This is concerning this diary on Stephen Miller.
Snopes has weighed in and rated the claim made on my diary false.
Stephen Miller is a white nationalist. Given Miller’s racist history, which wasn’t challenged, I think he knew exactly what he was doing. However, I acknowledge it’s impossible to tell if this was done deliberately, as Snopes admitted in their article. There will always be people who can justify these things away. The Jim Hoft photo from the same article could easily be explained away as the “A-OK” sign—except that the idiot actually said what he was doing in his tweet.
Now, I respect the work they do at over at Snopes, but nonetheless a few things to consider in their piece:
Claim is False:
Using their words:
It is impossible to tell, in the absence of additional images or video to use for comparison purposes whether Miller was deliberately using a hand gesture of any sort or whether this picture simply captured him during a fleeting moment while he was adjusting his tie and jacket.
If it's impossible to tell, how can you rate it definitively false?
Picture:
"On 21 February 2017, web site DailyKos.com shared a photograph of White House advisor Stephen Miller, along with a claim that the image clearly shows him using a hand gesture that signifies white nationalism".
This surprised me because I never used the picture they are saying I used. The photograph they used wasn't from my diary, it was from someone else's diary last week. (Eryk) The photo I’ve always used is a screen grab with his quote on Trump saying he “will not be questioned”.
Quote:
The first line they quoted on their video was accurate, but edited to make it sound like I was talking about the hand sign. I was referring to a link on his history of racism.
Didn’t happen because hand signs aren't exact:
I'll give you that. I used ADL because of their neat database, but this isn't an exact science. Anyone working at the ADL also has my deepest respect, but I disagree. They said Miller would have to have his thumb raised--well, if he did that, it, wouldn't be a W, would it? I live in rural Florida, and have attended Trump rallies--the W.P. hand sign is a thing, but they aren't at all standardized.
Didn’t happen because Miller wouldn’t have know about it:
Really? How would one know that? I lived in suburbia so you could say that, but I also worked in an attorney's office and did volunteer work in a juvenile home, so I became very familiar with all kinds of things you wouldn't otherwise think I should know about.
Didn’t happen because Miller is Jewish:
Yes he is, and I never said he wasn't. Linked directly to David Duke talking about that. Being Jewish didn't stop him from palling around with white nationalist Richard Spencer. Milo Yiannopoulos claims to be Jewish but that hasn’t stopped him from spewing anti-Semitism.
The problem with a story like this is it’s impossible to prove either way. I appreciate they linked the story directly, although I wish they would have included the links I had as well. Here's the thing, you can’t say that Miller is the type of person to say "Oh, he'd never do something like that." We have white supremacists running the white house, so I don’t think this is beyond reason.
This kind of imagery is designed to be subtle--so subtle that they can say we look ridiculous for calling it out. So when Laura Ingraham gives a salute or Trump demands a pledge from a crowd of dimwits they can say—oh, of course you are being silly. Sure, maybe. But I won’t be intimidated from calling it out.
That being said, given the response from ADL, I am certainly not as confident as I was when I wrote the diary Tuesday. You’ll notice at the end of my original diary, I added potential alternative theories offered by the DKos community: (tie, mic, happenstance).
What isn’t in question is Miller’s long history of racism, which Snopes helped me put on full display for all to see. For that, I am grateful.