Why The Alt-Right In Virginia Is Failing

The Alt-Right set are pretty much the Stannis Baratheons of American politics (apologies if you have not read or watched the Game of Thrones series).  They win a few battles here and there… but eventually, their luck runs out as they burn… and burn… and burn… and burn things.  A national temper tantrum, reactionary against the Obama era and nothing more.

What is fascinating here among the alt-Right — much like ol’ Stannis —  is set on demanding the very same blind party loyalty they themselves have condemned since… well, forever.

What’s more, their battle cry heading into this was nothing short of “burn it down” — and they did.  Now they get to roll in the ashes while conservatives quietly pack their bags and walk.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth as we do is amusing at best.  This is what the alt-Right wanted… this is what they worked for as they welcomed the nativists and David Dukes of the world into the Republican Party and expected victory.

What surprises me more is that the folks so long on the outside are now demanding the blind loyalty they have never shown.  That’s not how this works.  Americans are asked to give their assent to candidates — and this has been a perennial problem among the alt-right set.  They win the nomination battles; they lose the war.  They preach unity; they practice purity.  The want all the prestige of power; they perform none of the small benevolent tasks needed to acquire it.

Meanwhile, those of us in this game for the purposes of principle?  Well… we have our own reasons, as well as our own constituencies, relationships, followers, counselors, admirers, listeners, and people we listen to.  That last part — listening — is really the key.

Alt-Right folks just don’t do that.  They scream, they steal, they take… and then they wonder why no one is following them.

For those not familiar with the Alt-Right movement, they are disaffected libertarians who have bought into the idea of “racial consciousness” — you can check on their Wikipedia entries here and their founding father Richard Spencer here.  To wit, from RedState:

The takeover was definitely hostile, and it caused a mass exodus of conservatives putting as much distance from themselves and the party as possible. People were burning their GOP registration cards, and there have been endless talk on social media about those walking away from a defunct party that no longer represents them. I’m one of them.

The alt-right, as they will tell you, is only too glad to take credit for our departure.

. . .

The alt-right’s initial call was to burn it all to the ground. They succeeded. It’s burnt. Let them roll in the ashes and pretend they’re winners.

…and that is it in a nutshell.  The “renegade Jew” stuff?  If it sounds familiar, it’s because that strain of anti-Semitism is a feature, not a bug, of the Alt-Right.  You’ll find its theme deeply ingrained in other contests, whether it’s calling people “disgusting Jews” or offering the bill for the Last Supper — it’s there, and it is rarely if ever apologized for.

This new wave might peter out in five years.  Who knows?  But so long as folks are afraid to call it out, it will fester and remain.

…but the endgame?  Perhaps — and I’m spitballing here — there’s a reason why the conservative movement is failing.  We beat the Soviets.  Then we beat the terrorists.  Both times, our energies were directed outside of our boundaries.  If Arthur Brooks and the good people at AEI are right, perhaps the next unifying battle ought to be against the ghost within — and build a better world here against the pessimists and dividers.