Friday, May 13, 2005

Hal's hate schtick

Right-wingers, as I've often remarked, like to push the envelope of outrageousness constantly, just to keep the outrage flowing. Guys like Hal Turner are the distillation of this tendency, its ugly but ultimately logical outcome.

Pushing the envelope? In Turner's case, how about careering through it like a drunken Paris Hilton driving a Mack truck?

At his Web site, Turner is at it again, this time openly advocating not just the murder of illegal aliens, but the use of extreme violence against them or any of their "sympathizers":
TOP MEXICAN OFFICIAL SAYS "NO WALLS CAN STOP MEXICANS" FROM ILLEGALLY ENTERING U.S.

I say fine! Let's not build a wall. SHOOT AND KILL THEM instead!

I urge the hunting and killing of all illegal aliens as they cross the border into America. I implore Americans to arm themselves with sniper rifles and night vision scopes and kill every Mexican man woman and child who illegally crosses the U.S border. I advocate extreme violence against illegal aliens as shown in the image below:

[Animated gif image]

The image shows a white man stomping a Mexican on the back of his head while the Mexican's mouth is on the curb! Great tactic!!! I think it would be terrific to trap them by their ankles in steel bear traps then beat them to death when you return and fnd them in the trap. After they're dead, they should be decapitated and their heads put on spikes as a warning to other Mexicans. I advocate putting poison in desert drinking water stations they use. They deserve to be doused with gasoline and set on fire. Another great idea is to shoot at them from planes and helicopters. Oh, if any American sides with the illegals, it would be a real public service to kill them too!

Worth noting about that gif: The white man is clearly a skinhead with tats. It's not at all clear that the "victim" of this stomping -- it's called "biting the curb" in white-supremacist talk, a la American History X -- is real. In fact, it's highly likely it's faked.

In any event, it's hard to take Turner seriously, since it seems likely his audience is nearly nonexistent and growing smaller. This is not merely over the top; it's in another dimension in which the top does not exist.

Turner is also unlikely, of course, to inspire anyone to actually act on his suggestions, though his loathsomeness and irresponsibility certainly couldn't be clearer. Still, you can't help but wonder whether Turner represents where conservatism eventually leads you to, one of those slippery slopes like marijuana to hard drugs, or masturbation to hairy palms, or gay marriage to the end of civilization.

Stunts like this are clearly just desperate attempts to draw attention to himself by "pushing the envelope" once again. This time he's descended into self-parody. I don't think even Don Black of Stormfront -- a genuinely nasty organization -- would be this crude. This is like reading one of Tom Metzger's hate-addled White Aryan Resistance newsletters, only without the charming ruboff. (Not surprising, I guess; Turner reportedly has a working relationship with August Kreis of the remnant of the Aryan Nations these days.)

But I do still have one question about this. As I mentioned previously, Turner's radio career got its start thanks to one Sean Hannity, who used to feature him regularly on his New York talk show on WABC. Hannity also endorsed Turner's run for Congress as a Republican back in 2000. According to Daryle at One People's Project, Hannity and Turner were friends off the air too.

Well, I sent Hannity's people a brief query about this, asking what Hannity's position on Turner's remarks might be and whether he still considers Turner a friend and someone worthy of his endorsement.

To my everlasting surprise, I never heard back from them.

I guess I'll just have to write again. Anyone care to join me?

[Hat tip to starwars.]

UPDATE: Well, I guess I know when I've been told off:
882,000 Visits in 6 months!

As of Saturday, May 14, This web site has enjoyed 882,000+ visits (5,000 a day) since it went back online last November 12.

According to the ALEXA web site traffic service, this site ranks at #112,545 of all web sites in the world! People come here because I say publicly what many already think privately. By expressing my thoughts bluntly, I embolden people to take action - be it political or even violent - and action means social change. Thanks to all my visitors for making this site popular; far more popular than leftist weasels who complain about it!

Someone should ask Orcinus where they get off saying my audience is "nearly non existent and growing smaller" when my audience is thousands larger than theirs every day!

Turner, actually, is probably right -- he does have a bigger audience than mine. Which, I hope, gives pause to all those folks who think I'm overstating the significance of right-wing extremists like Turner.

Of course, I don't have a radio show to plump my Web site, either. Regular readers may notice other differences, such as the absence of monosyllabic grunts.

UPDATE II: The film clip in the gif, I've confirmed, is in fact from American History X, and the man doing the stomping is actor Edward Norton.

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