Tuesday, October 06, 2020

Rally Around the Flag? The Far-Right Response to Covid-19

Europe’s far-right parties such as Alternative für Deutschland, the Lega and the Swedish Democrats have all struggled to find a message amid the pandemic. However, things might be changing. As populations tire of lockdowns and fear for their livelihoods, these parties are attempting to harness discontent and speak for “the people”. While some hope that scientific truths will win out against populist lies, the prominent place given to experts could produce a backlash. Ultimately the social and economic consequences of government measures will be decisive for the future of far-right populism.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought huge changes to all corners of the world. Daily life has been fundamentally transformed; working conditions, social events and international travel have all been disrupted. Besides the profound economic and social transformations in the wake of a global health crisis, how has the political landscape been affected? How have political parties fared? What has been the response of the far-right populist parties, who might have been expected to appreciate the closed borders? Six months ago, these parties were poised to make sweeping electoral gains. Before the pandemic, a populist surge was regarded by some as almost inevitable due to deep structural changes across Europe and the lack of political alternatives. An important question today is whether the coronavirus pandemic has dampened this surge or whether, on the contrary, it will provide it with new fuel.

Though there is good reason to be wary of sweeping generalisations and simplistic assumptions often made about populism in general, and right-wing populism in particular, it is worth comparing these parties in order to understand the variations and commonalities of far-right populism. Broadly speaking, populism works by championing “the people”, who are distinguished in populist discourse from “elites” or the “establishment”.[1] While left-wing populism makes the people an inclusive category, the populism of the far right constructs them in exclusive and ethnic terms, and distinguishes them from an unresponsive elite as well as from immigrants.[2]

Perhaps unsurprisingly in a war-like situation, we have witnessed what is referred to as a “rally around the flag” effect: many leaders and parties of governments have seen an increase in their approval ratings.

This division has apparently been difficult to maintain over recent months. Perhaps unsurprisingly in a war-like situation, we have witnessed what is referred to as a “rally around the flag” effect: many leaders and parties of governments have seen an increase in their approval ratings. This has made it difficult for far-right populist opposition parties to find and assert a strong message. And indeed, as Cas Mudde points out, “Populist parties and politicians have responded very differently, in part depending upon whether they are in government or opposition. They are also faced with very different contexts, both in terms of number of infections and control of the media.” Things might be changing. As populations tire of lockdowns and fear for their livelihoods, these parties are attempting to harness discontent and speak for the people against what is construed as hostile government policy.

This certainly seems to be the case with three far-right parties: the Italian Lega, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany, and the Swedish Democrats (SD). These parties have had striking electoral successes over recent years. They have acted very differently in response to the coronavirus-induced crisis but they all seem to struggle to carve out an appealing message and a strong identity during the pandemic. Currently, these parties are all continuing to construct national government policy as illegitimate and damaging. What is most pertinently revealed in our comparison is that this indictment is made regardless of government response to the crisis. Whether the strategy is to enforce a lock-down or resist it, populist parties construct a division between the people and the “other” by exploiting the coronavirus crisis.

Whether the strategy is to enforce a lock-down or resist it, populist parties construct a division between the people and the “other” by exploiting the coronavirus crisis.

Wavering message, wavering support

The Italian Lega, led by Matteo Salvini, is certainly not letting up on its populist framing of the crisis. With slogans such as “let’s close our borders”, the Lega is notorious for connecting immigration to insecurity as well as promoting the fining and expulsion of migrants. The Lega connected the Covid-19 virus directly to immigration from the outset. According to Salvini, the “terrible virus” was “spreading from China”. Note that in his discourse, the specific characteristics of the migrant might have changed (they no longer come from Africa but from Asia), but the construction and blaming of a foreign other has not.

During the first months of the lockdown, this anti-immigration discourse seemed to be completely out of touch with reality. First of all, due to the lockdown, NGO rescue boats had effectively ceased to operate, resulting in a sharp decline of people reaching Italy. Secondly, concerns over fresh food shortages, created by the disruption of the influx of legal seasonal workers, has sparked an acknowledgement of the importance of illegal immigrants for Italy’s agricultural sector.

Up until now at least, Salvini’s messages have largely fallen flat. Part of the reason may be that the lively rallies, where the Lega thrives most, are now banned under social distancing rules. Another may be that he has promoted inconsistent messages and flip-flopped. In February, Salvini argued that the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was not doing enough but by July, he began touting that the prime minister was doing too much. Now Salvini is pronouncing the lockdown as unnecessary and harmful to the Italian people: “keeping them terrified, distanced and locked up is an attack on our democracy and our economy.” Although the Lega remains Italy’s strongest party, with 26 per cent share of the national voting intention, it has slipped in the polls. Yet it is important to acknowledge this slip as not indicating a weakening of the far right in Italy, but rather shifts of popularity within the country. The Lega has lost 10 per cent to the post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), turning its leader and Salvini’s most important ally, Giorgia Meloni, into a potential rival.

