The right has its own version of political correctness. It’s just as stifling.

[kitler53]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/07/the-right-has-its-own-version-of-political-correctness-its-just-as-stifling/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.7be57e6f7d34#comments


President-elect Donald Trump has not been shy about the "big problem in this country": political correctness. Trump has blamed PC for the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando ("They have put political correctness above common sense, above your safety and above all else," he tweeted) and the rise of the militant group Islamic State. His voters agreed (indeed, it might even have been the reason for his victory).

It's not just him. Political correctness has become a major bugaboo of the right in the past decade, a rallying cry against all that has gone wrong with liberalism and America. Conservative writers fill volumes complaining how political correctness stifles free expression and promotes bunk social theories about "power structures" based on patriarchy, race and mass victimhood. Forbes charged that it "stifles freedom of speech." The Daily Caller has gone so far as to claim that political correctness "kills Americans."

But conservatives have their own, nationalist version of PC, their own set of rules regulating speech, behavior and acceptable opinions. I call it "patriotic correctness." It's a full-throated, un-nuanced, uncompromising defense of American nationalism, history and cherry-picked ideals. Central to its thesis is the belief that nothing in America can't be fixed by more patriotism enforced by public shaming, boycotts and policies to cut out foreign and non-American influences.

Insufficient displays of patriotism among the patriotically correct can result in exclusion from public life and ruined careers. It also restricts honest criticism of failed public policies, diverting blame for things like the war in Iraq to those Americans who didn't support the war effort enough.

[The attack on Pearl Harbor united Americans like no other event in our history]

For example, in the aftermath of 9/11 and the run-up to the Iraq War, David Frum labeled dissenters as anti-American. Jonah Goldberg wrote that opponents of the war "can only get passionate about the perfidy of our own president." Conservative gadfly Robert "Buzz" Patterson went further, calling much of the Democratic Party, Hollywood, big media, college campuses and many other organizations "traitors." The French government's opposition to the invasion of Iraq prompted Congress to rename French fries as "freedom fries" in congressional cafeterias, a 21st-century liberty cabbage. When the Dixie Chicks opposed the Iraq War, many stations pulled the group's music from the air so as not to "trigger" listeners. Fans destroyed Dixie Chicks albums in grotesque public demonstrations. The radio became a safe space.

More recently, 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat and then knelt for the national anthem to protest police brutality. Tomi Lahren, host of "Final Thoughts," gave an incoherent rant about soldiers dying for Kaepernick's right to speak so, therefore, he should shut up and stand for the national anthem. Some fans even burned their Kaepernick jerseys in protest. Others said Kaepernick should "get the hell out" if he doesn't love America. Myths of an NFL rule mandating standing for the anthem, even though no such rule actually exists, were spread to justify the outrage and point to a double standard of enforcement whereby the NFL condones protests against America but players get fined if they wear different-color shoelaces. In such a narrative, patriots are the victims of an elite liberal power structure.

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) tweeted that "Kaepernick should think about the service members risking their lives to protect his freedom to be both rich and unpatriotic." Kaepernick's microaggression even offended liberal Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said the protest was "dumb and disrespectful," words she later retracted.

Believing in American exceptionalism means that anything less than chest-thumping jingoism is capitulation. Unionized public employees who can't be fired are bad at their jobs and are more interested in increasing their own power than fulfilling their public duties — except if they are police or Border Patrol officers, who are unselfishly devoted to their jobs. The crime rate is high and rising, so when facts show that criminality has declined substantially over the decades, the patriotically correct respond with appeals to the bubbled feelings of the common man.

One of the biggest critics of patriotic correctness is National Review writer Jim Geraghty. He responded to outrage over Jeb Bush and his wife, Columba, speaking Spanish at home by writing, "What business is it of yours?" and said there is "something bafflingly insecure about our culture if we genuinely feel threatened by foreign languages spoken in the private sphere of the family home."

[Keith Ellison isn't an anti-Semite. He's the victim of a vicious smear.]

Complaining about political correctness is patriotically correct. The patriotically correct must use the non-word "illegals," or "illegal immigrant" or "illegal alien" to describe foreigners who broke our immigration laws. Dissenters support "open borders" or "shamnesty" for 30 million illegal alien invaders. The punishment is deportation because "we're a nation of laws" and they didn't "get in line," even though no such line actually exists. Just remember that they are never anti-immigration, only anti-illegal immigration, even when they want to cut legal immigration.

Black Lives Matter is racist because it implies that black lives are more important than other lives, but Blue Lives Matter doesn't imply that cops' lives are more important than the rest of ours. Banning Islam or Muslim immigration is a necessary security measure, but homosexuals should not be allowed to get married because it infringes on religious liberty. Transgender people could access women's restrooms for perverted purposes, but Donald Trump walking in on nude underage girls in dressing rooms before a beauty pageant is just "media bias."

