At the No Kings protest I went to the other day there was this one guy, all alone, standing on the corner with a sign that read “I support President T****”. And in a crowd of thousands of people all of whom disagreed – many vehemently – with him, no one talked trash to hm, threatened him, assaulted him or tried to hurt him. A few people exchanged greetings and there were some brief conversation with him, but that was about all. He was safe standing there all alone.
And it struck me that if he had been one of us at a MAGA rally, he would not have been safe. I have seen what MAGA rallies are like, and In fact, he would have been screamed at, vilified, bullied, assaulted verbally and almost certainly battered physically. He would have been in such real physical danger that it probably would have been better and safer for him stay away.
And that’s the difference between them and us. In spite of the MAGA’s characterization of the No Kings protesters as violent criminals, terrorists and America-haters, we peacefully, almost joyfully channeled the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. We practiced non-violence and were protesting for the rights of everyone. Even the one T**** guy.
On the other hand, through their private armies of ICE officers and Border Patrol agents, the MAGA’s use violence as a means to their end. It is their goal to suppress the rights of all people of color, of anyone who looks Hispanic, speaks Spanish or looks like they work at a low-paying jobs. And they do it with the Supreme Court’s blessings.
Through their semi-official militia like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, and their violent, hateful followers liie the ones who stormed the Capital, MAGA’s almost gleefully assault and batter anyone who doesn’t look like them, act like them or appear to believe as they do.
They channel the bigotry and hatred of the Nazi Brownshirts. They take umbrage when called Nazis, but I suggest that fascist by any other name….
And they follow the philosophy of Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Herman Goebbels who advised, ”Always accuse the enemy of that which you are guilty.” This is who they are and this is what they do. They are not us.
We are not the same.
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