Nazi Day in Our Town

Some wise guy played a really devilish prank on our little college town a couple of weeks ago: he asked for and recieved a permit for 20 to 50 Nazis to parade downtown (adjacent to campus) this weekend.

He alledged his group was the "fastest growing" National Socialist group in America, and promised that they would be dressed in full Nazi regalia, including bright red flags with swaztikas, arms bands, etc. The permit is for five hours, a long time to spend walking around and around and around one city block.

This has happened all very quickly, and has been on our front page everyday, as the police are naturally concerned that the counter protesters may accidently burn the downtown down.

Frankly, we are all just as excited as could be.

The police are begging people to stay away, and worry that they will be percieved as protecting the marchers. The NAACP has announced that it will not stay away, since it was made very clear this week, with the resignation of their president, that they are an activist group, not a social services provider.

As of today, according to the paper, it will be the high school students, especially the over achievers, to worry about. One is quoted in the paper saying he doesn't want to miss a "historic event". Shiver my timbers, it just might be historic if enough A.P. History students show up to fight evil incarnate. Myself, I figured it more likely that the, well, Communists and Socialists would be showing up, drunk on fake absynth. We'll see.

A teacher at the high school has taken this opportunity to teach about the first amendment and to have her students discuss their feelings.

There's been a weeks notice, so we may get some "tri-state" action, and for both sides.

The area Klan may manifest itself. Who knows? Maybe prove finally that one actually exists.

The city has arranged for a picnic in celebration of non-nazism at one of our nearby parks. They will be passing out t-shirts and buttons that read "Not In Our Town", but presumably (hopefully) no one will buy those and then walk downtown to make their point.
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I noticed on our local intranets people weren't calling the cops "nazis" anymore. That insult completely went out of use for awhile.

Then, on the local leftist message board, one man (actually an old friend from twenty years ago, haven't seen him since) admonished everyone that they couldn't see the REAL nazis in our midst: the Republican Party.

He is a Catholic Worker peace-nik, against all war, (what is it good for?) and certainly against our current war against Islamist-Fascism.

People just aren't sophisticated enough, he said. They should recognize who deserves to be pelted with rocks and bottles. If only those Republicans would don their business suits and parade.

But sadly people are so apathetic nowadays.

Now these goons dress up like storm troopers, carry Nuremberg Rally flags, wear the traditional brown shirts, and you just know, you know, it's going to get a lot of journalism students in a contest.
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Only, it's a prank. I'm sure of it.

Except the problem is no one knows it, and we may have some local Nazis dressing up and coming out of their closets. Looking for their Minnesota chief, perhaps.

Or, if the local myth turns out to be true, there are Klan in these here hills. They just might show up in their dusty, thirty year old buicks, armed with rock-salt blunderbusses.

Or have real bullets.

This will all be blocks away , while I'm working tomorrow. At the newspaper of all places. Unable to see.

Prank or not, it's Nazi Day in Our Town, and hoopla will ensue somehow, somewhere. And good barbeque with soft drinks. Maybe an Arts Fair. Is it too late to organize "Hands Across Colobocomo"? That would have been the solution all the city fathers were looking for this week, during all those late night town meetings.

Too late.