Germany’s struggling far right

The challenge for the far right in Germany has not been to maintain a consistent message but rather to find one in the first place. Like the Lega, the AfD is overtly populist. Consider its 2017 manifesto in which the party publicised its wish to: “maintain our language and traditions in a peaceful, democratic, and sovereign nation state for the German people” since “Germany’s political class has exploited and modified election laws and procedures with increasing cunningness in order to reduce the influence of the electorate.” It also targets migrants, in particular Muslims (established Muslim communities are targeted too), unambiguously declaring that “Islam does not belong to Germany. Its expansion and the ever-increasing number of Muslims in the country are viewed by the AfD as a danger to our state, our society, and our values.”

[…] while the stringent travel restrictions and strict border controls fit within the far-right discourse, the enactment of such policies has deprived the AfD of a distinctive position.

The problem for the AfD since the pandemic, however, has been that the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has been widely credited with effectively managing the crisis. Her party, the Christian Democrats, has seen the most noticeable increase in support in Europe. And this simply does not fit with the AfD’s populist insinuation that elected elites do not serve the German people. So while the stringent travel restrictions and strict border controls fit within the far-right discourse, the enactment of such policies has deprived the AfD of a distinctive position.

In general, the leadership of the party has been quite subdued throughout 2020, and the party has slipped to 10 per cent of the national voting intention. The pandemic came at a time when the party was already dealing with internal division and party infighting. The party has a radical far-right wing (known as “the wing”) which was formally dissolved in late March 2020, after the German domestic intelligence agency deemed it a potential threat to the constitution and put it under surveillance. In addition, prominent figures in the party have been pushed out due to their former membership in a banned neo-Nazi group.

But the formal dissolution of the wing has clearly done nothing to stop some of its members from questioning the reality of the global health crisis: various prominent party figures and former wing members have publicly referred to the “alleged corona crisis” while one posted a “checklist” to distinguish a pandemic from a “fake pandemic”. Prominent wing activists have also been active in the so-called “Hygiene Demonstrations” which have drawn thousands of people in cities across Germany to protest the government’s coronavirus policy. Protestors blame Jews and immigrant communities for the spread of Covid-19 in Germany.

These responses have begun to dominate the public impression of the AfD’s current position, and party leaders are concerned that the connection of members to neo-fascist groups, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccination activists will alienate more moderate conservative voters. The coronavirus has therefore exposed the cleavage between the national-conservative party mainstream and the marginalised far-right wing – a divide that may, according to former party leader Alexander Gauland, actually end with the dissolution of the party.

The coronavirus has […] exposed the cleavage between the national-conservative party mainstream and the marginalised far-right wing – a divide that may, according to former party leader Alexander Gauland, actually end with the dissolution of the party.

Swedish exceptionalism, one step too far for populists

In contrast to both Italy and Germany, countries that have been experiencing strict lockdown policies, Sweden has kept its schools, restaurants and borders open. Its exceptional approach to the pandemic has been defended as entirely in line with science. The Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren stated: “All countries do the best they can, but so far there is no one who knows exactly how to best deal with this virus”. Swedish health experts have been given priority over advice from the World Health Organization (WHO), especially since their strategy is considered more in line with cultural particularities of the Scandinavian country.

This has left the far-right SD in a difficult position. Over the last decade, they have sharply increased their share of the vote to 20 per cent. Their unambiguously populist and ethnic-majoritarian discourse constructs an ethnically homogenous Swedes as antagonised by immigrant-friendly and politically correct elites. In order to oppose the Swedish government, the SD not only decries the relatively high mortality rate resulting from Sweden’s solo run a “massacre”, but they also urge the government to fall in line with the “international consensus”. This is an odd situation: the Swedish government’s strategy on the coronavirus crisis is based on highlighting the country’s exceptionalism and, of all parties, the SD is advocating the adoption of international blueprints.

No time for a victory lap

What can be concluded from the comparison of the three parties? Despite operating in different political landscapes and coping with their own issues, these parties have, nevertheless, continued to maintain a populist division between the people and the other (discursively constructed as immigrants and elites). Until recently, this has not resonated with publics. Commentators have observed that, so far, the far right might well be floundering in opposition while those in power are also struggling. However, this may well not be the case for much longer. Far-right populist parties are using the crisis to continue to divide the people from others: immigrants, foreigners, and social and political elites. As Yannis Stavrakakis and Giorgos Katsambekis note in an important recent report, crises are often seen as particularly opportune moments for the exaggeration of social and political divisions. The unevenly distributed effects not only of the virus itself, but of the strategies to tackle it, create an environment ripe for far-right populism.

The unevenly distributed effects not only of the virus itself, but of the strategies to tackle it, create an environment ripe for far-right populism.

Whether populist messages strike a chord with voters in the near future may well hinge on the way the forthcoming economic turbulence and uncertainty is handled. The potential of far-right parties to speak to popular discontent will depend upon the extent to which government responses to the crisis are seen to be legitimate, representative and democratic. This applies not only to the national and regional but also the European level. The general lack of coordination between EU institutions and the bitter negotiations between the member states on post-pandemic relief efforts may have opened the opportunity to reinforce the far-right populist divisions between national peoples and European elites. FdI leader Meloni, for example, directly accused the European Commission president of bias: “When the coronavirus was just an Italian problem it didn’t interest anyone in the European Union. When we had the first red zones in Lombardy, Ursula von der Leyen was with Greta Thunberg. They only did things when the virus arrived in Germany.”

