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Last Friday, a lawsuit brought by Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) yielded a ruling that President Trumps interim appointment of William Perry Pendleys to head the BLM was illegal, and that the decisions made while Pendley was in charge are illegal too.

William Perry Pendley has long been a fringe activist affiliated with the alt-right movement to end public lands, and federal governments management of them. He wrote opinion pieces in the conservative National Review siding with the Bundys when they organized a heavily-armed mob, complete with snipers, that interfered with the federal roundup of Bundys illegally trespassing cattle, and another article calling for the sale of all federal public lands. His Twitter handle was even @Sagebrush_Rebel.

Pendley isnt the first public lands extremist, even in the Trump administration. Wyoming attorney Karen Budd-Falen actually represented Cliven Bundy himself in the appeal challenging the original closure of Bundys grazing leases on what would eventually become Gold Butte National Monument. At the same time the Bundy crew was taking over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Budd-Falen was stirring up county governments in Oregon to adopt county plans that, ion a twisted legal theory, might be used to have counties dictate the contents of federal land-use plans, to the benefit of local extractive industries. Although Budd-Falen lobbied to be appointed BLM director, ultimately it became obvious that she would not survive Senate confirmation, and she was appointed instead to the lesser attorney post of Deputy Solicitor, which requires no Senate approval.

The history of alt-right attempts to stage takeovers of Americas public lands dates back to the 1940s, but cropped up more recently in the Reagan administration. Reagan himself famously proclaimed, I am a Sagebrush Rebel, and he appointed as his first Interior Secretary the notoriously anti-environmental James Watt, like Pendley a product of the Mountain States Legal Foundation. George W. Bush recapitulated Reagans alt-right lands agenda by appointing Gale Norton to helm Interior, herself a Mountain States protg of Watts. Thus, more often than not over the past four decades, Republican presidential administrations put a public lands extremist of the Bundy persuasion in charge of a major lands and wildlife agency.

During the first year of the Trump administration, long before Pendleys appointment , the alt-right agenda started gathering steam with a secret meeting that brought state and county proponents of extractive industries together with the BLM to plot a local government takeover of public lands. Several environmental groups were tipped off and listened in, and were able to bring to light efforts to put conservative counties and states in the drivers seat of public land decisionmaking, restrict environmental reviews, squelch Freedom of Information Act document availability, and otherwise dismantle federal public land protections. Trumps gutting of NEPA, the concept of outcomes-based grazing to put ranchers in charge of managing public-land grazing leases, and a dismantling of grazing regulations are the anti-environmental fruits of this poisonous tree.

William Perry Pendley was appointed to the Trumped-up BLM position of Deputy Director serving in the capacity of the Director, a dodge to avoid a Senate confirmation process likely to deny Pendley the leadership position and embarrass the Trump administration. Selecting an oil industry office complex in Grand Junction, Colorado as his new BLM headquarters, Pendley proceeded to threaten senior BLM staff with termination if they didnt relocate. It was a bald-faced scheme to put the agency firmly under the thumb of the minerals and livestock industries.

Things started to unravel for Pendley in the fall of 2019, when key Senators drafted a letter objecting to his leadership, and when Pendleys controversial remarks at a Colorado gathering of journalists scapegoated wild horses as an existential threat to public lands and the agencys top priority, even while horse impacts were dwarfed by the environmental destruction caused by federally-approved livestock, and myriad other BLM-permitted problems. Things got worse a month later, when Pendley directed BLM law-enforcement to defer to local sheriffs when enforcing the law on federal lands. Conservationists immediately exposed this as a sop to the Bundy-ally Constitutional Sheriffs, who seek to dismantle federal authority and environmental protections on public lands. As the year ended, 91 conservation groups demanded Pendleys ouster.

Ultimately, two conservation groups sued to remove Pendley, and later Governor Bullock launched a similar lawsuit of his own. Hoping to dodge the litigation, Trump finally nominated Pendley to head the BLM, but just as quickly withdrew the nomination when it became obvious that he wouldnt survive the confirmation process. This August, every Democratic Senator (plus the two Independents) demanded that he go. The Bullock lawsuit yielded a ruling finding Pendleys appointment illegal, and decisions made under his leadership illegal as well. We might well be witnessing the beginning of the end of the alt-rights last best chance to hijack Americas public lands. Not a moment too soon.

