Counter-Currents
1,445 words
One can’t help but feel cheated by this year’s primary season. As a political spectacle, primaries are almost always more fun and interesting than general elections. For one, you are also more likely to hear candidates say something interesting in the primaries given that they are appealing only to their base, and as such are much closer to their true selves than when campaigning for the general election, when they are trying to be all things to all people.
The primaries are sprawled out over several months, resulting in a high-drama horse race. “Paul Tsongas is fading, but here comes Bill Clinton pulling up from the rear!” Hitherto unknown characters you’ve never heard of emerge to briefly fascinate before fading away — remember Michele Bachmann? — while others come out of nowhere and remain in the national spotlight (Mike Huckabee). And the occasional dark horse candidates! Who can forget the maverick campaigns of Pat Buchanan. Ron Paul, and Bernie Sanders?
Whereas the general election is more like the Super Bowl, the primaries are more like American Idol, where the drama is as much over who’s going to drop out next as it is about who’s going to win. Even when the result is a forgone conclusion, you still want to see how long the plucky underdog can last and how far they can go.
Aside from the roguish outsiders, primaries also see epic implosions of heir apparents – think Ted Kennedy and Jeb Bush. My first time voting was for Pat Buchanan in the 1996 primaries, and I’ve always enjoyed the spectacle. Hillary versus Obama! Reagan versus Ford! The Dean scream! Primaries are the greatest political junk food ever.
You can buy Jonathan Bowden’s collection The Cultured Thug here.
We have been deprived of a proper presidential primary this year, however, given that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are running as incumbents. To be fair, there is a ceremonial primary taking place on the GOP side of things, but because Trump is refusing to participate in the debates, we have been robbed of the primary experience. I want my bread and circuses, damn it!
Things are not going to get any more interesting, either. Trump won the Iowa caucuses with 51% of the vote and won every county. Until Sunday the anti-Trump Republicans appeared to be split between the Never Trumpers who are backing Nikki Haley and the ex-Trumpers who preferred Ron DeSantis. Both camps still have issues with each other, so it’s questionable how much advantage Haley will gain from DeSantis’ withdrawal. I’d be surprised if Haley even makes it to Super Tuesday. I want my horse race!
It looks like it’s going to be Trump again, and yet without Trump on Twitter, we are still not getting the authentic Trump experience. It’s just not entertaining. Why is Trump refusing to return to Twitter/X when Elon Musk has unbanned him? My guess is that he is contractually obligated to exclusively use Truth Social for some time. Maybe it was a promise made to the investors. Trump has also asked social media companies to change their terms of service in order to ban criticism of Jews as a condition of his using their platform. It’s entirely possible that Trump won’t return Twitter/X simply because it’s a free-speech free-for-all under Elon Musk.
For me, it’s not a matter of whether or not I should support Trump. It’s more a recognition that we are going over the waterfall — something we have to recognize. The election is all anyone is going to be talking about for the rest of this year, and the dissident Right should always be finding ways to insert ourselves into the conversation. That doesn’t mean one has to pick a side, but should be aware of the propaganda opportunities. Both sides will do things that merit discussion. For example, all the major Black Lives Matter events have flared up during election years. Expect to see BLM reactivated this summer.
Is Trump being back a good thing or a bad thing? There’s a lot of about Trump that is a wash. Yes, he brings out the worst in our enemies, but he also brings out the worst in his fans. Yes, Trump triggers the Left, but also triggers an overreaction that usually includes waves of censorship against people like us. I’m definitely not looking forward to the return of the Trump cult, which by 2020 had become so non-ideological to the point that they would cheer on airstrikes (“Trump’s showin’ ‘em not to fuck with the USA!”) and celebrate the First Step Act which released black criminals back onto the streets — because it showed dem liberals that Trump isn’t a racist. I also hope we’ve heard the last of QAnon, but a revival could be imminent.
Trump is in a lot of legal trouble and I do not know how that will affect things. It may not influence the election all that much seeing that many view these various lawsuits as politically motivated. It will most certainly radicalize Trump’s cultists, but how the general public will react, I will not hazard to guess.
On the plus side, Trump has been getting back to his 2016 roots. He’s been talking about mass deportations since Day 1, including migrant detention centers and putting troops on the border. He’s been talking about making it illegal to close someone’s bank account due to their political views. He is being more reserved in his support for Israel. Of course, your rational brain tells you that this is just Lucy and the football. You know he’s going to yank the ball away. While this is probably true, I’d rather have him saying these things than not saying them. I’ll take “insincerely based” over “all-time low black unemployment” any day. Sigh. And yet the old “Overton window” cope regarding Trump rings a tad hollower in the era of Elon Twitter, which has got the Overton window moving along just fine with or without Trump.
