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Steve Bannon, the Breitbart News Network executive chairman known for having white nationalist views ― and who has himself been accused of anti-Semitism ― was named chief strategist and senior counselor to President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday.
David Axelrod, who served as senior advisor to President Barack Obama during his first term, said via Twitter Sunday that picking Priebus over Bannon as chief of staff could signal Trump taking a more “conventional” approach, but later said that having Bannon in the White House at all was “deeply troubling.”
Bannon’s name appeared above Priebus’ in the release, suggesting his significance in the Trump administration could rival that of the chief of staff. A president’s top strategist and senior counselor typically control access to the president and help set and carry out his agenda.
At Breitbart, Bannon helped make the hardline populist website a go-to resource for white nationalists and the alt-right, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups.
Breitbart served as a mouthpiece for the Trump campaign and an attack dog against conservatives like House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who were critical of Trump.
Breitbart has propagated conspiracy theories, like Planned Parenthood having Nazi ties or Clinton aide Huma Abedin being a spy for Saudi Arabia. The website traffics in misogynist and racist stories; it frames women who push back against harassment or gender bias as weak and incompetent and portrays people of color and immigrants as inherently criminal.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) spokesman Adam Jentleson said Trump’s choice of Bannon “signals that White Supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump’s White House. “
“It is easy to see why the KKK views Trump as their champion,” he added.
The SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League expressed concern over the appointment as well, with the ADL saying Bannon and “his alt-right are so hostile to core American values.”
Anti-discrimination groups are fighting back following president-elect Donald Trump's announcement that Stephen Bannon, executive of Breitbart News, would be his future chief strategist and senior counselor.
The Southern Poverty Law Center released a statement Monday saying that Bannon's appointment goes "directly against Trump's pledge to be a president to 'all Americans."
A post on SPLC's website read, "Bannon has a long history of bigotry. He has insinuated that African-Americans are 'naturally aggressive and violent' and under his leadership, Breitbart’s publishing strategy turned to one that has made it the media arm of the racist Alternative-Right movement, publishing articles promoting popular white nationalist tropes such as 'black on white crime' and that 'rape culture' is inherent in Islam."
The group posted their statement in a tweet that also read, "Steve Bannon has no business in the White House."
www.thehill.com...
originally posted by: Annee
a reply to: Grambler
SPLC: "Steve Bannon has no business in the White House"
Anti-discrimination groups are fighting back following president-elect Donald Trump's announcement that Stephen Bannon, executive of Breitbart News, would be his future chief strategist and senior counselor.
The Southern Poverty Law Center released a statement Monday saying that Bannon's appointment goes "directly against Trump's pledge to be a president to 'all Americans."
A post on SPLC's website read, "Bannon has a long history of bigotry. He has insinuated that African-Americans are 'naturally aggressive and violent' and under his leadership, Breitbart’s publishing strategy turned to one that has made it the media arm of the racist Alternative-Right movement, publishing articles promoting popular white nationalist tropes such as 'black on white crime' and that 'rape culture' is inherent in Islam."
The group posted their statement in a tweet that also read, "Steve Bannon has no business in the White House."
www.thehill.com...
originally posted by: Xcalibur254
I notice that you left out his history of anti-Semitism. Just look into his 2007 divorce. His ex-wife mentioned a number of troubling statements Bannon had made regarding Jews during the proceedings.
And yes, Milo works for Breitbart, and he is intentionally offensive to progressives, much in the same way as many on the left are intentional provocative to the right.
Bannon was famous for being the head of Breitbart news, what has been called an "alt right" news outlet.
RS: Breitbart has elective affinities with the Alt Right, and the Alt Right has clearly influenced Breitbart. In this way, Breitbart has acted as a “gateway” to Alt Right ideas and writers. I don’t think it has done this deliberately; again, it’s a matter of elective affinities.
For years, I was skeptical of Breitbart (the man and the website). The man was clearly talented and interesting, but I associated him with a kind of extreme version of American “conservatism” (think Dubya and the neocons et al.), which I’ve always opposed. The fact that Ben Shapiro was a major Breitbart.com writer made me highly suspicious of the website.
But Breitbart (again, the man and website) always had a populist edge. And the anti-White animus, present in almost every major institution, is so obvious that it would be hard not to notice it and write about it. And as is evident with Milo’s piece on the Alt Right, Breitbart has people on board who take us seriously, even if they are not Alt Right themselves.
