Finally! Charlottesville events are dropping off the news cycle. Shame the way we all got played.
Time to look at the overlying strategy of Political Theater of the Extreme, Act 2: Post-#Charlottesville
Extinguish any doubts: Unite-the-Right Rally in Charlottesville was a grand success for Alt-Right supporters. With political cover from the Trump White House, #Charlottesville Rally has graduated to what I call the Alt-Right Movement. The media focus has moved on to national politics and away from local symbolic targets (like Confederate monuments).
There have been hiccups for Alt-Right Movement, though no significant setbacks. They’ve planned or deployed other gatherings, but none with the notoriety of #Charlottesville so far.
Counter-protests took the initiative, but their events became increasingly reactionary and hostile. They scheduled counter-events at the same locations, before the Alt-Right Movement events. They meant to soften the field, but as the extremist left-side made appearances, that plan went south. Masked and black-hooded participants jumped security barricades, participated in mischief, and generated negative press for the Counter-protesters.
“Free Speech” events haven’t fared better. Rallies and associated counter-protests had to be modified, and often canceled, due to safety and cost concerns, such as the UC Berkley Panel.
Hubris is now the currency of the Alt-Right Movement. They have the tools to elevate the conversation to the national stage.
Act 2 – New Strategies
Strategy #1: Welcome Back Old Friends
Alt-Right columnist James Rogers openly welcomes neo-Nazi Daily Stormer supporters as Alt-Right members again. Quote from the Sep. 5th lead article on www.altright.com:
Charlottesville has been a wonderfully clarifying moment. It has shown us who our friends are. People … have remained silent about the plight of Daily Stormer and other members of the Alt-Right.
The article followed the drop of the website by host GoDaddy shortly after #Charlottesville. The exile of white supremacists from the Alt-Right was just a 5-minute time-out. I don’t expect any media fallout for the Alt-Right. AltRight.com successfully waited a few weeks for the news cycle to move on, and welcomed back their old friends, the neo-Nazis, with open arms.
Strategy #2: Media Blitzkrieg
The full-court media press from the Alt-Right Movement has begun. Various voices join in, some seemingly closer to the mainstream. Author and pundit Ann Coulter provides vocal support, though perhaps including her in the “mainstream” is a stretch. Leveraging increasingly bold rhetoric, bad press from counter-protests, the Alt-Right Movement upped the volume and quantity of their Internet-fringe media blitz, targeting their “leftist opponents” with caustic and outrageous rhetoric.
Strategy #3: Sow Seeds of Suspicion
All you need for suspicion is reasonable doubt.
Conspiracy theory “investigations” are now the national sport for the Alt-Right Movement. Accuse the counter movement supporters and activists of Fascist leanings. Post endless you-tube videos claiming hidden funding, behind-the-curtain sponsorship, complicity, and “rigging” behind every negative event, action, and outcome in the saga. Claim large payments to opposition supporters came from wealthy counter-movement supporters like George Soros.
Conspiracy theorists revel in “exposing the wizard behind the curtain,” and Soros is a favorite target. I have little doubt, though, that BOTH sides of this struggle benefit from behind-the-scenes, deep-pocket support.
Strategy #4: Transference
Think of the “I’m rubber, and you’re glue” tactic from playground days. Accuse your perceived opponents of every tactic and fault you’re criticized for employing. Loud, fast, repeated over and over. Some of it is bound to stick. Since sound bites, headlines, and re-tweets drive the Internet, mudslinging works well.
The Goal
What’s the goal of the Media Blitz by the Alt-Right Movement? The media storm has an appeal, but mostly to the rabid supporters already in their camp. I don’t see much impact on non-Alt-Right members.
The goal of the Media Blitzkrieg is NOT to collect more support from followers. The Alt-Right Movement has been Gaslighting us, with an aggressive misinformation/disinformation campaign. The waters of the more reliable media sources are now so muddy, that clear and accurate information is hard to distinguish from wild, biased, and even baseless opinion reporting.
Read the news to find out which end is up? Who is right? Who is crazy? It’s not so easy anymore to tell the difference in the Internet media, between credible arguments and overtly opinionated rants. They often use similar rhetoric.
Act 2 Results?
Unbridled VICTORY for the Alt-Right Movement’s Media Blitzkrieg
The media has played us all.
Then they moved us on to better click-bait. Like a light rain, it all rolled off the back of the Trump White House. Trump took the lead in the matter and brushed it away without lasting impact.
President Donald Trump doesn’t believe that disavowing the Alt-Right racism is a priority. No bad press has occurred, nor, I suspect, will anything bad happen to The Donald or the Alt-Right Movement, despite open support of racism and the neo-Nazis.
The news cycle has moved on to Russia, North Korea, Hurricanes, Immigration.
In Charlottesville, we are waiting for the next bombshell (hopefully a figure of speech). A great way to cover up unwanted attention is to light a bigger fire somewhere else. I hope we don’t get played again.
