(08-13-2017, 05:29 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:(08-12-2017, 01:21 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:(08-12-2017, 08:42 AM)gabrielle Wrote: Protesters clash in Virginia city on eve of white nationalist rally
The timing of the alt-right violence seems a bit strange to me. All it takes is a few dozen to hit national headlines, yet it has been erratic rather than continuous.
That's because while the alt right is large, very few of them are extremists such as the ones who conducted this rally. And even then, violence requires a counterprotest. Basically, these white nationalists are even more of a fringe group than Occupy Wall Street or the Black Lives Matter militants were.
However, Kinser correctly notes that the tremendously overinflated news coverage they get works to their advantage. The publicity is a great recruiting tool for them.
The leaders of the Alt Right are extremists. Followers may still consider themselves moderates. But there were plenty of Germans who endorsed the Fuehrer in general even if they thought the vileness of the cartoons and 'news' items in Der Stuermer unspeakably vile and thought the street violence excessive... and perhaps that the Jews were getting a raw deal but there must be something to the mass hatred against them. But we have more jobs (paid much less and requiring more hours) and the propaganda is dazzling.
One can compromise with flawed people to seek out the best of them, perhaps with some inducements to get them to do better than they might otherwise have done. One cannot compromise with pure evil and not be soiled. Pure evil can manipulate commonplace dreams and even virtues, let alone the tools of entertainment and information, turning them to evil ends.
A cause like the Nazis, the Bolsheviks, the Ba'athists, or ISIS not only needs the fanatics who shape the cause and give it its meaning -- but also the gullible sympathizers who go along as if nothing has changed except the direction of the country. America under control of the Alt.Right will likely go down much the same way as Nazi Germany and Thug Japan went. You will remember the pageantry while you forget that people whom you should have seen as brothers are carted off... out of sight, out of mind? No, you're not going to believe the lies of the ZDF, RAI, or NHK, are you? (those are German, Italian, and Japanese broadcasters, and this time freedom is far more secure in Germany, Italy, and Japan than in America). Maybe not until some occupying army shows the 2026 equivalent of people from the cities surrounding Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Mauthausen, or Buchenwald being compelled to go on an excursion to see the consequences of the obscene deeds against the pariahs of the fascistic regime.
But remember -- it is the moderates who squeal on a neighbor who complains about being pressed to work too hard or to do unpaid work on behalf of some Party Boss. Or that the neighboring "Simpsons" in Springfield, Missouri (who are not to be confused with Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa in "Springfield, state undisclosed) "are really the Silversteins". Or maybe "He talks like that blogger who thought that the middle name of Donald Trump was Judas". Or even "My cranky uncle once sent a postcard from Toronto that read "It's great to be in a free country again!" So your reward is a paid vacation to an amusement park, time off from work and a voucher for lodging and dining as you get to see the Party Rally, the nice car that the 'Simpsons' were using, a piece of a savings account that your uncle will never get to enjoy in the labor camp, or a gift certificate for some new clothes. Your children appreciate your choice. With totalitarian rule come moral compromises in the name of the Nation, the Race, or the Inexorable Tide of History.
Americans, prepare yourselves for the worst time in your history. Do not compromise with evil even if it has an American flag attached. And yes, that means you, Warren.
What would Jesus do? In Nazi Germany He would have been packed away in a cattle car to be gassed in some fake shower.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.