Some believe that the recent struggles of the far right can be seen as a result of the triumph of scientific truth and rational decision making. They claim that people have finally realised that in a crisis what is needed is expertise rather than the conspiracy theories, shocking exaggerations, blatant mistruths, and the entertaining antics of certain populist parties. However, these claims downplay the impact that developments in the upcoming months will have on public opinion of government policies, and the fact that the privileged role of scientists in political decision-making is in danger of being anti-democratic.

Any claim to epistemic authority, in the face of an unknown virus especially, can be challenged.

Politicians have relied upon the “epistemic authority” of medical experts, which has not only been a valuable resource during the pandemic but has allowed them to shift responsibility for stringent measures. However, any attempt to delegate policymaking to experts is likely to further justify populist backlash against professional elites. Any claim to epistemic authority, in the face of an unknown virus especially, can be challenged. Politicians have to choose experts from a large pool of trained professionals leaving plenty of room for criticising a particular choice. Moreover, different experts can deliver diverging or even directly contradictory advice.

The distinct path taken by Sweden illustrates that scientific evidence can be interpreted in various ways; in a context of uncertainty created by a health crisis, the prior scientific knowledge available is often deficit. To be democratically valid, a decision must not only be based on expertise but on genuine political debate between real alternatives. Governance of the pandemic should not only be a matter of following the science, but of sustaining a tangible commitment to economic equality, social justice and political discussion. If not, Europe might well witness a renewed surge of far-right populism.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Stavrakakis, Y. and Katsambekis, G., 2020. Populism and the pandemic: A collaborative report. Available at: < https://bit.ly/2Rc9kll > [Accessed 10 Sep. 2020].

[2] Ruth Wodak (2015). The politics of fear: what right-wing populist discourses mean. London : SAGE Publications Ltd.

https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/rally-around-the-flag-the-far-right-response-to-covid-19/


The CDC Finally Acknowledged That The Coronavirus Can Spread Through Air

The premier health agency's update comes less than two weeks after a similar guidance was added and then deleted from its website.


Posted on October 5, 2020,

Pool / Getty Images
CDC director Robert Redfield at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on September 23.

Officials at the CDC said Monday that the coronavirus can spread via particles in the air, a long-delayed acknowledgment of what is increasingly seen as a key form of virus transmission.

On Monday, a new section added to a CDC webpage called "How COVID-19 Spreads" stated that "COVID-19 can sometimes be spread by airborne transmission."

The update stated that infections can occur as a result of viruses present in small droplets suspended in the air for minutes to hours. "These viruses may be able to infect people who are further than 6 feet away from the person who is infected or after that person has left the space," the agency's guidance says.

The addition comes less than two weeks after a similar guidance was posted and then abruptly removed from the website, raising concerns of possible political interference. In response to the incident, the CDC's webpage was updated to say that "a draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error."

The new guidance comes months after scientists began pushing the world's top health officials to acknowledge the growing consensus that the virus could be spread via small particles in the air. In July, the World Health Organization issued a scientific finding that indicated that airborne transmission was possible, suggesting the virus could spread in large crowds and indoors in poorly ventilated buildings.

The CDC's new guideline follows similar lines, citing documented instances of transmission in "poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces that often involved activities that caused heavier breathing, like singing or exercise."

Scientists welcomed Monday's long-awaited update from the CDC. Jose-Luis Jimenez, a chemistry professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, told BuzzFeed News that it was "a move in the right direction."

The bottom line is that "we can get infected if we breathe someone else’s exhaled air," he said. "We have to think that everyone we cross that’s not in our bubble, they're exhaling smoke, like a smoker. How we reduce contagion is breathing as little of that 'smoke' as possible."

Jimenez added that he found some of the language confusing: The CDC makes reference to "small droplets" and "particles," whereas he said that the more precise scientific term would be "aerosols." He also thought that the agency's description of airborne transmission "sometimes" happening likely understated its frequency.

The CDC's change comes as a large cluster of COVID-19 cases spreads in the White House, tied to large, unmasked outdoor gatherings and indoor events.

Scientists have also expressed concerns that such guidance did not come earlier due to political interference. In May, the Washington Post reported that the White House forced the CDC to remove guidelines suggesting that the virus could spread via choirs and music ensembles in religious gatherings. The White House has also interfered with other CDC guidance, most notably on the ability of the virus to spread from children.

The new CDC guidance indicates that close contact with a person who has been infected is still believed to be the primary route of infection.

MORE ON THIS
The CDC Removed A New Guidance About Airborne Coronavirus Transmission Days After Posting It
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Azeen Ghorayshi is a science editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

Stephanie M. Lee is a science reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.



Atlanta Strippers Are Making It Rain With Election Ballots In A New Ad To Get Out The Vote

“Black lives matter ... Rich Black lives, poor Black lives, LGBT Black lives, exotic dancer Black lives, convicted felon Black lives.”

Otillia Steadman BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on October 6, 2020

Strippers are making it rain with election ballots in a new ad aimed at convincing Black men to vote.


