Into the Belly of the Beast

Breaking down the comments on a right-wing website.  

If you can stomach a dose of the far-right weltanschauung, check out the comments below “Obama: ‘Islam has Always Been a Part of America’s History,’” from a website called Patriot Update. The article itself is trash, cherry-picking events from history to “prove” wrong a statement Obama made on a trip to Egypt. 

My comment, still the newest in the thread:

There is no controversy here. Obama's statement is simply correct. He does not say Islam was an important force in American history, just that it was a part of American history. There is extensive documentary evidence that Muslim slaves have been in North America since the 1700s. George Washington many not have known any Muslims, but John Quincy Adams did. He freed a West African prince, Abdul Rahman, from captivity in 1828. One can find many other anecdotes involving Muslims throughout our history. So maybe everyone should just calm down and accept this for what it is: a true statement made diplomatically by a president to a Middle Eastern nation who we consider a friend in the region.

Below this (not in response to mine), you have all kind of vitriol. I would put the comments into three groups: The Know Nothings, The Crazies, and The Racists. 

The Know-Nothings

The Know Nothings, whose views are similar to their namesake brethren of the 1850s, are the least awful, relatively speaking. They tend to be the best informed and most articulate on the extreme right, having (to borrow the words of one historian in reference to anti-Lincolnites) read deeply, but not widely. Their views are monolithic and show little appreciation for complexity or context; Islam, a religion of over 1.5 billion followers, is always equated with the words and actions of a radical few. They represent a longstanding American tradition of Nativism and reactionary politics inspired by immigration and peppered with conspiracy theories. In the 1850s, the movement was anti-Rome. Today, it combines anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment. 

Some examples from the comments:

• Islam is not a religion, it is a totalitarian system. Its goal is “Islamize” America, revive the Caliphate, and avenge the Crusades
• Islam is inherently incompatible with American/Western values (aspects of Islam that contradict this, such as secularist movements or the existence of Turkey, are ignored)
• Immigration policy turns a blind eye to foreign threats and infiltration
• Certain groups are legitimately “us” (including, unlike in earlier times, Jews) and others are not
• Islam was not part of any significant American event
• Islam does play a role in American history, but it is all negative, and it is all offshore (e.g. the Barbary Pirates, the slave trade)

The Crazies

This is typical stuff:

• We know nothing about Obama’s life—all his records are concealed
• Obama is a secret Muslim, advancing a secret Muslim agenda
• Obama is a traitor, or, more accurately, a “domestic enemy”  (because “only a citizen can be a traitor”)
• Obama has been brainwashed by the left
• Muslims are taking over demographically
• Obama was sent to America to orchestrate a coup/martial law/dictatorship, supported by socialist dupes
• Obama/The Left is satanic
• Obama is a terrorist and “like Hitler”
• My favorite: Obama was schooled at 8 years old by Bill Ayers, his true lifetime mentor 

The Racists

• Obama is crazy, stupid, ignorant
• Muslims are dirty, child-rapers, like insects
• Black culture has corrupted America
• Yes, whites are racist, but blacks hate whites more than whites hate blacks

And then there is NotYourUsualPolitics—good on you, whoever you are! Trolls hate it when somebody cuts through their crap like a butter knife.