#or how he uses far-right dogwhistles

[awkward-teabag]

The official slogan for the CPC this election is literally "Canada First", you know, like "America First" and other MAGA slogans.

And let's not forget how Poilievre keeps refusing to get his security clearance despite rumblings about how the CPC is rife with foreign interference and because a security clearance would open him up to legal liability for knowingly lying.

Or forget how Poilievre has attacked Elections Canada multiple times, including calling them partisan, in an effort to get people to doubt election results if they don't like them.

Or how about we go back to the distant year 2022 where Poilievre was caught using an invisible tag on Youtube to court MRAs?

There's also how he's all about "provincial rights" but the moment a province doesn't want, say, a pipeline through it, he says the feds have to force it through no matter what.

And let's not forget how he complained about the government paying restitution to residential school survivors or how he's nigh obsessed with John A. Macdonald AKA the guy who was so racist other racists thought he was too racist at a time where racism was accepted and who served as inspiration to Hitler.

I know most people don't care about anything unless it has to do with the U.S. but can we please start talking about the Canadian election.

Please don't vote for Poilievre. He's basically the Canadian Trump and plans to put in place laws that harm trans youth, and lots of other shit.

Please vote istg this is the only way anything will get better. Poilievre has been kissing millionaires and billionaires asses. He'll make life even harder, and he loves Trump.

Reblogs are appreciated, especially if you aren't Canadian.

[unsolicited-opinions]

weve been moots for a while and its interesting, i feel like you have gotten a little more "radicalized" ans turned slightly more rightwing than when you first started posting abt i/p

I wouldn't say more right wing. On domestic policy, I still align pretty well with the Bernie Sanders end of the liberal spectrum.

Here's a ranty infodump:

I still think that Trump is the most dangerous President in US history. I think he's our Hitler/Mussolini/Franco. I think his support of Israel and his supposed opposition to antisemtism are products of political convenience, not principle/values/solidarity. I think he'll turn on both when the political winds change. I think his party's base includes a massive number of white supremacists, Christian Nationalists, and antisemites to whom he and his allies dogwhistle often.

I still think the GOP is completing its transition to fascism.

I continue to despise Netanyahu. I still loathe Otzma Yehudit. I still think that Israel was wrong to continue to invest in West Bank settlements for decades. I still think that the situation in the West Bank is unsustainable.

- I still think there hasn't been an honest partner working towards peace in leadership on either side for decades.

Some views have definitely changed, though, as I've read more broadly on the latest war which Israel did not want and did not choose...but must fight and win anyway.

- I am no longer able extend the benefit of the doubt to antisemites on the right or on the left, domestically or internationally, because I've come to see them as either nakedly hateful or wilfully ignorant. There aren't any other plausible explanations for their words and deeds.

- I no longer believe there's any principled, informed antizionism which isn't antisemitic.

- I'm out of sympathy for people who are brainwashed by the far right or the far left because they find it easier than thinking for themselves.

- I continue to find the suffering of the non-combatants of Gaza appalling, but I think the responsibility for that suffering rests mostly with Hamas and a popular sentiment among Palestinians which prioritizes Israel's destruction over building a Palestinian state.

- I think that real, awful suffering has been exaggerated by Hamas' propoganda war (which I think Hamas is winning, with Qatar's help).

- I think that while no war has ever been free of war crimes and it would not surprise me if members of the IDF have commited war crimes, I don't believe that Israel has conducted this war in an immoral manner. I think that if a Labor Prime Minister had been in power on 10/7/23, the war would not have gone much differently.

- I no longer believe that there's ever been any significant movement for Palestinian statehood. I believe now that the goal has always been Israel's destruction, and never the "liberation" of the Arabs of the Levant. If a state had ever been the goal, there would be a Palestinian state.

- I no longer believe that institutions like the UN, Amnesty International, or the BBC can be assumed to be acting in good faith and merely incompetent. The lies are too frequent, too blatant, and too obvious to have benign explanations.

- I still think that many US Jews are so freaked out by leftist antisemitism that they're failing to understand the very real danger of the Christian Nationalist, White Supremacist, xenophobic, misogynistic administration which weilds levels of power unparalleled in US history. I think that US Jews who ally with Trump or his movement will eventually regret it.

- I have come to believe that no lasting peace is possible until Hamas is destroyed and the people who elected them are deradicalized. For Israel to walk away from this conflict without destroying Hamas is just an invitation to continue this war in a handful of years in what appears to be a never-ending cycle.

Another round of this cycle benefits nobody.

- I understand better now what happened to the Labor party, why and how the second intifada changed Israel's electorate.

- I have become angry that my 14yo feels safe as an LGBTQ person in Jewish spaces, but not at all safe as a Jew in LGBTQ spaces.

- I have become angry at the way the far left (and much of what I once thought was the center-left) has revealed itself to be just as intellectually lazy and as morally bankrupt as the far right.

- I've come to reject the cultural relativism which says the lack of rights for women, LGBTQ people, and ethnic/religious minorities in all of Israel's neighbors is anything but appalling.

- While I continue to criticize the many profound failings of the Western world, I would not under any circumstances trade the Western world and its deeply flawed nature for the world promoted by its enemies. Classical liberalism is the force behind not just the liberation and enfranchisement of Jews in the West, but most of the forward progress the world has made lifting humanity out of sickness and poverty at record rates in recent decades.

- I have come to see the hypocrisy of Israel's detractors as historically unique, despite my affection for learning new and exciting ways to criticize Israel...by reading Israelis.

- There's no longer any political leader or pundit with whom I consistently agree.

