[The Sabbaticus]

Anti-Defamation League Backs Down: ‘We Are Not Aware of Any Anti-Semitic Statements from Bannon’

by Joel B. Pollak17 Nov 2016

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has backed away from its earlier accusations against Stephen K. Bannon, stating on its website: “We are not aware of any anti-Semitic statements from Bannon.”

The statement appears at the end of an article on the ADL, “Stephen Bannon: Five Things to Know.”

The “five things” are:

Bannon has embraced the alt right, a loose network of white nationalists and anti-Semites.
Under Bannon, Breitbart published inflammatory pieces about women, Muslims, and other groups.
Bannon is a critic of the Republican establishment and the left.
Bannon has held a number of positions in his career.
We are not aware of any anti-Semitic statements from Bannon.

The first two claims are false. The next two claims are true, and innocuous. The final claim is exculpatory.

The ADL further explains:

While there is a long fact pattern of evidence that Breitbart served as a platform for a wide range of bigotry and there is some controversy related to statements from Mr. Bannon’s divorce proceedings in 2007, we are not aware of any anti-Semitic statements made by Bannon himself. In fact, Jewish employees of Breitbart have challenged the characterization of him and defended him from charges of anti-Semitism. Some have pointed out that Breitbart Jerusalem was launched during his tenure.

Nevertheless, Bannon essentially has established himself as the chief curator for the alt right. Under his stewardship, Breitbart has emerged as the leading source for the extreme views of a vocal minority who peddle bigotry and promote hate.

The statement that “Breitbart served as a platform for a wide range of bigotry” is completely false, and reflects the ADL’s left-wing ideological orientation rather than objective reality. The statement that Bannon is “the chief curator for the alt right” is also completely false, and defamatory.

The ADL, which calls itself “the nation’s premier civil rights/human relations agency,” launched a defamatory campaign on Sunday against Breitbart News and Bannon, the company’s Executive Chairman, when Bannon was named Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor by President-elect Donald J. Trump. (Bannon has been on leave from Breitbart since his appointment in August as CEO of the Trump presidential campaign.)

In a statement noting that the ADL “strongly opposes” Bannon’s new White House appointment, ADL president Jonathan Greenblatt — a former aide to President Barack Obama — called Bannon “a man who presided over the premier website of the Alt Right, a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists.”

That is a completely false accusation.

Breitbart.com is not “the premier website of the Alt Right.” The only supposed “alt-right” content on the site, among tens of thousands of articles, is one widely-cited journalistic article, “An Establishment Conservative’s Guide to the Alt-Right.”

As one author more familiar with the alt-right noted recently, the main alt-right sites are “/r/altright, Stormfront, and 4chan’s politics board” — not Breitbart News.

Given the wide international interest in the presidential election, and the evident popularity of Trump among some portions of the alt-right (and unpopularity on the far-left), Breitbart has attracted wider attention beyond the company’s core audience of center-right and conservative readers.

But Breitbart is not an alt-right publication, and the daily news content of the website speaks for itself. Moreover, there are no “white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists” working at, or published by, Breitbart.

On Wednesday morning, nationally syndicated talk show host Dennis Prager — who has written a widely-respected book on antisemitism — called the accusations against Bannon “libel” and said that the ADL had damaged itself with the false claims.

Reacting partly to those false claims, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday evening to stage a demonstration against Bannon, including signs referring to Bannon as a “Nazi.”

Also on Wednesday, the ADL initially denied press credentials to Breitbart News’ Adelle Nazarian, who was to cover a conference on antisemitism in New York on Thursday.

Nazarian, who is Jewish, is an experienced journalist who has covered antisemitism and foreign affairs for Breitbart News, and most recently covered the 2016 presidential campaign as part of the national traveling press corps.

Late Wednesday, the ADL reversed its decision and credentialed Nazarian for the event.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Read More Stories About:

Big Government, Big Journalism, Breitbart Jerusalem, adl, Alt Right, anti-defamation league, anti-semitism, antisemitism, Breitbart News, civil rights, Donald Trump, false accusations, Jonathan Greenblatt, Stephen K. Bannon, Steve Bannon

Breitbart

So the regressive left has employed the ADL to target Bannon after he was appointed a position within the Trump administration. Funnily enough Breitbart was originally founded (according to the wiki) partly in order to support Israel, and employs many Jewish reporters (apparently).