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With Pendley Toppled, the Alt-Right's Public Land Agenda Starts to Crumble - CounterPunch

When British tennis champion Fred Perry became the first player to win a career grand slam in 1935, he might have hoped his legacy would be defined by the stunning bit of history he made, still just 26 years old. Its unlikely he could have predicted his name would be used in 2020 to uniform a far-right male militia jacked up on violence and misogyny. And yet, Proud Boys, an organisation allegedly founded as a joke by Gavin McInnes in the run-up the 2016 US election, has become instantly recognisable by its allegiance to Fred Perrys black and yellow trim polo, forcing the brand to publicly distance itself and announce last week that it had withdrawn sales of the shirt in the US and Canada a year ago.

McInnes, 50, is the Scottish-Canadian co-founder of Vice Media, and lives in Brooklyn. He believes western culture is under siege and that feminism is a cancer. His group, much like an enraged Reddit sub-forum given vein-popping physical form, has been described as an alt-right fight club and hate group by Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), as white supremacists by Joe Biden,and classified as an extremist group by the FBI even though McInnes rejects the notion that Proud Boys are racists . It is not, by a long stretch, a good look for Fred Perry.

It is incredibly frustrating that this group has appropriated our black and yellow twin-tipped shirt and subverted our laurel wreath to their own ends, the company said on its website last week.

The statement added: We are proud of its lineage and what the laurel wreath has represented for over 65 years: inclusivity, diversity and independence. Fred Perry is unequivocal that it has absolutely nothing to do with Proud Boys and that that association is something we must do our best to end.

That embroidered circular flick, modelled on the original Wimbledon logo, has been adopted by many subcultures since the first polo was launched in 1952.

It is easy for the piece to be taken up as uniform because it is designed to look like one. It is stern and sensible and needs a distinctive kind of look to pull it off. That look is not a very large and very aggressive and very pink man, said fashion writer Tony Glenville.

In May, Fred Perry launched a new line with a publicity shoot featuring only models of colour. In pure Twitter bait, fury and counter-fury spewed online as some white customers claimed they would boycott the brand for spreading diversity bollocks. In a statement to Dazed and Confused magazine, Fred Perry replied: We believe actions speak louder than words Our real fans know what we stand for, and their response to this speaks volumes.

It is not the first time the brand has been fashionable for groups on the fringes of society; part of the appeal of a neat, utilitarian Fred Perry polo is that it is subversively nonconformist. There is an ironic fashion joke at play: the aesthetic might look objectively square, but its spirit is rebellious.

Few brands have been tussled over as hard by competing subcultures. From tennis nuts to Jamaican rudeboys, skinheads, mods, ska-punks, indie kids and Camden popstars, all have done the Perry polo before Proud Boys came along. The brand has been worn by racist skinheads before McInness lot and, despite its current wobble, is certain to be worn by music fans for some time still.

Amy Winehouse sported hers all over London and ended up collaborating with the brand in 2011 on a collection of Perry classics with Winehouse twists (collars turned up, sleeves capped in semi-sheer fabric). The line still sells well, particularly in the Far East. Damon Albarn, Britpops poster boy for the knitted cotton Perry pique shirt, was able to request a specific style of eight shirts which he wore for Blurs reunion gigs in 2009.

Musicians have been essential to the brands credibility, be it the Specials and the Jam or Arctic Monkeys and Skepta. In a project for the brands 60th anniversary in 2012, Don Letts made a series of films tracing the line of cultural scenes and musical hierarchies that emerged in Britain since the teddy boys of the 1950s. Fashion was key, but its intriguing to see how little the look has shifted for Perryheads, whether theyre on scooters revving around Southend in the 60s or dancing at the 100 Club in the 90s.

Perry was the son of a textile factory worker born in Stockport. He first became a world table tennis champion at 19 before going on to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles. Despite his record-breaking success, he was treated with contempt by the elite who ran the sport in Britain. To Andrew Groves, professor of fashion design at Westminster University, it is this contrast between Perrys underdog status and unquestionable personal glamour that has helped define the brand.

The working-class authenticity of both Fred Perry the man and Fred Perry the brand allows it to resonate with each new generation, he said. Its no-nonsense design has enabled it to be reinterpreted by each emerging subculture in a way that gives it additional layered, and sometimes contradictory, meanings. Fred Perry was worn on the terraces at Chelsea but also in the gay bars on Old Compton Street; by skinheads at NF rallies but also by Jamaican rudeboys.

