Hillary Clinton’s recent “alt
right” speech marks a new and dangerous low in what has become race to the
bottom – and, should she be elected, it has ominous foreign policy implications
as well.
Alarmed that Trump is reaching out to the African-American community, Mrs.
Clinton tried to make the case that the GOP candidate is a apologist for such
groups as the Ku Klux Klan (do they still exist?) and an obscure amalgam she
dubbed the “alt right.” As she named this latter group, there was a significant
silence, a pause in the cheering: perhaps her audience thought she was having
a senior moment of the intestinal variety.
In any case, none of this is anything new: it’s a variation on the “Vast
Right-Wing Conspiracy” theme that she has been dragging out ever since the
1990s. There is, however, a new dimension to this tired boilerplate, now that
she’s running for President: the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy is being portrayed
an international cabal with its headquarters in the Kremlin.
As her peroration on the “racist” sins of Trump reached a climax, she hauled
out Nigel Farage, the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP), who was instrumental in leading the Brexit campaign to victory. Farage
– who is, in her view, a “racist,” a “sexist,” and god knows what other unsavory
“ists” – “has appeared regularly on Russian propaganda programs,” she yelled
“Now he’s standing on the same stage as the Republican nominee.”
What is she talking about?
Apparently, Farage has allowed himself to be interviewed by “Russia Today,”
the Kremlin’s answer to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. If this is proof of
his perfect perfidy, then what is one to make of Larry King – who has endorsed
Mrs. Clinton? Mr. King has a regular
program on “Russia Today.” So does Ed Schultz,
a partisan Democrat and former MSNBC commentator and host who has defended
Mrs. Clinton.
Undeterred by facts, her voice rising to a veritable shriek, Hillary tied her
conspiracy theory together by pointing to the sinister figure at the center
of this vast worldwide web of subversion:
“The godfather of this global brand of extreme nationalism
is Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, Farage has appeared regularly
on Russian propaganda programs. Now he’s standing on the same stage as the Republican
nominee.
“Trump himself heaps praise on Putin and embrace[s] pro-Russian policies.
He talks casually of abandoning our NATO allies, recognizing Russia’s annexation
of Crimea, and of giving the Kremlin a free hand in Eastern Europe more generally.
“American presidents from Truman to Reagan have rejected the kind of approach
Trump is taking on Russia. We should, too.
“All of this adds up to something we’ve never seen before. Of course there’s
always been a…