Posted on January 28, 2020

Attack on Joe Rogan Is an Attack on White Men

Chris Roberts, American Renaissance, January 28, 2020

In one of his finest essays, the late Sam Francis wrote: “[T]he real meaning of the doctrine of equality is that it serves as a political weapon, to be unsheathed whenever it is useful for cutting down barriers, human or institutional, to the power of those groups that wear it on their belts.” This is how to make sense of the “contradictions” within the “the doctrine of equality” (anti-racism, intersectionality, “woke-ism,” etc.). Those on the Left who demand reparations and “inclusion training” but who don’t care about anti-white crimes or invective are not hypocrites because they don’t really want a world free of offense and prejudice. They want a world in which they rule over their political opponents: conservatives, whites, Christians, etc. The rhetoric and taboos of political correctness are tools — not principles — in this struggle for power.

Today’s “cancel culture,” in which people can lose jobs, credibility, and social media accounts because of comments made years ago, is supposed to be bring about a pleasant, harmonious society. It is also one of the most powerful informal systems of social control in American history. It gives power to mobs cheered on by people who stand to gain yet more power from the eradication of “wrong think:” bureaucrats who oversee multiculturalist indoctrination, moralistic journalists, public figures who profit from “victim” status, and grandstanding political and religious figures. The taboos on what is “offensive” are always changing, so anyone who is not constantly paying attention is bound to break them – and be eliminated from public life.

What does this have to do with Joe Rogan’s endorsement of Bernie Sanders? Mr. Rogan hosts one of the most popular podcasts in the country. The format is simple: Mr. Rogan talks with a guest, usually for two to three hours. The attraction is that Mr. Rogan is in many ways an average American man, but with an insatiable curiosity about neuroscience, professional fighting, comedy, journalism, and everything else. Mr. Rogan finds someone who knows more than he does, and asks an avalanche of questions. His inquiries are always open-minded and in good faith. He is never hostile, never gets into shouting matches, and because his curiosity knows no bounds, plenty of his guests have been controversial. He is always thinking out loud, so his own comments have caused plenty of controversy too.

Last week, the Sanders campaign understandably welcomed Mr. Rogan’s comment that he would probably vote for the Senator. Mr. Rogan reaches millions of Americans several times a week, and they are not politically predictable. A Rogan endorsement could make a real difference.

But Mr. Sanders’s enemies immediately attacked him. Mr. Rogan speaks his mind and there are tens of thousands of hours of recordings of him, so finding politically incorrect statements is a cinch. The number-one complaint was that Mr. Rogan has guests on his podcasts that the Left hates, especially Alex Jones, Jordan Peterson, and Milo Yiannopoulos.

Leftists began circulating a video compilation of every time Mr. Rogan has said the “N-word.” Even without context, it is often clear that Mr. Rogan is quoting other people:

Leftist infighting over the endorsement got so intense, that many publication felt compelled to cover it:

During his time as an actor, UFC commentator, reality TV host, and thousands of interviews, Mr. Rogan has been in the public eye for over a generation. Coupled with his boundless curiosity, dislike of censorship, and unwillingness to play by anybody else’s rules, that makes him  a very easy target for the Left. It is important understand that there isn’t any particular stance or belief that has gotten Mr. Rogan in trouble; it is his lack of certain stances. He doesn’t refuse to talk to controversial public figures; he’s curious about them. He doesn’t believe that every politically correct taboo must be observed. He believes there are complexities and nuances that figures approved of by academia and the mainstream media won’t explore. In other words, he can’t be controlled.

In a sense, Mr. Rogan is a model white man: economically independent, deeply interested in the world around him, physically fit, versed in combat training, suspicious of media orthodoxy, and determined to go his own way. And that is what America’s elite fear. When the target himself — Mr. Rogan — can’t be silenced, he becomes a weapon against the elite’s other enemies. Many of them despise Mr. Sanders and are desperate to derail his campaign. Just as with Donald Trump in 2016, the media insult his supporters, feign outrage over the behavior of his online fans, and fantasize about eliminating them violently. Joe Rogan, perhaps the most open-minded and intellectually curious American alive, has become the tool for smearing another white man who won’t follow rules enforced by people who hate him. It’s a little like 2015, when “journalists” insinuated that because white advocates liked Donald Trump, he had to be one, too.

If I were a Democrat I’d vote for Bernie out of spite.