Is It O.K. to Punch a Nazi?

Thanks to the awful, awful, awful Bible-clutching Republicans who voted a horrible human being into the White House, we are in completely unchartered waters on just about everything.  For instance, the nominee to lead the justice department was asked whether he considered grabbing a woman's genitals to be a sexual assault.  I mean, didn't we settle this question a long time ago?  Not during the caveman times, but at least during the "long dong silver" hearings?

Nominees were asked whether they agreed that Russia was behind the hacking.  And whether climate change was a hoax.  At this rate, I am surprised that the nominees were not asked whether they believed in Santa Claus!

The nominees are asked such questions because the demagogue and his minions have made it clear that they will say whatever they want to claim, fully knowing that the awful, awful, awful Republicans will go along because they drool for cheap political victories; principles be damned!

The demagogue worked up the neo-Nazis, and even has as his own Karl Rove who is way worse than Karl Rove ever was.  Which is why we are also left debating whether it is ok to punch a Nazi in his face.  Boy aren't we reversing fast in our socio-political values!

Yes, it really happened.   The guy who got punched in his face?  Richard Spencer.

The New Yorker's Evan Osnos wrote about Spencer and the neo-Nazis connect with the demagogue back in the summer of 2015!

Richard Spencer is a self-described “identitarian” who lives in Whitefish, Montana, and promotes “white racial consciousness.” At thirty-six, Spencer is trim and preppy, with degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Chicago. He is the president and director of the National Policy Institute, a think tank, co-founded by William Regnery, a member of the conservative publishing family, that is “dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of European people in the United States and around the world.” The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Spencer “a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old.” Spencer told me that he had expected the Presidential campaign to be an “amusing freak show,” but that Trump was “refreshing.” He went on, “Trump, on a gut level, kind of senses that this is about demographics, ultimately. We’re moving into a new America.” He said, “I don’t think Trump is a white nationalist,” but he did believe that Trump reflected “an unconscious vision that white people have—that their grandchildren might be a hated minority in their own country. I think that scares us. They probably aren’t able to articulate it. I think it’s there. I think that, to a great degree, explains the Trump phenomenon. I think he is the one person who can tap into it.”

(BTW, you can see why I have been ranting against the demagogue for a long time now.  This was merely one of the many essays that warned us.  It was all in clear daylight.  Which is also why I am shocked, angry, and disgusted that the uber-Christian white Republicans voted for this horrible human being!)

So, anyway, back to the discussion of whether it is ok to punch a Nazi.

Spencer, who is credited with coining the term alt-right and describes himself as an “identitarian,” was punched in the head on Inauguration Day by a person clad in black as he was being interviewed by a journalist. At the time of the attack, Mr. Spencer was explaining the meaning of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon figure adopted as a mascot by the alt-right, a racist, far-right fringe movement that is anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and anti-feminist. Video of the attack shows Mr. Spencer reeling to one side under the force of the blow and his attacker darting through a crowd after landing the punch.

I re-tweeted a tweet that I thought framed the discussion well:

Wanting to punch a Nazi is American as apple pie. Defending the right of Nazi assholes to speak is also as American as apple pie. https://t.co/LZPmabxPbj

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 21, 2017

We have ended up with such discussions because we now have a demagogue as the President.  Thanks to those awful, awful, awful, votes for this horrible human being!

"Change comes from large groups of angry people." @azizansari #SNL pic.twitter.com/PT03JsynPb

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) January 22, 2017