Republican Party Hijacked by the "alt-right"

I can’t decide whether Facebook is a blessing or a curse on our society.  One thing for sure, it’s a driving force in modern day politics.  I continue to be amazed at how many people believe everything they read on Facebook as the absolute truth.  They even use the saying, “I saw it on Facebook” as proof of the legitimacy of the claim.  For instance, a friend called in a dither this morning because “Obama has banned the Pledge of Allegiance in all schools.”  This otherwise smart man fell for this hoax without any reason other than he saw it on Facebook. 

So who are these people who create these hoaxes that go viral online day after day?  They are called the “alt-right.”   Perhaps you’ve never heard of them, but if you have ever read one of their conspiracy theory stories or incendiary memes and found yourself believing it, you have been victimized by the alt-right.

The alt-right is a modern day Internet movement that is hostile to mainstream conservatism and the Republican Party.  They target Blacks, Jews, women, Latinos and Muslims. Does that remind you of someone? While America has always had white nationalism, white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and neo-reactionary movements, they have now joined forces and are in one big melting pot called the alt-right.  And they are dangerous, my friends, because they can reach millions with a few keystrokes.

While it has been no secret that Donald Trump has flirted with White Supremacists and other alt-right groups throughout this campaign, it became real, very real this week.  Donald Trump has become the Presidential nominee for the alt-right wing of the Republican Party.  Essentially, they have taken over the Republican Party and denounced traditional conservatism.  The alt-right makes the Tea Partiers look like Pollyanna.

This week, Trump appointed the leader of the alt-right, Stephen Bannon, as his campaign chairman.  Bannon is the editor of Breitbart News and has been one of the main leaders in the alt-right movement.  He loathes conservatism, as we know it.  He has constantly undermined NATO and praised Putin.  His forté is peddling conspiracy theories.  Trump has often used Breitbart News as his source of some of his most nefarious statements.

Roger Stone is another alt-right believer working with Trump’s campaign.  Stone is a notorious muckraker.  He’s the one that says that Hillary’s right-hand woman is a terrorist, because she is a Muslim.

Roger Ailes, Mr. Fox News, is now working for Trump after being ousted by Fox for being a serial sexual harasser.  It was discovered when Ailes was booted, that he had been conducting a “dark operation” investigating his enemies and members of the Republican Party.  He spent millions of network money for this venture.  We can only speculate in what way he found this information useful.

I find no connection to the alt-right and his new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, except those she associates with.  The Trump campaign is in deep trouble with women.  Conway said she was hired because she is an expert on how women think and what they want to hear.  She obviously wrote the speech delivered by Trump Thursday night where he admitted he regretted his hurtful words. (Hell yeh he regrets them; he’s losing”!) You know, the speech touted as the one that would turn Trump’s campaign around.  The speech was “her” words, not “his.”  According to Conway, that’s what women want to hear.  Personally, I despise pandering to me just because I’m a woman. 

Speaking of women, after the big campaign shake up, Trump held a mock cabinet meeting.  There were twenty-five or more present sitting around the board table.  All were white men, wearing suits, no doubt made in China.  At the end of the table were only two women; Kellyanne Conway and a Black professor. 

Alex Jones of the Infowars Internet radio show is beyond Alt-right.  This is a prime example of how fast something can spread, no matter how ridiculous.  He wrote that Hillary supposedly has Parkinson’s disease, syphilis, brain damage, a brain tumor, autism, a degenerative disease that is giving her seizures and/or strokes, and a blood clot. Oh, and he says she has a drug problem.

Sean Hannity of Fox dedicated an entire week on this non-sense.  Worst of all, Donald Trump is using some of these allegations as his talking points.  Trump says things like, “something is wrong with her.”  “She goes home and goes to sleep.”  “She is mentally and physically unfit to be President of United States.”  Not one iota of evidence.  The alt-right and their Presidential candidate just say it and millions of people believe it.

So if it were true that Hillary is sick, perhaps with Parkinsons, and that makes her unfit to serve, then we should probably be thinking about what we’re facing here in Georgia.  Hillary is not sick.  But Senator Johnny Isakson is sick.  Says who?  Says Johnny Isakson!  Should we elect someone who may have to resign before his term is completed?  Do you want Nathan Deal appointing himself to the Senate?  Chew on that and I’ll get back to you.