The ad campaign, which is called “Get Your Booty to the Poll,” is attempting to translate the cultural influence of strippers into political power. “We kind of determine what is hot and what’s not,” Coy Malone, who was a pole dancer at Atlanta’s legendary Magic City strip club until it was shut down shortly after the pandemic was declared, told BuzzFeed News.

“A lot of the stuff that you see has been influenced by strip club culture, and especially Atlanta strip club culture. If you’ve heard a song that is very popular on the radio or is very hot, 9 times out of 10 we’ve heard it in the strip club like six months before everyone else,” said Malone. “If we like it, everybody else likes it,” she said.

The ad, which has been viewed nearly 3 million times on Twitter and YouTube, is nonpartisan and focuses on the importance of down-ballot races.

YouTube

The ad comes as the Joe Biden campaign is reportedly concerned about his ability to win over Black men, a demographic seen as key to winning the presidential election.

Black voters typically favor Democrats by large margins, and a recent poll of likely voters showed that 83% of Black respondents favored Biden while just 10% preferred Donald Trump. While Black women are sometimes referred to as the “backbone” of the Democratic Party, Black men were less likely to vote in 2016, and among those who did, 14% voted for Donald Trump. Biden was able to win the Democratic primary with overwhelming support from older Black voters in the South, but he has been plagued by his sponsorship of the 1994 crime bill, which resulted in mass incarceration for Black communities.

Biden has also faced criticism for more recent comments. “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump — then you ain’t Black!” he said during an interview with Charlamagne tha God on The Breakfast Club. Biden was also criticized for comments in August when he contrasted Black voters with Hispanic ones, saying that the Black community was less diverse.

A summer of protests against police violence and systemic anti-Black racism has placed renewed importance on state and local elections, where much of the decision-making power on issues like police reform resides.

“You know it’s more than just the president on the ballot, right?” asks a dancer named Nikki in the ad.

“A district attorney decides who to prosecute,” says another dancer named Imani. “Can’t make it rain if you’re locked up on some bullshit.”

Malone told BuzzFeed News: “People felt like their vote — mostly Black people that I was having conversations with — felt like their votes were not gonna be counted. They felt like they were not represented, that whatever was going on in government, that whatever was on the table, whatever was being considered, whatever was being put into place had nothing to do with them. … This has been the Black experience for many elections.”

“I just kept letting people know, like, hey, do you know it’s not just about voting for the president? … The DA, the judges, the sheriff. You can still vote on taxes; you can still vote on laws. These are things that are on the ballot that you decide,” she said.

Many strippers and strip clubs have faced additional difficulties during the pandemic because of restrictions on federal relief funds that prohibited money from going to organizations or individuals engaged in activities “of a prurient sexual nature.”


Courtesy Coy Malone
Coy Malone


Malone, who has been working as a dancer for about seven years, said the shutdown has given her time to focus on building her business as a vegan chef. She said she has been criticized for speaking up before with people saying things like “you’re nothing but a stripper, nothing but a pole dancer.” But she said she’s tired of arguing about politics online and saw the ad as an opportunity to have a bigger impact.

“I was interested because I was already having these conversations on Facebook and Instagram and in person with people about voting,” said Malone. “And I felt like if I just do something like this, creative, it will give me a chance to share this message ... instead of having these long conversations and sometimes arguments and sometimes debates about voting and why it’s important.”

Current and former sex workers have gotten involved in the election in other ways, too. Biden sat down for an interview with rapper and former stripper Cardi B in August. And porn company Brazzers has its own get-out-the-vote campaign called #StrokeTheVote. A spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that Brazzers would be shut down from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in each time zone on Election Day in order to encourage people to go vote.

The “Get Your Booty to the Poll” ad has garnered both accolades and criticism for its message and for featuring sex workers as a tactic to get Black men’s attention.

Jasmine Johnson, a porn performer, educator, and therapist who goes by the performer name Jet Setting Jasmine, has been organizing political education panels for sex workers of color through the organization BIPOC Adult Industry Collective, which was founded this summer. She said it was refreshing to see sex workers speaking up.

“It is really awesome because it’s controversial, just as sex workers are,” said Johnson. “Objectification of Black women’s bodies has certainly been used in a way to oppress us, in a way to stereotypes us, and in a way to cause harm — but if they’re autonomous in making that decision, they are now taking that same objectification and actually utilizing it to empower others, to get people’s attention on their own terms.”

getyourbootytothepoll's profile picture

We're officially in debate season! Just a friendly reminder that being a good citizen who VOTES is sexy AF!!!

#getyourbootytothepoll #getyourbootytothepolls #gybttp #vote2020 #voteready #vote #blackvotesmatter #election #debates #debates2020 #democrats #republicans #libertarians #democracy
Instagram: @getyourbootytothepoll

Other sex workers were less enthusiastic, saying that Black people should not be held responsible for fixing the country’s problems. “That shit annoys me. It does not get to the root of the problem,” said MF Akynos, a stripper and founder of the Black Sex Workers Collective. “I’m not saying don’t vote — but I’m saying when they’re pushing to vote, it’s so rooted in fucking racism.”

