At the Young Republican mixer Friday evening a group of Nazis, who openly identified as national socialists, mingled with mainstream conservative personalities, including some from Turning Point USA, and discussed race science and antisemitic conspiracy theories.

      • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        As someone who absolutely loves runes, this hurts my heart. At its simplest and most ancient, it is a letter in a written alphabet that represents a sound. But over time, each rune has come to represent a philosophical idea, and for some, spiritual meanings. Othala is no different. But NONE of them involve racial and sexual exclusionary hatred like this.

        You’re free to stop reading here because the rest of what I have to say is completely philosophical. But if you want to know what this rune really stands for and how far the Nazis have twisted it from its traditional meaning, read on.

        The rune Othala above, the primary rune these racist shitheads have incorrectly appropriated (there are a few others if I remember correctly, including sowilo, the sun rune) is traditionally linked to all the things human beings equally call our home: family, inheritance, family name, duty to family, and ancestors.

        In the Northumbrian tradition, it comes from two words meaning “own earth” or “own land.” It’s about what belongs to us by right, but it’s equally about what we owe others, and how inclusion in society requires our own effort and right behavior.

        Among others from various Nothern European countries, there is a bit of ancient literature from the UK that defines the Elder Futhark runes called the Old English Rune poem. One translation of the Old English rune poem says of Othala: “Home is loved by all people, if there rightfully and in peace we may enjoy many harvests in the hall.” Again, clearly, the idea of Home and all its goodness is for everyone.

        To quote a much more modern book on the runes, “The [Othala] stanza in the Old English rune poem is about heritage, patriotism, rights, and freedom. It says we all love our homeland, as long as we have our rights, proper treatment, and a fair opportunity to prosper. These rights are for “each and every man,” not just the princes and earls that the poem usually talks about. “Properness” means that we need to be treated properly and we need to act in a way that is proper for our society. In other words, we need to belong.”

        I could go on, but that’s probably enough. All that’s a far cry from what Othala has been twisted into by the fascists. Othala is about strengthening connections with other people, not this hateful Nazi shit.

        Next time you see Othala misused by the white supremacists, remember that this, too, is just one more big fat lie and twisting of historical fact the fascists have on offer for anyone stupid or scared enough to buy into it.

          • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Yes, it’s criminal what they did to the bent cross, a symbol that has been revered by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains for centuries, among others. I like the way the church you linked to used it in their design:

            Various writings of Baháʼu’lláh, the founder of the religion, are inscribed above the building entrances and inside the interior alcoves. Symbols of many religions, such as the Christian cross, the Star of David, and the star and crescent, can be found in each exterior pillar. The pillars are also decorated with a symbol used by Hindus, and Buddhists in the form of a swastika. At the top of each pillar is a nine-pointed star, symbolizing the Baháʼí Faith.

            That’s the way it should be. I love that they took it back and returned it to a central place of honor. Thanks for the link!

            • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Even though it is an Abrahamic Religion, the founding concept is Unity Through Diversity. They forgot that El, aka Yahweh, was a God of War back in The Bronze Age Collapse, and focused on the hippy commune part of Christ’s teachings.

        • Kedly@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          Can we take that rune back? I’m pretty big on family, although the patriotism bit I could probably do without

          • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Absolutely take it back! The patriotism is pretty secondary, and to my understanding has nothing to do with “patriotism” as we know it today, but like all the runes, comes from a time where your inclusion and place in a specific tribe guaranteed your survival and dictated the course of the life you would live.

            So I guess “tribe loyalty” for those who lived the way of the runes would be a synonym for today’s patriotism, but it was more about just staying alive than what we know as politics.

            Likewise, your exclusion from a tribe was easily a death sentence. In those days, in that cold region (Northern Europe) people relied on each other to stay alive in a way we know little of these days. Settlements were small, and everyone had a job to do, and thus individual choices were undertaken with a deep consciousness as to the common good, because you knew if your little community fell apart and couldn’t feed or defend itself there was a very real likelihood you would ALL die.

            It’s this second part, the way of living individually for the greater good, that Othala addresses: how in those times the individuals made the group, the group made the home for all in it, and the more that any individual put in the more the entire group prospered as a whole.

            Stick a flag on that and call it “patriotism,” I guess, but it’s truly a much deeper meaning – one the Nazis never understood, because marching in lockstep against people of your own community was not something people living in those days could ever imagine.

            Hell yeah, take it back!

            • Kedly@lemm.ee
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              8 months ago

              Hell yeah, loyalty to your local tribe of weirdos(said affectionately)? I can fully get behind that. When I finally save up enough to get my shoulder tat, I’m gonna include Othala into it

              • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                Oh, that’s awesome! May I introduce you to bindrunes then? That’s where you combine a rune (or several) into a larger design that has a very specific meaning for you personally, in addition to it just being art. For many people, they also have spiritual significance, but you don’t have to specifically be into the Norse religion(s) for that, as many pagan/ heathen/ wiccan/ witchy/ magical folks also use runes and bindrunes as well.

