House Republicans announce creation of openly white nationalist caucus
The isolationist concept of “America First” has a long and sordid history in the United States going back to the early post-colonial days of President Thomas Jefferson and revived in the 20th century by those who opposed the fascist threat emerging in Europe and fought against the United States’ entry into the conflict that became World War II.
In the 21st century under Donald Trump, “America First” became the rallying cry for a particular breed of right-wing miscreant who — out of fear that the privileged position enjoyed by white people, all of whom were immigrants to this land at one time or another, was being eroded by the ascendance of immigrants of later arrival and darker skin color than their own — want to round up the wagons to prevent the injection of much needed immigrant labor to handle the jobs that they consider to be beneath their own dignity.
Now, a new congressional caucus tied to Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is recruiting members to sign onto a platform filled with ideas derived from white-supremacist and falsely-labeled “nativist” dogmas in a move that may be the first signs of a new political party to emerge from the worst dregs of the existing GOP.
Indeed, the America First Caucus Policy Platform, as unearthed by journalist Jake Sherman’s Punchbowl News, contains the outline of a political party platform that George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party, would feel quite comfortable supporting, as the aims of the new caucus line up perfectly with the ideology that the Adolph Hitler-admirer spent his life promoting.
The preamble of the new document outlines the caucus’ purpose.
“The America First Caucus (AFC) exists to promote Congressional policies that are to the long-term benefit of the American nation. The North Star of any policy proposal will be that which serves the American people, and any consequential analysis of policy platforms must be based on this first principle.”
“As this implies a degree of ideological flexibility, a certain intellectual boldness is needed amongst members of the AFC to follow in President Trump’s footsteps, and potentially step on some toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation. Policy areas as far ranging as foreign intervention, economic development, immigration, trade, tech regulation and social policy need to be re-examined from the ground up to ensure that what remains keeps the interest of Americans at heart.”
“It is the firm belief of this Caucus that American policy-making needs to get back to first principles, restore a long-term time horizon amongst our nation’s leaders, and instill a greatly internalized sense of service to the American people on part of our elected leaders. As long as these principles are put and kept in practice, the interests of the American people will be safeguarded.”
While one may need to hold back the chortles when one reads of the “intellectual boldness” needed to follow in Donald Trump’s footsteps when a lobotomy would be the more suitable requirement, it is worth continuing through the document to learn of the policies that the new caucus intends to pursue.
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Jake Sherman highlighted a few of the most egregious examples in a thread on his Twitter feed.
NEW in @PunchbowlNews Midday
An America First Caucus is recruiting lawmakers calling for "common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and a return to architectural style that “befits the progeny of European architecture.”
linked to @mtgreenee and @RepGosar
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 16, 2021
→ Under the “Infrastructure” section: “The America First Caucus will work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture …
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 16, 2021
→ In the “Education” section: “[O]ur education has worked to actively undermine pride in America’s great history and is actively hostile to the civic and cultural assimilation necessary for a strong nation.”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 16, 2021
If only an architectural policy that reveals delusions of grandeur and a return to spreading propagandistic lies in the classroom were the only items in the America First Caucus’s wishlist, but a perusal of the headings in their platform can give you an idea of the areas in which they hope to destroy existing norms in favor of their own racist ideas.
Starting with their position on Election Fraud (they think it was responsible for Trump’s loss, which should tell you enough in and of itself), the caucus’s platform goes on to weigh in with indefensible policies for Sovereignty, Big Tech, Immigration, Infrastructure, Foreign Aid, National Security, Coronavirus, Trade, the Environment, Energy, Protecting the Value of American Savings, America First Education, and the Chinese Communist Party.
You could probably guess the positions that they espouse without having to read the document, but it worth reading the platform to know what thinking Americans are up against as these persistent political themes of isolationism reassert themselves in the modern era.
It’s up to us to ensure that the bigoted ideology of these so-called “nativists” is again renounced for a new generation of Americans as it has been repeatedly in the past.
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Original reporting by Jake Sherman at Punchbowl News.
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