Alt-Right - hate group fascists or serious political movement (1 Viewer)

[[scooter]]

This is a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/katie-mchugh

Some takeaways:

1. it was frustrating to read from a storytelling point of view, because the author initially glossed over McHugh's downfall (saving it for the back half of the story), which makes it difficult for the reader to put things into context.

2. the first half of the article is little more than a boring timeline. Too much exposition, not enough drama. GET TO THE STORY!

3. I was surprised to learn that anyone at Breitbart would be concerned (let alone upset) that McHugh was associating with white supremacists. This seems like a topic that should have been explored further.

4. I'm not a fan of the author's tactic of accessing McHugh's email account, reading other people's private emails, and then forwarding those emails to potential interview subjects. That tactic got two people fired.

5. McHugh is not a sympathetic character. She comes off as a disgruntled ex-employee who decided to burn bridges because she couldn't land a job and couldn't get her essay published. She says she's changed but she seems to carry the same hatred as before, except that now the hatred is directed at her former compatriots.

6. the article briefly touches on the concepts of deprogramming, forgiveness, and redemption, but fails to address any of them in depth. If McHugh has been deprogrammed, forgiven, or redeemed, the author certainly doesn't provide much evidence of any of it.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

5. McHugh is not a sympathetic character. She comes off as a disgruntled ex-employee who decided to burn bridges because she couldn't land a job and couldn't get her essay published. She says she's changed but she seems to carry the same hatred as before, except that now the hatred is directed at her former compatriots.

I mostly agree with this, but I have a hard time not having some sympathy for people who make life-altering mistakes.  For example, I often find myself feeling really bad for people who are sentenced to prison -- not that they don't deserve their fate, just that it's not a position I would want to be in.

 

[[scooter]]

5. McHugh is not a sympathetic character. She comes off as a disgruntled ex-employee who decided to burn bridges because she couldn't land a job and couldn't get her essay published. She says she's changed but she seems to carry the same hatred as before, except that now the hatred is directed at her former compatriots.

I mostly agree with this, but I have a hard time not having some sympathy for people who make life-altering mistakes.  For example, I often find myself feeling really bad for people who are sentenced to prison -- not that they don't deserve their fate, just that it's not a position I would want to be in.

To expand on this analogy: I am more likely to feel bad for a person who has committed a crime and subsequently expresses deep remorse (to the victim) and a desire to make amends and live a better life. But the only vibe I get from McHugh is "I'm sorry I got caught". Granted, it's possible that this "vibe" is partly due to the way that the article is written. Perhaps she is more remorseful than the article has implied?

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

6. the article briefly touches on the concepts of deprogramming, forgiveness, and redemption, but fails to address any of them in depth. If McHugh has been deprogrammed, forgiven, or redeemed, the author certainly doesn't provide much evidence of any of it.

I got the feeling that the author was not fully buying McHugh’s claims of repentance.

 

[[scooter]]

6. the article briefly touches on the concepts of deprogramming, forgiveness, and redemption, but fails to address any of them in depth. If McHugh has been deprogrammed, forgiven, or redeemed, the author certainly doesn't provide much evidence of any of it.

I got the feeling that the author was not fully buying McHugh’s claims of repentance.

Maybe. I got the impression that the author was trying to ride the fence between "she's a fraud" and "she's almost part of my friend circle so I want to help her out in exchange for letting me use her as an informant for my previous exposés of the alt-right."

 

[McJose]

This is a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/katie-mchugh

I read this yesterday.  

The one thing that really stood out for me was that there wasn't any sort of "origin story" (for lack of a better term).

She starts off as just being very conservative and then then eventually she's a white supremacist.

I mean I've always assumed that hyper-racist people were the products of their environment or there was some sort of tipping point.  Their parents were racist or they had negative experiences with people of a certain race/religion/background.  

 

[[scooter]]

I read this yesterday.  

The one thing that really stood out for me was that there wasn't any sort of "origin story" (for lack of a better term).

She starts off as just being very conservative and then then eventually she's a white supremacist.

I mean I've always assumed that hyper-racist people were the products of their environment or there was some sort of tipping point.  Their parents were racist or they had negative experiences with people of a certain race/religion/background.  

Every time it seemed like the author might start to touch upon McHugh's background ("...The class markers were important to someone like McHugh, who had come from the sticks..."), the subject was suddenly dropped.

 

[Joe Summer]

[scooter] said:

3. I was surprised to learn that anyone at Breitbart would be concerned (let alone upset) that McHugh was associating with white supremacists. This seems like a topic that should have been explored further.

It almost makes me think that maybe Breitbart is uncomfortable with its relationship with the alt-right and wants to pivot into being the new National Review.

 

[Henry Ford]

This is a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/katie-mchugh

I read this earlier.  Great read. 