At best, there are a handful who I think are genuinely knowledgeable and intellectually honest (like Haviv Rettig Gur or maybe Ezra Klein) and I cringe inwardly when people like Douglas Murray, Ben Shapiro, or Dennis Prager present a rational, fair, honest, historically accurate defense of Israel...because I find a number of their positions on other matters repulsive.

- While I think it's wrong that many DEI programs have not recognized Jews as a persecuted minority, I just haven't been able to buy the argument that DEI programs are innately antisemitic. I think they need reform, not destruction.

So yes, my views have changed. I aim to be open about that because they'll change again as I continue to read and learn.

More conservative, though? I don't think so.

I think we need more and better models for understanding political alignment now than this single unidimensional spectrum from Left to Right.

[punkeropercyjackson]

'You can hate Luke all you want but you can't say he didn't have the right idea when it came to the gods'I can because he didn't,he only hated the gods out of personal beef and not want to change an unjust system for everyone and his actions nonstop contradicted his words lying about feeling that way,he treated younger half-bloods not the same way the gods do but way worse and 'we need to destroy the world to rebuild it from the ground up' isn't based woke rethoric,it's a cryptofascist dogwhistle created by incels with illusions of being heroes to society who know better than anyone else what it's like to suffer from it even as they treat far less well-treated minorities like shit and as subhuman and this is exactly what Luke did to four(that we know of!!!)underaged girls he groomed and three(that we know of!!!)moc he imteracted with

This is a feature of the books,not a bug and trying to frame him as a victim of 'The Radical' trope is raceblind as it's largely used in fearmongering poc and Luke arguably counts as a white supremacist,including he created and ran a military.It's also worth noting Percy hated the gods from the start and has never thought against revolting against them but rather holds it back as a strong temptation out of fear of falling down the pipeline Luke did,an understandable fear and proof Percy's canonically punk and reflective of how she's the martyr of the gods in-text we're supposed to buy Luke is.We are told Luke suffered greatly by the gods hand but we see it happening to Percy so it's much more belivable on her end,especially within the motif of Luke growing up in a fantasy land that protects their kind(Camp Half-Blood) VS Percy growing up urban and quite literally in the real world(our world/the mortal world).Luke made no points Percy didn't make better,more often and with more actions backing her up

Percy Jackson is far more revolutionary,both in a doylist perspective and in a watsonian perspective,than Luke Castellan and we don't need to pretend they're equal or comparable,because it's simply not true and is desrespectful of punk culture as well as minorities who were and are still victims of irl Lukes,including the irl Percys(bullied autistic kids,afrolatinos and trans women)and the irl Annabeths(emotional incest survivors),Thalias(black girls dealing with their white male friends going far right down the years),Silenas(queer girls taken advantage of by older men they had crushes on tricking them into thinking they hey power in the situation),Kellis(black girls adultified by grown white men who treat them as women and not female children),Beckendorfs(black men hate crime'd by white men for being adjacent to 'their women')and Ethans and Chris'(male poc exploited by white men at a young age).Luke's character is better as white male entitlement commentary than any kind of radicalist and we owe it to eachother to treat him as such and engage with legit punks such as Percy herself and many others that aren't serial abusers with pedophillic tendencies and not an intersectionalist bone in their body

[batboyblog]

Less than 60 days out from the election, how do you think we’re doing, considering the recent debate and Taylor Swift unleashing the Swifties?

I'll start this by saying we're with-in the margin of effort, if either side really puts their backs into it, and pushes and shows up, volunteers in big numbers and turns out voters it could go either way.

So having said that, I feel good, right now the national polls are close, but all show Harris ahead. The swing state polls likewise are close but mostly show tied or leaning to Harris. On top of which Senate Democrats (and the candidate for Governor in NC) are running far ahead of her in polling, I hope thats a sign that late undecideds will break Democrat, they often do break toward the incumbent.

On the debate, I'm often skeptical that debates shift things. That said I think anyone watching would say that debate is pretty unique in the history of Presidential debates. The media has been working very hard to uh "sane wash" Trump and what he says. That debate was an unfiltered view of Trump. I'm frankly shocked he brought up the pet eating, the right has been meming about it but I thought he'd only say some dogwhistle to it not just straight up say some of the most racist shit imaginable on live TV. The bar for Trump was very low and he still failed totally to meet it. Likewise Harris had a high bar and met it, she was claim, she was professional, she came across as ready and smart while also serving as the audience surrogate to let us all know "yeah this is as crazy as you think it is"

just briefly here the attack on Haitian Americans is crazy, and racist, and the whole "the immigrants are eating dogs" goes back 100+ years, I've read people accusing NYC Jews in the early 1900s of kidnapping and eating neighborhood cats and dogs. But also its politically crazy too since Florida where Trump and Republican Senator Rick Scott have both been slipping in the polls as America's largest ethnic Haitian community, just over 500,000 or roughly 2% of the state, so great plan to call them pet stealing and eating monsters just before an election.

The other factor is the Laura Loomer. If anyone doesn't know who she is click that link and enjoy, but basically she's a white nationalist and Islamophobe (that's according to her) and the person extreme far right Republicans point to as proof that they're not "that bad" any ways, Loomer seems to have been with Trump, on his plane the day of the debate and every day since, and Republicans are wigging out

MTG, and any number of Trump super supporters are sounding off about how much they don't like this, and the internet is "joking" that Trump and Loomer are sleeping together. Together with his unhinged debate being connected with one of the worst people in American politics might cause serious problems. In any case a campaign of just alt-right memes is not gonna win most Americans.

On TSwift, I mean the data I've seen showed a really big jump in people exploring registering to vote after her message which is good. I'm again skeptical about how much of an impact she'll have? celebrities in general don't have that big of an impact, basically 90% of famous people are Democrats/liberal, but their fans don't always go along, don't get me wrong I'm happy she endorsed I just am unsure how big an impact it'll end up having.

