If the Nazis Hold a Rally and No One Shows Up, Does it Make a Sound? By Dave M.

My office is within a block of Michigan’s Capitol building. My close proximity to the State government gives me the opportunity to view the various picketers/protestors that descend upon the Capitol lawn with their placards and blow horns in their impassioned attempts to affect public policy. There is no shortage of such groups, including the pro-choicers, pro-lifers, pro-teachers, pro-classic car drivers, etc. My personal favorite was the one woman PETA protestor. She sat on the sidewalk on a recent 50 degree day wearing only black bikini bottoms. She held a sign over her naked breasts that said: “All animals are made of the same parts.” Her naked body was painted with the names of the cuts of meat in the location from which one would cut them. The point of her protest was to assimilate animal meat to human beings and thereby convince the observer to eat vegetarian. I love it when a woman is empowered enough to stand up for what she believes in while nude. Her protest made me horny and hungry for steak at the same time.

As winter turns to spring, the number and frequency of the various gatherings increases. This Saturday it’s time for the Nazis to come to town. That’s right, the Nazis have decided that the best way to get their message across, whatever that message might be, is to gather on the Capitol lawn this Saturday and shout it to the legislatures that have most certainly gone home for the weekend. Obviously the Nazis evoke very emotional responses from the entire community. Nazis are morons and no one wants them around. A Nazi protest in Cincinnati recently turned riotous as the Nazis and various anti-Nazi groups decided it would be best to stage their competing view points on the same day at the same time. Tempers flared, rocks flew, and the police knocked some heads.

Lansing is attempting to prevent this type of violence. The police have asked the surrounding businesses to close for the day, and they have asked potential counter protestors to stay home. Yesterday there were several police officers walking around the sidewalk outside my office window. They were obviously looking for someone. I became interested and stepped outside. A group of people had written several anti-Nazi messages on the sidewalk advising people of diversity rallies and other various anti-Nazi rallies to be held to counter the Nazis. One such message said: “no free speech for fascists.” Not only have these diversity oriented people fallen into the obvious trap of Nazi incitement, they are apparently only one bad idea away from intolerance themselves. I enjoyed watching no less than six Lansing police officers spend twenty minutes observing a fire truck full of firemen spray sidewalk chalk off the sidewalk.

Free speech is one of, if not the most important right we enjoy as Americans. I would vehemently argue that almost no speech should be prohibited. The free flow of ideas between prevents tyranny, and fosters compromise and negotiation. Fascism is preventing someone from expressing their views simply because the idea expressed is ignorant and obnoxious. The Nazis must be allowed to speak. It is unconstitutional for the government to stop them from expressing their message.

The solution is not, however, for the largely religious, so called “community leaders” to waste their time protesting and countering the Nazi group. What if, instead of standing up to the Nazis, the diversity groups simply didn’t do anything? What if the media didn’t address the Nazi presence, except maybe to give a passing account that they appeared at the Capitol for an hour of hate filled shouting and then went home? If that were to occur, then the Nazi rally would harness all the power and effect of their own private basement and pole barn meetings. It would make the rally utterly meaningless. They could all stand around and hate various ethnic groups in a self congratulatory manner, and once they realized that no one came to throw rocks at them they could go home where they can share their bigotry and cheap beer at the same time. But the Nazis are smarter than that. They know that the community leaders will call for counter rallies, and they secretly hope that the fight will turn into CNN headlines so that their message of hate can be spread across the country and they can feel glorified in provoking anti-Nazi hatred. It makes them feel important. By responding, the community leaders have told them that they are important, when the exact opposite approach would convey the best message. The absence of any counter protest would tell them that they are so insignificant and their message so out of touch, that they are not worthy of their opposition’s Saturday afternoon.

It is not as if the diversity rally is necessary to show the community and the State that the Nazis are wrong. I don’t see any pro-Nazi reform on the American horizon. I don’t anticipate any progress in their political desires. I cannot even conceive that Nazis are going to convince one person on Saturday afternoon that their point of view is appropriate. The diversity groups should let the Nazis have their annual public gathering in peace. If these groups feel the need to counter the Nazi message then wait until next Saturday to gather and convey that message. Once the Nazis realize that no one cares enough about their message to bother confronting them, they will leave and not return. By listening, Lansing’s community leaders give credence and purpose to the Nazi message. Remove the counter protest, and the affect of the Nazi rally is diminished.

But idiots will be idiots, so pack your rocks. You get two points for every skinhead beamed.