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Sneaking into Seattle's Super Secret White Nationalist Convention

Rejected submission by aristarchus at 2017-10-12 06:13:05 from the They are still here! dept dept.
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In way of introduction, this submission appealed to me on several fronts. First, it is about reporting on the allegedly growing racist right in America. Second, it is about that movement in the most unlikely place, Seattle. And third, the alleged leader of all these rather not too bright racists is an ex-philosophy professor?? My professional responsibilities as a philosopher demand that I expose the rantings of this insane person, and his insane followers, so that no one ever associates philosophy with racism. Because, you know, you just Kant.

The Fine Article: "We Snuck into Seattle's Super Secret White Nationalist Convention". [thestranger.com], by a guy named Lewis, in a publication called The Stranger" [thestranger.com], which I assume is some Seattle Weekly. (Trigger Alert!!!! Weeklies are well know to have a left wing bias! If you are an alt-right type, or even a normal Republican, extreme caution is advised in accessing this publication's website! You may encounter ideas you do not agree with. You have been warned.)

Some teaser material:

Back in January, I e-mailed Dr. Greg Johnson, organizer of Northwest Forum, Seattle’s hottest closed-door white nationalist convention, asking for an interview on the latest in regional racism. He turned me down. Thanks to the internet, the far right no longer needs the mainstream media to get its message out.

Real journalists never say never.

Also thanks to the internet, it only took me about an hour to change my identity from David Lewis, Seattle historian, to Dave Lewis, Neo-Nazi film editor and aspiring book critic from Charlottesville, currently living in Los Angeles. This Dave Lewis has never been to Seattle, but has always wanted to attend Northwest Forum.

OMG, did Dave lie? Horror, the horror! But, there is more. Now, besides the subterfuge, there are many interesting bits of information in this article. For example:

Only the stated location aroused my suspicions, since the invite said we would be meeting at the Queen Anne Public Library, and policy dictates that library events have to be open to the public. A white nationalist convention definitely wasn’t the kind of thing you’d want Joe Seattle to stumble in on after he finishes pirating CDs onto his laptop. Nevertheless, as I got closer to the library, I noticed several young white dudes sporting the “fashy” haircut, previously known as a “Macklemore.” A lookout Nazi in a white polo shirt stood on the front lawn, twirling his curly tech-dick mustache. He noticed my white polo, which like the “Macklemore,” is now associated with white nationalism. Just to scrub out any doubt, I was also carrying a copy of the 1958 Neo-Nazi classic The Lightning and the Sun. “Are you here for the thing?” He asked. They were really going all out on the secret agent stuff. I nodded and he pointed me across the street to an early-20th century Masonic Lodge with dozens of other white nationalists heading through the doorway. Dr. Johnson said he told the Masons this was a writers group.

Intellectuals, kind of like Sad Puppies, only not sexist, racist. And besides, Masons? Can the Knights Templar and the Illuminati be far behind?

And, of course, like so many here on SoylentNews, they were not actually Nazis!

Virtually every time I use the word “Nazi” I’m using it as an insult. In the world of millennial white nationalism, there aren't a ton of people who actually self-identify as Nazis. Despite usually agreeing with everything the Nazis did and believing the Holocaust is just “anti-white propaganda,” they always claim a technical reason for why they aren’t “National Socialists.” None of these reasons would ever make sense to anybody outside the community and “I’m not a Nazi, but” is one of the most common white nationalist recruitment tricks to have people hear them out.

I am not a Nazi, but, just here me out, read the original article, OK?

How to identify your average alt-right neo-nazi:

White nationalists generally don’t want to look like characters out of American History X anymore. Fashion choices at the convention ranged from Ruby Ridge to Mad Men, but most of the people there looked like you might run into them on Capitol Hill or in the U-District. That said, there is a type. According to my observations, the standard Seattle Nazi is a white male under 30 who either works in the tech industry or is going to school to work in the tech industry. “You’re also a coder? Do you mind if I send you something I’ve been working on?” I heard that more than once.

This is the part that worries me the most. SoylentNews is a result of a revolt by the best and brightest from the corporate sellout that Slashdot became. But it appears that this same demographic is the trolling ground of the alt-right, which explains a lot about the rejection of my submissions on the alt-right. Technocrats naturally evolve into fascists? I hope not.

A bit of insight into tactics of the white supremacists, post pointy hood:

The first speaker to come up was Taylor (who during the break had performed a stunning act by using the ladies’ room after all the bullshit I’d been listening to about how gender-neutral bathrooms are destroying America. Though, to be fair, having a ladies’ room at an event like this is superfluous anyway). Unfortunately, the super-secret, closed-door Nazi plan didn’t turn out to be nearly as titillating as you’d want. Speakers encouraged followers to take the Gandhi approach and continue getting punched in the face a la Richard Spencer. The media will have no choice but to turn to its side, their reasoning went. Taylor, Dr. Johnson, and the other speakers are all pretty married to this strategy. They also disapprove of their followers using ethnic slurs in public because it gives the media soundbites to latch onto.

Eerily similar to the advice given to Brietbart News, in one of my few submissions that was actually accepted of late. And contrary to Sulla's objections! See, Sulla? They want us to punch them if the face. OMG, Nazi masochists?

And finally, kudos to the main protagonist of the submission that The Mighty Buzzard thought was painting racists as too Nazi, Patrik Hermansson [nytimes.com]:

Originally, I’d gotten into this because I’m working on a Seattle history book and wanted a chapter on Northwest racism. It definitely did not occur to me that a local news story about white nationalists who want to take over America but can’t screen out reporters would have international appeal. Nevertheless, Greg Johnson became the top story in the New York Times when the paper revealed that the Swedish spy had actually filmed him, the only thing in the Northwest harder to get on camera than Bigfoot.

Well, that is enough. What have we learned from this? Neo-nazis hold their meetings in Masonic Lodges. Masons should look into that. Ex-(and I emphasize "ex") philosophy professors can get into all kinds of crazy stuff that is no reflection on philosophy as a discipline. And, if you are a nazi racist in Seattle, fake diversity. The original article is well worth a read.


Original Submission