Proud Boys' party is over: Trump fans throw tantrums because they've lost more than an election

[marmar]

Proud Boys' party is over: Trump fans throw tantrums because they've lost more than an election
Right-wing anger is exploding because they know they're losing — not just the election, but the larger culture war

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
DECEMBER 14, 2020 6:54PM


(Salon) In vino veritas, or perhaps more appropriately, in Bud Light veritas: These were the words that came to mind while I watched Saturday's Proud Boys riot in Washington, D.C.

For years, the Proud Boys have angrily resisted critics who say the group is racist, claiming instead to be for "Western chauvinism." Before the heat got to him and he quit, Proud Boys founder (and onetime Vice co-founder) Gavin McInnes described the group as being "alt-right without the racism." The Boys' insistence that they are absolutely, definitely not a bunch of racists even led to ugly infighting when a splinter group broke off over the refusal of group leaders to commit to overtly white nationalist beliefs.

But on one Saturday night in Washington, fueled by alcohol and rage over Donald Trump's electoral defeat, the pretense that "Western chauvinism" is not a racist ideology collapsed. After hours of drinking and ginning themselves up, the Proud Boys stole Black Lives Matter flags and targeted counter-protesters who were gathered in Black Lives Matter Plaza. A group of Proud Boys dramatically lit a large Black Lives Matter flag on fire, while flashing the "OK" sign, which of late has been appropriated by racists as a "white power" symbol. Vandalism at two historically Black churches, Asbury United Methodist Church and Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, is being investigated as a hate crime. Four people were stabbed in altercations between the Proud Boys and counter-protesters.

....(snip)....

This is why right-wingers always act like angry losers, no matter how many political wins they stack up. There's a limit to how much cultural change can be reversed at the ballot box or even in the courts. Of course, the policy fights over police reform, reproductive rights, same-sex marriage and immigration matter quite a bit to real people's lives. But even when the right wins on policy, the cultural changes — racial diversity, women's increased equality, the mainstreaming of LGBTQ people — march on. That's why Proud Boys targeted Black Lives Matter iconography instead of, say, the offices of Democratic Party leaders or progressive think tanks.

The same weekend that Proud Boys were throwing a public tantrum in Washington, Cleveland's baseball team finally gave in to longstanding pressure and announced it would drop its venerable but racist name, the "Indians." The move comes after the NFL team in D.C. dropped its former name, which was a far more vicious slur against Native Americans. Trump, unsurprisingly, whined about the Cleveland decision on Twitter, calling it "Cancel culture at work," even though the team's private owners made the decision and its players will take the field next season as usual. Even in using that term, Trump tacitly admitted that his power as president, and as massive cultural icon to the right, can do nothing to stop the anti-racist pressure campaign that caused the name change. ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/12/14/proud-boys-party-is-over-trump-fans-throw-tantrums-because-theyve-lost-more-than-an-election/

[msongs]

1. they not going away, just underground to organize and spread nt

[dugog55]

3. They have been growing and spreading for decades. The "new' Republican Party

which started to emerge in the late '60s has always been based on racism. The Dixiecrats changing to Republicans, Nixon's war on marijuana was aimed mostly at low income urban areas. Reagans war on drugs was more of this, and he outright ostracized the blacks as welfare frauds and moochers. It just continued to grow but stay under rocks until Obama was elected. The "Tea Party" was blatantly racist and gave us a slew of State level pre-trumpers which some states are still trying to get rid of. Racism was out in the open and main stream Republican Pols just fueled the fire and joined in. Trump just allowed all these assholes the freedom to show their stripes publicly.

Worse, it is going to be around for years. Dems have to keep winning and winning big to wipe them out. Having them labeled as terrorist groups would help immensely .

[Turbineguy]

2. Sucks to be them.

[malthaussen]

4. The Cleveland baseball team should go back to Spiders...

... that would make a cool opportunity for a logo.

-- Mal