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

This is a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/katie-mchugh

It is a great piece, but it's not real clear why she and Johnson fell out?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Gotta love the reassuring DMs from Don Jr.

 

[[scooter]]

This is a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/katie-mchugh

It is a great piece, but it's not real clear why she and Johnson fell out?

Good point. The article kind of implies that Johnson wasn't happy with her piece about Charlottesville ("Richard Spencer has a kill count and blood on his hands"), but for all we know he could have been telling her to "find other work" for weeks before then.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right: A Washington family's nightmare year.

 

[[scooter]]

What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right: A Washington family's nightmare year.

That was an interesting read. Not sure if I completely believe all of it, though.

 

[Max Power]

What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right: A Washington family's nightmare year.

While not the intent of the article it does highlight the liberal policies at schools that are driving the wedge. 

 

[McJose]

While not the intent of the article it does highlight the liberal policies at schools that are driving the wedge. 

Could you please list these?  Thank you.

 

[Max Power]

Could you please list these?  Thank you.

Expelling or suspending kids for something taken out of context. Threatening to arrest them over a joke.

Someone claiming Sexual harassment for something overheard.  Not even directed at them. 

It ended up messing up the kid over something an apology probably would have fixed.

 

[McJose]

Expelling or suspending kids for something taken out of context. Threatening to arrest them over a joke.

Someone claiming Sexual harassment for something overheard.  Not even directed at them. 

It ended up messing up the kid over something an apology probably would have fixed.

Those are not policies.  

 

[Max Power]

Those are not policies.  

Liberal application of the code of conduct then.

 

[McJose]

Liberal application of the code of conduct then.

Not really.

ETA: we're only hearing one side of these stories.   I see this every single day.

 

[AAABatteries]

This person

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right: A Washington family's nightmare year.

That was a terrific read ... with a happy ending.

 

[urbanhack]

https://twitter.com/gwensnyderphl/status/1133057510292824065?s=21

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

https://twitter.com/gwensnyderphl/status/1133057510292824065?s=21

People may not be aware of what happened here - this guy Brewer is a white supremacist who was indicted by the federal government. In the indictment the DOJ stated that he was introduced to radicalization by Shapiro and Breitbart.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

https://twitter.com/gwensnyderphl/status/1133057510292824065?s=21

People may not be aware of what happened here - this guy Brewer is a white supremacist who was indicted by the federal government. In the indictment the DOJ stated that he was introduced to radicalization by Shapiro and Breitbart.

Sloppy tweeting by Gwen. The IndyStar article she links to does not mention Shapiro or Breitbart.

Even though she linked to IndyStar, she actually appears to be quoting from this SplinterNews article, which cited BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, however, retracted and deleted its tweet because it was inaccurate. The synagogue vandal didn't say that he read Shapiro or Breitbart; he said that his wife read them.

In any case, anyone familiar with Shapiro knows that he can't radicalize someone into Nazism. He's extremely Jewish and has a strong hate-hate relationship with the alt-right.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Sloppy tweeting by Gwen. The IndyStar article she links to does not mention Shapiro or Breitbart.

Even though she linked to IndyStar, she actually appears to be quoting from this SplinterNews article, which cited BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, however, retracted and deleted its tweet because it was inaccurate. The synagogue vandal didn't say that he read Shapiro or Breitbart; he said that his wife read them.

In any case, anyone familiar with Shapiro knows that he can't radicalize someone as a Nazi. He's extremely Jewish and has a strong hate-hate relationship with the alt-right.

You’re right about the wife, anyway it’s in the sentencing memo, Pages 3-4 here.

 

[General Malaise]

America has a terrorism problem.

Nonsense!  Plenty of good people on the white supremacist side.  Our president told us so.  

Whatever we do, let's not look at gun control.  That won't help. We know because we've literally tried nothing. 

 

[Insomniac]

Nonsense!  Plenty of good people on the white supremacist side.  Our president told us so.  

Whatever we do, let's not look at gun control.  That won't help. We know because we've literally tried nothing. 

And gun control completely failed in every country that tried it.

 

[General Malaise]

And gun control completely failed in every country that tried it.

Exactly!  You see all the school shootings in Australia this year?  

 

[Insomniac]

Exactly!  You see all the school shootings in Australia this year?  

Well I've been kinda busy so I must have missed them. Shame on me. I'll try harder going forward.

 

[General Malaise]

Well I've been kinda busy so I must have missed them. Shame on me. I'll try harder going forward.

Maybe we should tighten our borders and put children who cross them into prison away from their parents?  Perhaps that will solve our mass murder via gun problem? 

 

[Insomniac]

Maybe we should tighten our borders and put children who cross them into prison away from their parents?  Perhaps that will solve our mass murder via gun problem? 

Brilliant. Are you auditioning for a position in the Trump cabinet? Obviously it would be a temporary appointment, not subject to Senate confrimation,