So to repeat what I said at the top, we're in the margin of effort, if everyone who doesn't want Trump volunteers and puts in the work Harris will win, so

VOLUNTEER

[rei-ismyname]

Krakoan Diaspora and the Labor Market part 2

The radicalisation of the working class

In part 1, Murray the capitalist pig fired all his human workers because cheap mutant labor is far more profitable. He avoided any blame for this rampant exploitation by shifting it to the 'freaks' - taking advantage of preexisting mistrust of mutants in a union-free workplace.

Murray pushes it even further, underpaying Skin by an undisclosed amount citing rising 'cost of materials' and an appeal to authority of head office. I'm not an expert on Chicago's labor laws, but being paid in cash that's less than what was promised suggests a verbal agreement - leaving Angelo at the whims of this greedy fuck. I'm sure costs are rising, as they are for everyone, but the company should be more profitable than ever. Mutant workers are completing jobs much faster with fewer workers and tools required. The only fat here is Murray and no individual is protected by the ruling class.

If there's more to the conversation, we don't hear it. We cut to Skin begrudgingly accepting less pay, feeling none too good about it. It's been at least a couple of days since the human workers were let go but they're here now with a bone to pick. Their dialogue suggests that they're showing up on payday intentionally - drunk, using offensive language, proposing Skin share his paycheck under clear but deniable threat of violence.

We've only met Nick before but he's with two former coworkers who were almost certainly given the same story - Murray 'had to fire them' because 'the mutant island leaving changed everything.' They're understandably focused on the 'mutant' part, jobless and frustrated with nobody else to blame.

Angelo has his own shit going on and probably isn't in the best mood for making friends. His dialogue is a little stilted, suggesting he's code switching for this social situation. Maybe he's trying to get some levity going, or maybe he's being incredibly polite to three men demanding his paycheck. He likely doesn't know what we know - the justification for firing these men. It probably doesn't matter...

... Because Paul brought a baseball bat with him, beating Angelo across the face with it in objection to his 'smart mouth.' Nick is surprised by this, I'm not.

The plan was to scare Skin, apparently. Nick thinks he went way too far, the third guy stands there awkwardly, and Paul justifies his actions in very bad faith. How thin is the line between three men with a baseball scaring someone and actually hitting them with it? Very thin, in my experience, especially factoring in alcohol and threats.

Murray watches the fruits of his lies and stays in his office.

Angelo recovers after a little while, using his X-Men training and stretchy limbs to take the three out. He doesn't lose his cool and he doesn't hurt them badly either. They're almost certainly embarrassed and emasculated, but physically they're fine - especially compared to a baseball bat in the face.

See? Nice guy Angelo.

Sadly, as predicted this does tie into the A plot. Flatscanners is an anti-mutant message board run as a recruitment pipeline for a Purifiers-type group. Nick lost the ability to see his daughter due unpaid child support, and he's angry about the world. That he'd blame his woes on mutants in general is a predictable beat, if a little heavy-handed. This is issue 2 of a 3 or 4 issue arc and some things don't need to be subtle. 'Took my job' is especially loaded as a barely disguised dogwhistle for migrant labour.

Last issue highlighted how an influx of mutants might affect the labor market, using the background of workplace exploitation to ignite conflict. This issue pays off that conflict and touches on how economic insecurity and perceived culpability of the other can translate into anger, violence and radicalisation. A great many studies and analysts link political shifts to the right to economic insecurity, especially in manual workers though that's a macro trend - this focuses on the micro. The personal.

As a poor and angry person I have empathy for all these people (except Murray, fuck him) but more than that they should be angry. Part of the misery of capitalism is its zero-sum nature - for someone to gain, someone must lose. Corporate interests are prioritised over the individual - cost of living rises while wages do not. I don't have a solution to this, but I know it's violence against the working class or minorities. We're all in the same hellscape being shit on by the rich.

[bonefall]

i like the part about Mudclaw's rebellion in Nightcloud's bio, where it starts simple right - he is the rightful leader bc he was the deputy and it's sus that ThunderClan insists that Onewhisker should be blessed. and how both she and Crowfeather agree with Mudclaw is the right one, even thought they don't agree on other things (namely how much truth as ThunderClan speaking and all).

and then Mudclaw goes mask off when Hawkfrost joins and brings open Thistles with him in. and Nightcloud starts having some doubts, because.. 'wait is that actually right'. but she is a bit too deep in this shit to bail out. and Hawkfrost is using the ever present 'hypothetical massacre' that will definitely happen if ThunderClan gets what they want (crowning of their totally spy Onewhisker) and it triggers something what Hillrunner used to say when she was a kit. so surely there must be some truth in there, right. it's actually reasonable to kill Onewhisker, right..? yes, to prevent ThunderClan massacring and driving them out they need to kill those that side with them, that's the only way. Hawkfrost and Mudclaw are right.. until they werent. like she was already tiptoeing that thin line between hard traditionalism and outright Thistle Law, but that was really pushing her over to the right side.

at least that's how i interpret it! i dont want to say she was a soft Thistle, bc it sounds like an oxymoron lol, but definitely somewhere in the very short very thin middle between traditionalist and it, while still parroting the dogwhistles (thistlewhistles).

Thistlewhistles LMAO

Something I'm getting at with Mudclaw's Rebellion that I'm glad people are picking up on is that there's a point where the differences between them all don't matter anymore.

Is Mudclaw himself a true supporter of Thistle Law, or is he just willing to work with them to benefit himself? In the end, he's invited TigerClan cats like Blackclaw into his cause. He repeats all the same rhetoric, and exploits xenophobia to his own ends. He's organized an insurrection. He never states an opinion on the Queen's Rights, which is the "litmus" test for if they've crossed the line between Traditionalism and Thistle Law...

but it doesn't matter. The distinction is no longer meaningful. If it grows like a thistle...

