Paleocons In Power

I have more thoughts this morning on wignatism.

If you think about it, we have lived through and exited a distinct era of American history. We’re now in a new era and the terminology which defined this space no longer makes any sense.

The term “alt-right” made sense in the 2000s when George W. Bush was president, Conservatism, Inc. defined the boundaries of the Right and there were basically neocon gatekeepers at National Review and The Weekly Standard who determined who was mainstream and who was fringe. The “alt-right” was everything that had been tossed in the trash by the Bush era conservative establishment. It included paleoconservatives, libertarians, race realists, White Nationalists, Neo-Nazis, etc. From the perspective of the Bill Kristols of the world, all of these factions were tainted by “antisemitism.”

In retrospect, we can look back at the Trump Revolution from 2015 to 2025 as a populist grassroots uprising against this entrenched elite. Trump really did succeed in overthrowing those people who can now be found railing against him at The Bulwark and The Dispatch. He succeeded in discrediting and driving the NeverTrump “True Conservative” faction into exile. The term “Dissident Right” is antiquated and makes no sense these days when most “dissidents” are enthusiastic Trump supporters.

In the Council of Conservative Citizens, there are people like my friend Bill Lord who are old enough to remember the whole arc of rightwing populist politics in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They started their careers in the 1960s or 1970s when “racism” was still mainstream. Republican legislators from Southern states used to speak at Council events in the 1980s and 1990s. Rightwing populism was still part of the bloodstream of mainstream politics at the state and local level in the South.

Over the course of a generation, “racism” and “antisemitism” became more and more taboo in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Neoconservatives took over the Right. Paleoconservatives were cast out into the wilderness and were driven underground during the George W. Bush presidency. Republican state legislators stopped coming to Council events. There was a widening gap between mainstream respectable conservatism and paleoconservatism which had not existed in the recent past.

We have lived through this long night.

The sun is rising now. This is what it is like to experience dawn.

If you are a paleoconservative or a rightwing populist, you are now no longer a “dissident” in any meaningful sense of the word in the second Trump administration. Donald Trump has moved with lightning speed to crackdown on illegal immigration, to rollback transgenderism, to dismantle anti-White discrimination in government, to quell devastating wars, to bring back tariffs, to gut the Deep State, to reassert American interests in the Western hemisphere, and so on. These are the political priorities of paleocons and rightwing populists who are now just pillars of the MAGA base. The self-image of being a “dissident” or some kind of “alternative” to what is happening makes no sense whatsoever.

In the context of this new dawn, the differences between paleocons, libertarians, rightwing populists, nationalists and other factions, and wignats on the other, are resurfacing. The top priorities of paleocons are immigration, identity, demographic change, foreign wars, cultural degeneration, economic decline, anti-Whiteism, etc. Paleocons have always been critical of the Israel Lobby and Jewish power, but are not antisemitic. Paul Gottfried and Lawrence Auster have always been important paleocon voices. Paleocons like other Jews like Stephen Miller because he ideologically agrees with their agenda.

Wignats have very different beliefs, tastes and priorities. Paleocons, for example, dislike liberalism, but do not hate America or Christianity. Paleocons tend to be Christians from rural and small town America while wignats tend to be atheists from cities. Paleocons are not Third Worldists who yearn for Russia, China, Iran, the BRICS countries and so on to destroy America. Paleocons like populism, but do not believe in socialism or communism. Paleocons are not crippled by nostalgia for the Third Reich. They are not trying to bring back the Third Reich. The prevailing view is that the World Wars were a devastating blow to Western civilization. For wignats, Israel and the Jewish Question are the only issues that matter. “Naming the Jew” and refusing to engage with a corrupt political system matter far more than immigration. Paleocons dislike the Israel Lobby for the influence it wields over American politics and sympathize with the Palestinians who have been mistreated, but are not supporting, say, Hamas or Hezbollah. Paleocons have a very strong positive sense of White identity, but are affable and are not really hostile to others.

You will never see a paleocon crank becoming a mass shooter in a mosque, grocery store or a Walmart. You will never see a paleocon drive his car into a crowd a political rally. I’m not trying to relitigate the guilt or innocence of James Fields, Jr., but you know from experience that when something like that happens it always turns out to be someone with wignat politics. Indicted for wanting to blow up a power grid? Wignat. Indicted for murdering his roommates after converting to Islam? Wignat. Indicted for murdering a gay Jewish classmate lured into having gay sex? Wignat. Indicted for being a soldier into an openly Satanic version of Neo-Nazism and trying to kill fellow soldiers? Wignat.

