3137

Yeah they’re not even in the same ballpark when it comes to modern examples of them. The Neo-Nazis are cancer trying to spread genocide, hate and oppression. This isn’t a difference of opinion or nor inclusive of all white nationalist groups. I am not even listing all hate groups here. This is pretty specific. The Neo-Nazis self label and literally want to revive Nazism, wish the other team had won the war and worship some of the individuals who committed some of the most heinous war crimes in modern history. They would do it all over again if they could, but win.

3138

I know- a court decision here would help so much, but we can’t rely on it.

3139

The director of communications for the Labour party was a Stalinist. It’s unclear if he still is.

So it feels to me that the very extreme left is a lot closer to power than the very extreme right (even the BNP are racist fascists rather than out and out nazis)

3140

Please name a nazi in a position of genuine power in the West.

3141

Steve Bannon.

3142

Steve Bannon is a nasty piece of shit fascist, certainly.

Is he a Nazi? He’s spoken approvingly of a nazi collaborator and indulged in antisemitism (although an oddly selective antisemitism). He’s clearly a racist. But antisemitic racist nationalist is certainly not equivalent to nazi. Has he ever been a member of a Nazi organisation? What is it that makes him a “Nazi”? Or is Nazi just a synonym for “particularly scary fascist”? If people are actually advocating punching particularly scary fascists, then for the sake of constructive discussion please de-godwin yourselves.

I don’t have a particular problem with Richard Spencer being punched, I do have a problem with the tendency in modern politics to take views we disagree with, represent them all by their most extreme proponents, and declare them beyond the pale.

The Trump election obviously makes this more problematic because declaring Trump beyond the pale doesn’t seem unreasonable.

3143

Sebastian Gorka.

3144

That said, the type of capitalism advocated by the US has probably resulted in more deaths since WW2 than neo-nazis have (I suppose it is mostly as a result of them not having any real power, yet.). The type of facism you see in the Philippines now is racking up the kill-score every day though.

3145

Unless you’re Mike Tyson

3146

For me the fundamentally scary thing about 2016 was how what would previously be considered ‘extreme’ was being spouted by a mainstream candidate, which in turn emboldened folks who typically hide under rocks, and also forced ‘moderate’ voices to be less moderate because they had to align with ‘their guy.’

It seemed to me a big, inexorable process the end result of which could be something very like 1933. I am still trying to figure out the most accurate way to define it and call it out, but I strongly resist anti-Godwin politesse because I think it is inadequate to this historical moment.

3147
3148
3149

What would happen if they flunk the test? They were elected by the people; I don’t think kicking them out based on competency would fly (or be constitutional).

edit: I suppose just publicizing test results might be of some value.

3150

What’s sickening is that guy is probably going to be re-elected because evil Democrats and e-mail. He actually had the nerve to stand up and tell the people he represents that he doesn’t represent them nor does he understand where his power as representative or his salary comes from.

3151

The article said basically, if you want a seat on a committee it would be based on that, but mostly it’s a point about how our government officials couldn’t pass a middle school social studies class. Imagine if you got a job and you literally didn’t know what your job was or who even employed you. It’s like putting your grandmother in IT. She can’t turn the fucking machine one, but now she’s in charge of the servers.

3152

Honestly, it’d be good to just make them take the test, and publish the results.

Of course, the Trump supporters would probably support folks who failed the tests even more, because “Fuck those elitists, with all their fancy book learnin’”.

3153

Yes, due to the point that Timex mentions, I’m unsure that there’d be any additional utility to this approach. Liberals would still vote for intelligent, reasonable candidates, and conservatives, well. . .

:)

3154

3155
3156

Hey let’s play find the token black kid…