A group of conservative Oregonians called for a convoy of trucks to show up at the state capitol to enact a repeat of what happened in Ottawa. I stopped by to check it out. There were more pizzas than people. There were more people in Proud Boy regalia than there were trucks.
The sponsor was an offshoot of Timber Unity, the "grassroots" group that had organized a much larger and louder truck convoy in June 2019 that was part of the effort to squash a cap and trade bill. It was notable that the Proud Boy flag was displayed right next to the stage.
It basically felt like a very low energy and low attendance Trump rally. Tho this rendition of Trump’s theme song was pretty competent.
Something tells me the merch booths didn't recoup their expenses for the day.
This fella gets points for confidence.
This pretty much captures the vibe. For context, I was there at noon, and from what I can tell that was pretty much the high point of the day--a few scattered people waving at one of the five trucks that drove around the block for hours honking loudly.
This is the June 2019 scene they were trying to replicate, but fell fall short of.
There was one GOP walkout today, and it was by Senator Dallas Heard (chair of the OR GOP) who was kicked out of the Senate for his refusal to wear a mask.
He then walked out to the gathering and spoke to the crowd. This is the same stage that had a Proud Boy flag just off to the right, but it's not shown in this picture. I don't know if it was still present or had been taken down to avoid bad optics.
This is from last June. This is the person who hosted the “America First” conference at which close Trump allies MTG, Gosar, and Wendy Rogers spoke. This is not complicated. It’s also not a new problem for the GOP.
If you want to get really old school with the “Nazi who is trying to take over the GOP” theme, may I introduce you to MAGA-Nazi Arthur Jones who won a GOP primary in Illinois recently?
Receipts in this thread, where we also learn that both Eric and Don Jr appeared on the radio show of white nationalist James Edwards during the 2016 campaign.
In 1998, very few Americans knew who Skousen was. Those that did, were likely to be reading material like this Oregon rag, that also contained advertisements for white supremacist CDs.
The person who we probably most have to "thank" for bringing Skousen back into our national discourse is Glenn Beck, who resuscitated that far right conspiracy crank during his Tea Party days.
That Blake Masters video making the rounds in which he name checks the heroes of suburban American 13-year old Boy Scouts ca. 1964 (Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Norman Rockwell, Chuck Berry) reminded me of this moment in Reagan’s farewell address.
Today’s MAGA-candidates who “love America” while stoking vicious hatred of over half of their fellow Americans learned well from their “conservative” predecessors. They do it now with a grimace instead of Ron’s warm smile, but the message is similar.
I enjoyed Masters’s Mark Twain shout out as well, as if President “we’re gonna build a wall and Mexico will pay for it” isn’t a con man right out of Twain’s oeuvre.