digby: Are we going to have a"White Boy Summer"

[babylonsister]

https://digbysblog.net/2022/06/14/are-we-going-to-have-awhite-boy-summer/


Are we going to have a”White Boy Summer”
Published by digby on June 14, 2022
Good lord…

Good lord:

The social media posts are of a distinct type. They hint darkly that the CIA or the FBI are behind mass shootings. They traffic in racist, sexist and homophobic tropes. They revel in the prospect of a “white boy summer.”

White nationalists and supremacists, on accounts often run by young men, are building thriving, macho communities across social media platforms like Instagram, Telegram and TikTok, evading detection with coded hashtags and innuendo.

Their snarky memes and trendy videos are riling up thousands of followers on divisive issues including abortion, guns, immigration and LGBTQ rights. The Department of Homeland Security warned Tuesday that such skewed framing of the subjects could drive extremists to violently attack public places across the U.S. in the coming months.

These type of threats and racist ideology have become so commonplace on social media that it’s nearly impossible for law enforcement to separate internet ramblings from dangerous, potentially violent people, Michael German, who infiltrated white supremacy groups as an FBI agent, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

“It seems intuitive that effective social media monitoring might provide clues to help law enforcement prevent attacks,” German said. “After all, the white supremacist attackers in Buffalo, Pittsburgh and El Paso all gained access to materials online and expressed their hateful, violent intentions on social media.”

But, he continued, “so many false alarms drown out threats.”

Think about the implications of that. It’s terrible, of course, that they are unable to track violent threats. But what’s really terrible that there are so many people who think like this! It’s horrifying.

I am seeing a whole lot of casual homophobia online lately the likes of which I haven’t seen in years. I have a feeling that’s where the focus is going and I don’t think people are ready for it.

[Raster]

1. First of all, we need to accept the fact that DOMESTIC WHITE TERRORISM...

... is the NUMBER ONE threat to our Republic.

It is time for the FBI, NSA and CIA to start taking this domestic terrorist threat much, much more seriously.

It is time to call each white terrorist event exactly what it is: Domestic Terrorism by White Supremacists.

It is time to weed out the White Supremacists from every facet of government: Local, State and National.

It is time to purge the White Supremacists from EVERY branch of the Military and from EVERY police and/or sheriff's department.

[Duppers]

8. "Time to purge White Supremacists from EVERY branch...

...of the Military and from EVERY police and/or sheriff's department."

Absolutely.

However, we will then practically have to re-staff many of them.

Most of my neighbors are retired career military; I've yet to meet one retired non-racist in the group. They talk freely to other white folks, automatically assuming that we agree with them.


Last few yrs, I've put Democratic candidates signs in our lawn. Some neighbors aren't as friendly now.


And AMEN to this:

First of all, we need to accept the fact that DOMESTIC WHITE TERRORISM..... is the NUMBER ONE threat to our Republic.

[Raster]

9. We need to be just as radical and just as committed as our enemies are...

...and NO, I am not talking about inciting violence, or destroying property or any of the other UGLY, HORRENDOUS THINGS THEY DO. But we need to understand, we are facing people that believe this rancid ideology to their very core. And then once they add RELIGION into the mix... well, a religious fanatic, no matter their creed, nor color will always be able to rationalize their actions. After all, ordained by god, so we can do what we like.

And when it comes to the Police and the Military:

1. The fucking sewer that is #FoxNews needs to be BANNED from all military bases.
2. There needs to be CONSTITUTION AWARENESS taught to every. member. of the Armed Forces and every. member. of. every. police. department. What is the Constitution? What does it say? What does it mean? and Why we swear an oath to "protect and defend it."
3. There needs to be psychological profiling done ON EVERY NEW RECRUIT for both the military and the police. There are too many authoritative, sociopathic military and cops in the system. Identify them. Purge them. Even better yet, don't let the bad ones into either system. Ever.

[Raster]

13. Better late than never.

Vote. Every. Republican. Out. Of. Office.
#RepublicansAreTheProblem

Rinse, repeat until the foul GOP* stench is gone!

And frankly, anyone that "oh, what will we do, we are soooo defeated" Is. Part. Of. The. Problem.

