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Sunday
August 13, 2017 |
![site index [Picture of
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| Patriot
Prayer is a cryptofascist group that
trolls lefties by holding "free speech" rallies
in predominantly liberal cities such as
Portland, San Francisco, and, today, Seattle.
They disavow connections to neo-Nazis, white
supremacists, and the KKK, but for some reason
those are the
exact people who show up at their provocations. In the wake of last week's
cavalcade of terror in Charlottesville--torchlit
Nazi parade, attempted
lynching, vehicular
homicide--Seattleites turned out in the
thousands to send a clear message that white
nationalism is not welcome here. Some fret
that counter-protesting gives these racist
xenophobes more attention than they deserve,
but ignoring them is worse as it accommodates
their ethnic cleansing agenda. When it comes
to fascists, all roads lead to genocide. What
starts with words ends in concentration camps.
But one drawback of these demonstrations is the hardening of the division between decent citizens and their nominal public servants. Police unions endorsed Tr*mp and cops tend to coddle the right and punish the left. Though there is some truth to the chant, "Cops and the Klan, hand in hand," taunting the police is plain bad optics and turns them against us even more. Liberals see themselves as morally and intellectually superior because bigotry really is low and stupid, but when it comes to tactics and grand strategy I have the feeling we are being played. I'm not a fan of the authoritarianism embodied by police in riot gear, but I think we need to keep the fight focused and try to win as many allies as possible rather than fuel antipathies which play right into neofascist hands. I'm not saying kiss cop ass, but let's not needlessly antagonize, either. |
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