What Timeline Is This?

I remember being a little kid growing up in the 70s and 80s with the general rule of thumb being that Nazis were bad. They were the bad guys in most movies about WWII(unless it was about the war in the Pacific), they were a scourge across Europe conquering countries and taking them over. They felt that they were the chosen ones to run the world in God’s absence. There was the genocide of millions of Jewish men, women, and children as well. Indiana Jones wasn’t a fan either. One even had his face melted off in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Blues Brothers weren’t fans, either.

At what point did we come to the realization that they weren’t all that bad? So much so that I woke up Sunday morning to pictures of Nazis marching in downtown Indianapolis. When did we get to the point that we are now normalizing Nazis? Free speech, Freedom of expression, and the Constitution guarantees the right for Americans to express their opinions openly and in public, as long as their expression doesn’t turn violent. But isn’t the whole point of the Nazi party to exterminate everyone that’s not blonde-haired and blue-eyed? Murdering millions of men, women, and children; as well as the mentally disabled and handicapped. How are these points of views that people are willing to back? I don’t see any difference between Nazis marching and protesting in downtown districts than I would pedophiles or serial killers marching in support of their own points of view and opinions of how society should function.

We don’t want pedos marching. We don’t want serial killers and rapists marching. And we don’t want Nazis marching. That is, unless it’s right over a goddamn cliff.

It’s weird and terribly sad that we’re at a point in the current timeline when you have officials of the United States government excusing this kind of thought process. Where genocide can be forgiven if it means more votes and prizes for politicians. Maybe not even forgiven, but considered a point of view that falls under the protection of the Constitution. I mean, yes, we can think or believe whatever we want. That is an inalienable right. But to be given a platform for those thoughts and beliefs to be shared and flaunted; be it on the streets of a major metropolitan city or the dusty small town intersections of small town USA, seems wrong. Or worse yet, blasting it from social media accounts and podcasts. Why should hate groups that espouse the murder of human beings based on their race and religion be given free reign to spread that caustic belief?

Free speech. Sure.

I wonder what those men and women that fought against the Nazis would think if they saw masked people with swastikas sewn to their sleeves, AK-47s strapped to their person, and Nazi flags held high screaming “WHITE POWER!!” on Meridian Street in Indiana’s capital city. Do you think they’d say “Well, that’s what I was fighting the Nazis for in 1943, so their hateful, evil rhetoric could exist in another 80 years and could be spread through a Midwest community on a Saturday afternoon.”

I don’t think so.

My grandpa liberated concentration camps in 1945 at 18-years old. He saw the worst in humanity just out of high school, walking into those death camps and seeing just how evil human beings could be to other human beings. I would imagine, knowing my grandpa, he’d see those entitled little slugs in their best Third Reich cosplay bullshit and would want to run them all over in his old blue Chevy pick-up. And he wouldn’t think twice about it. He saw what that mindset did. It turned humans into ghouls and monsters, which in turn turned a Nationalist political party into a death wave through Europe.

Would the average American be okay with Islamic hate groups marching through cities in America’s heartland? Would these far right politicians and sycophants stand idly by allowing their law enforcement to protect Islamic extremists to espouse their hatred of Americans all for the sake of free speech and freedom of expression? Nope. Because they’re a hate group and they wouldn’t stand for that. If these Muslims were American Muslims then I suppose that would fall under the guise of Free Speech and Freedom Of Expression, but they’d still find a way to “disrupt” their “peaceful” protest. Why not the Nazis then? They’re the OGs of hate groups. Well maybe because those hateful little turds hiding behind internet-purchased Nazi outfits are their friends, relatives, or hell maybe they work in the statehouse. They’re friends and cohorts of those elected officials.

Nazis are a hate group. There, I wanted to just say it in case it’s been forgotten.

We treat Nazi rallies with more dignity and respect than we do LGTBQ marches and rallies. How seriously screwed up is that? We’d rather normalize jack boots marching the streets of Indy, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Ann Arbor, and Fresno than people dressed in rainbow colors, in drag, and listening to Lady Gaga.

I think what’s bothering me more than just these shit birds screaming “White Power!” and “Jews Will Not Replace Us!” in front of downtown Starbucks and Subways is how so many of us have normalized it. Sting once sang “History will teach us nothing”, but I think that’s a pretty lazy and nihilistic point of view. If history indeed doesn’t teach us anything, then how come the far right want to rewrite it in public schools? Why does the current orange clown want to only have good things about the US taught? Because if kids knew how we got here they may think twice about garbage actions like ICE, banning gays from the military, or dehumanizing the trans community. I’m 51 years old and I had to learn about the Tulsa Massacre from a fictional HBO series. In 2019.

This has all been bothering me for a long time. You can’t say that it started with the 2016 election and that whole fucked up switcharoo, but it definitely got much worse. Hating others that are different than you became a national pastime after Trump’s election, as opposed to before where hateful trolls had to keep their nasty worldviews and dirty secrets to family dinners and downtown bar gatherings. They’re now emboldened to freely and outwardly hate what’s different. You know why? Because their man does it at every campaign stop, press conference, and Truth Social post at 3 in the morning. He’s made hate an inalienable right.

The whole point of this was to get some weight off my chest. And to remind you, in case you forgot, the Nazis are a hate group.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.