Here's a start. Make two lists. The first list is all the shitty things happening you don't like and know are wrong.

The second list should be everything YOU think YOU can do to challenge and change the situation.

1. Come out of our comfort zones. This will not be fun. This will not be convenient. This. will. be. messy. Accept that AS FACT.
2. How can I get more people to vote? What can I personally do?
3. Every time you hear someone spout the bullshit: Challenge, Engage, Challenge and Engage again. Remember, they don't want you to challenge. They don't want you to engage.
4. FEAR is their greatest weapon.
5. Their second greatest weapon is OUR APATHY.

[onetexan]

14. +1 K&R

[IngridsLittleAngel]

17. This

Though, I was one of the people shouting that 20 years ago, when we were told the answer to protecting this country was to go into Afghanistan and Iraq. "What about the terrorists here?"

While we were "protecting" ourselves from the "threat" over there, our real threat was growing here. Now they're armed to the teeth, emboldened by MF45 and in our faces, feeling like they're above the law or any consequences.

[Celerity]

3. a year old article on this (vapourfash is part of the aesthetic, white power takes on vapourwave and

the prior #seapunk musical subgenres' memes, which are NOT, NOT at all racist/fash, but have been re-purposed into neo Nazi shit by these fuckers)

White Boy Summer, Nazi Memes and the Mainstreaming of White Supremacist Violence

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215583976

[babylonsister]

4. JFC. Makes

me want to stick my head in the sand permanently. I thought I was up on things, but apparently not these kinds of things.

[Celerity]

7. It somewhat traces back to 1999, with the founding of Something Awful, which was the precursor

to things like 2chan, 4chan, etc etc. The rise of the memes and 'mass-traction net youth culture'. Before these came to the fore, it was mostly obscure (and hard to access, especially pre WWW) rings of hackers and low tech message boards (BBSes) and protoblogs (The WELL (founded 1985) and TOTSE (founded 1989) etc etc) and email lists.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/something-awful

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_Awful

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Came_From_Something_Awful

[Raster]

10. And Sister... that is one of the reactions they are hoping for.

They don't want people to question their motives or their ideology, and opt for the easy ignore.

And please, not calling you out. Your posts have ALWAYS been a beacon.

They want people to be afraid. REMEMBER: FEAR is the number one tool fascists use against the rest of us. They. want. us. to. be. afraid.

The more we fear, the more power WE. GIVE. THEM.

[Novara]

5. We have plenty of laws for foreign terrorists but none for domestic terrorism

That needs to change. I suggest we all call our congresscritters and ask them to get busy passing some goddamn laws.

Of course a domestic terrorism bill won't pass the Senate but let's get those motherfuckers on the record as supporting domestic terrorism. I mean, we know they do but let's make it part of the official record.

[arlyellowdog]

6. It's not just the White Supremacists

It’s the racist and homophobic and misogynistic speech heard in middle and high school and at the bars by the portion of Gen Z who are reactionary to the widespread acceptance of diversity of their generation. Unfortunately, they tend to be troubled and trouble makers and dangerous. It was a huge problem in schools this year.

[Raster]

11. Unfortunately too many members of the Gen Z are ripe for the plucking.

They see the world around them... The shitty financial prospects. The degradation of our environment and the looming monster that is global climate change.

It's much easier to take the negative path.
It's easy to hate. You just give in and let yourself go.
It is far harder to understand, to empathize and to connect.

And speaking of connect, our uber-connected society has not been kind to Gen Z. They are more connected than ever, but much more alone. Their loneliness feeds their fears. Their fears feed their anger. And their anger is channeled into dark, toxic places that can profoundly affect the rest of us.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

16. Yeah. White "Boy" Summer...

Proud "Boys"...

"A male child or young man."

Even when they push this shit, they can't hide the fact there a collection of stupid, immature brats who never grew up.

There's also no question that the focus on their hate is on LGBTQ's, and I fear it's only going to get worse as we get later into the year. These terrorists have lost their shit and decided we're their targets.

Do we feel safe? Not one fucking bit. They've killed before, and I get the feeling they'll kill again.