I previously wondered if the recent “based” redemption arcs from various Con Inc. operatives such as Charlie Kirk, Matt Walsh, and Candace Owens were perhaps part of some kind of plan from higher up the chain. All of a sudden and without warning, Charlie Kirk takes a stand to the right of Trump and starts talking about white identity? Part of it is no doubt Elon taking over Twitter and opening discussions. The question is whether Trump is following the lead of the likes of Kirk and Owens, or whether Kirk and Owens got a memo from the Trump campaign saying, “This is what our strategy is for 2024. Make you messaging compliant with this.”
You can buy The Alternative Right, ed. Greg Johnson, here
It could also be that Trump now has dissident Rightists around him. It was revealed last year that two people from the old Alt Right have since gone on to attain the upper reaches of the conservative establishment’s ecosystem. One is Richard Hanania, who wrote for several White Nationalist outlets in the early 2010s, left the scene, and became a popular mainstream conservative commentator. The other was Mike Benz, who from 2016 through 2018 was a popular Twitter and YouTube personality known as Frame Game Radio. After leaving the scene, Benz got a job in the Trump State Department and became the Right’s top expert on the censorship industry.
Hanania profusely apologized and has been virtue-signaling his non-racism ever since. Benz claimed that his participation in the Alt Right was an op and then never mentioned it again. I’m not sure anyone believes Benz, but incredibly, the conservative establishment did not cancel him. People have been fired from the Trump camp for having ties to the Alt Right, but the fact that Benz survived a cancellation without even having to make much of an apology tour is a sign that getting caught having a White Nationalist past is no longer the death sentence it used to be, at least in the Trumpsphere.
Hanania and Benz are just the two guys who got caught. How many more are out there, hiding their power level as they work their way up the ladder? What we may see in the near future is a delayed reaction to the 2016 Alt Right boom, where the people who were kids then start attaining positions of influence. A 22-year-old intern in 2016 would now be 30, and would have moved a few steps higher up. Trump may have some undercover /OurGuys/ in his circle.
If there is one indisputable silver lining in Trump’s return, it’s that he will get more people engaging in politics on the Internet, which is good for the dissident Right. It is far easier for us to reach people online than when they are binge-watching Netflix. And as a content creator, I know having Trump around will generate content.
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29 comments
I’m with Ann Coulter on this one. Orange man had four goddamn years to build a wall.
OK, Glenn Beck, did he really? Did he really have 4 years where he wasn’t fighting an uphill battle against the likes of John McCain and every other steaming turd on “our side” AND the other?
Donald Trump is not my savior, but he is a damn sight better than _____. Fill in the freaking blank of anyone else willing to run.
All of this is pointless navel-gazing anyway, but calling him “orange man” is painfully stupid. Are you sure you’re not lost? Ann Coulter… sounds to me like you’re with good old Ann on a lot of things probably.
Vote for the shabbos goy. See if I care. You brought up the abused wife. Believing that Donnie will follow through on his promises this time is no different than the wife who thinks “This time will be different, he’s changed!”.
Edit: I apologize. I just really hate Ann Coulter. Anyone who owns that many leather dresses is not a serious person. Maybe a serious doninatrix, but not a serious person.
You insulted me, not the other way around. I’ve never voted and have no plans to vote this year.
K has a point. Trump was mostly a failure, especially on immigration, which was inexcusable. He could have scorched-earth vetoed GOP budgets until Congress provided both legislation and full funding for the Wall. Trump is talk, with little follow-through.
I wanted DeSantis, despite some of his shabbos goy behavior (FL does have a large Jewish population, many of whom are conservatives). I think Ron would have been a better executive than the Unforced Error King Trump. Also, he would have had a very solid chance of serving two terms. With Trump 2, we get a lameduck, one who has a demonstrated terrible effect on down-ballot races. We will likely lose the House in 2026 (if we don’t this year), and the Senate (assuming we win it this year, as we certainly would have under a Desantis nomination; now, maybe, maybe not) either then or in 2028. After Trump 2, it is likely we will get a Democrat in 2029, probably the horrid CA Gov Gavin Newsom. Imagine Pres. Newsom and an all-Democrat Congress. Think what they will do! This country may be unlivable or dead by 2030.
OTOH, if Biden wins, he will be a very weak President in his second term. He will continue to be horrible on judicial appointments, but will likely at least not have another SCOTUS one. His (and Trump’s) second term Admin will be consumed with foreign crises. I predict that after Biden 2, in 2029 we will have an all-GOP government, and it will be a much more Trumpian GOP.