Perry was a heartthrob: he dated Hollywood actresses, including Marlene Dietrich, and married four times. He moved to the US and took up citizenship there before launching his sportswear line with Australian footballer Tibby Wegner in the late 1940s. The company was kept in the family until Perry died in 1995, when it was bought by Japanese company Hit Union.

Groves believes the brand has been able to transcend each decade because of the way it has been reinterpreted by new fashion tribes. Its ironic therefore to see this particular shirt adopted by the Proud Boys, he said, given that within gay culture, a black polo shirt with yellow tipping on the collar usually signifies that the wearer is into watersports.

What Fred Perry would think about all the symbolism at play on his bestselling shirts is another matter.

New BalanceIn the early 00s, the athletics brand was adopted by neo-Nazi groups in Germany. The company clawed back credibility by sponsoring anti-racist music events.

BurberryThe Burberry check, whether real or counterfeit, became so synonymous with football hooligans and thugs that in 2004, two Leicester pubs banned any customer from wearing the pattern. It was a long crawl back to its contemporary reinvention as a super luxury British brand.

Stone IslandIn the mid-1980s, the then obscure Italian sailing label became huge on the terraces with football casuals, who matched designer clothes with lairiness. The look went weekend suburban dad after some time, but the brand was given a surprising new twist when the rapper Drake began wearing it.

See more here:
Fashion or fascist? The long tussle over that Fred Perry logo - The Guardian

When hundreds of far-right activists gathered in Berlin earlier this month, banners and T-shirts bearing US President Donald Trumps face could be clearly seen among the crowd. Many waved the American flag. The demonstrators, who later tried to storm the German parliament, had assembled to protest against the German governments COVID-19 restrictions.

Related:Is there a Nazi emergency in the German city of Dresden?

The US president is a popular figure among far-right groups in Europe.

Patrik Hermansson, a researcher with Hope Not Hate, a British advocacy group that campaigns against racism and fascism, says far-right activists see Trump as an anti-establishment figure, someone who rallies against the elites. Swedish-born Hermansson spent a year undercover in 2017 as a member of alt-right movements in Europe and the US.

Trumps time in office put the wind in the sails of far-right groups and populist parties in Europe, he said.

Just hours after TV networks announced that Trump had won the 2016 US election, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen took to the stage of her party headquarters in Paris and celebrated the result.

Americans have voted,theyve rejected the status quo. What happened last night was not the end of the world, it was the end of a world, Le Pen said.

She wasnt alone in her jubilation. In neighboring Germany, the then-leader of the far-right Alternative forDeutschland (AfD) party, Frauke Petry,tweeted "this night changes the USA, Europe and the world!"

And in Britain, Nigel Farage, former leader of the populist UK Independence Party, compared Trumps win to the passing of Brexit a few months earlier, saying 2016 was a year of political revolutions.

Supporting an American president is highly unusual for far-right politicians in Europe.

Related:Artists in Germany fear backlash after far-right party wins big

Sylvia Taschka, who teaches history at Wayne State University in Detroit, says US presidents usually represent everything European far-right parties oppose: Unrestrained capitalism. In other words, you know, a globalized free-market economy and an interventionist, some would say imperialist foreign policy," she said.

Trump challenged both of those stereotypes, Taschka says, and upended their long-held tradition of anti-Americanism. Taschka, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany, has witnessed the rise of the far-right in Germany with dismay. As a young child growing up in a cityfamed for its enormous Nazi party rallies in the 1920s and '30s and later the Nazi war trials, she was well aware that support for far-right views still existed. But those views were never openly celebrated.

"I was not blind when I lived in Germany. Germany always had a far-right element even when I grew up but they were kept more under the lid.

In the last decade, Taschka says that has changed dramatically. But she doesnt attribute the growing strength of the far-right AfD party to Trump. A changing political landscape and the refugee crisis in 2015 were key driving factors, she says.

Related:With far-right topping Dutch polls, EU elections could see Eurosceptics take the lead

Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde agrees. Mudde, whos a professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia, says far-right parties like the National Front in France or the Freedom Party of Austria dont need to look to Trump for ideological motivation.

They have a much more developed ideological frame than Trump will ever have, he said.

Mudde says President Trump takes little notice of Europes populist politicians but thats not the case for some of his diplomats. The US ambassadors to Germany and the Netherlands have both been guilty of normalizing Europes far-right parties, he says.

One can think of Richard Grenell, in Germany, who was criticized for normalizing the AFD and in the Netherlands, it's even stronger with US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra," Mudde said.