                And yes, today’s self-created “tribes of weirdos” are exactly what Othala is about: for everyone who doesn’t have a family, but creates one out of people they come to know and love, Othala is every bit as meaningful and powerful – perhaps even much more so, because for people on the fringe today, the “belonging” of Othala is every bit as much about survival and thriving with the help of others as it was about physical survival in ancient days.

                • Kedly@lemm.ee
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                  8 months ago

                  So I finally found some time to read your link and do some general googling found a bindrune created by the “Wayfarers Mark” tumbler called the Initiate’s Bindrune that I like. I’ll definitely look into this stuff more than I have already, and I thank you for showing me this world

          • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            It is the runic letter Othala. It is just a letter in the runic alphabet. Beyond being a letter though often runes had an individual meeting or association in the cultures that used them.

            It, along with many other symbols were adopted by the Nazis. Now among white power groups it is has a meaning of racial purity. “Keeping the white race pure”

            Oh and the picture is real I looked it up.

              • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                Maybe but if you look closely at the stage. it is Othala with wings. There are little feet that come up off the legs. An iteration that I believe is exclusively used as a white power symbol. At best it was a massive fuck up, at worst it was a dog whistle. Though ultimately it is a dog whistle, for the people who this symbol has meaning will see it as one.

                Spelling

            • Qwaffle_waffle@sh.itjust.works
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              8 months ago

              Thanks for the info, I only knew of the swatiska one really , didn’t know that group used several symbols. Kind of not wanting to dig too deep and be flagged is why I don’t know, I guess. Much appreciated for sharing the awareness.

              • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                Yeah that is fair, it is hard to keep track of everything especially with co-opted symbols. I know I can’t. Though here is an okay rule of thumb with Nazi shit.

                Does it look “Viking/old Germanic”? No - probably not a Nazi, Yes - maybe a Nazi

                Is the person using the symbol new age hippie looking? Yes - probably not a Nazi, No - maybe a Nazi

                I know that leaves a lot of vagueness, but it is a good place to start. Then you can double check any suspects symbols.

                Just remember different groups can have vastly different ideologies and look somewhat similar. For example the SHARPs (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) are very anti Nazi. But just looking at a group of them you might be confused. As they tend to be mostly militant white young men wearing leather with shaved heads.

                • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  I hate that that’s not even incorrect as I’ve met multiple Norse pagan antifascists. One common line from them is asserting that Odin is the all father not the some father.

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    This headline is misleading. It should read CPAC is a nazi organization. Something about dining with nazis.

  • teft@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Are you telling me the group that used a nazi symbol as the shape of their stage is now openly affiliating themselves with nazis?

    Quelle surprise!

  • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    This year, however, some attendees and former attendees have expressed frustration with the conference’s stronger association with Trump and his wing of the party.

    If I was frustrated that Nazis are co-opting my political party, I’m kicking them out or leaving the party that welcomes them.

    Anything less, you’re part of a Nazi movement.

      • DoctorSpocktopus@lemmy.ca
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        8 months ago

        Goebels was actually quite put out by Hitler not meeting his socialist dreams, but all was forgiven when he got to propagate massive antisemitism instead

          • DoctorSpocktopus@lemmy.ca
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            8 months ago

            In late 1924, Goebbels offered his services to Karl Kaufmann, who was Gauleiter (Nazi Party district leader) for the Rhine-Ruhr District. Kaufmann put him in touch with Gregor Strasser, a leading Nazi organiser in northern Germany, who hired him to work on their weekly newspaper and undertake secretarial work for the regional party offices.[41] He was also put to work as party speaker and representative for Rhineland-Westphalia.[42] Strasser founded the National Socialist Working Association on 10 September 1925, a short-lived group of about a dozen northern and western German Gauleiter; Goebbels became its business manager and the editor of its biweekly journal, NS-Briefe.[43] Members of Strasser’s northern branch of the Nazi Party, including Goebbels, had a more socialist outlook than the rival Hitler group in Munich.[44] Strasser disagreed with Hitler on many parts of the party platform, and in November 1926 began working on a revision.[45]

            Hitler viewed Strasser’s actions as a threat to his authority, and summoned 60 Gauleiters and party leaders, including Goebbels, to a special conference in Bamberg, in Streicher’s Gau of Franconia, where he gave a two-hour speech repudiating Strasser’s new political programme.[46] Hitler was opposed to the socialist leanings of the northern wing, stating it would mean “political bolshevization of Germany.” Further, there would be “no princes, only Germans,” and a legal system with no “Jewish system of exploitation … for plundering of our people.” The future would be secured by acquiring land, not through expropriation of the estates of the former nobility, but through colonising territories to the east.[45] Goebbels was horrified by Hitler’s characterisation of socialism as “a Jewish creation” and his assertion that a Nazi government would not expropriate private property. He wrote in his diary: “I no longer fully believe in Hitler. That’s the terrible thing: my inner support has been taken away.”[47]

            Joseph Goebbels | Wikipedia

    • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Just because it needs to be pointed out every time. If they were frustrated by fascists/Nazis co-opting the party. They’re 100 years too late.