So what to do? My 92 year old mother will be voting for Trump in both the primary and the general. She is very very unlikely to live to 2029. Life will get a bit better under Trump than Biden, plus she likes Donald and hates Joe. But I’m ‘only’ 62 – too young to be thinking in end-of-life terms, but too old to be doing so in “accelerationist” ones. I don’t want the 2030s/40s/50s to see America in advanced collapse. I don’t have time or health or energy to rebuild my finances and life.
Because I live in a super-Blue state, I’ll be voting for Trump both times, just because my vote doesn’t matter and it gives me satisfaction to stick it to the progturds. But I hope Biden wins (ultra-narrowly, so GOP base people will think it a stolen election again), and that the GOP maintains and expands in the House and takes the Senate. I want better times to come in my retirement – not the Newsom Deluge.
The fact that it will most likely be Biden vs Trump again is plain evidence that the American experiment has failed.
How so? Could you please define the American experience? Is it is the representative republic that has failed? Or did you just read that fun catch phrase somewhere and decide it was time to trot it out?
The American “experiment”, which means the country was founded on an idea rather than a shared ethnicity. At the time that had never happened before so it was considered experimental.
Trump did almost nothing to help us the first time around, he failed at almost all of his promises, and he, in fact, did many things that actually harmed us and our country. He is not our savior, and I’m not optimistic that he’ll drastically turn things around if he somehow miraculously gets back in.
However, to be completely fair, I can think of 3 possible reasons why Trump getting back in is still better than another term of Dark Brandon
1) If any White Nationalists (individual or group) get into legal trouble, or any normal, average Joe Whites get into trouble for self-defense (Daniel Penny situation) it’s far better to have “a” possibility of pardoning people versus none at all with Biden in there.
2) I don’t believe Trump will build the wall or deport anyone, but at the very least, he’ll likely use some kind of non-lethal weaponry at the border which might be enough to scare the miscreants to stop coming for a while. Buying time is still buying time.
3) Discussions of race, Jews, the perils of diversity, etc, are not “quite” as immediately shut down as they once were in mainstream circles. Since Trump is widely seen as a racist and he’s term-limited, who knows what possibilities this could bring forth.
I live in a blue state that Trump can’t win anyway (ironically, his home state of New York) so I’ll likely not get involved in this years election cycle
Nah, everyone should still vote for Trump, especially people in Blue states. Don’t spread this apathy meme. We need to run up his popular vote numbers as much as possible.
OTOH, as I commented above, I think it would be better for the country long term (and I recall that you’re about 25 years younger than I am, so this totally applies to you) for Trump to lose, but by the smallest possible margin. With Trump in, we lose Congress almost certainly; with Brandon, we keep it, expand it, and have a much better shot at a GOP Pres in 2029. With a GOP Congress, Brandon will do nothing but exhibit his worsening senility (or Harris’s utter incompetence, assuming Brandon abdicates, as I think he will, maybe after 2026 midterms), thereby making it easier for GOP to win more seats (and maybe down ballot, too).
I was born in December of 1987, so I just turned 36.
Yeah? And I’m 62. So, OK, I’m 26 years older than you. Obviously, my point stands. We want a GOP Congress for a long time. Having four years of Trump chaos and likely non-accomplishment is not worth losing that.
Blaming Trump supporters for waves of censorship feels a little like blaming the abused wife for not making the sandwich quick enough.
Screw that. Trump is the closest thing I’ve got as a weapon against people who hate this country and hate the color of my skin, even if it matches theirs. I swear, I forget who wrote it or said it, but somebody once put it as Trump being the stick he was going to use against those who hate us. I gotta find that quote. It was perfect.
Absolutely. We are also supporting Trump again, despite everything and under no delusions that he is our savior. One small personal benefit to doing something as simple as wearing a Trump hat to the gym or store is that we connect with all kinds of friendly people who want to give us thumbs up and talk. Immigration levels would be lower under Trump, and that’s enough for me to prefer him to Biden. We ought to be connecting with people and reaching out and, yes, voting, not pouting and closing ourselves off.
I like what Trump says, and he’s funny as hell, but he accomplished little his first term except the Supreme Court appointments. He energized the left into free speech bans, ever more deplatforming/canceling, BLM “mostly peaceful protests” and “anything goes” if it fits a progressive agenda (e.g. mask up everywhere, but its okay to not mask up for a protest). Once Trump nails the nomination the progressive media will go hog wild on him. If by some miracle he wins, he will be embroiled in lawsuits, gridlock and trash talking feuds.
At the same time, I strongly believe everyone should vote. Even if some here are against Trump and/or live in a Blue state, though should write in a candidate who is perceived to be against the status quo. If we are perceived to be uninvolved, policy makers will have no incentive to consider our wants. The first agenda item after an election, even a losing one, is to figure out how to win the next election or get re-elected. So vote right.