Paleocons and wignats do not approach politics with the same mindset. Paleocons might be discouraged, but are not necessarily opposed to voting or trying to reform the system to accomplish goals. It usually depends on the candidate. Wignats believe “the system” is evil and are ideologically committed to destroying it. Usually, this takes the form of waiting for “The Collapse” or voting for Democrats to destroy the Right or embracing “revolutionary violence” like robbing banks or synagogue shootings. It can take the form of playing the clown online. Wignat political activity in all its various forms demobilizes Whites. Wignat tactics have a 100% failure rate because it is ultimately a religious movement. Christians wait for Jesus to come back. Wignats are waiting for Hitler and the Third Reich to come back. As I pointed out in the previous post, wignat eschatology is fundamentally different from historic National Socialism.

For a number of reasons, a “Dissident Right” coalition between paleocons and wignats makes no sense in the present moment. Paleocons will find a lot to like in the Trump administration and will be more open to voting now. Wignats will forever be disappointed that Hitler has failed to come back.

Note: A victorious, ascendant era of paleoconservatism on the Right and the implications of that is a possibility that I have never thought much about until now.

6 Comments

  1. Paleocons are bourgeois and middle class. They have a core of beliefs they inherited from their ancestors but ultimately those beliefs do not really matter. In the end paleocons care about making money and insulating themselves from liberalism. Paleoconservatism is a primitive, unsophisticated form of white flight from the 1950s-1970s. Reagan, Bush, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, John McCain and all the rest are downstream from Paleoconservatism. That is why paleocons appear so hypocritical. They criticize the Jewish lobby but they are definitely not antisemitic. They question the 1960s and desegregation but they are definitely not racist or hateful. They question feminism but they definitely are not sexist. They are against empire but they support annexing territory. It is a world of having your cake and eating it too with Paleoconservatism.

    William Pierce spoke at length of the hypocrisies of the middle class generally. In the end middle class types will always retreat back to the myths of opportunity, money, and comfortable living standards, left or right. It was these very people who broke the picket line in the late 1950s. Then when they soon realized their mistake, Paleoconservatism as a movement was born

  2. Brad, according to you why do people like Musk, Zuckerberg and others have no interest in supporting identitarian cause? It seems suspicious to me.

  3. > If you are a paleoconservative or a rightwing populist, you are now no longer a “dissident” in any meaningful sense of the word in the second Trump administration. Donald Trump has moved with lightning speed to crackdown on illegal immigration, to rollback transgenderism, to dismantle anti-White discrimination in government, to quell devastating wars, to bring back tariffs, to gut the Deep State, to reassert American interests in the Western hemisphere, and so on. These are the political priorities of paleocons and rightwing populists who are now just pillars of the MAGA base. The self-image of being a “dissident” or some kind of “alternative” to what is happening makes no sense whatsoever.

    This is an interesting point but I might add that it applies only to a fairly narrow segment of the MAGA base. There’s another segment, who Trump has given numerous shoutouts to, who thinks replacing the MAGA base with foreigners is the way to go. Related to them is are the Brian Mast types who supported Trump – are they MAGA? I prefer to call them MIGA as they really don’t care much about the foreign invasion, except maybe to say that illegals should be subject to some kind of sanction. Then there’s the GOP, which has not really been taken over by MAGA at all but remains solidly in the hands of the donor class. Mikey Johnson is not MAGA but he likes to pretend so. We’re still dissidents, but on the way to perhaps having some influence.

  4. Can’t help but wonder if some this is copeium with the known coming protection for Jewish people. We knew Trump would make it criminal to criticize the Jews. Now it has come to pass. Self censoring is a safe way to make sure you don’t get arrested.

    I am not implying you are wrong about some of the characters especially the likes of Adam Green.

    • Spoiler: it’s not.

      I drew a sharp distinction between my feelings about Jews, which hasn’t changed, and my aggravation with the monomania of activists droning on like a broken record while doing all kinds of stupid retarded shit. When you are generating headlines like “Niggercel opens fire at Nashville school,” you should stop and reflect on where this has gone off the rails

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