      The father and grandfather of 2 American presidents was implicated. As well as the head of JP Morgan at the time. No one was punished, or called out even. And the history of the incident has largely been completely scrubbed out of existence.

      • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        According to Katz, “Prescott Bush was too involved with the actual Nazis to be involved with something that was so home grown as the business plot.”

        It’s ok, Prescott wasn’t plotting to overthrow the US with those fringe Nazis, he was too busy working with the real Nazis!

    • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      i mean if you look at history, there wete nazi sympathizers and enemies of the nazis.

      A lot of things in this world are grey. this is not one of them.

  • ThatFembyWho@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    8 months ago

    No that can’t be.

    Conservatives are always telling us how Nazis were actually left-wing… it’s in the name, socialists?!

    How quickly they forget, once the racist and antisemitic nonsense circulates.

    And if anyone is wondering:

    • Human rights for Palestinians = not antisemitic
    • Nazis at CPAC = 100% antisemitic
  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    But this year, racist conspiracy theorists didn’t meet any perceptible resistance at the conference where Donald Trump has been the keynote speaker since 2017.

    At the Young Republican mixer Friday evening, a group of Nazis who openly identified as national socialists mingled with mainstream conservative personalities, including some from Turning Point USA, and discussed so-called “race science” and antisemitic conspiracy theories.

    One member of the group, Greg Conte, who attended the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, said that his group showed up to talk to the media. He said that the group was prepared to be ejected if CPAC organizers were tipped off, but that never happened.

    Another, Ryan Sanchez, who was previously part of the Nazi “Rise Above Movement,” took photos and videos of himself at the conference with an official badge and touted associations with Fuentes.

    Other attendees in Sanchez’s company openly used the N-word.

    republiQans: this is you

  • DogPeePoo@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    I heard Paul Gosar shaves his butthole once a year in preparation for this mixer.

  • gregorum@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    How do you spread Nazi rhetoric at CPAC? Sell merch? Because one would think market saturation would already be at 100% for that sort of ideology at an event like that.

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    In other news:

    Skiers mingle openly at ski resort.

    Golfers mingle openly at country club.

    Trekkies mingle openly at ComicCon

  • Cylusthevirus@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    So there’s definitely a Zionist wing of the party. What’s gonna happen when they come into contact with the Nazi wing of the party?

    • DarkGamer@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      A lot of the support of Israel is not because they like Jews but rather because many evangelicals believe supporting them will hasten the apocalypse.

      A 2017 LifeWay poll conducted in United States found that 80% of evangelical Christians believed that the creation of Israel in 1948 was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy that would bring about Christ’s return and more than 50% of Evangelical Christians believed that they support Israel because it is important for fulfilling the prophecy.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Zionism

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Also, shipping the Jews off to Israel means they’re away from here. Zionism could be restated as “Jewish removal.”

        • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Exactly. They don’t like when some of us say that Jews belong in our communities alongside us non-Jews. When we encourage people to celebrate their presence as an important part of our community and culture

      • speck@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        Goddamn we are a bonkers species. Really gives credence to the idea of memetic evolution, at least to me

      • Supervisor194@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        This is the increasingly stupid part. The fuck are they gonna do when Christ gets back? He’s a straight up communist, they have no use for him. Hmm… I wonder.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      9 months ago

      It seems like a lot of Nazis tend to make common cause with Zionists. Remember that the first plan the Nazis had was to deport all the Jews, so having them all in one place is fine by them.

        • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          A lot of racists don’t think they’re racist because they don’t hate “others”, they just think they belong in their own place. They’re angry that the “others” are where they are.

          They’re still raging pieces of shit. I’m just sharing some of their thoughts. Being a white drunk in Texas gives me the opportunity to hear all kinds of dumb shit.

    • fluxion@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      They all set aside their differences and appreciate their true goals of enriching themselves through being fascist bootlickers

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      The Zionist wing of the Republican party doesn’t care at all about Jews. They’re Christian fundamentalists who believe that the Jews need to control the holy land so that Jesus can come back and end the world. They only want the Jews in Israel long enough to fulfill that purpose, then they want them to be wiped out and go to hell.

    • audiomodder@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      9 months ago

      They’re the same wing. They believe that the current Jewish state isn’t Jewish enough and that the true Judaism is actually Christianity.

      I wish I was kidding, but I actually know people that fall into this camp.

  • spider@lemmy.nz
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    8 months ago

    Does anyone remember this?

    House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. — who recently went viral for engaging in a contentious exchange with university presidents at a congressional hearing on antisemitism — on Saturday praised the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill.

    “One down. Two to go,” Stefanik wrote on X. “This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America.”

    So where the f**k is she now, during CPAC? Is she hiding out or something?

  • TheJims@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Conservatives and Republicans are synonymous with Russians and Nazis. The CPAC convention is the indisputable proof.