So, I was looking through my emails today and I noticed something interesting:

That tweet, by the way, was this:

Props to the woman who carried this in Boston. Wanted to give it a signal boost on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/lxliNL0dEo — Kristi Winters (@KWintie) August 19, 2017

It seems encouraging that Chelsea Clinton “liked” it — it indicates that she, and tens of thousands of others, recognizes something important.

And by the way, you should recognize this and like it as well, too. Hard.

Because the message those who, like Clinton, “like” this tweet are sending is that this frog represents very disturbing ideas of white supremacy, of far-right ideals, of extremism. It’s true that the people behind these ideas usually can’t mention these things clearly. So the frog represents a jovial, joking way to go about racism and verbal abuse. Disturbing ideas are just “trolling.” It won’t seriously defend Nazism — at least, not most people who use the frog — but it will joke about defending Nazism and focus more on the danger of what anti-Nazis believe than the danger of what Nazis believe. It hides behind its ideas with a joke, but the joke is a way for those ideas to gain currency and influence. I mean, the flag of their “ironic” imaginary state is reminscent of a Nazi battle flag. The top is a Kek flag, below, and the bottom is — well, you know. To say the similarity is obvious is an understatement.

And as their laughter camouflages a serious message. You see, after the 1960s, the racists had to go underground. And after 2012, increasingly, the anti-lgbtq people have had to go underground. So if you hold these views or want these views to have influence, you have to do it in a jovial manner that doesn’t allow your audience to seriously consider what you are saying. And, at the same time, you have to make your words and actions have influence as if they were true. So, for example, when someone “jokes” about the supposed absurdity of a specific trans woman looking for a restroom that represents her gender, the point is to get the audience to laugh while shaming the trans woman and getting the audience to see her as inferior. When someone jokes about how black people are criminals who can’t be trusted, the point is to get the audience to laugh while at the same time encouraging them to fight against groups like BLM and to encourage stronger police forces.

Laughter is a remarkably successful tool. You get away with saying, “that’s a joke” when you express your extremist views, and yet those views actually have influence in the real world. When people laugh, they don’t realize what you are doing.

That’s why we need to expose the joke. Whether the people with the frog think they are joking or not is irrelevant. If we are going to stop culture from being damaged by the joke, we need to expose the dangerous impact the “joke” has, and however humorous the frog may be intended as a symbol, its use has very real and serious consequences in the world.

And the end point of the joke, as you can see around the net, is to drown all suffering in the mirthful laughter of those who cause it. Gone is the image of the shouting Nazis — that’s been replaced by a laughter at the holocaust in many places and a mockery of those who can’t stomach it that has the potential to have nearly the same effect. Have emotions? Compassion? Empathy? Then you are a “cuck.” The thing to do is to hurt people and laugh at their pain, and as long as you laugh and get other people to laugh you are winning the culture war.

The game ends when the laugh is shown for its effects. When we see it for what it is — the latest technique in a line of bigoted actions that attempt to destroy people’s lives.

And this meme is doing that for each person that sees it.

So “like” it, will ya?

And thanks for reading.

PS: I have a Patreon, in case you want to help me do what I do.