C.J. Hopkins in Counterpunch:
Thank God for the Charlottesville Nazis! For a moment there, it was looking like we were actually going to have a few days to stop and reflect on the state of America without being subjected to some new form of manufactured mass hysteria. Seriously, just a few short weeks ago, as the corporatist ruling classes’ ridiculous attempt to convince the world that Donald Trump is some sort of Russian sleeper agent appeared to be finally fizzling out, a significant number of leftist types were beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the fact that the United States government is controlled by a global corporate plutocracy that has no allegiance to any nation, or people, or to anything other than itself, and that is in the process of demonizing and potentially deposing an elected president … that maybe that might be something to focus on, not exclusively, by any means, but alongside other vital issues, like defending the rights of transgender drone pilots and purging syllabi of oppressive pronouns.
Fortunately, thanks to the Nazis of Charlottesville, this dangerous moment of doubt has now passed. If you were listening closely on August 11, you could hear the collective sigh of relief whooshing out of Resistance quarters like a hypnagogic idiot wind as roughly one hundred white supremacists marched into town with their tiki torches barking N.S.D.A.P. slogans and otherwise making asses of themselves. Corporate media apparatchiks, mandarins of the Internet Left, professional and amateur Naziologists, and assorted other Nazi experts immediately went to DEFCON 1, signaling imminent Nazi invasion. Photos of bug-eyed, torch-bearing Nazis, their mouths wide open in mid-Nazi shriek, veins bulging out of their Nazi necks, were released to the public and circulated widely. Millions of conflicted leftists (many of whom had been feeling uneasy about collaborating with the corporate plutocracy in their efforts to delegitimize Trump, and every last American who voted for him), upon seeing glossy, color close-ups of these Nazis waved in front of their faces, responded as every Good American has been conditioned to respond since early childhood. They instantly switched off their critical faculties and began reenacting the Second World War … or rather, the mythical version of it wherein the USA defeated the Nazis, which is one of Americans’ favorite pastimes.
Look, I don’t mean to make light of Charlottesville. We’re talking actual neo-Nazis, with actual Nazi flags and haircuts, shouting actual Nazi slogans, and the Ku Klux Klan, and heavily-armed militia, and just garden variety racist rednecks … all of which have been standard features of American life for decades, and longer, but this is no time to reflect on history, or try to put things into perspective. Also, one of these Nazi morons ran over people with his car the next day, killing one woman, and injuring many others, which renders any critical thinking about the actual size of the Nazi menace (which remains ridiculously small, as ever) or the motives of the corporate media in blowing it up all out of proportion tantamount to Nazi sympathizing, and I’m already in enough trouble as it is.
Plus, Charlottesville was just the beginning … kind of like a Nazi Tet Offensive. Just one week later, on August 19, literally forty to fifty Nazis (cleverly disguised as Trump supporters, libertarians, and right-wing oddballs) occupied a public gazebo in Boston, and were right on the verge of expressing virulent Nazi views to the cops surrounding them. Luckily, just in the nick of time, a contingent of approximately forty thousand anti-fascist Resistance members arrived on the scene to deny them a platform, and chase down anyone wearing one of those MAGA hats and verbally abuse them.
You’d think the Nazis would have gotten the message … but no, last Sunday, August 27, another ten or eleven Nazis (many of them posing as “Trump supporters,” as if that didn’t make them Nazis, and some of them even going so far as to attempt to pass themselves off as “Latinos”) audaciously tried to assemble in Berkeley. The Resistance showed them no mercy this time. Thousands of peaceful counter-protesters quickly frightened the Nazis away, then squads of masked-up anti-fascists hunted down any Nazi-looking stragglers, “apparent alt-righters,” and nosy photographers, and stomped the living Hitler out of them. This alarmed the more liberal Resistance, which set about branding the anti-fascists who beat the crap out of the folks the liberals had branded Nazis “domestic terrorists.”
Elsewhere in America, Resistance members were frantically tearing down Confederate monuments, which had suddenly become intolerably offensive, and searching through online business directories for anyone named after Robert E. Lee, or horses named after General Lee’s horse, or the horses of other racist Nazis. That, and hastily organizing the upcoming March to Confront White Supremacy (presumably in order to make a mockery of the 1963 March on Washington), and penning lengthy explications of the evils of racism, white supremacy, and all other forms of Naziism associated with Donald Trump … and otherwise whipping people up into a sputtering frenzy of Nazi hysteria.
Now, you have to hand it to the fake Resistance … this Nazi hysteria is good for everyone. Not only is it an easier sell than that ridiculous Russian hacking nonsense (because Trump really is a racist, of course), but it’s something the broader Left can embrace, as it plugs straight into identity politics, which is pretty much all we’ve got these days.