Nightcloud, too. She was born under Queen's Rights. She felt suspicious when Mudclaw started bringing in those outsiders to the rebellion. She was too far in to back out. She had a sympathetic backstory and good, understandable reasons to be so paranoid about WindClan's weakness.

Didn't matter; in the end she fell in line, was complicit in the assassination attempt.

Cats like Crowfeather don't even believe that Onewhisker lied. He just truly felt that Mudclaw was the better leader, and Tallstar's last-minute madness shouldn't be considered legitimate. You don't have to believe the conspiracy to support its actions, you can just be a VERY useful idiot.

In the end, literally nothing good came of this conflict. It's the start of Onestar's downfall, several people died, they were fighting peat fires for weeks. Your good intentions mean nothing when you ally with hate movements.

[hadleysmis]

White men will set you up so you're on a speakerphone discussing the potential fascist dogwhistles and denial of war crimes by Japan on a call in front of a Korean woman who just wants to eat in peace until she tells all of us to shut up and that's how I find out I was put on speakerphone :(((

How do people do this where they are so void of empathy that they think it's just a fun little topic or a game of debate to discuss the far right wing politics of Japan like that.

The specific topic at hand was about the denial of the Nanjing Massacre proclaimed by the leader of the Sanseito Party (which recently won a lot of seats), Sohei Kamiya. He also further says in the very speech that I linked that he believes that Japan had every right to invade China and wage attacks.

This is a very recent development in the Japanese politics which may mean a sign of fascism that may take its forefront position soon in the country if these types of actions are not soon condemned and reprimanded.

I don't keep up much with the very modern politics of Japan but I was just set up to speak about the signs of fascism in the country I had seen and the echoes of the Imperial pasts still being heard today... Can people have a normal chat without pulling shit like this please :(((

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Marcie Jones at Wonkette:

In normal times, the US expelling the ambassador from another country would be big news! It’s an unusual move, reserved for the worst sort of behavior. In 2012 Obama expelled the Venezuelan consul general in Miami over allegations that she had discussed possible cyberattacks on US soil, and the Syrian chargé d’affaires in response to a massacre there. And Obama and Biden expelled Russian diplomats for spying on us. BUUUT last week the Trump administration expelled the South African ambassador to the US,��Ebrahim Rasool, for the violation of diplomatically and correctly pointing out that Trump’s policies are white supremacist, how he tweetle-tweets on his white-supremacy dog whistle all the damn time, and his regime is working to export that white supremacy and great-replacement-theory horseshit to the whole world, too. Now Trump’s choice as top diplomat to South Africa has been named, and guess what, he’s a slobbering white supremacist and longtime supporter of Apartheid, Leo Brent Bozell III. If you’re lucky enough to not know who that guy is, he’s the founder of right-wing fart-huffing hacktanks including the Media Research Center and the Parents Television Council (known to huff that Ally McBeal was “smut”), and a frequent Fox News contributor, where he and Sean Hannity like to commiserate about how conservatives are the biggest victims of all time because the media is so lefty and mean to them. And he was pals with Rush Limbaugh, of course.

[...] And since Elon Musk has become presidential First Buddy, saying fuck you to South Africa is one of Trump’s favorite pastimes. Whether it’s by pulling all aid and granting rapid pathway to citizenship for (white) South African farmers based on a many-times-over-disproven conspiracy theory about white South African farmers being murdered (turns out they are mostly killing each other), or lying that white farmers are having their land confiscated by the government (they are not), he just can’t get enough. Dogwhistle to racists is an understatement, this is a bullhorn in front of a wall of speakers under a flashing neon sign.

Naming a far-right pro-Apartheid kook in L. Brent Bozell III to be the US Ambassador to South Africa is yet another sign that the Trump/Musk Regime love and value White supremacy.

[mangher]

Darius has werewolf blood in him, yet he doesn't know how to shapeshift nor does he even understand that he is part werewolf.

That part of him is also still very dormant. Had his stress and rage in juvie gone further than it did, he most likely would have unlocked the ability to shift. Right now, since it "only got half way" he only feels the rage his beast feels.

Yes, there are other instincts pushing forward as well, but rage is the one Darius recognizes, as it is also the first thing he felt when the more primal part of him awoke.

The half way there and half way not type of situation has his brain jumbled. There's a more primal part of him that tries to take control, which is more human side tries to keep pushed down. The constant battle between the two is exhausting more often than not.

The beast in him makes him easily angry and reactive. It has him clingy and unable to understand why he might hug too tight, cling too much, or why he is obsessed with his roommate's, Lance (@nvrcmplt), neck and shoulders; why there is a constant need for him to bite down and leave a (hopefully) permanent mark.

The awoken blood in him makes Darius more resilient to disease, stronger than a human as well as more sturdy. He can take blunt force trauma easier than a normal human can, to walk away from something that may knock a normal person out or give them a concussion.

His senses are maxed out as well, giving him a great sense of smell, the ability to hear sounds such as a dogwhistle, and to react quicker when needed. Darius has endurance and stamina that would put pro athletes to shame.

Darius is able to eat spoiled food without getting sick as his stomach acid is stronger than a human's. It is something that has saved him a few times when money has been exceptionally tight and they've had little to nothing to eat together with Lance. He doesn't do it often, as the taste is something he hates.

