As a conservative who speaks German and studied there for a while I have to ask why sanitize this march by saying it was just some guys with tiki torches? There was only one reason the Charlottesville clowns marched in the dark while carrying lit torches and that was to imitate a Nuremburg style Nazi march. These dudes chanted "the Jews will not replace us" and "Blut und Boden" (Blood and Soil), a favorite Nazi slogan. Americans being Americans , not a lot of people seem to grasp what this march was. And, add to that, it was in the South, with its history of cross burnings (at night) and lynchings (at night) and the KKK riding around (at night) after the Civil War terrorizing people. There is a responsible, civil way to protest, and this wasn't it. The sooner we stop cutting people breaks for repugnant, uncivil forms of protest, regardless of their political persuasion, the better. I wholeheartedly agree, we shouldn't prosecute people for the content of their speech. That being said, neither should we hunt around for reasons to excuse abhorrent, uncivil forms of protest, like holding a Nazi-style torchlight rally. Which is one of the reasons the Proud Boys are a problem: there is no reason to tromp around in military gear, in public, "protesting." It's provocative, threatening, and has zero to do with the content of whatever it is these guys want to say. The guy who killed the young woman with his car accelerated through a crowd. The video is available on line. He murdered someone and had every opportunity at his trial to argue he was being prosecuted for his abhorrent personal beliefs. He lost, and lost biggly, having been judged by a jury of his peers. As a proud white European/UK American I have to say I have a fair amount of pride in this particular Anglo-Saxon invention. He got his due process, he lost, and he will be in jail for the rest of his life where he belongs. I've got zero sympathy for the guy, none. And, last, I've got zero sympathy for noted traitor and insurrectionist Robert E. Lee, who violated his military oath by turning on his country (the United States of America) and leading a rebel, insurrectionist army against it in battle, thereby causing the deaths of countless thousands. You can read about him in books, or on the internet, and there are museums that cover him or even have a statue of him. He has not been "erased," just removed from places of honor, like public squares and places like VMI. Everyone gets to believe whatever they want about the Civil War. But, an oath is an oath, and the oath he took had no exceptions. For the record, I've got no tolerance for leftist violence or right wing violence. I think people who engage in it should be hosed with water cannons, clubbed, and arrested. If I had my way I'd teleport every one of the Charlottesville tiki torch boys and their SS Fan Boy haircuts to Stalingrad where they could see how well they'd fare against Ivan. We need CIVILITY!!!
You’re doing great work for the totalitarian regime that is rising in this country as we speak. You seem to have bought into the leftist trope that certain opinions are not worthy of 1st Amendment protection. What happened to “I disagree with what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it?”
Regarding Lee, prior to the Civil War, a man’s “country” was his state. The United States of America was an alliance of sovereign states, not an empire where state boundaries were simply geographical distinctions. You’re projecting 21st century conceits onto a 19th century man. Lee fought for Virginia, and until about ten years ago he was held in high regard by all Americans. FDR and Eisenhower both honored his memory - are you a better American than they?
I agree with both you and the author. It is certainly within one’s right to protest with tiki torches. I support free speech, understanding I may or may not agree with what is being spoken. I personally think marching in protest with tiki torches at a racially charged event is done in very poor taste, but not criminality.
Your pieces get better and better. This could be your best ever!
Thank you for having the guts to stand up and say “No!” as the left (and too many on the right) systematically erase or rewrite our past, tear down our monuments, and destroy our heritage.
And thank you for closing with the all important poem by Martin Niemöller. I quoted this poem at the beginning of October 2921 when I saw the widespread hatred for the unvaccinated breaking throughout the land and the reluctance to properly compare that hatred to the Holocaust.
As a conservative who speaks German and studied there for a while I have to ask why sanitize this march by saying it was just some guys with tiki torches? There was only one reason the Charlottesville clowns marched in the dark while carrying lit torches and that was to imitate a Nuremburg style Nazi march. These dudes chanted "the Jews will not replace us" and "Blut und Boden" (Blood and Soil), a favorite Nazi slogan. Americans being Americans , not a lot of people seem to grasp what this march was. And, add to that, it was in the South, with its history of cross burnings (at night) and lynchings (at night) and the KKK riding around (at night) after the Civil War terrorizing people. There is a responsible, civil way to protest, and this wasn't it. The sooner we stop cutting people breaks for repugnant, uncivil forms of protest, regardless of their political persuasion, the better. I wholeheartedly agree, we shouldn't prosecute people for the content of their speech. That being said, neither should we hunt around for reasons to excuse abhorrent, uncivil forms of protest, like holding a Nazi-style torchlight rally. Which is one of the reasons the Proud Boys are a problem: there is no reason to tromp around in military gear, in public, "protesting." It's provocative, threatening, and has zero to do with the content of whatever it is these guys want to say. The guy who killed the young woman with his car accelerated through a crowd. The video is available on line. He murdered someone and had every opportunity at his trial to argue he was being prosecuted for his abhorrent personal beliefs. He lost, and lost biggly, having been judged by a jury of his peers. As a proud white European/UK American I have to say I have a fair amount of pride in this particular Anglo-Saxon invention. He got his due process, he lost, and he will be in jail for the rest of his life where he belongs. I've got zero sympathy for the guy, none. And, last, I've got zero sympathy for noted traitor and insurrectionist Robert E. Lee, who violated his military oath by turning on his country (the United States of America) and leading a rebel, insurrectionist army against it in battle, thereby causing the deaths of countless thousands. You can read about him in books, or on the internet, and there are museums that cover him or even have a statue of him. He has not been "erased," just removed from places of honor, like public squares and places like VMI. Everyone gets to believe whatever they want about the Civil War. But, an oath is an oath, and the oath he took had no exceptions. For the record, I've got no tolerance for leftist violence or right wing violence. I think people who engage in it should be hosed with water cannons, clubbed, and arrested. If I had my way I'd teleport every one of the Charlottesville tiki torch boys and their SS Fan Boy haircuts to Stalingrad where they could see how well they'd fare against Ivan. We need CIVILITY!!!
You’re doing great work for the totalitarian regime that is rising in this country as we speak. You seem to have bought into the leftist trope that certain opinions are not worthy of 1st Amendment protection. What happened to “I disagree with what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it?”
Regarding Lee, prior to the Civil War, a man’s “country” was his state. The United States of America was an alliance of sovereign states, not an empire where state boundaries were simply geographical distinctions. You’re projecting 21st century conceits onto a 19th century man. Lee fought for Virginia, and until about ten years ago he was held in high regard by all Americans. FDR and Eisenhower both honored his memory - are you a better American than they?
I agree with both you and the author. It is certainly within one’s right to protest with tiki torches. I support free speech, understanding I may or may not agree with what is being spoken. I personally think marching in protest with tiki torches at a racially charged event is done in very poor taste, but not criminality.
Your pieces get better and better. This could be your best ever!
Thank you for having the guts to stand up and say “No!” as the left (and too many on the right) systematically erase or rewrite our past, tear down our monuments, and destroy our heritage.
And thank you for closing with the all important poem by Martin Niemöller. I quoted this poem at the beginning of October 2921 when I saw the widespread hatred for the unvaccinated breaking throughout the land and the reluctance to properly compare that hatred to the Holocaust.