This sounds similar to the role that the Southern Poverty Law Center played in the Pepe hoax of the 2016 elections.

[ThirdTerm]

President-elect Donald Trump’s chief strategist seems to think there are too many immigrants leading Silicon Valley. Steve Bannon, who previously served as Breitbart News Network’s executive chairman, hinted at some of his views on foreign workers at technology companies in the past. In an interview between Trump and Bannon that took place last year, and that The Washington Post resurfaced yesterday, Bannon alluded to the idea that foreign students should return to their respective countries after attending school in the US, instead of sticking around and working at or starting tech companies.

Trump voiced concern over these students attending Ivy League schools and then going home: “We have to be careful of that, Steve. You know, we have to keep our talented people in this country,” Trump said.

When asked if he agreed, Bannon responded: “When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think . . . ” he didn’t finish his sentence. “A country is more than an economy. We’re a civic society.”

http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/16/1365 ... -tech-visa

His chief strategist seems to be more conservative than President Trump who disagreed with Bannon's assertion that there are too many Asians in Silicon Valley, who need to be sent home. Bannon also wrote, “Let the grassroots turn on the hate, because that’s the ONLY thing that will make them do their duty.” Bannon's call for hatred could have been a campaign strategy to mobilise the party base but Bannon would be eventually fired by Trump if he pushes this strategy too far.

-- In an interview with Mother Jones in August, Bannon acknowledged that white nationalists and anti-Semites are drawn to the so-called “alt-Right” movement.

“Look, are there some people that are white nationalists that are attracted to some of the philosophies of the alt-right? Maybe,” he said. “Are there some people that are anti-Semitic that are attracted? Maybe. Right? Maybe some people are attracted to the alt-right that are homophobes, right? But that’s just like, there are certain elements of the progressive left and the hard left that attract certain elements.” (Mother Jones, August 2016)

[The Immortal Goon]

Newsflash: Breitbart denies Breitbart is terrible.

Well, I guess that just explains everything then.

[noir]

As non American Jew, I'm happy the American radical Jews would finally pay for their recklessness. These radical Jews created the havoc in American campuses to begin with. They are the one who brainwashed the rioters.

Watching these shameful scenes, I know who to blame. They are so brainwashed.

[noir]

Good they are "scared"

[anna]

The “five things” are:

Bannon has embraced the alt right, a loose network of white nationalists and anti-Semites.
Under Bannon, Breitbart published inflammatory pieces about women, Muslims, and other groups.
Bannon is a critic of the Republican establishment and the left.
Bannon has held a number of positions in his career.
We are not aware of any anti-Semitic statements from Bannon.

The first two claims are false.

"We're the platform for the alt-right," Bannon told me proudly when I interviewed him at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... tbart-news

[Donna]

I find Breitbart's site design isn't very stable. Text often overlaps with other parts of the design and it's the only site that crashes my browser.

That's my only complaint.

[The Sabbaticus]

"We're the platform for the alt-right," Bannon told me proudly when I interviewed him at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... tbart-news

The question is whether the definition of 'alt-right' should be allowed to be formed by ideologues of the regressive left. Many do not perceive the 'alt-right' to be 'white supremacist, racist or xenophobic'. These are unsurprisingly enough favourite character assassination imprecations utilized by regressive left ideologues. They're therefore meaningless.

[anna]

The question is whether the definition of 'alt-right' should be allowed to be formed by ideologues of the regressive left. Many do not perceive the 'alt-right' to be 'white supremacist, racist or xenophobic'. These are unsurprisingly enough favourite character assassination imprecations utilized by regressive left ideologues. They're therefore meaningless.

Making the assertion doesn't make the assertion true.

The words and behavior of the alt-right have built their reputation. If rank and file alt-right don't want to be perceived as racist, misogynistic and xenophobic, it's up to them to prove that their more vocal members are the exception and not the rule. So far, they've failed.

[The Sabbaticus]

But all those who oppose the regressive left are automatically labelled heretics (read: racists, xenophobes, Islamophobes, homophobes, etc.). The burden of proof does not rest on the accused. The Church of Political Correctness has profited immensely from these wild and rampant accusations of modern-day heresy and witchcraft. But now it has come full circle. Even if the 'alt-right' is 'racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, etc.' it'll take a lot more than just the usual outcry of heresy to prove that they are.

