The Far Right Is up to Something
Great poker players will advise an ambitious newcomer of two things. First, cards dealt out are just a matter of mathematics; you win by playing the other players. Second, the weakest player is a mark who will be stripped of his chips by the others. If you are at the table and cannot identify the mark, you are the mark.
I watch the moods and actions of a lot of people on the far right. Some are acquaintances I have known for dozens and dozens of years. Others are people I have discovered online, in chat areas, or operating on the airwaves. Others are pundits, with their circles of followers. Mostly, they are people who loudly rant and complain in various right wing echo chambers when things don’t go their way. They fuss and swear about court cases, news media, legislation which passes, and legislation which fails.
The smarter ones I have personally known are often careful about what they say on the job and online. Give ’em a chance, though, and they’ll try to debate on issues or cite common talking points of various corners of the far right. The more activist ones, who never say a word to me about who their friends are these days, are getting eerily quiet when I engage in attacks on militia groups or cite recent Jan 6th convictions.
Folks with something to hide can get quiet, concealing their tells, which is a tell. [grinning] I sent one fellow a message advising that, “A practitioner of OPSEC always knows when he meets another practitioner of OPSEC.” That person has been silent for a solid month…
As Donald Trump has been sliding deeper and deeper into the jaws of our criminal justice system, the far-right hams I follow on the 40 and 75 meter bands have been conspicuously off the air or talking about the most mundane topics. Except that a small crew of rabid haters of LGBTQ persons just cannot talk about radios and must indulge in crude rants for about fifty percent of the time. Certain angry MAGAs who rant on Discord are keeping a lid on too. I noticed rage for a day, then things got quiet.
The lack of a tell is, in itself, a tell.
The far right does not let go of rage. They don’t just stop hating. They are up to something and trying to hide it. Remember when Donald Trump had COVID and went to debate Joe Biden, putting the old man at risk of death? Trump said nothing about what was really afoot. Something is afoot now.
Heads up, friends, and be alert. When you see bad guys, be careful; when you don’t see bad guys, be twice as careful.