“If they don’t vote, they bring it back to the marginalized group, primarily Black people, and act like we’re at fault for this...There are a lot of underlying issues that are not being addressed.”


The ad has also been criticized as condescending to the very demographic that it seeks to persuade, with some detractors wrongly speculating that it was the product of out-of-touch white Democrats.

The ad was actually conceived of by Angela Barnes, a Black director based in Atlanta. Barnes, who was out of work because of the pandemic, wanted to say something in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in police custody, but she didn’t feel comfortable attending protests because she doesn’t like crowds.

“I couldn’t just stay at home,” Barnes told BuzzFeed News. “I needed to do something because my children’s lives — it feels like my children’s lives are in danger…They’re Black boys in a country that has no values for Black men, so I don’t want them to grow up in a country that doesn’t serve them.”

Barnes worked with producer Paul Fox and an organization called the Black Male Voter Project to craft the ad’s message. Mondale Robinson, the political director at Democracy for America and founder of the Black Male Voter Project, consulted with the producers and dancers on the tone and content of the ad. Robinson said he drew on information that the organization had gathered from a program called Brothas Be Voting, which has engaged in discussions with roughly 4,000 Black men across the country who have never or rarely voted.

Robinson acknowledged the limitations of the standard get-out-the-vote message, saying that simply asking why Black men don't vote is placing responsibility on the wrong party. “People are sporadic voters not because they’re lazy or whatever, they’re sporadic voters because we don’t invest in them. We have to acknowledge that voting is a habit that’s created by resources spent on it,” he said.


Paras Griffin / Getty Images
Anthony Mackie attends Atlanta Pull-Up Voter Registration and Drive-Thru Covid-19 Testing at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sept. 5, 2020.


Robinson said many Black men do not feel invested in the presidential election because they don't see the potential for change, but said that emphasizing the direct impact of local elections on specific issues could motivate people to participate.

“National elections aren’t going to motivate Black men...The normal response is gonna be if you ask a Black man about the national election, their life isn’t going to change under any president — not Barack Obama, and not Trump,” said Robinson. “What I know is if people are excited about local elections, they’re going to go to the poll and vote the entire ticket.”

Barnes said she came up with the idea to work with pole dancers because she wanted Atlanta culture to feature prominently, and she recognized she would need to generate attention in order to fund the ad, which was supported through a GoFundMe campaign.

“Our bank accounts were not backed by anybody. We’re not sponsored by anybody, so when we were brainstorming, I said we need something that’s not just informational; we need something that they’re going to want to share on their own,” said Barnes.

Barnes said highlighting the strip clubs made sense because of their cultural influence. “I felt like strip club culture in Atlanta is part of the Atlanta culture. It’s very specific to Atlanta, even if you’re not a strip club kind of person. People have dates there, weddings and funerals there. Even when COVID shut [it] down, Magic City kitchen still stayed open,” said Barnes.

Barnes said she felt most of the criticism was a misunderstanding and based on an assumption that all Black voters are alike.

“This video was one way to reach one segment of Black men out there. It was not ever intended to be the only way to reach all Black men. That would be ridiculous. Black people are not a monolith,” said Barnes. She acknowledged that as a Black person, “You get stereotyped all the time. I get why people were upset. … but that’s not what it is.”

“For me,” she said, “Black lives matter. And that’s not just the respectable Black lives — it’s all Black lives. Rich Black lives, poor Black lives, LGBT Black lives, exotic dancer Black lives, convicted felon Black lives. They all matter. You can’t pick and choose.”



Otillia Steadman is the world news operations manager for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

 #PROUDBOYS






The "Proud Boys" Hashtag Has Been Taken Over By Gay Men

People decided to reclaim the tag after Trump told the extremist group to "stand by" at the first presidential debate.

Lauren Strapagiel is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Posted on October 4, 2020

If you search for "Proud Boys" on Twitter, you won't get what you're expecting, and you will absolutely be delighted.

After Donald Trump's reference to the extremist group at the first presidential debate, people have taken over the #ProudBoys hashtag with photos of gay men celebrating their lives and their love.


Sam J. Miller@sentencebender
We're Proud and we're Boys and Nazi cowards can fuck right the fuck off. #ProudBoys02:49 PM - 04 Oct 2020
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The goal of the movement is to take back the hashtag from the Proud Boys, a far-right men's organization with a history of violence. Founded by Gavin McInnes, the group describes itself as "western chauvinists," and the FBI considers the group to be an extremist organization with ties to white supremacy.

When asked to condemn white supremacists during the first presidential debate, Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by." The statement appears to have galvanized the group and bolstered their following.

Given the group's penchant for a certain brand of white masculinity, the move to use the tag with images of gay men is not just a reclamation, but a cheeky provocation.

And it's also just plain cute.



Damian Barr@Damian_Barr
When I met this man we weren’t allowed to marry. The law changed &amp; we had our trip to the registry office &amp; our official day of love because society changed -is still changing- thanks to all the brave allies of all genders &amp; loving families &amp; #ProudBoys #LoveMakesTheWorldGoRound03:35 PM - 04 Oct 2020
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People are getting pretty personal with it, sharing important moments from their relationships.

