Time to invoke the 25th Amendment.
I got TWO!
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FiftyFourandAHalf 
yup
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Gee, I hate to sound like Trump, but one thing I really value in this country is freedom of speech. Even hateful speech. I’m glad there were counter-protesters at that despicable rally, and I agree with their sentiments. But I don’t agree with any use of violence against those hateful Nazi bastards who were exercising their freedom of speech.
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It seems like all the people in the hospital were with the counter-protesters, so how much violence could there have been inflicted upon the Nazi shitheads? I didn’t see any counter-protesters plowing into crowds with cars. I understand what you are saying Tippy Gnu, but the Nazis were being very threatening to innocent people. People were trapped in a church the night before, because they were surrounded by the alt-right bastards. Free speech is not the same as threatening language and action.
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The accounts seem to vary, but it appears from the different stories I’ve read that violence was instigated by both sides. Meanwhile the cops sat back and allowed it to happen. My guess is that if the police had been more proactive there would have been far less violence. But by not interfering they allowed heated exchanges to get hotter and hotter. The shame of it is, that some of the counterprotesters appear to have allowed their emotions to get the best of them. That allows the alt-right to portray themselves as victims.
Since much of the violence appears to have resulted from a bad policing decision, maybe that’s where the focus should be when figuring out how to prevent this sort of thing again.
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Actually when I first tuned into this on the radio last saturday and heard that there were two groups, and one, the neo-Nazis going after the counter protesters with bats and clubs and brass knuckles, I also heard that the police were just standing on the sidelines, creating a perimeter around the two groups, I was shocked. Of course the day got progressively worse.
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The Nazis had more powerful guns than the cops did. The counter-protesters (and not very many of them) might have had bats and pepper spray, but they didn’t carry long guns. The police response was lacking big time, I grant you that, but I am not sure how much more they could have done had they done all they could. I think a better idea is to have some kind of local ordinance that says that no guns are allowed at any planned marches, and no permits will be granted to any groups that can’t agree to that. I don’t know if there are Virginia statutes that would overrule that. If that’s the case, maybe the legislature should change that (yeah, I know, that’s not going to happen). I guess my point is, anytime a group, especially one known to advocate violence and hatred, are allowed to show up armed to the teeth, it has to be expected that they are intending to intimidate people (like they did with the people in the church the night before). Since that was the case, did you expect that none of the counter-protesters would show up with just cotton candy?
I have to repeat what I said originally. I don’t think any of the Nazis had to be hospitalized, so how bad could the violence have been on the side of the counter-protesters?
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I had not heard of the church group until you brought it up. Apparently, you have been following this more closely than me. And if the Nazis came armed with guns, that certainly trumps baseball bats (pun intended).
I don’t know what the best answer is to these neo-Nazis and other White Supremacists, except strong leadership at the top, opposing them. And that we do not have anymore, sad to say.
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I am a non-violent person (although I will admit to fantasizing). I believe in free speech, too.
But the number of issues here is vast. Neo-Nazis have taken over Charlottesville, a beautiful little city — this was the third time they were there. And so there was a counter protest.
There were two sides but the two sides have no moral equivalency. And Trump is very, very wrong. To quote from the blog post I am about to reblog,
“No, Mr. President. There were not many sides in Charlottesville. There were just two. Right and wrong. There were white supremacists on one side and Americans who believe all people are created equal on the other side. There were hate groups and there were Americans who oppose hate. There were neo-Nazis and… Do we really have to go beyond that? Isn’t that what we call a non-starter? There were Nazi’s you stupid piece of shit and still that wasn’t clear enough for you? Really? You couldn’t even get this one right? On one side there were Nazis and on the other there were no Nazis, and you still came down on the wrong side?
Now, I don’t know what the Alt Left is, but if it’s the group that wants to stand up to neo-Nazis and White Supremacists to end racism, bigotry and hate then sign me up.”
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The whole situation is pretty tragic, in my view. And as for our “great” leader, I would have preferred the orange man to clearly denounce these Nazis in a way that encouraged non-violent resistance to them. Oh gee, “resistance”. That hearkens back to WWII also. What is happening to our country?
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Many of us stopped believing we need to work together and contribute. 😥
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