I am mourning with many others for the victims of the Pittsburgh massacre. And I clearly name those who support hate speech as responsible for these murders – not by shooting themselves but by creating a homely climate for hatred and violence. But I doubt #45 and his crew of vile advisors will listen (can he listen at all?).
Don’t get me wrong: Germany does have it’s big problem with right-wing politicians too, who don’t bother to disinvite violent neonazi-supporters but instead encourage them. And this is truly bitter for me, as it means that so many of us haven’t learned a thing from the doom of the third reich in this country. But what society has learned and is, fallible enough, trying to enforce is that there are limits for free speech.
Racism and Hatred, against whoever, have to have no place in our society.
The photograph above shows the new Synagogue of Munich. In 2003 plans of neonazi terrorists were discovered to detonate a bomb at the ceremonies for the laying of the cornerstone for this building.
We’ve kind of gone off the rails over here, sad to say. All this violence, implicitly if not explicitly sanctioned and supported by the party in power, has reached a boiling point. And the parallels with the Third Reich are frightening for those who take the time to notice.
You may not have seen it from there, but if you follow Pete Souza on Instagram, his daily feed (and new book) provides a fascinating commentary, referring to the current occupant of the White House as “46-1.” There are others, but his is excellent. https://www.instagram.com/petesouza/ .
#46-1 is a good one, definitily, Tom! The #45 I took up from Jack Ridl (https://ridl.wordpress.com/) who never mentions the name, instead publishes a poem every thursday along with thoughts and ramblings.
Thanks for the link to Souza. I was aware of his work but did not follow on Instagram (it belongs to the same corporation which I truly dislike) but he is definitely worth an exception. I am still on the brink of buying the print he has on offer today.