Keith@ShrillockHolmes
Reclaiming #ProudBoys is a great idea. Here’s us after voting ‘Yes’ for marriage equality back in 2015.02:07 PM - 04 Oct 2020
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MO@MarcoMateoOchoa
Happy anniversary to my husband of 12 years @FCermak We are #ProudBoys aka #LGBTQIA03:38 PM - 04 Oct 2020
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MG 🌈👊🏾🎓@mikeyocean_
The only #ProudBoys that matter 🌈03:40 PM - 04 Oct 2020
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Ants@helloitsants
Here is me and my husband on our wedding day .... and a pic of our two adopted sons #ProudBoys03:30 PM - 04 Oct 2020
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Reddit users have also been submitting images of gay men using the phrase "proud boys" in order to take over the image search results for the phrase.

old.reddit.com

Even the official Twitter account for the Canadian forces in the US got in on the action.
🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈 #ProudBoys12:40 PM - 04 Oct 2020


It's not clear exactly who started the takeover, but actor George Takei tweeted the idea on Oct. 1.

I wonder if the BTS and TikTok kids can help LGBTs with this. What if gay guys took pictures of themselves making out with each other or doing very gay things, then tagged themselves with #ProudBoys. I bet it would mess them up real bad. #ReclaimingMyShine10:14 PM - 01 Oct 2020
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And people were more than happy to help out.


XCfalcon@chucktripp74
@GeorgeTakei So basically, you’re saying the #prideboys should take over #proudboys ? Works for me10:57 PM - 01 Oct 2020
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Stephanie K. Baer · Sept. 30, 2020
Jane Lytvynenko · Sept. 30, 2020




 

Conspiracy Theories Are Everywhere About Trump’s COVID-19 Diagnosis. He Helped Make Them Happen.

Conspiracy theories about Trump's coronavirus case are spreading rapidly on the right and left in the vacuum of reliable information the White House has created.

Posted on October 3, 2020

BuzzFeed News; Getty Images

A day and a half after the president tested positive for COVID-19, the conspiracy theories and disinformation around his condition are rampant, driven in part by his own administration’s mixed messages and evasiveness about the specifics of how sick he actually is.

On Saturday morning, the doctors treating him at Walter Reed Medical Center refused to answer specific, straightforward questions at a press conference about Trump’s condition, like how high his fever had been, and whether he has been on oxygen since testing positive for the virus. Minutes later, an unnamed person “familiar with the president’s health” told White House reporters the president’s vitals had been “very concerning” and “the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care.”

“We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” the source said, adding confusion to the lack of clarity about the president’s condition.

Online, conspiracy theorists on both the left and the right speculated that Trump had either been much sicker than we’d been told — or not sick at all but rather using a fake diagnosis as part of an elaborate power play.

As the US faces a moment of great uncertainty — what happens if the president is incapacitated by COVID-19? Can we rely on the negative test results of the leaders who are in line to step in? — that chaos is being amplified by the maelstrom of conspiracy theories and distrust that Trump himself has helped create.

The crisis comes in the wake of four years of Trump spreading disinformation about everything from immigration to windmills. Some on the left question anything Trump says, and some on the right question anything the media says.

The White House’s total lack of precision isn’t helping. During the press conference, the doctors also said that they were “72 hours” into Trump’s diagnosis and that he had been administered an experimental antibody treatment “48 hours ago.” Shortly after the conference, the White House released a statement from the president’s doctor Sean Conley saying that he’d misspoken and meant that it was day three after the president’s diagnosis on Thursday and not 72 hours, which would have pushed the president’s diagnosis back to Wednesday — when he traveled to Minnesota for a campaign event. The statement from Conley also said he’d misspoken about the 48-hour period after he had been given the experimental antibodies — another doctor had mentioned the 48-hour period during the conference rather than Conley. The multiple confounding and inaccurate statements from the White House led to further doubt about the state of the president’s health.

Even before Trump confirmed he had COVID-19, conspiracy theories about why he would potentially halt his presidential campaign and go into quarantine were already swirling around the internet.

“Just learned that [Trump advisor] Hope Hicks tested positive for Covid,” the actor Bette Midler tweeted out around midnight to 2 million followers. “Timing’s so interesting. I guess Trump’s quarantining will mean no rallies, and no more debates. Convenient. It’s awful to always think the worst, but after four years of relentless lying? Can’t be helped. No trust left.”

The tweet has been retweeted more than 4,400 times and has been liked over 31,000 times.

“The reason why we’re seeing conspiracies and just doubt come from folks both on the left and the right have a lot to do with all of the misinformation related to coronavirus that’s happened over the past few months, particularly ideas that the president has advanced himself,” Joan Donovan, the research director of Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy and one of leading researchers on media manipulation and disinformation, told BuzzFeed News.

Middler wasn’t the only person that was skeptical of the president’s announcement — the doubt that quickly formed from hundreds of other people in the replies and quote tweets of Middler’s tweet and more broadly across the internet paint a picture of a country that has widely embraced conspiracy theories in the lead up to the election and as the pandemic spread across the country.

Even before the confusing press conference from Trump’s doctors and the contradictory statement about the president’s health from a White House source on Saturday, the conspiracy theories flourished.

