Stop Dancing: Milo Isn't Dead!

“...it doesn't matter if people love you or hate you, as long as they feel strongly one way or the other. The worst place you can be is in the middle.”

― Eric Bischoff, Controversy Creates Cash

For years, I thought the worst byproduct of the conservative media and blogosphere bubble was the habitual misinformation or "fake news" that’s made political dialogue virtually impossible. I was wrong; in my newly revised opinion, the normalization and profitability of bigotry has been far more damaging than the propaganda disseminated by these outlets. Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, and a plethora of lesser known radio personalities built large audiences (and larger fortunes) by manipulating the fear and (sometimes) hatred of racial, religious, or cultural others. Milo Yiannopoulos is the natural evolution of normalized bigotry. The most successful conservative talking heads use promotional strategies that have more in common with professional wrestling promoters than the politicians trying to gain access to their audience. Milo, Tomi Lahren, and Tommy Sotomayor are picking up where Ann Coulter, Michele Malkin, and Glenn Beck left off. This is the third generation of this brand of vitriolic media conservatism.

Social media is full of people tap dancing on the proverbial grave of Milo Yiannopoulos; sadly, they don’t understand that this isn’t the end of him or his brand of bigotry. Milo is likely to be more powerful this time next year because of the attention he’s receiving. Rush Limbaugh built his EIB network and Glenn Beck built the Blaze in spite of being hated and receiving negative media coverage for their controversial statements. Milo is every bit as capable as they were of setting up his own production and distribution networks; he has the most important thing any media personality needs to be successful: a core audience willing to financially support his ideas. He’s not dead! He will still give the kind of talks he was giving before he lost his book deal. Speaking at CPAC would have helped legitimize him, but it wasn't going to make him anymore influential among his most loyal supporters.  

The right to report, dissent, or satirize without criminal prosecution is often confused with the right to do so without facing any consequences. If Milo is smart he will learn that insulting and dehumanizing black people, brown people, feminists, and Muslims is far more profitable than engaging in the sort of sexual dialogue that caused his corporate sponsors to pull their support. There’s a segment of America that will always support his kind of bigotry. If he self-publishes his book, sets up his own monetized blog or podcast, continues touring, and remembers to limit his attacks to the kind of people corporate America doesn’t mind offending he will be just fine. Pedophilia was a bridge to far for an industry built on pushing the lines of decency.  

Long before Frank Luntz and Republican think tanks were crafting the language Republican politicians use to convey their message, Rush Limbaugh was dropping conservative thought bombs on the mainstream media, intelligentsia, and college campus culture. Many on the left still foolishly believe we are one clever campaign slogan away from winning the hearts and minds of the mythic working-class white voters and young college libertarians who are the core of Milo’s base. This kind of thinking has been around since Dr. George Lakoff wrote “Moral Politics” in 1996. Here’s a news flash: people who use terms like “Cuck”, “Libturd”, or “Libtard” aren’t worried about cogent arguments. I know this feels pretty good for some on the left who were the victims of Milo's verbal assaults, but this isn't his end. I can assure you we will be dealing with his brand of hate for a long time!

Hate Radio As A 2nd Language: What Conservatives Said About The Univ. of Missouri

Growing up in a small southern town has blessed me with the gift of translating Conservative hate radio. I live in a town where a lot of people never learned that it's not acceptable to call a black man boy, and the Confederate flag is not a racist relic. For decades, people of color comprised less than 10% of the total population in my town; very few of them, no matter how educated or qualified, worked (or work) in any field other than hospitality or service. When combined, these factors create the perfect atmosphere for people to talk unfiltered. I speak English, I've taken Spanish in school, but my true second language is dog whistle. When people don't see you as an equal you get distorted communication: they say what they want, and expect you to say what they want to hear. I've studied the listeners of hate radio in their natural habitat. I'll use this skill to decipher some of the comments made about the student protesters and football players at the University of Missouri.

Rush Limbaugh: You find the major problem is that there are too many white people at this place. And they apparently are not nice enough or considerate enough to the 10 percent of the people there who are black. And so there has to be some changes.

Translation: You people don't know how lucky you are to be here. You guys are the lucky ones. We give you track suits, tennis shoes, and there's basketball courts everywhere. What else do you want?

Jazz Shaw: The Inmates Are Running The Asylum At Mizzou. Parents sending tuition money there deserve what they get.

Translation: I don't care how high your S.A.T. scores are you're still thugs and hoodrats.

MICHAEL BERRY: So now the president of the university has resigned. Now, think of the message this sends. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. The football players at the University of Missouri. The football players decide who the president will be? An institution of higher learning. You're doing research on molecular biology that may lead to a cure for cancer. You're doing aeronautical research, you're doing chemical research, molecular biology research. You're educating how many thousand people? And you're letting a few thugs decide who you're president will be?

Translation: This happend because you can't control your boys. You need to run a tighter ship. This is what happens when they start feeling themselves.

MICHAEL BERRY: Good, you do have a problem. But it's far bigger than the creative shaping of poop by somebody on your campus. You got a major problem with your priorities. If you can't reign in a few football players to shut their mouth and play football, else they lose their scholarship? You've got a real problem on your hands. You've got a problem of culture. You've got a problem of priorities, and you've got a problem of pandering.

Translation: No matter how much education you have, no matter how legitimate your claims are: you need to get over it and accept the way things are.

When Blacks riot we're told to follow the model of peaceful assembly. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is used as a cudgel to thwart young radicals. When educated young men and women use their Constitutional right to peaceably assemble and boycott they're still called thugs. This is a good thing: we need bigots to say out loud what their true feelings are. I love that the language has become so coded. The reason so many on the right hate politically correct language is because it's forced them to find new ways to say the same tired things. This is radical and I love it. Advantage allows one to avoid a lot of uncomfortable moments and conversations. Viral examples of blatant racism has forced some of our fellow citizens to pull their head out of the sand. All of this talk about racial animosity destroys the myth of a post-racial America. Confronting these problems in an honest way is part of the cure for them. We need to create an atmosphere where bigotry, no matter how subtle, is publicly called out and shamed.