Springtime For Hitler In Floriduh
Hatred never takes a holiday in the Sunshine State
It took place in broad daylight in front of a shopping center in Orlando, FL, but it could have been anywhere. A group of neoNazis, snapping off Hitler salutes and screaming anti-Semitic slogans at passersby as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Of course, it was the worst sort of example of protected free speech imaginable. Still, these knuckle-dragging troglodytes were breaking no laws…until they started getting into fights with those passing by.
What seemed most remarkable about the assembly of neoNazis was that none of them felt the need to wear a mask or anything that might camouflage their identity. No, they were perfectly comfortable seeing and being seen, yelling anti-Semitic slurs and insulting those unfortunate enough to pass by their protest.
I loathe everything this group stands for, though I support their 1st Amendment right to say it. But, if they want to establish themselves as hateful, racist jackasses, that’s their choice. And who am I to stop them?
What does disturb me is that here in the 21st century, we’ve reached a point where some folks are so angry and so filled with hatred that they see nothing amiss with embracing an ideology predicated upon White supremacy. And it’s not just White supremacy, but the violent suppression of non-White, non-Aryan, and non-Christian segments of American society for which they’re advocating. So either they aren’t aware of what Nazism truly is, or they don’t care- and both possibilities are terrifying.
Yes, these cretins represent an exceedingly small but vocal minority, but the fact that they exist at all is distressing. Most of these folks will deny the validity of the Holocaust…or they’ll argue that the murder of six million Jews was justifiable and appropriate. They’ll make the case that the REAL tragedy was that the Third Reich didn’t exterminate more Jews.
Of course, I suspect the vast majority of Americans will readily condemn neoNazi knuckledraggers. Unfortunately, I also believe that most Americans have no idea just how far some neoNazis are willing to go. Sure, some of them get off on playing dress-up and goose-stepping on weekends so they can piss off the locals. However, there are those who’d happily see America turned into the Fourth Reich so they could herd Gays, Jews, Blacks, and Asians into extermination camps.
It’s been said that history is circular, and for good reason. Germany didn’t begin as a hotbed of Nazi ideology. No, it started with a small number of true believers who made a few converts, raised some Hell, and eventually managed to bend the country to its will. Before Germans knew what had happened, Adolf Hitler was Chancellor, and Jews were being dispossessed and hauled off to death camps.
America isn’t Germany, but that’s not to say we’re immune to the siren song of simple solutions to complex problems. It starts with being told who’s to blame for the problems we see around us. Eventually, it becomes us uniting around an ideology built upon “purifying” America and making it a country by, of, and for White people.
If you think it can’t happen, take a good, long look at how Donald Trump came to power. Then, if someone as intellectually and morally bereft as Trump can manipulate and propagandize the masses into electing him, think what someone more intelligent and ruthless could do.
They were only a few outliers acting out in front of a shopping center, but movements that changed the shape of history have started with less. And the same thing could easily happen here.
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