Darius can go without food longer than an average person, which allows him to make sure Lance gets fed, while his own body uses up its reserves. The thing is, getting this far also makes him far more volatile and dangerous, as he could pick out the more dangerous routes in order to survive. At a particularly dark moment in life, he had even considered murder and cannibalism to be the only answer to his and their problem. Yet, he didn't step on that path, even if it had been very, very close.

Darius has pride he has trouble letting go of, but he also knows when to bow his head and accept help. There's only so much positive words and wishes for better can do. And if he wants to keep his best friend, his crush, alive, then Darius is willing to beg, on his knees if he has to.

Treat him well, and he will offer his help any way, shape or form back.

The traumatic events and lifestyle he has gone through undoubtedly will leave deep marks in him, that will take a lot of time to heal, and they might also never heal fully. But in the right environment, where he doesn't have to stress about survival, he will undoubtedly thrive and do well because just like a wolf in the wild, he too can adapt to any situation.

Because of him unable to shapeshift into a lycan form or into a wolf, the full or new moon doesn't affect him with anything else than a boost of energy or making him a bit more sleepy. He's not come into contact with wolfsbane, so he doesn't know how he would react to that. He does have bad allergic reactions to silver, which he chucks up to being a nickel allergy.

The only way for Darius to shapeshift at this point, is either a life and death situation where his rage levels reach a point of no return and his mind cracks for good, or with the help of specific drugs.

Darius has family in this world, he just doesn't know about them. Eventually, he will meet his aunt Nari (@constellaris).

He's slowly building connections and accepting people into his bubble, that has consisted of only him and Lance so far.

[unsolicited-opinions]

I'm starting to think that a whole lot of US Jews don't understand why a crowd of tiki torch Nazis chanted "Jews will not replace us" in Charlottesville. It seems like a lot of US Jews don't yet understand how the anti-immigrant sentiment Trump used to recapture the presidency is a direct threat to US Jews.

If you don't know this yet, please read the broad strokes below:

1. Like a certain Austrian in the 20th century, Trump saw both a disgruntled part of the electorate and their antipathy for non-white, non-Christian, foreign-born people. He capitalized on their xenophobia and feelings of abandonment by blaming foreigners, LGBTQ+ folks, and DEI for all the US's challenges.

He's used and amplified bigotry against already-marginalized people in order to ride his base's bigotry to power. All comparisons people make between this and how Hitler amplified and harnessed the power of antisemitism are entirely appropriate. It's demagoguery.

2. One of the existing, popular, xenophobic ideas on which Trump capitalized is a right-wing conspiracy theory usually called The Great Replacement.

It seems as though many US Jews do not realize that Jews are a huge part of this conspiracy theory.

Great Replacement, also known as white replacement theory or white genocide theory, claims there is an intentional effort, led by Jews, to promote mass non-white immigration, inter-racial marriage, and other efforts that would lead to the “extinction of whites.”

This conspiracy theory was famously promoted at the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA, when white supremacists chanted, “Jews will not replace us.”

Right wing commentators have invoked the Great Replacement theory to say Democrats are “replacing” American citizens with illegal immigrants. Belief in the Great Replacement theory has been cited as motivation for recent terror attacks, including the 2018 Pittsburgh, PA, synagogue shooting at the Tree of Life, the 2019 El Paso, TX, and Christchurch, New Zealand, shootings, and the 2022 shooting in Buffalo, NY.

4. This isn't a theory limited to the far-right fringe. About half of US Republicans believe it.

It's been actively promoted on Fox "News" by Tucker Carlson and others.

This was the theory Elon Musk agreed with in a tweet, causing a mass exodus of advertisers from Twitter and prompting Musk's apology tour to Auschwitz with Ben Shapiro.

5. The anti-immigrant fervor, the mass deportation plans...? They're all tied up with Jews in the minds of the far-right base to whom Trump and his henchmen keep winking and dogwhistling. Trump has openly endorsed this conspiracy theory.

I see a lot of Jews online deciding to keep their heads down because they think Jews aren't the immediate target of this authoritarian and I'm gobsmacked by their ignorance of history and failure to pay attention to the rapid and violent increase in far-right antisemitic violence in recent years, driven by the very same Trump who they mistakenly believe is "good for the Jews."

Jews are being set up as scapegoats.

----

The irony is amazing, too. If you ask believers in the Great Replacement conspiracy theory for evidence of the Jewish plot to replace white people, they'll produce headlines about Jewish charitable organizations which seek to aid refugees:

The fact that Jews...care about refugees...is the proof of our sinister plot against white people.

[canichangemyblogname]

No. See. You need to understand.

Right wing conspiracy theorists aren’t actually afraid of billionaires. When they’re tweeting and posting about billionaires putting microchips in our heads or under our skin with vaccines; or when they’re shouting about shady billionaires controlling our politics; or even when they say things like “capitalists control the world” or “the elites are oppressing the working man,” they are being antisemitic. It’s not class consciousness.

They aren’t commenting on the power of “dark money” (where donors are undisclosed) in US politics or the influence of “big money.” They aren’t critiquing decisions like Citizens United or complaining about the obscene amounts of money funneled into campaigns. They don’t actually care about these things. In fact, if you let them talk long enough, you’ll find they agree with these things as part of a “free market” or something.

They are being antisemitic. They don’t believe that men like Elon Musk are a problem. They’d probably characterize him as the embodiment of the American Dream. They’d defend his right to do absolutely stupid shit with his money. They’d say he’s a genius, an innovator, and that the only reason you’re angry about his politics is because you’re jealous. They also tweet about “billionaires” trying to implant microchips into us through the vaccines while remaining silent about Musk’s neuralink. Why? Because when they use words like “billionaire,” “capitalist,” or “elite,” they mean “Jews.” Because they genuinely believe Jewish people control every monetary and financial system around the globe.

