93: Richard Spencer Redux

We revisit the subject of our very first episode, Richard Spencer, catching up with his more recent exploits, all in an attempt to emphasize that a) he's still around, b) he's still dangerous, and c) he means what he says. Content Warnings. Podcast Notes: Please consider donating to help us make the show and stay independent. Patrons get exclusive access to one full extra episode a month. Daniel's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/danielharper Jack's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4196618 IDSG Twitter: https://twitter.com/idsgpod Daniel's Twitter: @danieleharper Jack's Twitter: @_Jack_Graham_ IDSG on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-dont-speak-german/id1449848509?ls=1 Show Notes: Our previous episode on Richard Spencer, Episode 1 The New York Times, How a Small Town Silenced a Neo-Nazi Hate Campaign Rafi Schwartz, Discourse Blog, America’s Top Nazi Is a Broke Little Booger Who Can’t Get a Table The punch, which • • prompted plenty of • handwringing and pearl-clutching • over whether or not it’s okay to • • ever punch a Nazi (it sure is!), occurred during what should have • • been the height of Spencer’s career as a full-time racist — the • • inauguration of Donald Trump. Instead, it forever branded him as • • “that Nazi who got his clock thoroughly cleaned” and helped • • define him as the ur-bigot of the Trump era. This, I think, is • • crucial to the arc of Spencer’s seeming cancelation by the people • • of Whitefish. It’s much easier to identify a Nazi — and identify • • what should be done to them — when that Nazi has already become an • • internet joke for both being a Nazi, and facing the consequences • • thereof. Were Spencer not memed into oblivion as “the Nazi who got • • smacked,” my guess is that it wouldn’t have been quite so easy • • to rally an entire community to oppose him. Yes, it would likely • • still have happened in some form, thanks to the sincerely hard work • • of both activists, and ordinary citizens on the ground in Whitefish • • and elsewhere, but I can’t help but think that the moment Spencer • • got blasted in the jaw, his cancelation, or silencing, or whatever • • doofy substitute for “getting what he deserves” became • • inevitable. Tablet Mag, No, White Supremacist Richard Spencer Didn’t Seriously Endorse Joe Biden And yet, countless credulous accounts—many on the • pro-Trump right, but also some on the • anti-Biden left—uncritically shared Spencer’s posting as though • • it was on the level. • That a disingenuous racist like Spencer would pretend to • • support Biden in order to get attention and undercut the former vice • • president is not surprising. What is surprising is how many people • • still fall for Spencer’s transparent trolling. • In reality, Spencer and other white supremacists have a long • • history of purposely adopting their opponents’ causes and • • pretending to back them in order to undermine them. That’s exactly • • what Spencer did in 2018 by pretending to support “Zionism,” • • when he actually has a long history of hate towards both Israel and • • Jews, and claims that the Jewish state and its supporters control • • America. Daily Progress, RIchard Spencer-led organization ordered to pay $2.4 million in Unite the RIght lawsuit The biggest sum • • was awarded last week by an Ohio judge who ordered the National • • Policy Institute to pay Burke $2,444,461.15 for the harm he suffered • • as a result of the rally. The white supremacist think tank, which is • • led by UTR participant and University of Virginia graduate Spencer, • • was found to be in default • approximately a year ago. Integrity First For America, Sines v. Kessler Eat the Rich Episode 91 on William Regnery II Paul Gottfried coins the term "alternative right." Richard Spencer introduces Ron Paul at the Robert Taft Club, October 11, 2007. Richard Spencer full NPI speech 2016, the origin of "Heilgate". Full text of that speech We need to remind ourselves of these things. None of this is • • natural. None of this is “normal.” This is a sick, disgusting, • • society, run by the corrupt, defended by hysterics, drunk on • • self-hatred and degeneracy. We invade the world and frantically • • invite entire populations who despise us. We subsidize people and • • institutions who make our lives worse just by the sheer fact of • • their existence. We run up deficits and pretend the laws of history • • simply don’t apply to us because of “American Exceptionalism.” • This cannot go on any longer. And it won’t. • At some level, we demand the impossible. Even those • • half-joking memes about Donald Trump as God-Emperor or as the • • progenitor of some glorious Imperium testify to the yearning for • • something more. Yes, we should insist on our dreams – on the • • conquest of space, on the development of revolutionary technology, • • for a humanity that is greater than we are today, for a race that • • travels forever on the upward path. • But at another level, what we want is something normal, • • something almost prosaic maybe even boring. • Why is something as simple as starting a family, owning a • • house, and leaving a legacy to your children seen as an almost • • impossible dream for so many Americans? Why must there be two • • incomes for a family simply to break even? Why is it impossible to • • build a real civic society because the whim of a federal bureaucrat • • or a Social Justice Warrior can impose Section 8 housing, refugee • • resettlement, or some other population transfer scheme deliberately • • designed to break apart functional white communities? Buzzfeed, Spencer's Wife Says in Divorce Filings that He Physically and Emotionally Abused Her The wife of Richard Spencer, the • white nationalist leader, has accused him of being “physically, • • emotionally, verbally and financially abusive” throughout their • • marriage, according to divorce filings in Flathead County District • • Court in Montana. • Nina Koupriianova, who married Spencer in August 2010 and has • • two young children with him, alleges that Spencer physically abused • • her, including instances where she was “being hit, being grabbed, • • being dragged around by her hair, being held down in a manner • • causing bruising, and being prevented from calling for help.” • Koupriianova — who went by Kouprianova in some public • • interviews and N.K. in the documents — “has been reluctant to • • call police or seek an order of protection for fear of further • • reprisal by” Spencer, her lawyers said in court documents. “Much • • of the abuse has occurred in the presence of the parties’ • • children.”