We are hearing lots about the white nationalists in Charlottesville, VA. Without a doubt, the guy who drove a car into a crowd needs to be locked up. There is no excuse for such behavior.
That said, even white nationalists have the right to free speech. If they want to gather together (usually in very small numbers these days), our Constitution protects their right to do so, and no one should harass them. Ignoring them should be more than quite sufficient.
Unfortunately, when white nationalists held their little demonstration in Charlottesville, VA, some “counter protesters” came to brawl with them. Who organized those people? For some reason it is hard to find anything the news media? Did large numbers of hostile “counter protesters” just magically appear? Was their arrival spontaneous or not?
Opinions?
At a guess, the counter-protest was less organized than the Unite-the-Right Rally. In part they were students, here’s an account of one of the organizers via mtv. Another organizer was Pam Starsia (who seems to be with Activists of Color), here in an interview on the arrest of the UTR organizer Jason Kessler. Then there was part of the clergy of Charlottesville calling for a peaceful counterprotest. All of the above are reports I found using a simple google search for “charlottesville counterprotest organizers”.
I would think there were grassroot efforts of quite a few upstanding citizens, who would not look away when outside neo-nazis try to put on a show of force. As for violent counter-protesters prepared and itching for a fight, look no further than the Antifa (and no, I do not condone their violence).
For the record, had I been in Charlotteville I would likely have taken part in a peaceful counterprotest like the one organized by the Clergy. I vehemently disagree that ignoring the neo-nazis solves the problem. It encourages them to consider themselves the voice of the “silent majority” and allows them to intimidate minorities.
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@marmoewp
I don’t think one was needed in this case, but I have no problem with peaceful protests. I have participated in them. Of course, lots of people in our news media classify the Tea Party, one of the groups I protested with, as a hate group. The Obama administration was all set to go after the Tea Party as a bunch of terrorists, but they used the IRS instead. Real clever, those guys. Since the Establishment Republicans have no use for the Tea Party, nothing effective was ever done about the matter.
Let’s go back to my question.
I appreciate your comment, but it does not address my question. No law says you have to do so, but those violent counter protests stirred up just as much trouble as the trouble created by the white nationalists. It is foolish to ignore that fact.
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Apart from the Antifa response (they keep tabs on the rightwing radicals and coordinate (violent) counter actions on the cell level), I see the counter-protesters as a multitude of responses from small groups. As you repeat your question, do you think there was one central planning entity that pulled the strings? What do you think the story is the media ought to cover?
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I don’t think there is one big white supremacist conspiracy, one big communist conspiracy and one big anything in this country. We have enough trouble just getting behind our own government.
Nations tend to form into factions. Most of our mass media belongs to the faction that backs the Democratic Party. In fact, some describe the news media as the Democratic Party, and while that might be a bit of an exaggeration it is uncomfortably close to the truth.
When the white supremacists groups — white whatever you want to call ’em — showed up in Charlottesville, VA, violence resulted when equally violent protesters showed up to confront them. Our news media should report on the reprehensible conduct on both sides, not take sides. Unfortunately, our news media is taking sides.
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According to the news media, the whole world is against anyone who does not agree with the liberal agenda and their superior opinions over anyone who does not agree with them.
The fairy godmother of all liberals dropped them off at the rally. If you do not believe in a fairy godmother, then you must be a bigot.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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I agree, they have the right to protest and should be held responsible for any violence they themselves cause. As repugnant as their views are, they cannot be held accountable for violence caused by counter protestors. That’s just non sensical and probably illegal.
I’m sure a large part of counter protestors came from the violent far left. I hope there is a swift and thorough investigation in to this.
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Overall, I think the protest was a very bad idea. I will defend their rights to protest, but they also accept responsibility… full responsibility for the incitement to riot and violence that it caused.
We don’t just have rights, we have responsibilities
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The white nationalists could have demonstrated to heart’s content, and if the counter protesters had not shown up it would not have made much difference. No one to fight with. The new media would have called them extremists. Everyone else would have said: duh. Everyone would have also noted their small numbers.
The problem is that these people came looking for a fight. As soon as the fighting started, those involved should have been stuck in jail. Did not hear that was happening. I think that is partly why the riot got out of hand.
Are the rioters at fault? Yes, but we can blame a political decision for not throwing the book at some of those people sooner.
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