It seems many leftists do not recognize this. This ignorance of dogwhistles combined with a friendliness to anti-capitalist rhetoric makes many leftists susceptible to conspiratorial antisemitism and recruitment by the right.

These right-wing conspiracy goons aren’t the perfect subject for your Marxist praxis. You’re not going to convince them of the benefits of socialism. They’re just going to condition you to propaganda and make you further susceptible to an antisemitic worldview and policies. You might think they’re being ideologically *inconsistent* right now and are writing them off as dense and witless, but you will eventually find yourself far enough down the rabbit hole that what they’re saying “makes sense” and is ideologically consistent.

They don’t actually hate capitalism. They don’t actually see it as an exploitative economic system. Fuck, their most lukewarm seemingly anti-capitalist ideas are often incredibly vague and half-formed. “Capitalists control the world.” Okay? Thanks for a very… non-specific, vague, and half-formed ideological statement that fails to understand the complexity of capitalism as an economic system. Anything else? Any commentary on the instability of an economic system based on private profit? Any analysis on what this capitalist dominance means for the world, like its relationship with colonialism? Any suggestions for how to create a more equitable economic system? Any study of class consciousness, the intersectionality of class, the social bounds of a class, or class struggle? Anything beyond capitalism? Do they consider misogynistic, racist, colonial, or ableist systems? Are they normal about Jewish people? No. Nothing.

[adelle-ein]

regarding your latest post, at first i had rted one or two jackson hinkle posts since the sheer numbers on his posts seemed to encourage the idea that there would be more reach of the videos he was bringing attention to, but his account felt odd to me and once i snooped a little and realized he's a white supremacist it became clear that the fact that he was getting so many numbers compared to the sources the videos he posted were originally from is precisely what was so insidious about it all. and that's, like you said, true of quite a few white supremacist accounts that are trying to capitalize on this situation. it's so despairingly evil. i'm really sorry you're having to see so many people rt from those kind of sources, i can't imagine how frustrating it is, and i really hope more people bring attention to it. i did see a post going around on twt about jackson hinkle being a white supremacist but i'm not sure if there have been any made about some of the other figures. are there any names you would particularly recommend watching out for?

Yeah, Hinkle is a huge one that I've seen going around. In my case, I have a lot of big name nazis already blocked, so it's hard for me to know for sure if people I follow are rt'ing directly from them. I hope not, but there's no way for me to be sure, and frankly they've demonstrated such bad judgement I wouldn't be surprised. I will say that off the top of my head Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate have joined the "pro-palestine" cause (obviously not genuinely), and both are dangerous nazi lunatics. I would also STRONGLY discourage interacting with Hasanabi, who is ostensibly a "leftist" youtuber but has joined many far-right and bigoted causes in the past, including helping kick off the mass harassment of Amber Heard last year. If you want to support the charities he's done streams for, donate to them directly, don't go through him or give him publicity.

The ones I'm mostly seeing people retweet aren't big names, they fall into one of two categories:

a) "Meme accounts" made specifically to spread nazi rhetoric, generally with blue checks. Honestly, treat a blue check as a red flag, ESPECIALLY if it's not under a real name. Check the bios and timelines. Like I said, greek statue avatars are a favorite of these and are massive red flags. Emphasis on "manly" or "male" strength is really common. Also look out for "conspiracy" themed language, ie "what THEY don't want you to know" "the REAL news" "the REAL truth" "[x] supremacy" "jewish supremacy" "deep state/elites" etc. They use memes a lot, which like…don't retweet memes and jokes about people dying just in general, maybe (that's another complaint i have about the way people are behaving), but also know it's a red flag. If the bio isn't enough then scan their timeline and see what else they've posted, especially before October 7th. You'll almost certainly find out and out antisemitism and transphobia. Also bear in mind that gold checks just mean paying Musk more money, they're not necessarily "legacy" or legitimate sources or anything like that.

b) This one is sadder, but younger teens who recently discovered politics and have just completely been indoctrinated and are lashing out at all Jewish people as a result. Go to their timeline and see them talking about how antisemitism isn't real, how the Hamas attacks were completely fake, how the entire conflict was manufactured to make "them" money, and Holocaust denial (and generally interacting a lot with the above listed nazi accounts.) They often support Russia and similar politically too because they're angry at America. There's a lot of them on here as well. It's sad but it's dangerous and they shouldn't be given platforms. This one is easier to not notice, though, since they aren't necessarily hardcore white supremacists, just kids who got roped in and aren't necessarily going to be blowing as many dogwhistles in their display names, icons, etc.

in general just be careful, be mindful, and seriously keep an eye out for blue checks -- a LOT of these accounts have them.

[vintage-bentley]

Completely floored at this post I saw today where someone said their husband said David Tennant “looks queer.” idk if they’re in a ✨ kweer ✨ relationship, or if that’s just a straight man, but it felt so out of pocket and disrespectful

David Tennant talked about how he was bullied and straight up beaten for “looking gay” as a kid; it just made me think of those kids calling him queer and literally hate crime-ing him, and it feels really, really insensitive. Doubly because, based on what we know, he’s straight; this man basically said “lol he looks like a fag” and this person took it as an “uwu us queers stay together” moment

I feel like I’d be called overly sensitive or muh terf-y dogwhistle if I said this on main, but man, it’s really bothering me. I’ve never had an issue with people self ID-ing as queer, even though I don’t use it myself, but this was sort of a, “oh *wow*, you people really aren’t ✨ queer ✨ at all and have no idea of decorum or respect” moment. I’m glad you have sense and get why this is so wildly rude and borderline (if not fully) homophobic

That’s so wild omg 😭

People have gotten really bold with the terms they use online, I feel like I’ve been seeing things like “queer”, “fruity”, “limp wrist(ed)”, and even the f slur being slung around so often. It’s like people have forgotten what these terms and slurs actually mean, and have reduced them down to some sort of aesthetic. Which unfortunately makes sense, considering how obsessed with aesthetics the internet is. It’s like, you’re either a “clean girl”, a “mob wife”, or a “fruity little queer”. And it’s all just clothes and shaping yourself into something you’re not just to fit a trend.