One photo widely circulating on Twitter highlighted innocuous bumps in the president’s suit and stray hairs on his head to suggest that he was wearing “a portable oxygen concentrator in his pocket with the nasal cannula going up his back,” as one person tweeted, while he walked to Marine One to be helicoptered to the hospital on Friday.

June survey from Pew Research Center found that 71% of Americans had heard of a conspiracy theory that the pandemic had been planned by powerful people — of the 71% who’d heard of the conspiracy theory, 36% said that they “definitely” or “probably” believed that it was true.

Just surveying the replies to Middler’s conspiracy theory show how widespread this kind of thinking has been this week.

“Same thought here, how can we trust any statement from Trump. ‘The boy who cried wolf 20,000 times too often....” one Twitter user said in response to Middler.

“I hate to be so cynical but I don’t believe it’s true. Could be a political stunt to show how he pulls thru it with no symptoms to prove how 'safe' it is to get it. Also gets him out of the next debate without having to do it himself,” another tweeted.

Michael Moore, a progressive filmmaker and former surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, posted similar conspiracies in a lengthy Facebook post that he then linked on Twitter, where he called the president a liar and asked readers why they would believe him now.

“We must be skeptical. We must always remain skeptical when it comes to Trump. He may have it. But it’s also possible he’s lying. That’s just a fact,” Moore warned his followers.

“HE MAY USE THIS TO PUSH FOR DELAYING/POSTPONING THE ELECTION,” Moore wrote later in the post. “The constitution does not allow for this, but he doesn’t give a f*ck about the constitution. He and his thug Attorney General Barr have no shame and will stop at nothing to stay in power.”

The uncertainty of what happens next for the US after Trump’s diagnosis is fueling the misinformation and conspiracy theories, said Mike Rothschild, an expert in debunking conspiracy theories.

“It’s very destabilizing. We're at a moment in our country where we have absolutely no idea what happens next. Trump could be completely fine. He could be asymptomatic and recover well and be completely fine. Or he could die. Or be on a ventilator and incapable of making decisions. There are a lot of ways this could go really bad," Rothschild said.

Especially with a void of clear, reliable information about hugely consequential events, people are more inclined to believe unlikely schemes and plots are afoot, Rothschild said.

“And when you have an event like this, a world-shaking event that doesn't have a predetermined outcome, people fill in the knowledge gaps with conspiracy theories … that's why JFK conspiracy theories persist.”

The potential national security crisis that could come out of this situation could be exacerbated by the spread of left-wing conspiracies, Donovan said.

“On the left, there’s a lot of dangerous speculation going on suggesting that this is an advantage that the president may get over Biden if he emerges and survives having had coronavirus,” she said. She warned that the news could also offer opportunities for foreign governments to meddle in the election by amplifying public outrage.

Conspiracy theories aren’t just popping up in the realms of “resistance” Twitter where factions of voters who detest the president discuss the election and the president’s actions — they’re spreading on far-right corners of the internet too, including among believers of QAnon, a collective delusion that alleges President Donald Trump is fighting a Satanist cabal of elites who abuse children.

In some of those spaces, conspiracies about Biden and racist notions that China is responsible for the coronavirus (that the president has also pushed) have melded into conspiracies that coronavirus is an attempt to bring Trump down by the Biden campaign and China.

“Could Trump catching COVID-19 technically be viewed as an assassination attempt on our president by the Chinese?” tweeted DeAnna Lorraine, a right-wing conspiracy theorist.

“If we don’t deal with this now, it’s not that we’re going to see a war break out with China,” Donovan said. “But we’re going to see hate crimes against people who are Chinese, Chinese Americans, and Asian people in general because there’s such a culture of fear and misunderstanding that’s been created for some people in the United States about coronavirus.”

One entirely unfounded QAnon theory is that Trump would at some point be whisked away to a secure location while mass arrests of Democratic politicians ensue.

After the president announced his positive test with the tweet “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”, QAnon believers online dissected his wording to come up with the theory that he was in fact sending a message that “WE WILL ALL GET THROUGH THIS TO GET HER,” as one believer tweeted, “her” being Hillary Clinton.

“QAnon tells this very compelling story, and it's a story that its believers really want to be real and have invested an enormous amount of time and effort in being real,” said Rothschild. “They’re digital soldiers, they are fighting not just a political party that they have disagreements with but the literal forces of Satan.”

Trump has a long history of engaging in conspiracy theories since well before he was president. That was especially clear with his aggressive promotion of the false conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not actually born in the United States.

“He wasn't a politician until he started embracing conspiracy theories,” Rothschild said.

He said it’s not surprising Trump is handling the situation in a way that doesn’t directly dispel the uncertainty about what’s really happening.

“These are his people, so when something like QAnon comes down the pipe, he’s not going to denounce it. He's going to do everything he can to throw red meat to those people because those are his people,” he added.

Donovan added that the embrace of conspiracies that popped up in the hours after Trump announced his diagnosis is just a part of larger problems that the country is going to have to face in the months after the election.

“Trump has set up a situation where there’s going to be some doubt about the veracity of the election results,” Donovan said. “This new development really exacerbates an already intense situation.”