See, up to now, the dilemma we’ve been facing (or some of us have been facing, anyway) is how to respond to the ruling establishment’s concerted campaign to “regime-change” Trump. On the one hand, Trump is a living embodiment of everything the Left opposes. On the other hand, going after Trump has meant carrying water for the fake Resistance, i.e., that global corporatocracy (which, by the way, does not mean “the Jews.” I always like to slip that in to piss off my anti-Semitic readers.) This has been a bit awkward for some of us, restraining our impulse to stick it to Trump (at least on whatever talking points the Resistance is currently putting out) because in doing so we would align ourselves with the ruling establishment’s attempt to demonize, and eventually depose an American president who isn’t playing ball with them properly. If we oppose regime change in other countries, shouldn’t we also oppose it at home? Or do the ruling classes get a pass this time because Trump is such an exceptional monster? But wait … wasn’t Saddam a monster? And Gaddafi? And all the other “Hitlers” that wouldn’t play ball with the corporatocracy? And Assad? Isn’t he a monster?
You can see how confusing all this gets … when you’re trying to figure out how to oppose both the supranational corporatocracy that is superseding sovereign nations as the hegemonic power in the world and the neo-nationalist reaction against it, which is essentially fascist in nature, and which the corporatocracy also opposes … and desperately wants you to help them oppose by buying their manufactured hysteria about Russians, or Nazis, or whatever scary monster they wave in front of your face. After a while, your brain starts to hurt, and you just want someone to make things simple.
Charlottesville Nazis to the rescue! How much simpler could it possibly get? Corporatocracy? What corporatocracy? We got goddamned Nazis coming out of the woodwork! Racist Nazis! Confederate Nazis! Nazi apologists! Nazi sympathizers! This is no time to worry about who’s actually wielding political power, or how they’re manufacturing hysteria and otherwise manipulating people (not you, of course … other people). No, what we need to do now is censor the Internet, and other venues for Nazi hate speech, and round up all these racist Nazis and subject them to anti-Nazi therapy, or anti-racist empathy programs, or just gang up on them and beat them senseless.
OK, sure, that might sound extreme, or authoritarian, or just plain old creepy, but keep in mind that This Is Not Normal! And racism and Naziism is very, very bad. And Love Trumps Hate! And Scope Kills Germs! And we never literally meant that Trump was an actual Russian agent or anything. Forget about all that Russia stuff now. Trump is Hitler. Trump has always been Hitler. America has always been at war with Hitler. America will always be at war with Hitler.
Oh, yeah, and I almost forgot, today’s edition of the Two Minutes Hate will begin in approximately fifteen minutes. Please assemble in the usual location. Thank you for your cooperation.
This video was taken at the centre of the so called Boston rally. I understand it was scheduled a month or two before the Charlottesville events:
As you can see, there’s something wrong with the media narrative.
It’s the United States of Stupid. It’s always been the United States of Stupid.
One won’t find anything anywhere near as critical or illuminating as this piece in that great liberal/left beacon, the shining tower of all that’s right, decent and proper, otherwise known as the Guardian; which is rather depressing. A beacon that spreads darkness as opposed to light.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/04/what-the-media-isnt-telling-you-about-north-koreas-missile-tests/
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/former-defense-secretary-william-j-perry-on-the-nuclear-threat/
The hysteria just keeps on growing as we move, seemingly inexorably, towards WW3. This interesting interview with ex defense secretary Perry, is a kind of antidote to all that as it’s sober and fact based; though whether one feels any more optimistic at the end is problematic. Where are the mass demonstrations in western capitals today? Do we just slide or sleepwalk into war against North Korea, that could easily become a nuclear conflict that might drag China in, without any popular mass protests at all? What’s happened to public opinion? Don’t people care that Washington is moving towards a war that could wipe out civilization? Why the passivity? The time to express an opinion is now, before it’s too late!
Just to point out that the event itself was completely staged, it wasn’t just hyped but no one, apart from a few YouTubers, seems to think that the difference is important for some reason. It’s six of one, half a dozen of the other – staged or hyped, no difference worth making.
Crowds on Demand
https://www.newslogue.com/debate/675/KimHolleman
The Red Shoe
it’s really scary. All these staged events are being passed by us without showing ANY clear evidence of injury or death and yet everyone’s swallowing them no problem and the most they can come up with is, “it’s hyped”.
Can we please just not state the simple truth (however unimportant the distinction from “hyped” may seem to be): these “terror” events are staged.
@flaxgirl: with you all the way on this one. What happened in C-ville was pure Kabuki theatre: a Noh play psyop for the mind. Not sure no-one got (accidentally) hurt: even Ole Dammegard was reticent about that… but the car crash was a straight up film stunt. It appears Soros and co have invested the alternative reality movies?
Liked the article with the exception of this:
“You can see how confusing all this gets … when you’re trying to figure out how to oppose both the supranational corporatocracy that is superseding sovereign nations as the hegemonic power in the world and the neo-nationalist reaction against it, which is essentially fascist in nature”
Is the neo-nationalist reaction essentially fascist?
