The Radicalization of White America: How the vile MAGAcretin Weaponized Whiteness

[malaise]

https://www.theroot.com/the-radicalization-of-white-america-how-donald-trump-w-1834444146
<snip>
On September 30, 2011, an unmanned American drone fired 40 missiles into the home of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen living in Yemen. The prominent Muslim cleric was placed on the U.S. government’s kill list because he reportedly inspired numerous terrorists, including Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army officer who was convicted of killing 13 and wounding 30 at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. He also reportedly inspired a plot to kill Army officers at Fort Dix in 2007. He also created Inspire magazine, a glossy periodical that is banned because it has been accused of motivating radical Islamists.

Although the United States had never definitively proven that Awlaki was materially involved with a specific act of terror, he was sentenced to an extrajudicial killing because he wielded a deadly combination of influence, reach and incendiary rhetoric that radicalized regular, shmegular citizens. His YouTube channel and Facebook page were extremely popular before he was banned from the platforms because he was deemed too dangerous, and rightfully so.

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Thankfully, in the United States, incidents involving Muslim terrorists are rare. However, there is another popular figure who perpetuates a more explosive threat than Awlaki. But instead of condemning him, politicians, law enforcement officers and social media executives have shrugged off treacherous words as harmless, even though he has been cited as the inspiration for terrorist attacks from New Zealand to Florida.

His name is Donald Trump.

The Rise of Radical Whiteness
Since Donald Trump declared himself a candidate for the presidency, hate crimes have jumped by a statistically significant amount. In 2014, the last full year he wasn’t running for president, the FBI reported 6,418 total hate crime incidents, the lowest amount in five years. Donald Trump officially announced his White House bid in June 2015, and by 2016 (his first full year as a political figure), hate crimes jumped 14%.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I still can't get over the willful blindness of Trump's devotees.

And the hypocrisy of some. Example: The son of my sister's husband's brother (nephew-in-law) refused to take off his MAGA hat for Thanksgiving and -- he's Jewish! He doesn't recognize that the white supremacists have targeted him no matter whom he votes for. And he has a similar smirk on his face like that Covington, KY dude, Nick Sandmann. Oblivious!

[malaise]

2. It's hard to process

We were at a birthday party last night and this very old man was making the point that now he understands how Hitler succeeded.

[nuxvomica]

3. He makes his followers feel powerful

Which can be pretty intoxicating, and impervious to reason.

[zaj]

9. Outstanding description...

... that's an important point.

[Ford_Prefect]

5. This is so much more than just one guy spewing hate.

His followers were trained to think along certain lines and to reject as toxic any ideas that did not conform. They are now a cult based on paranoia and hatred.

Trump did not arrive without the wholesale conversion of the Republican Party into an anti-American propaganda organ representing the views and desires of a group of extremely rich white men.

The effluent flowing from FOX with hundreds of radio and internet echos had something to do with it. Not to mention the effect of decades of Falwell, Limbaugh, along with other manipulators and opportunists laying the groundwork of lies and distortions. Rupert Murdoch has had more to do with it than most people are aware of and continues to profit from preparing and stoking the fear and alienation on a planetary scale.

[pangaia]

12. And a lot of the more basic reasons/people behind it we still know nothing about.

[nycbos]

4. "If you can convince the lowest white man...

... he is better than the best colored man he won't notice you picking his pockets"

-LBJ

Trump is hardly the first person to do this.

[calimary]

6. BOOM!

[mountain grammy]

7. No he's not the first person to do that

George Wallace ran for president in 1968 and won the South. He also won a lot of union votes and gave the election to Nixon.

In America, racism tops almost everything. It's not about republcian or democrat, it's about white supremacy.

[paleotn]

8. Yep. And then there's the southern strategy....

Couple that with the Gawd strategy of Jerry Falwell, et al. from 80's and you've got the heart and soul of the modern Rethuglican party. A few monied elites and an ignorant, pliable voting base.

[mountain grammy]

10. Wallace's electoral votes gave the GOP the idea of the southern strategy

and now, the confederacy is ruling America.

[safeinOhio]

15. I remember him winning the primary in

Michigan. Sad day.

[mountain grammy]

17. Not for republicans

they saw the future.

[paleotn]

18. Yep, ironic isn't it....

somewhere John C. Calhoun and Alexander Stephens are smiling. They won the peace.

[malaise]

21. Bingo

[lambchopp59]

11. I maintain the best intervention is passage of a rewritten Fairness Doctrine

Daunting task, as so much misinformation has been created to suit some polluting or insanely greedy corporate profits.
But it must be done to create a more equitable and non-toxic world for our progeny.
It starts by saying... (excuse the Obama ripoff slogan) Yes we can! restore FACTS with a accredited multi-university effort.

[LibFarmer]

13. This is what happens

when politics is treated as sport.

Fans of a given team generally die as fans of that team - whether it wins or loses.

Same with gang members. No matter how horrendous the gang, the sense of belonging is craved by the usual outcasts. It gives them a purpose in life and a stature.

[pangaia]

14. Thanks for posting this, Malaise.

The history of it goes back, of course, to Jamestown, Plymouth Rock and such.

[safeinOhio]

16. Imagine this, please.

[ismnotwasm]

19. Hopefully the arguments against social justice are a thing of the past.

[certainot]

20. dems need to stop falling for analysis without factoring talk radio

this rightward lurch is a direct result of allowing a few hundred racist liars on 1500 radio stations blast the country 15 hrs a day 5 days a week

the racism got especially loud on talk radio right after 2000 when the cons started demonizing brown people to sell vote suppression legislation, then limbaugh led the attacks on mike brown and trayvon martin, excusing their killers, and attacking BLM , and then attacking colin kaepernick and kneeling athletes

trump and the russians are just piggybacking talk radio repetition which only works because democrats ignore it. fox keeps getting the blame but its basically the cartoon cliff notes for talk radio, and a decoy.

at $1000/hour x 1200 stations x 15 hrs/day talk radio is worth $5BIL/year FREE to sell "there is no racism" or white privilege, illegal immigrants are voting and bringing ebola, etc.

- ignoring talk radio, democrats might as well be analyzing issues like this as if studying fish without water.

[spanone]

22. K&R...