The title’s a bit disingenuous, I know: this didn’t come out of nowhere. White supremacism is as American as Manifest Destiny and has been heavily intertwined with Nazism from its inception. That overlap with the Republican party, and their gradual slip into the extreme far-right, is evident.
But Seig Heils? Even the most dense among them must know that blatant Nazism hurts their legitimacy in the eyes of the public, even among MAGATs (as is evident right now if you peek at their echo chamber on Reddit). Surely they would have a much easier time pushing their rhetoric and establishing their agenda by keeping a purposeful distance from that sort of indefensible imagery and symbolism. How do they expect to keep cohesion in the military when you imply to the soldiers that they are Nazis now, seig heils and all.
Why Nazis?
Any theories as to where this is coming from? Follow the ketamine-fueled leader? A directive for operative Krasnov, from Putin himself, to implode the country? True Nazi beliefs among the Heritage Foundation, Proud Boys, etc? I just don’t understand how they thought this would fly. I don’t understand anything anymore lol.
I think you’re starting with the position that Naziism is a poisonous nonstarter, and wondering why anyone would attach themselves to that.
But that’s not where they are starting from. I earnestly believe that some major revisionism is happening. People are taking another look at the Nazis and finding they like what they see.
Of course, it’s falling into the whole complex of “Nazis aren’t so bad - you were just told that by your woke liberal school propaganda.”
As liberals cry out about the Nazi shit, Trumpers delight in their pain, further adding to the magnetism of Naziism.
And of course there is a slice of the Right that have always been literal Nazis, explicitly. And that slice is larger than ever, with looser boundaries than before.
Basically the divisive politics of the US have finally become big enough to be bigger than our feelings about Naziism. That’s really fucking big. But the political civil war we’re in the middle of is all about tearing down everything that came before as tired, corrupt lies. I guess that is includes simple basics like “Nazis are bad.”
If you’re still confused and disgusted and horrified, you are in a lot of very good company.