(09-25-2017, 08:09 PM)Archon_Wing Wrote: And it is certainly a destructive idea that people think that condemning nazis requires us to condemn everyone else equally when it is fairly clear their reputation precedes them. This all goes into the normalization of these things.I think the article is asking if suddenly there are hidden bunches of KKK and Nazi's jumping out of closets emboldened by Herr Trump, or if this is "Moral Panic" to further a political agenda. In terms of SPLC numbers (which I consider exaggeratedly high) we are probably talking about somewhere around 10,000 people in the USA, even if they are up some 20-50% in the past couple of years it seems less than the pre-2012 anti-Obama peak.
My concern is that as in 1930's Germany, one sides over reaction fueled the opposite extremists recruitment until there was a mysterious fire at the Reichstag. A Moral Panic used to justify the suspension of most civil liberties in Germany, including habeas corpus, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, the secrecy of the post and telephone.
I'm calling for rational analysis of the information, and cool heads until we have a thorough investigation that reveals the truth, and not unfounded conspiracy theories.