The sun has come out, birds sing, flowers blossom, holidays are enjoyed. This should be the time for relaxing, kicking back and putting strife in the chiller for a while.
But the firestorm burns bright.
Neo-Nazis march with swastikas, loudly proclaim Jews as the cause of all ills – at least the Muslims get a break – and insult the memory of every American soldier that died in World War 2 to defeat the wavers of that flag.
Anti-fascist protesters are held as culpable for the ensuing disorder by a self-aggrandising fool, who has no control over his mouth, or his thoughts, or the people who put him in power.
But he did defend the constitution. First Amendment, Freedom of Speech. No matter how hateful, how wrong, how divisive, inflammatory or downright evil. That is what men died for. Fighting the Nazis to allow people to be Nazis. Irony is a bitch.
And there is no need to hide the statues away, which was, apparently to initial spark that caused the problems.
The USA should take a lesson from Europe. To mark, and remember, the Holocaust, and everything else that fascism brought with it, you take your statues, you take your insignia and memorabilia, and you put it in a Slavery Museum. You retain the context, you retain the story, you retain the truth.
You do not destroy history, you ensure it is told properly.
And if, faced with the whole truth, people still want to see only one – white – side, then you give them medication, pat them on the head, and treat them like the fools they are. Because there is no hope for them. If reality doesn’t work, they are lost. Ask Trump.
And it is the same here. Conflict in Grantham over the weekend, between the National Front and anti-fascist protesters. Although the pictures are interesting. It seems that the police were only interested in detaining protesters, not the National Front. And they could have been, for inciting racial hatred, which IS against the law in the UK.
But we cannot be definitive, because who trusts the press.
What we can be definite about is that they need to be called out. Every time. All the time.
And not just the NF, or KKK, or every other fascist and neo-nazi group around the world.
But also those who step back from outright condemnation. Who prevaricate over their statements of criticism.
There is no room for fudging, because evil is evil.
But we need to be clear. It is the fascist and the neo-nazi that is evil, not the Christian church.
It is IS, or ISIS, or whatever acronym the delusional extremists and misfits want to use, not Islam.
And, from a more personal perspective, leave the Jews alone. Apart from the situation in Israel, which is long overdue a rational solution, they have been through enough.
If you want to know who to hold to account for the misfortunes in your lives, put the swastika down, and first look in the mirror. And ask the question:-
Why am I blaming those who have been exploited for the wrongs in my life? What about those I have put into power? Who make the decisions that keep me down, who ensure that, whilst I chase scapegoats they carry on exploiting us all.
Words are indeed mightier than the sword. And as has been proven this week, they can kill.
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