Charlottesville riots

[wufan]

Nasty clashes going on today. Armed White Nationalists protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee. Counter-protests by ANTIFA and others ensue. Multiple people injured and finally someone drives a car into a crowd (counterprotestor crowd?) killing one and injuring others.

[wufan]

Police helicopter just crashed in the vicinity killing two on board. Not clear if it's related to the violent protests.

[SB Shock]

From Albert Mohler

I would argue that racial superiority in any form, and white superiority as the central issue of our concern, is a heresy. The separation of human beings into ranks of superiority and inferiority differentiated by skin color is a direct assualt upon the doctrine of Creation and an insult to the imago Dei - the image of God in which ever human being is made. Racial superiority is also directly subversive of the Gospel of Christ, effectively reducing the power of his substitutionary atonement and undermining the faithful preaching of the gospel to all persons and to all nations.

[Play Angry]

That spoiled little **** Richard Spencer and his fellow alt-right pseudo Nazis are a pox on America.

Thoughts and prayers to the families of those who lost loved ones today.

[Play Angry]

What are the odds the President ad libbed the "on many sides, on many sides" line and how loud do you think the speech writer groaned when it happened.

[wufan]

I don't think today is the day to place any blame on AntiFa or others who may have been counter protesting.

[wu_shizzle]

I hate Illinois Nazis as much as the next guy, but I've learned to be highly skeptical about these made for tv protests.

Something about a bunch of hipsters with tiki torches doesn't exactly shout KKK to me.

A terrible tragedy that people lost their life today, I don't want to minimize that.

[wufan]

I hate Illinois Nazis as much as the next guy, but I've learned to be highly skeptical about these made for tv protests.

Something about a bunch of hipsters with tiki torches doesn't exactly shout KKK to me.

A terrible tragedy that people lost their life today, I don't want to minimize that.

While there's a tendency for leftists to group all conservatives in with white supremacists, it's pretty clear that today it was white nationalists and bigots. David Duke and Richard Spencer are nut bags! I heard someone talking that was "alt-right", and while really right wing, he didn't seem too bad...then I checked out some of their online forums. These guys are about as racist as they come.

[Aargh]

David Duke: "we're fulfilling Trump's promise to take our country back...that's why we voted for him"

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/david-duke-says-he-was-at-charlottesville-rally-to-fulfill-promise-of-trump-1023420483642

[wufan]

David Duke: "we're fulfilling Trump's promise to take our country back...that's why we voted for him"

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/david-d...-1023420483642

Yuck! The thing is that this is a VERY small, but well organized, branch of the right wing. This was the largest white nationalist rally in decades and they only attracted about 100 protesters.

[Play Angry]

I think 100 may be a bit low. That seems to be consensus estimate for the Friday night torch rally, which was the appetizer for Saturday's main event. I believe they were expecting between 2,000 and 6,000 from team Nazi on Saturday but reliable counts seem unlikely for that day given how events played out (the park was dispersed before the event's scheduled start and as the splinters spread, the chaos grew).

Senators Hatch, Rubio, Gardner and others (including Paul Ryan) did a fine job with their forceful statements and condemnations.

[wufan]

I think 100 may be a bit low. That seems to be consensus estimate for the Friday night torch rally, which was the appetizer for Saturday's main event. I believe they were expecting between 2,000 and 6,000 from team Nazi on Saturday but reliable counts seem unlikely for that day given how events played out (the park was dispersed before the event's scheduled start and as the splinters spread, the chaos grew).

Senators Hatch, Rubio, Gardner and others (including Paul Ryan) did a fine job with their forceful statements and condemnations.

Thanks. The only stat I could find was for the torch rally.

[shockmonster]

Does anyone remember the Skokie Illinois Nazi march? Skokie was a highly Jewish populated community. The courts held that even though this group was knowingly inflaming the community by coming from outside the community, they had the 1st Amendment Right to hold their rally. This is not a new phenomena.

As for Charlottesville, The irony is that while Robert E. Lee felt a kinship for being from the South and he owned a few slaves, he was not the face of slavery nor did he fight because of slavery ( although he was the Confederate general). My personal opinion is that statues like his should be placed in a museum context and not in the community square. I hope that those states will begin a movement to do that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-r-stone/remembering-the-nazis-in_b_188739.html

[rrshock]

But when these statues are removed, they are removed from everything.

This is all bad. But there are some people that want to rewrite history. There are lots of problems on both sides.

[Play Angry]

Eh, sensitivities dictated that commemoration was a necessity when the wounds of lost love ones were still fresh for decades after the Civil War. We are now 150+ years removed - I don't see the need for tears for removal of statues dedicated to the memory of the losing side in a treasonous revolution, fought with the defense of slavery as a primary cause, which resulted in a little under 1 million American deaths. No living soul knew anyone who perished in the conflict.

The federal government is not forcing the removal of these items - it is being decided at the local and state levels. I have little empathy for angst and distress over these removals - the South did not receive a blue participation ribbons for its efforts, it lost in devastating fashion, and the treatment it received following the conflict was beyond magnanimous by nearly all historical comparisons.

I don't think anyone wants to erase this page from history books. However, if towns, cities and states wish to halt the hero worship for the leaders of a lost cause, they should be able to do so without threat of violence.