Jane Lytvynenko contributed reporting to this story.

Kyrgyzstan president calls for calm amid protests


Protests erupted in Kyrgyzstan over parliamentary elections as President Sooronbay Jeenbekov called for calm on Tuesday. Photo by Igor Kovalenko/EPA-EFE


Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov called on his political opponents Tuesday to calm their supporters after protesters against parliamentary election results stormed the parliament building and presidential offices overnight and released jailed former President Almazbek Atambayev.

In a statement published on his Facebook account, the pro-Kremlin president described the acts of protesters who broke into the buildings in the capital of Bishkek as an illegal attempt to seize state power. He said he ordered security forces to not open fire to prevent bloodshed and claimed that they have taken "all possible measures" to prevent the situation from worsening.

He said he has also ordered the Central Election Commission to investigate Sunday's parliamentary elections and, "if necessary, annul the results."

Protests in the city erupted Monday after the parliamentary election results were released, stating that only four of the 16 parties in the election had secured 7% of the vote necessary for entry into parliament with three of the four having close ties to Jeenbekov, the BBC reported.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in a 16-page report on Monday that the elections were generally "well run and candidates could campaign freely."

However, opposition parties and candidates have voiced allegations of vote buying, which the international security organization said was "a serious concern."

Demonstrators clashed with riot police over Monday night, resulting in at least one death and 590 people injured, the health ministry said, AKI Press reported.

The local press reported that the president's call for calm came hours after protesters stormed parliament buildings and freed Atambayev and other senior politicians from the National Security Committee jail.

"I urge the leaders of political party leaders to calm their supporters and move them away from their places of concentration. I call on all my compatriots to keep the peace and not give in to the calls of the provocative forces," Jeenbekov said in the statement. "I call on all forces to put the fate of the country above political ambitions and return to the legal field."

House bill would reinforce Israel's 'qualitative military edge'
THE FIFTY SECOND STATE

A bill introduced last week in the U.S. House virtually guarantees Israel's qualitative military edge in armaments, specifically the F-35s flown by it's air force. Photo courtesy of Israeli air force

Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Legislation was introduced in the U.S. House which essentially guarantees Israel's qualitative military edge over Middle East countries.

The bill, led by Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., calls for a commitment to Israel's qualitative military edge, a legislated U.S. pledge to Israel under the Arms Export Control Act.

"This bill strengthens that commitment and reminds the administration of its obligations under the law," Schneider said in a statement.

Introduced Friday, the legislation comes after Israeli concerns that President Donald Trump's administration plans to sell F-35 fighter planes to the United Arab Emirates.

Israel is currently the only Middle East country with the advanced fighter planes, and the UAE purchase could destabilize a balance of power, members of Congress have warned.

"With all due respect, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if Israel's the only country in the Middle East that has F-35s, that selling it to someone else no longer produces that qualitative military edge in the air," Sen. Bob Menendez, R-N.J., said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Sept. 24.


Schneider was joined in submitting the House bill on Friday by two Republicans and 13 Democrats, which seeks to reaffirm the role of congressional consultation regarding Israel's qualitative military edge, a practice employed since the 1960s, in U.S. sale of arms, they said.

RELATED Lockheed, Pentagon agree on $70.6M settlement over F-35 parts problems

The bill would require the White House to report to Congress on how any arms sale would impact Israel within 60 days.

While not providing Israel with blanket veto power over U.S. sales, "Israel is our single most important ally in the Middle East, and Congress will not let any President undermine her security with unapproved weapons sales," Schneider said.

Boeing to build unmanned aerial vehicles in Australia
BOEING DEFENSE PROFITS FROM OUTSOURCING, TO RIGHT TO WORK STATES, AND OFFSHORING, WHIPSAWING ITS UNIONS

The Australian state of Queensland on Monday announced a partnership with Boeing to develop and build military aircraft in Australia , including the "Loyal Wingman" unmanned aerial aircraft seen at rear. Photo courtesy of Boeing Co./Twitter


Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Boeing said on Monday it will design and develop military aircraft, including unmanned vehicles, in Australia -- the first time it has done so outside the United States.

The decision will also mark the first time a military aircraft has been totally designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in over 50 years, Boeing officials said.

Boeing unveiled a model of the unmanned aerial vehicle, named Loyal Wingman, at a ceremony Monday marking the partnership between Boeing Australia, 35 component companies and the Australian state of Queensland.

"The creation of additional new aerospace capability could see unmanned defense aircraft produced here by the middle of the decade, with prototype testing and certification taking place before that," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said at the ceremony.

"We are carrying out our plan to recover [from the COVID-19 pandemic] and grow, including into new industries, and it's very important that we do that not just as a government but with key partnerships. Supporting this project is a significant investment in the Queensland defense and manufacturing industries and will strengthen ties between Australia and the global defense market."

The state, in northeastern Australia, is regarded as a major hub in the country's aerospace industry. A Boeing statement on Monday noted that the company has 1,700 employees in the state, supporting 400suppliers.

The Loyal Wingman prototype on display Monday is 38 feet long and will be able to fly more than 2,000 nautical miles, according to Boeing. It includes sensor packages, onboard supporting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and is capable of tactical early warning missions.