I actually briefly met the Loyalist Party organizers for New York last April at the Rally Against Islamofascism and was impressed with their patriotism, realism and energy, but I had some reservations about the presentation of their message. Controlling our borders and confronting Islamic Imperialism are both laudable goals, petitioning to have Islam de-classified as a religion seems more counter productive to ensuring American freedom. After all, the Loyalist are essentially advocating giving the government (or really the mob) the authority to decide what will be a sanctioned religion.
Like in red China.
The Loyalists also confuse being opposed to Islamic imperialism with being opposed to Muslims in general. No Muslim is allowed to join the party even those who are willing to fight against Wahhabism or those more open to American society like Sufis. This is a mistake, there are Muslims who wish for reform and modernization. There are Muslims that are anti-Wahhabist who could be our allies in the coming wars. The Loyalists will allow our allies in the middle east to fall one by one, and American Muslims to slowly be colonized by Wahhabism, by depriving them of American alliances.
I had a conversation once with someone from the U.A.C. where we discussed the Loyalists and how it was too easy to present them as modern day Fascists, an American BNP. Like the BNP the Loyalists are hampered from getting their message out because their rhetoric not only borrows from White nationalism, but attracts a White Nationalist contingent. This person actually knew the people and told me frankly that they weren’t racists, weren’t “nationalist” in the traditional sense, and if fact were just unaware of how easy it will be to smear them.
My problem with the Loyalists is not that they’reracists, but their stance makes it too easy to portray them as that.
The Loyalists are are in their infancy however, and are learning to promote their message without sounding like bigots. If this keeps up they’ll be poised to replace Libertarianism as the viable third party of American politics. I don’t agree with some of their platform but if they really become a big tent party and reach out to legal immigrants I’d be interested in seeing how they evolve and how many people they draw from the Democrats and Republicans.
As of now, I am still a Republican and support the G.O.P. for national office, but I have no problem endorsing the Loyalists for local elections, they are radical, shocking and very important to the future political life of the United States. They are just what America needs to reinvigorate the political scene and begin to have an honest debate about where America is, and where it’s going.
Loyalist co-founder Brian Nordval has just done an interesting interview on Blogtalk radio, anyone interested in this dynamic new movement should take a listen. He does a great job explaining the platform, even the reasoning behind the Islamic religion declassification petition. The Loyalists are sure to become a strong force in local politics if they can keep on point and focus on their positive pro-American assimilationist message rather than the platforms the espouse that will be perceived as excessively bigoted by the American voter.