The alt-right is a small movement; apparently it’s growing, but it’s still, in the context of the larger society, a small grouping of people. Maybe its aspirations toward gaining more widespread acceptance will lead it towards something like the GOPe’s ”big tent” approach: we have to curry favor with everyone and we can’t afford to exclude whoever seems to be ‘on our side.’
This ‘inclusive’ urge seems not to extend to social conservatives (oh, I momentarily forgot that ”conservative” is a dirty word in the eyes of many today, and it has no doubt been tainted) and traditionalists who hold to conservative versions of Christianity. Why? Because the alt-right has found a new darling in Milo Yiannopolous and a couple of others who are openly homosexual. So, forced to choose between homosexuals and more traditional normal people, the former will be preferred.
From what I am reading, it seems that Milo being assailed by the BLM and other riff-raff at DePaul University has given him a sort of hero status as of now. Before that I got the impression that he was, at best, a controversial figure on the alt-right scene.
I wrote just the other day about the disgusting spectacle of the lefties attacking Milo and denying his right to be heard. I stand by that; I think he has a right to be heard and those who attacked him are thugs and would-be tyrants. However, Milo is not alone in having been treated this way; think back to Ann Coulter, Jared Taylor, even the mild Tom Tancredo; all were attacked on stage by the usual rabble. I am sure there are many others if we bother to search online for such stories. Yet Milo is singular in being hailed as some new icon for the right (the alt-right, at least) after this incident. Why?
I am reading that he is a ‘fighter; he’s fighting for us’ and so on. But so are all the others who’ve been abused an attacked. Why is Milo suddenly so important that people are flaming each other on certain blogs and, in the case of at least one Christian blogger, rushing to Milo’s defense, while castigating his Christian critics?
No doubt even my questioning this situation as mildly as I am doing here will raise some hackles, given that Milo is now the new star and celebrity. But then I generally don’t understand when some people, whoever they are, are put on pedestals. I don’t ‘get’ the celebrity thing, or the effect that some people have on others which causes their followers or admirers to defend them to the extent of attacking known allies and even their friends who don’t share their adulation of said figure.
What this situation makes me think of is the ‘black conservative’ phenomenon among mainstream conservatives. We all know how Republicans and mainstream conservatives will run after every black personality who says some semi-conservative things. We saw it play out with Herman Cain, Ben Carson, Bill Cosby (who has proven to have feet of clay, though some still claim he was ‘framed’), Colin Powell, Condi Rice, and so many others. These ‘conservative black icons’ are hailed as being a way to ‘bring other blacks on board; if only they could see that all they need is conservative values’. They are seen as being a way to signal our ‘inclusive and welcoming’ philosophy. “See? We’re not racist, really, we’re not! Please believe us!” This may be because deep down, some, apparently many, on the right feel guilty about their supposed ‘bigotry’, and perhaps they need to prove to themselves that they are not ‘haters’. So when they think they have found a kindred soul in a black politician or candidate, they are thrilled; ”maybe I’m not really a bigot after all! I really like this guy!” I suspect they breathe a sigh of relief when they find blacks they admire. And it seems to really disturb them when their former idols prove to be less ”conservative” than they thought — and actually more faithful to their race than to ”conservative values”.
Time will tell whether Milo will be the gay counterpart of the ‘conservative black hope’ or whether he will continue to be a rising star on the alt-right — and possibly lead the already socially-liberal/libertarian alt-right towards general ‘gay acceptance’. After that? LGBT-friendly stances? After all, what was the saying? ”any group that is not consciously conservative becomes more liberal over time’? Inertia always takes us towards the left.
And especially so if it sifts out those whose views are ”too” right-wing.