Jake and Elwood hated Illinois Nazis. I hate Michigan Nazis. Actually, I hate all Nazis, but I especially detest Nazis from states I've lived in, such as Ohio, New Jersey, and Illinois. But worst of all are Michigan Nazis, because it's my home state, and even worse than that are Detroit Nazis, because that's my home town. I was born there and lived there until I was around 10. I will always have an affinity for the city, no matter how down and out it is.
And there's a Nazi in Detroit now trying to take advantage of the crappy economy to recruit to his hate cause:
On a dead-end street along Detroit's fringe, the leader of America's largest neo-Nazi group is scheming to exploit the region's economic unease.
Jeff Schoep, commander of the National Socialist Movement, said he's undeterred by the area's large African-American and Jewish populations since moving his group to the area in December. In fact, he said, the diversity and distress of metro Detroit makes it ripe for recruitment.
"Detroit's a big city, and the economy is not real good," he said. "Anywhere the economy is bad, people are looking for answers. And I think we provide some."
This is the kind of movement that he leads:
Philosophically, he concedes, "We do like Hitler and the way he ran the government," but it's "a misconception that we are bigoted."
Yeah, right. I wonder if they'd let a black woman or a Jew into their organization. Let's see:
He said he's after "warrior archetypes," like the men of the Alamo and Valley Forge, men he said will fight for white workers and oppose immigration, Communists and Jews.
Guess not. And, oh sure, all that rhetoric about protecting the white race isn't racist. All I can say is: Get the hell out of my hometown, Nazi. Detroit's got enough problems without people like you swooping in to "organize."
I wonder if Jake'll let me borrow the Bluesmobile. I promise not to scratch or dent it. Much.
Does he have a web site? You should investigate his opinions on science. He sounds like one of those pesky "Darwinists."
OK, I'm too lazy to do my own post, but this guy is a piece of work.
More here.
These are the front men for the Michigan extreme right cryptofascists. That group of religious, corporate, $$$$, that uses fear to control their interests. Think DeVos and his Blackwater family.
Translation: "There are plenty of handy scapegoat minorities here for us to blame for the lousy economy. Whether these 'answers' are true or not doesn't matter. What matters is that we have someone to blame and focus our hatred on. That's what worked for Hitler, and it ought to work for us, too."
~David D.G.
Sigh. There really isn't anything new you can say about the Nazis. Stupid now, stupid yesterday, stupid tomorrow. But as long as they keep going, we have to keep going. Thanks for keeping it up, Orac.
To paraphrase Mark Twain:
Show me a neo-nazi. now show me an idiot. But I repeat myself.
Nazis admire the men of the Alamo? Men like Juan Seguin, who fought for the Tejanos' right to govern themselves? Men like William Travis, who fought for the right of illegal aliens to have a say in the land they had moved to? History is a lot more complex and interesting than these Nazis want to pretend.
"Anywhere the economy is bad, people are looking for answers. And I think we provide some."
Does this remind anyone of Weimar Germany?
I hate all Nazis equally, Orac. Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, American, Canadian, German, British, doesn't matter to me. They all deserve the same treatment -- which I shan't describe since this is more-or-less polite company.
ChrisC, of course it does. Nazis are too stupid to come up with any original ideas, so they keep trying what worked for them once before -- which tactics, incidentally, they stole from the Russian Bolsheviks.
Does he have a web site? You should investigate his opinions on science. He sounds like one of those pesky "Darwinists."
If he really believed in "the survival of the fittest" he would imitate those who have proven themselves fit by surviving. So if these neo-Nazis try converting to Orthodox Judaism...
I had to have a good chuckle at the whole 'we like Hitler, but we're not bigoted or anything' shtick.
The Detroit Nazis sounds like some bizarro world sports team. I can just imagine them with their ballcaps featuring a charicature of Hitler.
I think ChrisC has a point; given the size of the US underclass and the complete lack of political representation, it's quite surprising that no one has come up to exploit that a la Hitler yet. I suppose the only problem is the race issue.. any aspiring fasist in the US would have to drop the racist stuff and keep on the class warfare/fundamentalist line.
Andrew Dodds wrote, "it's quite surprising that no one has come up to exploit that a la Hitler yet."
Having just finished reading a biography of Huey Long....
Of course, he was pre-Hitler and we saw what happened in Germany when a single man was given absolute power. You could argue that Huey was good, or bad, but it's clear that unchecked power, even in Huey's case, reduces your empathy for your fellow man.
But as reporter Jon Tevlin discovered, the 30-year-old Schoep hardly fits that description himself, with a string of petty crimes on his record, including a felony arrest in 1998 for aiding and abetting a burglary. According to court records, Schoep -- who was unemployed at the time, and apparently still is -- was arrested for accompanying the mother of his daughter when she stole $4,000 worth of computer equipment. Four children were in the back seat of the car during the burglary ... Schoep told the Star Tribune his crimes were "in the past," and claimed to be "taking care of my children."
Were these kids all his? If so, this guy had four kids, no job, and a criminal record by the time he was 20?
Betcha his recruiting spiel contains crude allegations of irresponsibility and criminality among the minority poor. What an ass.
Several years ago, there was some sort of neo-nazi event in Ohio.
My opinion is that if you are claiming to be The Master Race, you really ought to look the part. They were a bunch of ~20 year olds, with zits, not very good physical condition, not terribly intelligent/educated.
I think of Master Race recruiting the way I think of Christian witnessing: Maybe your appearance and behavior should be such that people will be drawn to you and your philosophy.
It amazes me the ability these people have for clinging to flawed and failed ideologies. Does anyone remember why Hitler committed suicide? He saw what happened to Mussolini, and was terrified.
I'm half waiting for them to appeal to the memory of one John Worrell Keely....