Its alleged that far-right Dutch party leaders met with Hoekstra at the US Embassy to discuss their plans for the future, Mudde says.

Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has also been holding court with far-right parties in Europe over the last couple of years. Bannon plans to convert a monastery outside of Rome into a political academy for ultraconservatives and future populist leaders, a move that has met fierce resistance from Italys Culture Ministry. The former White House aide also helped establish a foundation in Brussels aimed at supporting Europes far-right parties. But so far, it has received little attention from the parties themselves.

French political analyst Jean-Yves Camus,a specialist on the French and European radical right, says parties like the National Front in France have little interest in taking advice from an American. They were doing just fine before Bannon came on the scene, he says.

When Steve Bannon tried to present himself as the man who could unite the extreme right in Europe, he forgot a very important thing: The National Front was a very strong party well before Steve Bannon became known in Washington, DC. So, basically, they did not need him.

The policy of "America first" that Trump promotes has been a mantra of the far-right movement in France since the 1970s. Slogans like France for the French or French first have been around for some decades, Camus says.

While the rise of populist parties in Europe might seem like an anti-establishment vote, Hermanssonsays its important to recognize that many grassroots supporters believe violence is the only way to achieve their goals. In his first few months undercover with far-right groups, Hermansson was shocked at how openly they condoned the use of violence.

I think in the beginning, I was quite surprised over how openly supportive of violence they were, or at least how implicitly they gave credence to even mass shootings," Hermansson said.

Hermansson was in Charlottesville the day of the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in August 2017. He was standing just yards away from Heather Heyer when she was killed by James Alex Fields Jr., an alt-right supporter who plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters,injuring19 people and killing Heyer.

Hermansson saysthe incident was hugely traumatic and although he never expected someone would get killed that day, he had become increasingly concerned that things would turn violent. After Hermansson revealed his cover, he received threats from far-right groups for months afterward. Today, he says he feels relatively safe.

The alt-right supporters Hermansson met in Europe would most definitely support a second Trump term, he says. In the last year, populist politicians in Europe have also been tweeting their support for another Trump win in November. Political scientist Mudde says their support hinges on the fact that they share a number of common enemies with the US president. They dont believe a Trump victory will boost their standing in the polls, he says, but its better than seeing Biden get into office.

Biden is no friend of the far-right, Mudde says.

See the rest here:
Europes far-right stands behind Trump in US 2020 election - The World

The fashion brand Fred Perry has pulled one of its famous polo shirt designs after it became associated with a far-right organisation.

The company has halted sales of the black and yellow top in the US and Canada, after it was adopted by the neo-fascist organisation the Proud Boys.

In a statement posted to its website, Fred Perry said it was incredibly frustrating to see the polo shirt and its laurel wreath logo become associated with the group.

The company said that although it sought to represent inclusivity and diversity we have seen that the black/yellow/yellow twin tipped shirt is taking on a new and very different meaning in North America as a result of its association with the Proud Boys. That association is something we must do our best to end.

The statement continued: To be absolutely clear, if you see any Proud Boys material or products featuring our laurel wreath or any black/yellow/yellow related items, they have absolutely nothing to do with us, and we are working with our lawyers to pursue any unlawful use of our brand.

Fred Perry was founded in 1952 by the Wimbledon tennis champion of the same name and has been adopted by various subcultures. In the 60s and 70s its polo shirt became associated with the skinhead movement.

But the brand has repeatedly spoken out against its use by far-right groups. Frankly we cant put our disapproval in better words than our chairman [John Flynn] did when questioned in 2017, the label said in its statement.

Fred was the son of a working-class socialist MP who became a world tennis champion at a time when tennis was an elitist sport. He started a business with a Jewish businessman from eastern Europe. Its a shame we even have to answer questions like this. No, we dont support the ideals or the group that you speak of. It is counter to our beliefs and the people we work with.

The Proud Boys were created by the Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes in 2016 in the lead-up to Donald Trumps election as president. McInnes has since distanced himself from the organisation, which publicly insists it is not alt-right or white nationalist but has a history of glorifying violence and misogyny.

In 2018 the FBI classified the organisation as an extremist group, while the Southern Poverty Law Center lists it as a hate group.

Over the weekend, the Proud Boys organised a pro-Trump rally in Portland. Kate Brown, the Oregon state governor, declared a state of emergency in anticipation of white supremacist groups coming from out of town but far fewer people than anticipated showed up.