[Tewodros III]

But all those who oppose the regressive left are automatically labelled heretics (read: racists, xenophobes, Islamophobes, homophobes, etc.). The burden of proof does not rest on the accused. The Church of Political Correctness has profited immensely from these wild and rampant accusations of modern-day heresy and witchcraft. But now it has come full circle. Even if the 'alt-right' is 'racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, etc.' it'll take a lot more than just the usual outcry of heresy to prove that they are.

There's no left it's just neo-liberalism, the regressive left is the end result of capitalism, like the altrags are.

[The Immortal Goon]

But all those who oppose the regressive left are automatically labelled heretics (read: racists, xenophobes, Islamophobes, homophobes, etc.). The burden of proof does not rest on the accused. The Church of Political Correctness has profited immensely from these wild and rampant accusations of modern-day heresy and witchcraft. But now it has come full circle. Even if the 'alt-right' is 'racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, etc.' it'll take a lot more than just the usual outcry of heresy to prove that they are.

[The Sabbaticus]

But I've not 'misrepresented, exaggerated or fabricated someone's argument', unless you're equating Anna with the totality of the regressive left. And if you want to use a term, at least apply it properly.

[The Immortal Goon]

But all those who oppose the regressive left are automatically labelled heretics (read: racists, xenophobes, Islamophobes, homophobes, etc.)

Presuming you're using Sam Harris and his ilk as defining the, "regressive left," then it should be noted that I oppose the regressive left. I have not been labelled a racist, xenophobe, Islamophobe, homophobe, or anything like that—automatically or otherwise.

The burden of proof does not rest on the accused.

I'm presuming that if someone did accuse me of these things, I could go ahead and prove otherwise should I be so inclined.

The Church of Political Correctness has profited immensely from these wild and rampant accusations of modern-day heresy and witchcraft. Even if the 'alt-right' is 'racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, etc.' it'll take a lot more than just the usual outcry of heresy to prove that they are.

This is hysterical whining that I don't understand. But you make this out to be some kind of conspiracy where people that, presumably, don't like racists are accusing you of being a racist. Because of this, you're exaggerating, misrepresenting, or completely fabricating "the regressive left's" position as they don't paint me or many other people not on, "the regressive left," as racists.

You are, in essence, attributing accusations about racism thrown at you to accusations about racism thrown at everybody.

This is not the way it is. You are imagining an opponent (that I'm not sure really exists anyway), assigning the opponent fake ideology, and then presenting your imaginary creation as someone that is victimizing you—and you want everybody to see what a victim you are.

It's a straw man argument.

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

Breaking: Breitbart thinks they are totally not racist or nufin.

Din do nufin!

[Rich]

Well I call myself alt-centre, alt-cen or alt-lib. What distinguishes us alts from regular people? We hold all sorts of crazy beliefs that nice people reject like:

9/11 was committed by Muslims, as opposed to people pretending to be Muslims.
Blacks commit more murders per head of population than Whites.
White people invented the idea of human rights.
Increasing population makes the average citizen poorer.
Rap culture is not respectful towards women.
A woman alone is safer on a western university campus than she is on the streets of Cairo or Islamabad.
Israel is a state based on race, its immigration policy is fundamentally from Merkel's Germany.

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

White people invented the idea of human rights to repudiate the ideas invented by white people.

[noir]

Israel is a state based on race, its immigration policy is fundamentally from Merkel's Germany.

Race? It's the most diverse nation in the world. There are Jews of any color you can imagine. Much of Israel trouble in the world opinion is this mistake.

[stephen50right]

The left continues with their non-stop propaganda against Donald Trump and I expect it to continue for the next 4 or 8 years.

Trump's daughter Ivanka is Jewish. Trump loves all of his children, but you can just tell that Ivanka is his favorite and he loves her very much. If Bannon was anti-Semitic, there would be no chance, zero, that Trump would appoint him or work with him in any capacity.

So the accusation about Bannon being anti-Semitic is an admitted falsehood by the Anti-Defamation League, and our side knew it was a falsehood all along.

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

Breitbart doe