May the Whiter Man Win

[1]2,306 words

Mitt Romney is my guy! Not that I actually intend to vote for him. I probably won’t – unless certain things stirring within me just overcome my better judgment and catapult me into a voting  booth. And it bothers me to admit that this might just happen.

So just what is stirring in me?

On the night of the Presidential debate I had completely forgotten that the event was taking place. I’m usually quite detached from things. I’m always the last one to hear that it’s time to set the clocks forward or back because I seldom turn on the television or read a newspaper. Well, on the evening of October 3rd I was driving home from the gym and turned my car radio to the local NPR station (always good for a few laughs). To my surprise, I found myself in the midst of the debate.

Now, I never watch (or listen) to these things. They simply make me cringe. The last one I watched was one of the Bush-Kerry bouts and I came away so embarrassed for Bush I almost felt sympathy for the guy. So, my first instinct on tuning into Obama-Romney Round One (an appropriate choice of words, as we shall see) was to change the channel. But something staid my hand. And it wasn’t bright-eyed Athena. It was a morbid curiosity; the kind that makes me look at road kill.

And so I listened. It was Romney’s turn and as I listened to him I thought to myself, “This guy isn’t half as stupid as I thought he was.” I had formed the impression (no doubt under the influence of the “liberal media,” as they call it on Fox News) that Mitt was another Bush. Not so, I quickly discovered. He’s actually quick on his feet and pretty articulate. And he was obviously extremely well prepared.

Now, my reaction had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with anything that the man actually said. To repeat: I was not reacting to the content of his statements at all. I usually assume that whatever comes out of a politician’s mouth is a lie. And I think that people who take the trouble to learn the details of the differences between “Obama’s plan for X” and “Romney’s plan” are mostly just wasting their time. No, what I was reacting to was pure appearance, pure style.

Now please don’t castigate me for privileging style over substance. If there is no substance, then there’s no problem in talking about style instead. And the media pundits, whose reactions I would follow in the next few hours, basically agreed with me: they really weren’t interested in anything these guys said at all; they were solely preoccupied with how it was said.

When I arrived home I immediately switched on the TV and began watching the debate. And then I got another surprise. On the radio both men sounded poised, though Obama seemed a bit low-key. On television, however, it was apparent that Mitt was trouncing the guy. I’m not going to go into all the reasons why, because it’s all been endlessly discussed in the last several days: Romney looked directly at Obama, while Obama avoided looking at Romney; Romney seemed very upbeat and bright-eyed, while Obama seemed weary and bored, etc.

The most surprising thing of all, however, was the genuine pleasure I took in all of this. I was on the edge of my seat, hooting and cheering as I watched Romney ground and pound Obama. And then I realized it: this is like watching the UFC.

In the evenings after the day’s work is done I frequently mix myself a vodka and tonic and end the day by watching the latest DVD release of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. I’m not one of those big fans who has a head full of statistics and can tell you, for example, how many fights Stephan Bonnar has won by KO or how many times Kyle Kingsbury has been submitted. Primarily I enjoy the UFC as sheer spectacle, and I only follow the careers of certain fighters.

Nevertheless, every time I watch a fight I always take sides. There’s always a guy I want to win. It’s seldom because I think he’s the most skilled. It usually has something to do with his spirit or his character. I have one cardinal rule, however. One Prime Directive: if the match is between a White man and a non-White I always root for the White man. This is not a rule I have to make myself follow. It’s a rule that expresses my own natural inclinations. Even if the White man is a total asshole and the non-White (usually Black or Latino) is a saint, I still root for the White man.

Here are my basic rules for watching the UFC:

1. If it’s White vs. White I root for the one whose spirit or character I admire the most; or I root for the one who seems to come from a background similar to mine; or the one I just like the best. If I don’t know anything at all about them, I root for the one who looks like he’s in the best condition. I will not back a lard ass.

2. If it’s White vs. non-White I root for the White man no matter what.

3. If it’s sorta-White vs. sorta-White or sorta-White vs. Clearly-Non-White (as is often the case with the UFC) I root for the Whiter one.

4. If it’s Clearly-Non-White vs. Clearly-Non-White I just don’t care. Or I fast forward to the next fight.

The Obama-Romney bout actually falls into a fifth category: White vs. sorta-White. People keep telling me Obama is Black, even though he’s only half Black. Nobody ever points out that if his being 50% Black is enough to make him Black, then why isn’t his being 50% White enough to make him White? I’m kinda glad, though, that nobody ever points this out. Notice that, implicitly, everyone is drawing on the old “one drop” rule in the case of Obama. He’s just too Black to be White. So, in the case of Obama vs. Romney the application of my UFC rules is clear: root for Romney.

You cannot imagine the joy I feel in my heart (and the sounds the neighbors hear) when I see a White fighter beat a non-White. Now, if you are an interloper, not yet initiated in the ways of Counter-Currents, let me immediately set you straight. No, I don’t hate the non-White fighters. No, I don’t want Whites to go around beating up non-Whites – outside the octagon, that is. I root for the White fighters because they’re White like me. I can’t help it and I feel no need to apologize for it – because I know that the Blacks in the audience are rooting for the Black fighters, and the Latinos are rooting for the Latino fighters, etc. It’s just natural.

