Logical Meme

After Richard Spencer’s speech in Gainesville, FL yesterday:

Three white men, two of whom have shown “connections to extremist groups,” face charges of attempted homicide following a shooting in Gainesville on Thursday evening.

Spencer had come to the University of Florida for a speaking engagement, and was immediately drowned out by hundreds of protesters inside the Phillips Center and outside the venue. At least two of the men were among the first sympathizers of the alt-right to show up, immediately interviewed by press waiting for the event to begin.

After the event, about 5:30 p.m., the three men – 28-year-old Tyler Tenbrink of Richmond, Texas; 30-year-old William Fears and 28-year-old Colton Fears of Passadena, Texas – drove in a silver Jeep when they approached a group of protesters, according to Gainesville Police.

The protesters were sitting at a bus stop on Southwest Archer Road when the men approached, and one of the passengers yelled “Hail Hitler” and other chants at them. One of the protesters then used a baton to smash the rear window of the vehicle. After the vehicle backed up about ten feet, Tenbrink exited with a handgun and fired, his single shot hitting a building nearby.

The first acts of violence always seem to start with the Left.

From a leftist article “How Does Fascism Sneak Into Pop Culture?”:

Alexander Reid Ross, a geography instructor at Portland State University and author of the February 2017 book Against the Fascist Creep, explains that, historically, fascists have infiltrated mainstream culture because fascism focuses on the idea of “rebirth both from left- and right-wing ideologies.” In the case of the arts and humanities, fascists have sometimes usurped ostensibly progressive movements, such as Romanticism, and used them to advance their agenda. Fascists have traditionally physically interrupted performance art in order to spread their message as well.

The fascist tradition of using the arts as vehicles for expanding the movement is visible in the U.S. today, in some cases in eerily similar ways to the original rise of European fascism in the early 20th century. In an interview with Pacific Standard, Ross discussed the ways fascists have historically snuck into mainstream cultural milieus, why progressives sometimes fall for fascist infiltrators, and how entertainment media played a role in the election of Trump.

The piece actually cites former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer being allowed to speak at the recent Emmy Awards as an example of ‘creeping fascism’.

Wow.