Friday, October 28, 2011

never mind the barricades

If you follow sgvscanner on Twitter* or read the San Gabriel Tribune, you already know this, but the US Nazi party is planning a rally in front of City Hall next Saturday. You'll recall they pulled a similar prank last year in Claremont.

The widely-agreed-upon response is to counterdemonstrate -- to let them know that their views are unacceptable. But I'm of a different mind, myself. I prefer to ignore their little antics, to get across the message that they are beneath our notice (as they are). By all means, have ample police on hand (not just for public safety but also to convey the idea that they are a menace thereunto), but let the civilians keep calm and carry on.

Mind you, this isn't a blanket opinion; crackpot movements should be loudly and publicly objected to when they start to take hold. (If only I'd been alive in the run up to 1919, I would have demonstrated against Prohibition at the top of my lungs!) But enacting the battle plan at this point against the Nazis -- esp. in Pomona -- is just giving them delusions, to say nothing of catering to their fondest wishes. After all, you don't see them marching in [fill in the blank with a town known for its vile ethnic opinions].


*How many of M-M-M-My Pomona's fine readers are on Twitter too? I recommend the aforementioned @sgvscanner, and our own @calwatch is to be found there too. You can even read my own bleatings -- rarely about Pomona -- at @mmwwah. Any other suggestions of tweeting Pomoniacs?

1 comment:

John Clifford said...

Interesting that the news has to come from the other side of Kellogg Hill. I haven't seen a word about this here where it's going to happen.

Freedom of speech does apply to these idiots, but there is the temptation to reply to that speech. However, I'll be thinking about what and where that reaction might be. Maybe that day I'll go to downtown LA and support the Occupy group as a counter measure.

Thinking about it.