Why in the WORLD would you accept these racistsâ framing of the issue and describe this as a âfree speechâ rally?
#framing matters
Canât scream âfireâ in a crowded theater. Why should we allow people to scream ân----râ in a crowded city?
This is all the speech of INCITEMENT. It is likely to lead to and directly cause violence. It is âfighting words.â It is disorderly conduct. It is deliberate.
Thereâs going to be a LOT of arrests in Boston this weekend if these alt-right âvoicesâ donât wise up and back off. Boston is about as blue as cities get and they donât mess around with nonsense like this.
Itâs now common knowledge these nutjobs are being outed on social media via photographs taken at these rallies. Losing jobs, suffering ostracism by family, schools and some friends. The obvious solution is to wear a mask, but some cities ban masks in public using various justifications. Iâll be curious to see how many proudly tout their affiliation with fascist causes, and how many attend but make attempts to mask their identity.
I suggest the mayor grow some real stones and follow this plan: Allow the rally to go on but have a big police presence there and EXPLICITLY order them to go after the Nazis at the first sign of trouble. Form police barriers between the two groups and wait for provocations by the Nazis. Once they do it, turn them loose and have them disperse those pukes with extreme prejudice.
Letâs see how these dipshits like have their asses kicked by the police and watch them cry like the snowflake cowards they are.
Steve will also walk your dog and fetch ice if you run out. Donât leave him alone with your parents though, unless youâve already told them about that trunk in the attic.
Letâs get the truth here. Permit or no? Oh and stop the cute names. âFree speech rallyâ? Câmon.
BTW, didnât see it in this story, so just for context: the New England Holocaust Memorial was vandalized last night. I live in New England â folks here are very on edge about this ârally.â I would guess Walsh will turn Boston into a total police state this weekend if he has to, and I hope he does.
Do we believe in the First Amendment, or not? Freedom of speech is freedom for the speech we hate. Yes, even fascists, racists and anti-Semites. And it is no excuse to say that those who are exercising their rights to be hateful may arouse their opponents to violence. Thatâs the âhecklerâs veto,â and it is not a reason to prevent someone from speaking. âIncitementâ is just that. It is saying âletâs go,â not saying something that will get the other side angry.
One of my concerns is that the anti-protesters seem to be as ready to mix it up as the thugs on the right. Thatâs no way to protect liberty.
These fascists hide behind âfree speechâ the way the KKK incorporated as churches to avoid taxes and legal liabilities.
Yep they should be allowed to hold their pathetic, cowardly little un-American shit-show. And this is coming from someone who H-A-T-E-S these scumbags.
Thatâs why the police were such a JOKE in Charlottesville. There has to be the right to hold a public protest but the damn cops need to snap to. They need to separate the groups PHYSICALLY with their own bodies. They need to be ready to respond to outbreaks around the protest etc. I mean itâs their job right?
As for the slight blaming of the anti-protesters I have to disagree. You have a right to protect your person WHILE you protest. I lay all of the blame for the violence and incitement at Trump and the Naziâs feet. I say this with all honesty. If right wing dude comes up to me and makes me fear for my life I have a right to defend myself. By whatever means necessary.
There is a small minority of counterprotestors who appear willing to meet violence with violence. But tarring all counterprotestors with that is an error.
And we can believe in the first amendment without abandoning reasonable restrictions on time, manner and place. If youâre bringing a bunch of people together who have a known propensity for violence, and you donât have any plan to prevent that violence, claim of âFree Speechâ donât really dress up the mob.
I would much prefer that TPM had put the term in the sneer quotes that it deserves here.
I am not sure Boston should block the white christian supremacist rally.
As Americans we have to aggressively go after every white supremacist and every white christian supremacist institution with every legal, social and educational tool at our disposal. We should bring the same dedication and resources to this task that we did to fight the Nazis, Communism, Wahabbi Sunni terrorism and the Russian attack and takeover of the 2016 election.
However, we have to eliminate the white christian supremacist scourge with existing policing tools but without trampling on their constitutional rights and freedoms. This putrid swamp infested with, and enabled by a vile white christian supremacist bigot Preshitident who is betraying our country. Their hateful ideology has no place in America and in the marketplace of ideas.
Counter protestors going to white christian supremacists rallies should come with a well prepared contingency self-defense and safety plan.
Yes and no. ROAR in the mid 70s fighting against school integration and bussing in Boston was fucking ugly. Boston has a ugly âblue collarâ racist past.
Good, they should be shamed and afraid to leave the house
I was not in Charlottesville, but from what I saw on tape, it looked like someâby no means allâof the anti-protesters were happy to mix it up with the Nazis and their friends. A friend who was active in the movement to block the Seabrook nuclear plant, in New Hampshire, told me that the protest organizers there provided for those ostensibly on their side who would be violent by getting people to surround them closely so that they could not move to engage in fisticuffs. Thatâs harder when people are allowed to carry guns, but itâs still important for the responsible anti-bigotry groups to make clear that violence, even against hateful people, is not permissible.
On a purely intellectual level I agree. But this is not happening in a vacuum of ivory tower thought experiments.
While the SCOTUS has already set precedents on this (Skokie v. American Nazi Party) the real world impact is people die and our social fabric is further torn apart.
It can certainly be debated, but in the end, the 1st amendment is not a suicide note.