So at this point, I really don’t think that when they say “wow he looks so ✨queer✨”, they’re even thinking about same sex attraction. They’re just thinking about quirkiness and colourful clothes. And that’s where the problem is; forgetting that this word you’re throwing around is actually a slur used against a minority group, aka same sex attracted people. And that there’s actual pain attached to those words. In the case of a (as far as we know) straight man mistaken as “queer”, it’s just regular pain from being bullied. But from what I gathered from a DT interview where he talked about this, he seemed to understand how much deeper it would hit for a kid who actually was SSA. So yeah, definitely an odd case to be applying the “wow so queer so quirky!” Thing to.

Anyway, the trendification of “queer” is exactly why I tend to not trust people who self-ID as “queer”, too. Because I know there’s a good chance they aren’t actually SSA, they just go by they/them pronouns and wear gnc clothes sometimes. Or they think dressing up in the “queer” clothing trend makes them the same as an LGB person. And they have no respect for or understanding of the history of that word. They just see it as a silly word that makes them cool.

I’m sure there’s LGB people who do call themselves queer, and that’s fine. They have the right to reclaim a slur personally (as long as they don’t go using it for others). But at this point I can’t help but feel like, why the hell would you want to associate yourself with people making an aesthetic out of your innate sexuality and a slur used against it?

[way2manyusernamez]

there are some videos on youtube about a situation with a roblox game called Free Draw, that I felt got some things wrong

(recap of situation based on the videos I've watched)

the main incident was basically: the admin of Free Draw (Nicole) started allowing unbans for people who drew porn in the game or who were predatory to children. She started saying that "anyone can change" and therefore predatory users should be let back into the space where they preyed on children? within just a year?? the moderation team protested this change to the rules, but Nicole said the changes were coming anyway. Nicole later made a statement that was like “oops, i didn’t think about how it’s bad to let a predator back into the space where they groomed children! my bad!” but people seem to not believe that anything changed, and that this statement was a lie that she didn't even write

also, Nicole is friends with someone named KonekoKitten. People are saying that KonekoKitten admitted to predatory/grooming behavior (I am not very familiar with this situation) but the admin says that KonekoKitten's cancellation was 'bullshit'.

also, apparently Nicole (a 19 year old) is dating (and moved in with) someone named Jaspup (31, she/he/it). Jaspup has a Bluesky where she reblogs lolicon/adbl/babyfur stuff, and seems to be interested in incestplay. i can't find the bluesky or website any more but i did see them.

(end of recap)

the youtubers point out the obvious stuff, but also go off onto weird tangents that I disagree with? like, one of them brought up God and seeking forgiveness via Jesus more than once (fooly_grulee's vid). another one keeps calling the admin & her girlfriend “degenerates” over and over and claiming that their ‘brains were poisoned by extreme porn’ (greenlegocats123's vid).

i feel like these videos partially missed the mark. and felt kind of right-wing? you don’t need to be Christian, against "extreme porn", or be not "degenerate"* to oppose predators in your community.

(* if you disagree with me on this point, please find a word for predators that doesn't sound like a nazi dogwhistle for minorities.)

i don't really know what to think of lolicon at this point. On one hand, I don't think enjoying it necessarily makes someone dangerous, I don't think it should be illegal if it really is fictional, and I can't stand people who call it "CP" or "kiddy porn" or "cheeze pizza" or any other cutesy name that people also use for ACTUAL child sexual abuse videos. On the other hand, it's often a red flag for someone having a predatory mindset, I think it's kind of trashy and definitely shouldn't be looked to for moral guidance, and it should be kept as far away from people who don't want to see it as possible.

.

Less structured thoughts under cut

the commenters keep using words like "pdf file" i cant stand it 😭😭😭get me out of here

.

Mostly unrelated, but it's kind of interesting that there are so many things in this story that I am tangentially aware of? For example,

I played on Free Draw (though a long time before this happened)

I watched KonekoKitten before, but stopped way before any of the callout stuff happened

I do not know much about the alleged grooming, but I heard the name Narpy, who I remember from some silly videos I watched a long time ago

Some of the people Jaspup tweeted from were people I knew of

I have been looking at the art of Wolfertinger. (apparently there's also some drama with him but i haven't spent a lot of time looking into it. i just think his art looks good)

She was also retweeting from Cadet-Blu/longcadetblu. (I was almost acquainted with someone who seemed to be a big Cadet-Blu fan. Awful person! To be clear, i don't know if Cadet-Blu them(?)self has done anything bad besides post all that fucked up Homestuck art.)

Princess Aggy, who I remember from some callout Youtube videos I watched a long time ago

[locustheologicus]

Defining Woke: “A Perjorative Dogwhistle Meant to Mock and Dismiss Progressive Ideas”   

Fr. Casey has given us a public service, defined the history of “Woke” and calls for the end of the way it is being used today. Here Fr. Casey reminds us the African-American origins of that term and how it has become manipulated by MAGA antifederalist culture. This clarification is one that we not only should know but fight again the perjorative missuse and correct our conservative bretheren who, either out of ignorance or malintent, missues this term. 

But beyond his clarification of the term and his defense of our new Pope Fr. Casey also recalls another encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, Longinqua: the wide expanse of ocean, in this video. In this document Pope Leo XIII in 1895 reflected on the state of America and the American Church. It was around this time that he had sent Mother Frances Cabrini and We certainly get a sense that she reported back what she saw and the struggles she faced with the Catholic Church in America. 