So, yes, Breitbart has raised our profile; after all, it’s a major news outlet with millions of views. But the story is complicated.
"In the mid 19th century, many Jews in Central Europe had an idea of an ethno-state, an idea of Zionism, and they were considered ridiculous and insane,” Spencer said. “But they had that dream, and that dream came into reality. Our dream is a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans. It would be a new society based on very different ideals than, say, the Declaration of Independence."
(1) We believe the United States is a Christian country.
[...]
(2) We believe the United States is a European country and that Americans are part of the European people. We believe that the United States derives from and is an integral part of European civilization and the European people and that the American people and government should remain European in their composition and character. We therefore oppose the massive immigration of non-European and non-Western peoples into the United States that threatens to transform our nation into a non-European majority in our lifetime. We believe that illegal immigration must be stopped, if necessary by military force and placing troops on our national borders; that illegal aliens must be returned to their own countries; and that legal immigration must be severely restricted or halted through appropriate changes in our laws and policies. We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called “affirmative action” and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.
originally posted by: theantediluvian
I would note here that Bannon himself has as recently as the Republican National Convention referred to Breitbart as "the home of the alt-right" and "the platform for the alt-right" so this isn't a spurious label — this is how Bannon see's Breitbart under his leadership (and with Robert Mercer's money).
The person who coined the term "alt-right" was Richard B Spencer and of course, he's one of its most influential figures. Spencer sees Breitbart as a vehicle for bringing the alt-right to the mainstream. Here's Spencer posting an interview with a Daily Beast reporter in his own (alt-right) Radix Journal:
RS: Breitbart has elective affinities with the Alt Right, and the Alt Right has clearly influenced Breitbart. In this way, Breitbart has acted as a “gateway” to Alt Right ideas and writers. I don’t think it has done this deliberately; again, it’s a matter of elective affinities.
For years, I was skeptical of Breitbart (the man and the website). The man was clearly talented and interesting, but I associated him with a kind of extreme version of American “conservatism” (think Dubya and the neocons et al.), which I’ve always opposed. The fact that Ben Shapiro was a major Breitbart.com writer made me highly suspicious of the website.
But Breitbart (again, the man and website) always had a populist edge. And the anti-White animus, present in almost every major institution, is so obvious that it would be hard not to notice it and write about it. And as is evident with Milo’s piece on the Alt Right, Breitbart has people on board who take us seriously, even if they are not Alt Right themselves.
So, yes, Breitbart has raised our profile; after all, it’s a major news outlet with millions of views. But the story is complicated.
Notice the use of the term "elective affinities" repeatedly? Elective Affinities (German: Die Wahlverwandtschaften) is the title of a novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In the novel, the concept of "chemical affinities" (aka "elective affinities"), which actually predates modern chemistry by centuries, is used to compare human relationships to chemical reactions. In later years, the term was used frequently by German sociologist Max Weber.
In this context, he's referring to a sort of synergistic interplay of independent actors, causing a (social) reaction — like two chemicals that react well together. Personally, I would have been tempted to use a term popularized by adherents to another of the fathers of sociology (Marx), fellow traveler. Though in all honesty, according to what I've read about Bannon, he seems far less concerned about ideology than influence so I would say making Breitbart the "platform of the alt-right" was probably equal parts business decision and natural attraction.
Richard B Spencer's goal is to bring about a European ethno-state:
"In the mid 19th century, many Jews in Central Europe had an idea of an ethno-state, an idea of Zionism, and they were considered ridiculous and insane,” Spencer said. “But they had that dream, and that dream came into reality. Our dream is a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans. It would be a new society based on very different ideals than, say, the Declaration of Independence."
Say what you will but as the old adage goes, if you sleep with dogs, you're going to get fleas. I don't believe it's unfair to call out Bannon on what he's done with Breitbart.
originally posted by: theantediluvian
a reply to: Grambler
CofCC is in fact, a white nationalist organization that was founded by a group of segregationists from among the leadership of the former White Citizens' Council.
My point here is that even as you are making your argument, you've inadvertantly stepped in exactly what you believe is being overblown because that's how prevalent it really is. The mainstream media and Clinton herself went way too far in painting Trump supporters, I'll readily concede that, but we shouldn't swing to the other extreme which is to dismiss the very real presence of a disturbingly large network of folks whose ultimate goal isn't unity at all — but quite the opposite — racial deintegration and the formation of a "white homeland."