Not according to Takis Fotopoulos, who convincingly argues that it is a legitimate “. . . movement ‘from below’, i.e. from the victims of globalization themselves.”
The systematic effort of the Transnational Elite to crush the ‘Brexit revolution’: From Brexit and Trump to Le Pen
Charlottesville Nazis! Hopkins must be kidding!
Supporters of pro-Israel White nationalist Alt-Right held a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Anti-Trump rabbis and Jew students held a protest march nearby to condemn Alt-Right’s support for US president Donald Trump (video below).
The confrontation between the Friends of Israel resulted in the death of three while 34 other protesters were injured.
Local police arrested a 20-year-old White Christian James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio on charges of ramping a car into protesters – killing a 34-year-old Jew woman protester. James’ mother told police that his son was influenced by his black friends.
If that was not enough, two state troopers were also killed when their helicopter, which had been assisting with the police response to the rally, crashed outside the city later in the day.
The rally was held in response to city’s plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park in Charlottesville. Lee is considered a Jewish hero for fighting to save the African slavery in America (watch video below). Nearly 10,000 Jews fought under his command.
https://rehmat1.com/2017/08/13/charlottesville-protests-and-the-car-terror/
Don’t worry, American’s don’t know the difference between Nazis and those Russian Nazis, Chinese Nazis, and North Korean Nazis!
The important thing is NOT to look under the bed! They are all there ready to put America in harms way.
It all comes down to where should we bomb next to save the world. Oh just fuck it and have a coke!
I’m all for calling all our troops and aid out of Europe. Next time you have a war, don’t call us, we’ll call you.
I am sure many in Europe would love for the USA to stop fomenting wars in their neighborhood, courtesy of those flag attacks with accompanying pack of lies.
War hysteria is a terrible thing to behold. Can one imagine the United States allowing China to attack Mexico with nuclear weapons without reacting? Yet, this is what they are demanding of China. That China lets them destroy North Korea or forces them to surrender unconditionally on terms dictated by the United States. Is this because Washington wants a conflict with China before China becomes too powerful? Better a conflict with Peking now than in ten or twenty years?
“OMG! Turn off your TV!”
I don’t have a TV, but I am deleting various bookmarks to alternative media. Judging by it’s comments section, Zero Hedge is increasingly looking like the financial news sister site of The Daily Stormer.
At the risk of sounding biased, the main reason political discourse has become so debased is because Americans dominate the political blogosphere. By and large, they prefer the use of catchy labels and spurious links and associations over rigorous research and analysis. The right wing alternative media criticises the left without ever having read Marx. It bangs on about “Cultural Marxism” without ever having read Adorno, Habermas and Marcuse, just because the “marxism” label sounds so evil to them.
Political discourse is currently dead.
FYI: there’s a difference between Classical Marxism and Cultural Marxism. The former was primarily a doctrine of political-economy; the latter is mostly about culture and identity politics.
What’s truly disturbing is the lack of real discussion, debate, opposition or criticism of the American drift towards conflict with Russia, a new war in the heart of Europe. One would think that such a prospect would concentrate the minds of Europe’s leaders; but no, they ignore, at least in public, the dreadful state we’re in.
About the only chance we have is if someone in Europe breaks we the Americans and their plans for war with Russia and demands that they pull their soldiers out and opts for neutrality. This might… might put a brake on them, for a while. But how likely is that?
The truth is that Europe after WW2 became occupied territory with the Russians controlling half of it and the Americans the rest. The Russians then pulled back after the demise of the Soviet Union, which was probably a disaster, whilt the Americans kept control of their ‘winnings’ and then exanded right up to the borders of Russia itself, right up to the edge of war aimed at toppling the Russian state, which, in contrast to the rest of Europe, is perceived as being way, way, too independent.
What will it take to wake Europeans up? I’m not optimistic. It’s said that Europe ‘sleepwalked’ into WW1. Things are worse now. Europe is braindead.
Only got about half-way thru the article before my eyes gave me motion sickness because of darting back and forth on such tiny paragraphs.
PLEASE think about dropping this avant-garde approach to your otherwise great outlet and return to the basic font and paragraph.
P.S. You don’t have to use the New York Times font, they’re are plenty others available.
Done.
Great! High octane writing of the kind Americans do bettert han anyone else – and defo a contender for the much coveted best opening paragraph of the year award.
The only reason the Americans get away with it is that a critical mass of nations and people have not told it go take a hike.
If 4bn people on this planet all decided not to do business with the US until its recalcitrant media had behaved itself for 10 years, the US behemoth would be finished, a reinvented US land mass could emerge and the world would not have its own supine nonentities in the media blethering inanities to kiss US backsides.
Even Andrew Neill was doing it to cover the US Presidential election. I hope UK politicians give him short shrift if he gets hoity toity about factual accuracy in future……