy this site and especially the commentariat and have always found your responses to be particularly insightful, Bina. I may be overreacting and/or overstepping, but I thought it worth noting that comments like these can be hurtful to those of us struggling with active addiction.
Mish Womble:
He doesn’t, which is good. I find the videos very soothing, but you can turn on closed captions for a commentary on what he’s doing.
It occurred to me after posting that the term “primitive” might be problematic in this context, but that’s his choice, not mine.
Milo chocolate powder?
Sounds rich and sweet — just the way I like my men. (I went there.)
Milo Y?
Yecch.
There’s a young YouTuber named Milo Stewart, whose videos are widely reviled and voted down. STILL preferable to Milo Y, by a long shot.
@Diptych – Milo Kerrigan is definitely the superior Milo, although personally I was a much bigger fan of David McGahan – the world of cats video is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in my life.
Milo the drink powder is malt-flavoured, rather than chocolate, so it’s a bit different to Nesquik. For Australian kids it’s also a point of pride to be able to have as large a spoonful of Milo as possible in a glass of milk. Also, the Milo shouldn’t be stirred into the milk – if you can drink it without spluttering, you’ve achieved.
Milo is super popular in Brazil too. The drink, not the failed tech journalist turned pedo -apologist. It ain’t got shit on nesquik though
@Moggie
A man with a cat nym who indulges my whims?
http://i65.tinypic.com/1176ag8.jpg
@EVal78
That’s an interesting point. I know there are some people (I don’t mean here at WHTM) who’d balk at the parallel, and argue that mental illness is not chosen, whereas addiction is, but I’m not so sure about that.
Possibly because they’ve often been intertwined for me? I know there’s new research on addiction coming out all the time, but it’s not my field.
Anyhoo, your post is both courteous and eloquent, and it got me thinking. Take care of yourself <3
@ mishwomble & eval78
I don’t know if this assists with your thought excercises, but is a pretty neat summary of how the law regards intoxication and culpability.
http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Intoxication.php
In my experience, addictions are mostly a symptom of a deeper problem. Who don’t have to be an actual disease ; a lot of people become addicted because they are in deep misery.
That being said, Bina’s original comment don’t seem linked to the addiction part of “drinking addiction”, but the “drinking” part, and the abolition of common sense it often do. I sort of think it’s making Milo too much honor in thinking he have common sense to begin with.
I do think it should be avoided for the same reason as the ableism rule ; after all, in most case, alcohol don’t make you an asshole, it just make it easier to spot that you are one.
Maybe if Milo wasn’t such a flagrant attention-seeking ovaltine, we wouldn’t be so kwik to call out his fascist bullshit. He can’t claim neutrality like some kind of Swiss Miss.
Of all the Milos being named, I’m surprised nobody has brought up the one literary Milo this guy most resembles: Milo Minderbinder of Catch 22
Except Minderbinder was actually competent in his amoral scheming.