Terrorism is an "existential threat," even though the chance of being killed in a terrorist attack is about 1 in 3.2 million a year. Saying the words "radical Islam" when describing terrorism is an important incantation necessary to defeat that threat. When Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya decides to employ refugees in his factories, it's because of his ties to "globalist corporate figures." Waving a Mexican flag on U.S. soil means you hate America, but waving a Confederate flag just means you're proud of your heritage. The phrase "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" needs a trigger warning.

Blaming the liberal or mainstream media and "media bias" is the patriotically correct version of blaming the corporations or capitalism. The patriotically correct notion that they "would rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in the Boston telephone directory than by the 2,000 people on the faculty of Harvard University" because the former have "common sense" and the "intellectual elites" don't know anything, despite all the evidence to the contrary, can be sustained only in a total bubble. Poor white Americans are the victims of economic dislocation and globalization beyond their control, while poor blacks and Hispanics are poor because of their failed cultures. The patriotically correct are triggered when they hear strangers speaking in a language other than English. Does that remind you of the PC duty to publicly shame those who use unacceptable language to describe race, gender or whatever other identity is the victim du jour?

The patriotically correct rightly ridicule PC "safe spaces" but promptly retreat to Breitbart or talk radio, where they can have mutually reinforcing homogeneous temper tantrums while complaining about the lack of intellectual diversity on the left. There is no such thing as too much national security, but it's liberals who want to coddle Americans with a "nanny state." Those who disagree with the patriotically correct are animated by anti-Americanism, are post-American, or deserve any other of a long list of clunky and vague labels that signal virtue to other members of the patriotic in-group.

Every group has implicit rules against certain opinions, actions and language as well as enforcement mechanisms — and the patriotically correct are no exception. But they are different because they are near-uniformly unaware of how they are hewing to a code of speech and conduct similar to the PC lefties they claim to oppose. The modern form of political correctness on college campuses and the media is social tyranny with manners, while patriotic correctness is tyranny without the manners, and its adherents do not hesitate to use the law to advance their goals. If we have a term to describe this new phenomenon — I nominate patriotic correctness.

[the-pi-guy]

Lol, that's great.  
It's true.  

[kitler53]

Lol, that's great.  
It's true.  

it's basically what i've been thinking for years but wasn't able to verbalize all that well.  i'm still pissed off about the whole obama flag ping "controversy".  

my dad does this to me all the time and it's frankly why we have a shaming relationship.  he constantly reminds me how america is a "Christian" nation and therefore as i am an atheist i shouldn't be allowed to have a opinion on politics,.. especially on matters of religious freedom because only republicans know the true meaning of "freedom".  

also he once accused me of being a vegetarian.  at the exact moment of the accusation i was eating a christmas ham roast.



if i'm every angsty to the republicans on this board just know that i've endured about 20 years of what i'd call hate speech from my fanatically republican father.

[Aura7541]

it's basically what i've been thinking for years but wasn't able to verbalize all that well.  i'm still pissed off about the whole obama flag ping "controversy".  

my dad does this to me all the time and it's frankly why we have a shaming relationship.  he constantly reminds me how america is a "Christian" nation and therefore as i am an atheist i shouldn't be allowed to have a opinion on politics,.. especially on matters of religious freedom because only republicans know the true meaning of "freedom".  

also he once accused me of being a vegetarian.  at the exact moment of the accusation i was eating a christmas ham roast.



if i'm every angsty to the republicans on this board just know that i've endured about 20 years of what i'd call hate speech from my fanatically republican father.

I always dislike this argument. America was founded by people who happened to be Christians, not on the basis of Christianity.

[the-pi-guy]

it's basically what i've been thinking for years but wasn't able to verbalize all that well.  i'm still pissed off about the whole obama flag ping "controversy".  

Also, the "Obama is a horrible human being because he forgot to salute a soldier."

my dad does this to me all the time and it's frankly why we have a shaming relationship. he constantly reminds me how america is a "Christian" nation and therefore as i am an atheist i shouldn't be allowed to have a opinion on politics,.. especially on matters of religious freedom because only republicans know the true meaning of "freedom".  
also he once accused me of being a vegetarian.  at the exact moment of the accusation i was eating a christmas ham roast.
if i'm every angsty to the republicans on this board just know that i've endured about 20 years of what i'd call hate speech from my fanatically republican father.

It's ridiculous.  Despite all the push for a separation of church and state.

It's ludicrous.  

[Xevross]

It's ridiculous.  Despite all the push for a separation of church and state.

It's ludicrous.  

It really is. I hate that stuff. I'm glad that you never hear this in the UK.