I was jubilant at the end of that first Obama-Romney debate. I jumped off the sofa and cheered as Romney pummeled Obama, knocked him on his bony ass, then got his back and submitted him – just before Mario Yamasaki stepped in and stopped the fight. My heart thrilled as I watched Romney do a back flip and strut across the octagon as his fans cheered. Then came, of course, the obligatory moment when Romney went striding over to a limping Obama to embrace him in true sportsmanlike fashion. But Obama wasn’t having any of it. He was pissed. He turned away from Romney then sank to his knees and pounded the canvass, screaming obscenities inaudible from my vantage point in the crowd. Then Obama got up and, as Joe Rogan approached Romney for the post-fight interview, he began pacing the octagon, mouthing something to the camera, teeth bared. I could just read his lips and make out what he was saying, over and over again: “I been robbed! I been robbed!”

Well, of course, most of the above is fantasy. But it felt like that was what I had just witnessed. And I stuck around for the commentary – the endless commentary on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Then I read the online papers the next day. Everyone – everyone – declared Romney the winner. And now I’m hooked, folks. I’m emotionally involved. I really didn’t expect this to happen.

As a candidate, as a leader, and as a human being I’m sure that Mitt Romney probably isn’t worth a s***. But goddamnit I want the White guy to win!

Please don’t misunderstand me. This is not a rational choice. I don’t know anything about Romney’s plans or policies and, as I said before, I wouldn’t believe anything he says about them anyway. The little I’ve heard about what he thinks about foreign policy (especially with respect to the Middle East) suggests that if Romney means what he says we could be in for real trouble if he wins the election.

And yes, I’m aware of all the arguments – posed, for example, by Greg Johnson [2] – to the effect that four more years of Obama would actually be better for White Nationalism. I accept all of that. Truly. But mine is not a rational response. This comes from the heart or the gut or wherever these things come from. I probably won’t even get off my White ass and vote for Romney (especially if it rains), but goddamnit I want the White guy to win!

And though I know that mine is not a sensible response – and again, though I accept that it is probably better for us if Romney loses – there’s also a part of me that thinks that this very irrational and emotional reaction is a sign of something really good.

Ultimately, White Nationalism cannot be built upon claims regarding, shall we say, “White exceptionalism.” It’s a mistake to try to turn Whites into White Nationalists by arguing that Whites are better than other people. After all, Asians are smarter than we are, and Blacks can run faster and jump higher. White identity and White Nationalism can’t be based primarily on intellectual arguments at all. If we buy into the idea that we need to give Whites a reason to love their own then we’re doomed from the start. That’s like trying to convince people to be good parents by giving them “reasons” to love their children. If the love isn’t there already, it’s hopeless.

So what we have to do is to get Whites to feel the love. We have to tap into something deeper than reasons. We have to tap into the capacity of Whites to identify with other Whites just because they are White, and for no other reason. It is this capacity – the capacity to love one’s own simply because they are one’s own – that is the strength of other races. Black would identify with other Blacks even if there were not one good thing to say about Blacks as a whole. Have Whites lost this capacity? If we have we are doomed, no question about it.

But I don’t think we have. We have just been so cowed by political correctness that we are not only afraid to speak about it, we are afraid to acknowledge this capacity in ourselves even in the privacy of our own minds. But that we still have this capacity is undeniable. We demonstrate it daily in the decisions we make about where to shop, where to live, where to send our kids to school, what organizations to join, what television shows to watch, etc. We demonstrate it daily in all the “implicitly White” things that we do. All that needs to happen now is for the implicit to become explicit.

In the last election, 96% of Blacks voted for Obama. Nobody thinks this is because they coolly evaluated the platforms of the two candidates and came to the rational decision that Obama was the lesser of evils. No. They voted for Obama because they looked at him and said “He’s like me.” And many of them are willing to openly admit this. It is time we played the same game – also openly. Because if it’s legitimate for one (and it is), then it’s legitimate for the other. There is no effective argument against this position.

My joy at Romney’s debate victory is thus – I think – a healthy expression of my White Nationalism. And I am pleased to realize that that White Nationalism is not just an intellectual commitment, but so deep a part of my emotional makeup that it can override intellectual commitments (like my commitment to the idea that a Romney win would be bad for the cause of White Nationalism). At the risk of seeming self-aggrandizing I must say: if only all Whites felt as I do, and as automatically. Maybe more do than I realize . . .

I am trying not to get emotionally involved in this election. And this essay should not be interpreted as encouraging my readers to vote for Romney. I agree with Greg Johnson that if Romney gets in all it will do is give Whites the illusion that someone is now in the White House who will look after their interests – while, for example, the same suicidal immigration policies continue. My calm, sober, reasoned opinion is that a vote for Romney is a vote wasted. It would be better for us if Obama won. If anti-White policies wear a Black face, White Americans are much more likely to become wise to them. If they wear a White face, many Whites will not catch on, and slumber still deeper.

So, yes: Romney must lose. Don’t vote for Romney. I really want him to lose.

But goddamnit I want the White guy to win!