The Other Richard Spencer Would Like You to Please Stop Yelling at Him

[Auburn85 434]

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59yz9q/the-other-richard-spencer-would-like-you-to-please-stop-yelling

 

 

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Richard Spencer used to have the market cornered on Richard Spencers. It's a common enough name, but his job as the Middle East correspondent for theTimes of London made it unlikely anyone could challenge his algorhythmic superiority. That started to change about two years ago. Spencer spends a lot of time reporting on Muslims and Islamist organizations, which just so happened to be a primary target for a young white nationalist of the same name rising through the far-right ranks. Much to the reporter's befuddlement, readers started responding to articles under his byline with some version of, "You know he's a white supremacist, right?"

"Luckily enough people knew who I was to correct them politely without me normally having to get involved," says Spencer, over email, from somewhere along the Iraqi-Syrian border. "I tried to just hope he'd go away."

Regrettably, Richard Spencer—not this one, that one—did not go away. The mainstream media swaddled the pomade-loving racist with tons of attentionprior to the election, and he's remained an undeniably visible presence since Donald Trump ascended to the highest office in the land. White nationalist Spencer was present in Charlottesville during that city's "Unite the Right"tragedy, and this week his scheduled appearance at the University of Floridaprompted a state of emergency to be declared by Governor Rick Scott. He is now, without a doubt, the most famous Richard Spencer in the world, a reality that has forced every other Richard Spencer to reckon with him in some way, nowhere more so than on Twitter.

"It really took off after the election and particularly after his 'Heil Trump' speech," says Times reporter Spencer. "He was suspended from Twitter, so of course people searching for him found me instead. That's when the Twitter feed got totally out of hand. Unfortunately, people telling me how great I was outweighed those abusing me by quite a factor."

Studies have shown social media has made us dumber and more angry. And the anonymity provided by some social platforms means both are in full bloom there. For Richard Spencer and those who share names with people who are largely reviled, life online can be a cruel slog. Their mentions are often a cesspool, and each has developed their own way of wading through it.

Stephen Miller and Richard Spencer have amended their Twitter bios to clarify that they aren't their respective doppelgängers. Miller adjusted his—"no, i do not work for trump. that's the other stephen miller"—after the account of FOX News host Jeanine Pirro incorrectly tagged his name in her tweets when the president's Miller was a guest on her show. "If the staffer managing Pirro's Twitter account misidentified me as a Trump adviser, I figured it was time to add a line," he says. For the most part, both regard the coincidence with a certain amount of levity, though you wouldn't say either embrace it with open arms.

 

more at the link

[aujeff11 6,243]

21 minutes ago, Auburn85 said:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59yz9q/the-other-richard-spencer-would-like-you-to-please-stop-yelling

 

 

more at the link

Declaring State of Emergency in anticipation for a speech has to be a new one for me.

[Auburn85 434]

27 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

Declaring State of Emergency in anticipation for a speech has to be a new one for me.

I bring this up every chance I get. 10 years ago Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University. Not exactly a friendly guy. He's no friend to human rights and so forth yada yada. No state of emergency. No riots. No violence. He wasn't forced off stage.

Fast forward to the last few years, months- it's a complete 360.

Anything and everything has to be shouted down. Can't  assume a college course you are taking won't just be randomly interrupted. A University President can't make a simple announcement about a big money donation made to the school without being forced off stage and prevented from speaking. Nobody on campus can just have a meeting with a handful of people without the possibility of your meeting getting hijacked because "you don't have a right to speak in a small room on a campus with 100s or 1000s of acres, while I simultaneously have a right to takeover your small speaking area ."  

That's why I keep the other thread active because there is plenty of material. Depressing times.

 

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

56 minutes ago, Auburn85 said:

That's why I keep the other thread active because there is plenty of material. Depressing times.

 

Much appreciated. I’m pretty sure these 18 year olds feel they are right to shout these people down but I don’t think understand the concept of natural rights. Rights shouldn’t be bullied away just because they’re little vulgar in taste or deficient in ethics. The most recent meeting shouted ed down was just a Republican meeting and there was nothing wrong with it. Is that our future?

If the professors are at fault in steering these kids into hypersensitive 1st amendment blockers, shame on them.