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Fred Perry withdraws polo shirt adopted by far-right Proud Boys - The Guardian

Early in the morning of Oct. 2, President Donald Trump tweeted that he and the first lady both tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, weve learned hes experiencing mild symptoms.

For many leftists, this may seem like karma. Indeed, Trump has abetted if not spearheaded many of the virus denialism and general aimlessness that has characterized this countrys response to the pandemic. He told us the virus would be gone by Easter, he refused to wear a mask until more than 100,000 Americans died and he even poked fun at Joe Biden for wearing a mask during the first presidential debate. On top of that, Trump has become the third far-right world leader to contract the virus, after the UKs Boris Johnson and then Brazils Jair Bolsonaro.

For many leftists, Trump catching the virus is a long-awaited iteration of poetic justice Its Trumps alt-right, pro-corporate, anti-science mentality coming back to bite him. And maybe it is. Many have already made a strong case that Trump has blood on his hands for how poorly he responded to the pandemic. So maybe, individually, Trump is getting what he deserves.

However, Trump is the president, and the effects of him having COVID-19, whatever they may be, influence things well beyond him as an individual. They will affect the nation as a whole. And whatever the outcome of his battle with the virus may be, the effects will not be good. This is the most imminent danger a sitting US president has been in since the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan 39 years ago. The implications of that are significant, and there are three potential outcomes that we should explore in more detail: that Trump overcomes the virus with no lasting effects, that Trump succumbs to the virus or that Trump survives but with long-term complications.

If Trump survives with no issues, he will likely take it as a divine mandate to double down on his insidious agenda. To understand what I mean here, consider what happened to Reagan after he survived an assassination attempt in 1981. Reagan saw his survival as a mandate from God. His ratings soared, and he used the momentum to intensify his efforts toward his initiatives. Trump, who already thinks he is the chosen one, would use his overcoming of the virus to his advantage, taking it as a full steam ahead signal from above.

He could also use his own survival to double down on his reckless handling of the virus. Its not hard to imagine him saying, I survived. I was fine. Now we can reopen the country. In other words, he would take his experience of survival and extrapolate it to everyone else. Trump surviving with no consequences would mean that we may find ourselves with an intensified version of what we already have. That would be dangerous.

Of course, I am not saying that the second alternative is better. Trump, being a 74-year-old male, obese and elderly, is in an extremely high-risk group, so, while sobering, we must consider the potential implications of his passing. First, no matter how evil and incompetent he may be, I do not wish that he dies. I do not wish for anyone to die. But, more concretely than such wishy-washy moral arguments, there is a practical case to be made for why it would not be good. If Trump were to succumb to COVID-19, imagine his supporters: they would be livid. Once again, it is not hard to imagine them speculating that he was poisoned by the radical left. Such skepticism, anger and sorrow about his death among his most fervent supporters (of which there are many) could very easily lead to civil unrest.

Furthermore, consider who would take Trumps place: Vice President Mike Pence. President Pence, many would say, could be even worse than President Trump. Beyond that, we cannot pretend that the significant presence of right-wing movements in this country will be over when Trump and Pence leave, whether by election or otherwise. The alt-right is here to stay, at least for the time being. Wishing for the death of Trump is both morally questionable and ignorant of the deeper trends he is a symptom of.

The final possibility that Trump survives but with significant lasting side effects would likely include some combination of outcomes from the previous two. He may still have a sense of divine support, but his supporters would still be enraged about his incapacitation. If the lasting effects of the virus were very severe, he may only be in office as a figurehead, much as what happened to President Woodrow Wilson after his stroke in 1919.

At this point, after all the doom and gloom, it is worth considering that Trump may have a change of heart: after experiencing the virus himself, maybe he will begin to take it more seriously and change course toward more pragmatic pandemic responses. But, given what we know about Trump and his headstrong nature, this optimistic possibility seems unlikely.

Ultimately, while the temptation for leftists to say, Told ya so, to Trump and his crew is understandable, there are not many positive outcomes to Trump having COVID-19. In fact, Trumps contracting the virus could prove to be incredibly dangerous for this country in many ways, ranging from right-wingers finding righteousness in Trumps survival to civil unrest over his death. So, before leftists excitedly proclaim that justice has been served, they must consider the nuanced realities of the situation. Yes, there is sweet irony here, but it could be bad news for us all.

Sam Smith is a rising senior studying geography at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Sam know by tweeting him @sambobsmith_.

Read more from the original source:
Uncle Sam: Trump has COVID-19, and that's not good - The Post