Pope Leo XIII’s response is two-fold, to first support the development of our young nation.  

All intelligent men are agreed, and we ourselves have with pleasure intimated it above, that America seems destined for greater things. Now, it is our wish that the Catholic Church should not only share in, but help to bring about, this prospective greatness. We deem it right and proper that she should, by availing herself of the opportunities daily presented to her, keep equal step with the Republic in the march of improvement, at the same time striving to the utmost, by her virtue and her institutions, to aid in the rapid growth of the States. #13

In adding to the American experiment Pope Leo XIII certainly extols Catholics to be “upright and virtuous.” He cautions against the dissolution of the family bond which is considered a central aspect of our social order. But he also then goes on to address the concerns of collaborating with other national interest that degrade our own values and social positions, “keeping in view the rules laid down by us in our Encyclical, Rerum Novarum.”

Now, with regard to entering societies, extreme care should be taken not to be ensnared by error. And we wish to be understood as referring in a special manner to the working classes, who assuredly have the right to unite in associations for the promotion of their interests; a right acknowledged by the Church and unopposed by nature. But it is very important to take heed with whom they are to associate, lest whilst seeking aid for the improvement of their condition they may be imperilling far weightier interests. The most effectual precaution against this peril is to determine with themselves at no time or in any matter to be parties to the violation of justice. #16

The position of the Church was (and is) cultural caution, our Church brings a culture of values and principles that does not always coincide with Americanism. The Church stands against extreme political ideologies, libertarianism and nationalism, extreme liberalism and socialism. The Church faithfully believes and defends the Dignity of the Human Person, the Common Good, Subsidiarity/Solidarity, the Universal Destination of Goods, the Preferential Option of thr Poor, and the Integrity of Creation. These principles are not to be undermined by any American ideology. 

Those who attack what they see as “Papal Wokeness” are compromising our Catholic social teachings with some type of libertarian and anti-federalist ideology. If Catholics are doing this they are going against what Longinqua was warning us not to do. Because of this Fr. Casey is asking us to stop calling our new Pope innappropriate names and rather, “take a moment to question your own beliefs. Are you guided more by your politics... or by the faith in Jesus Christ?”

On the 16th of May Pope Leo XIV went ahead and offered some political points to the diplomatic corps. Here we were given our first glimpse at some of the social principles that are part of our tradition. Consistent with this tradition Pope Leo XIV present “three essential words that represent the pillars of the Church’s missionary activity.”

Peace: “To eliminate the root causes of all conflicts and every destructive urge for conquest. It demands a genuine willingness to engage in dialogue, inspired by the desire to communicate rather than clash. As a result, there is a need to give new life to multilateral diplomacy and to those international institutions conceived and designed primarily to remedy eventual disputes within the international community. Naturally, there must also be a resolve to halt the production of instruments of destruction and death.”

Justice: “Every effort should be made to overcome the global inequalities – between opulence and destitution – that are carving deep divides between continents, countries and even within individual societies.It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. ... No one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.” 

Truth: “From the Christian perspective, truth is not the affirmation of abstract and disembodied principles, but an encounter with the person of Christ himself, alive in the midst of the community of believers. Truth, then, does not create division, but rather enables us to confront all the more resolutely the challenges of our time, such as migration, the ethical use of artificial intelligence and the protection of our beloved planet Earth. These are challenges that require commitment and cooperation on the part of all, since no one can think of facing them alone.”

Peace, Justice, and Truth, these might be seen as some kind of woke ideology but the fact of the matter is that they are moral social values that have been part of our tradition since the beginning. 

It may be worth recalling the that these social principles originated well before Pope Leo XIII put forward the first social encyclical. It was Pope Leo the Great, in the middle of the fifth century who taught us about human dignity.

Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescuede from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XIV (WA 2025): Peter McLernon, ungrouped independent

This candidate is one of five ungrouped independents: people who are running solo campaigns for the Legislative Council. These individuals are listed in the column at the right-hand end of the ballot paper, and to vote for any of them you must vote below the line; there is no way to give a preference to these candidates if you vote above the line.

This guy stood for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party in 2019, then co-founded the WA Republic Party in 2020, which merged before the end of the year with the Small Business Party to form the WAxit Party (who I sadly have not had the joy of reviewing before, but the b_auspol review is worth your time). McLernon is now standing on his own account, and he is a proper crackpot.

Where to even start? McLernon moans on social media about “globalist censorship”, shares all sorts of US conspiracist and far-right idiocy, describes covid vaccines as “an experimental substance produced by some of the world’s greatest scammers”, hates renewable energy, and so on. He clearly still has a fondness for the UAP because he reposts Ralph Babet’s drivel—yes, the bloke who is probably the frontrunner for the title of “most deranged sitting senator” ahead of Malcolm Roberts, Gerard Rennick, and a few other odious individuals.

McLernon’s how-to-vote card lists his ten priorities, and they are straight out of the conspiracist playbook. He seems to think the WHO, WEF, and UN control decision-making in WA; he recycles cooker language about covid and health policy; he’s transphobic; he wants “no DEI”, which is just cut-and-paste Seppo shit from consuming too much US social media; he dogwhistles about the “global agenda”. This is ugly stuff. McLernon is not well.

And yes, he is the managing director of McLernons Business Base. Maybe give them a miss next time you need business equipment.

Recommendation: Give Peter McLernon a weak or no preference; indeed, if you are preferencing all candidates then I recommend placing him last or very close to it!

Website: I have not found a website for his candidacy but he does have a profile on Facebook