Out of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has arisen yet another of those tempest-in-a-teapot controversies. The current slander is the shape of the CPAC stage. It was similar to a letter in the ancient Nordic alphabet — known as the Odel or Oden Rune. It represented the “o” sound. The symbol is still used in Scandinavia in conjunction with Odel Law – dealing with property.
Like the swastika – an ancient Asian symbol – the Odel Rune was expropriated by the Nazis as a military unit badge. There is very little public awareness of the obscure symbol in ANY of its historic manifestations, however.
Many people carry surnames relating to the Odel Rune letter or symbol. Check out your telephone book – if you even have one – and you will find oodles of Odels and Odells – and a number of other variations. Perhaps those folks should change their family name or risk accusations of being part of a white supremacist cult.
None the less, the radical left has found the shape of the CPAC stage to be yet another opportunity to malign CPAC and conservative movement in general – and to build on their disgustingly FALSE narrative that conservatism and white supremacy are synonymous.
One might expect such exaggerated comparison to rise from some nutcase radicals consumed by paranoid conspiracy theories – the kind of folks who interpret the most benign events and images as international plots that are only credible among fellow-travelers in the dark corners of the Internet. But noooooo.
The Washington Post, USA Today and the left-wing cable news have given the story high priority.
It is a major news(?) story across the left-wing media-sphere. It is yet another example of how far one-time mainstream journalism has descended into the political propaganda rabbit hole.
The Hyatt Hotel convention center – where the CPAC event was held – piled on with a statement that a Nazi a symbol on their stage is “abhorrent and unequivocally counter to our values as a company.” They did not seem to care about the history of the symbol or the legitimacy of its linkage to CPAC. Is that an indication of political correctness intimidation gone amok – or because the hotel chain is owned by the uber liberal Democrat Pritzker family.
Now let’s face it. The stage does look like an upside-down version of the Odel Rune. But that is about as far as the story goes. The left’s baseless interpretation defies fact and reality.
First of all, CPAC is by far not a racist or white supremacist operation no matter what the media says.
They are engaging in false conspiracy theories and … lying. As I have written in a recent commentary … in the more than 40 years that I have attended CPAC, I have NEVER heard racist or white supremacist talk from the platform or in the hallway. To suggest otherwise – by intimation – is dishonest reporting at its worst.
CPAC would never use an anti-Semitic or Nazi symbol on their stage for any reason. The organization has been a most ardent supporter of Israel. The Jewish community is a significant participant in CPAC events and activities.
If the intent was to symbolize Nazi Aryan dogma, why is it upside down and unrecognizable from an audience perspective? Even if the audience could see the upside-down symbol, most would not have recognized the design if it were put on the front page of the conference program. A symbol has little meaning if the audience cannot see it and would not recognize it if they could.
Still … the media plays to the ignorant, the hateful and the gullible.
There are actually people who will now believe that the stage of CPAC was a secret (wink) (wink) (wink) signal of white supremacy. The elitist east coast media is spreading this conspiracy theory. I have gotten a comment on this website from a guy who has already been drawn in.
And we get this bit of propaganda from folks who speak out against bogus and dangerous conspiracy theories — only to wallow in the ones they choose to advance for partisan political purposes. We should never forget that those on the left created and proffered the two-year long false conspiracy theory that Trump criminally conspired with Russia in the 2016 election – and even after Special Council Robert Mueller totally debunked that nonsense.
Readers of my commentaries know that I am no fan of conspiracy theories – emanating from the left or the right. I am disgusted, however, that the bull***t theories of the left are given a hyped voice and undeserved credibility by the powers-that-be – both Democrats and the corrupt media.
I do not know why the stage took the shape it did and I do not know if the leaders of CPAC were even involved in the design. It would be interesting to find out who designed it and why. Maybe it was some left-winger who wanted to embarrass CPAC. Oh … but that would be an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory. It would be no more or less credible than the current reporting on the shape of the CPAC stage, however.
So, there ‘tis.