[kitler53]

I always dislike this argument. America was founded by people who happened to be Christians, not on the basis of Christianity.

i dislike it too.  and i mean my dad is right (not that i've looked it up) in that 70% of america is christian...

...but to me america is a nation of religious freedom where the freedom from religion is just as important as the freedom of religion.  basically that means that inside your church you should be able to worship in whatever way you see fit.  outside your church laws and regulations should be geared to accommodating any religion.  if a justification for a law cannot be made without citing religous text the law is inherently unjust.



i got into an argument about gay marriage.  i talked about how my friend molly goes to a church where the priest welcomes and performs gay marriages so how can you use your view on religion as a justification that gays cannot get married without infringing on her freedom of religion.  he told me that gays in other countries (aka islamic countries) are often times put to death and that they should just be thankful christians are as tolerance as they are.

[Aura7541]

Here's a recent example of patriotic correctness (though I think ethnocentric correctness would be more accurate):

The New Right vs the Alt-Right. pic.twitter.com/KNEIydv9Fr

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 22, 2016

The latter faction are incredibly obsessed with identity politics. They are basically right-wing SJWs.

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 22, 2016

Then, someone replied with this:

Spoiler for Tweet has graphic image:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;Right-Wing SJW&#39;s&quot; is outdated <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cuckservative?src=hash">#Cuckservative</a> shitlib talk. We have every right to seek our ethnic interest. <a href="https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet">@PrisonPlanet</a> <a href="https://t.co/g4HKBlsXyj">pic.twitter.com/g4HKBlsXyj</a></p>&mdash; Third Position (@Third_Position) <a href="https://twitter.com/Third_Position/status/801188176241065986">November 22, 2016</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br>

The Daily Stormer also called him a cuck because he dared to criticize Trump and said the "New Right" is a scam.

[kitler53]

Then, someone replied with this:

Spoiler for Hidden:

"Right-Wing SJW's" is outdated #Cuckservative shitlib talk. We have every right to seek our ethnic interest. @PrisonPlanet pic.twitter.com/g4HKBlsXyj

— Third Position (@Third_Position) November 22, 2016

The Daily Stormer also called him a cuck because he dared to criticize Trump and said the "New Right" is a scam.

holy shame.  i think that might be the most horribly insensitive thing i've ever seen.  i'm literally tearing up right now.  ...both kids are dead now.

[Raven]

it's basically what i've been thinking for years but wasn't able to verbalize all that well.  i'm still pissed off about the whole obama flag ping "controversy".  

my dad does this to me all the time and it's frankly why we have a shaming relationship.  he constantly reminds me how america is a "Christian" nation and therefore as i am an atheist i shouldn't be allowed to have a opinion on politics,.. especially on matters of religious freedom because only republicans know the true meaning of "freedom".  

also he once accused me of being a vegetarian.  at the exact moment of the accusation i was eating a christmas ham roast.



if i'm every angsty to the republicans on this board just know that i've endured about 20 years of what i'd call hate speech from my fanatically republican father.

I know how you feel. I live in a largely right wing family with a dad who, as intelligent as he is, allows himself to fall for anything these far right mouth pieces tell him. As a moderate, the hyperbole, hypocrisy, and misinformation I constantly hear from both the left and right makes me want to throw up. I also grew up around a lot of Christians as an Atheist. Though I shifted to Agnostic a couple years ago. It's infuriating listening to people like your dad.

[Aura7541]

holy shame.  i think that might be the most horribly insensitive thing i've ever seen.  i'm literally tearing up right now.  ...both kids are dead now.

Yeah, that response was asinine. This is a perfect example of someone to the right of the political spectrum (Paul Joseph Watson) derided for not being right-wing/ethnocentric enough.

[the-pi-guy]

Wtf does that picture have to do with the conversation?

[Aura7541]

Wtf does that picture have to do with the conversation?

Do you want me to put that in spoiler?

Edit: I just did it in case people don't like seeing the image.

[the-pi-guy]

holy shame.  i think that might be the most horribly insensitive thing i've ever seen.  i'm literally tearing up right now.  ...both kids are dead now.

The alt-right...
So many of them are monsters.  I swear, they aren't people anymore.  
Just a disgusting lack of consideration for human life.

I'm disgusted and furious.  

I wish I could do something.  

[Aura7541]

The alt-right...
So many of them are monsters.  I swear, they aren't people anymore.  
Just a disgusting lack of consideration for human life.

I'm disgusted and furious.  

I wish I could do something.  

Problem is that alt-right is an umbrella term. When it was first coined, it originally meant people of the right who aren't neoconservatives/establishment right. It can range from right leaning libertarians to white supremacists.

We need to acknowledge them for what they really are: white ethnocentrists.