Trump is the most important politician in American history. All these armchair quarterback critics are short-cited. After all that has happened to him it is obvious he never had an opportunity to do anything. Don’t just list the powers of the presidency. All that is meaningless in today’s political climate. He really won’t be able to do anything next time either, but that doesn’t matter. We need to put him back in to show we can’t be abused. Not DeSantis, not anyone else. Trump. The one guy they don’t want is what they are going to get.
Great article. Election years provide great opportunities to get involved in campaigns and network. Bring up the harm caused by anti-white policies whenever possible when talking to people. It’s not necessary to insult or denigrate other groups when doing so. You don’t even have to go on and on about it. Get candidates to go on record condemning anti-white rhetoric and policies, and let them know that voters care about this. It ought to become commonplace for candidates to speak explicitly about white people having legitimate group interests. It’s time for the taboo associated with saying anything positive about white people to go away. More people need to feel comfortable and not scared talking about this. Just be nice to people when bringing it up, and 9 out of ten times they’ll be nice back and will probably agree.
The election is all anyone is going to be talking about for the rest of this year, and the dissident Right should always be finding ways to insert ourselves into the conversation.
Not just during the election, but for the foreseeable future, is to present the ethnostate as a potential pressure release valve for the country’s polarization. Most political polarization is driven by the extremes, so if the US just spun-off a few small countries for the “extremists,” including us, of course, I genuinely think it settle things down. And establishing the principle could useful against US adversaries with their own diverse populations, like China, Russia, and Iran.
“but the fact that Benz survived a cancellation without even having to make much of an apology tour is a sign that getting caught having a White Nationalist past is no longer the death sentence it used to be, at least in the Trumpsphere.”
Benz probably survived the cancellation for being a member of the tribe…
Shut up and vote for Trump, you bunch of over-educated eggheads. I know he appeals to the icky hoi-polloi, but what’re you gonna do? Wait till that white nationalist candidate comes along? Or that first president in history who isn’t being undermined at every turn by the opposing party? Don’t worry about it. He’s being indicted for jay-walking as we speak. Now get outta here. G’wan! Beat it!
Best response. Says it in a nutshell.
Thank you for not annoying me, Margot Metroland. I had to tell those other people to am-scray.
Lookit: If elected, The Donald could conceivably have Stuttering John Menendez as Vice-President.
One of those tiresome degree-laden geeks above said that Ann Coulter doesn’t like him. How is being disliked by a shrill and strident skank-ass ho not a feather in anyone’s cap?
Lastly, that Bruce Springsteen said he’d leave the country if His Donaldness is elected which means he could take that, that “E-Street Band” with him and get them out of our hair. Not since post-Al Kooper Blood, Sweat And Tears have the airwaves been clogged with such soulless mediocrity.
The list goes on.
Have a nice day.
I have no college degree. Do you think only people with a degree despise Trump? I mentioned Ann Coulter simply because anything good DT ever said about immigration was pretty much stolen from her and other people. He was elected and what happened? Absolutely nothing. But he did recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. How cool and based is that?!
Irony not your strong suit, fella? Relax, buddy! I kid.
Well said. Almost as good as I could have put it.
The drive for censorship started in 2015, with Milo criticizing the female Ghostbusters, before Trump was in the primary.
Trump winning heavily accelerated the censorship movement, which was a coalescing of Jewish advocacy groups and Jewish ad agencies bringing pressure against the social media companies; later the deep state became involved, as evidenced by universal anectdotal experience and the Twitter Files.
It’s a massive undermining of our civilization, this censorship, but Trump isn’t the main issue.
Let’s support the only really dissident candidate, please.
After bromance between Trump and Kim Jong Un, I vividly remember the security chief of N. Korea coming for a visit to the US to be sure that the country called Amerika actually exists and is not some kind of conspiracy by the devils from S. Korea …
Later, already under Biden administration, the VP Kamala Harris vistited the US troops at DMZ on Korean Peninsula and from a script praised unwavering support for democratic state of N. Korea …
“THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, the United States shares a very important relationship, which is an alliance with the Republic of North Korea. And it is an alliance that is strong and enduring. And today, there were several demonstrations of just that point.”
Right now I watch various US talkingheads, well … breaking their heads, trying to understand why these american voters feel attracted to Trump who once called them “vermin” ?
I can imagine that the deepstate writers are feverishly busy with new scripts to counter what’s coming and distract the voters with some kind of “1969 spirits”.
What could it be ? A military draft ?
Anyway, there are reliable sources that predict Trump’s landslide victory.
Enjoy the ride !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09839DpTctU
I never imagined that Kamala Harris was that much of a ding-dong.
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