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October 16, 2005
Idiocy in Ohio
Clowns, Cops and Criminals
Nobody looked good after Saturday's race riot in Toledo, Ohio.
The Clowns
Providing a convenient excuse for the whole affair was "America's Nazi Party", the National Socialist Movement (NSM), a handful of whose members appeared briefly on the scene and then had the good sense to beat a hasty retreat. Having a look at the pictures on their website, you'd think that they were just people dressed up in tasteless costumes for a Halloween party. No wonder that that they disappeared so quicky when things got a little hot in Toledo.
Incredibly, their own web site tells us:
"In life there are 2 types of people, the ones who talk tough and do nothing, and the ones who act and make a difference."
Given the rapidity of their departure on Saturday, it's not hard to know which type they are. How could anyone take this crew seriously?
Unfortunately, not to be out-done in stupidity, the "antifa's" rose to the occasion. Particularly notable were the Trotskyites of the International Socialist Organization(1) as well as the (mostly) anarchists of Anti-Racist Action. (Circulating through the crowd on Saturday ISO members are reported to have handed out eggs and other objects to throw.)
A rational person might wonder why anyone would think twice about an organization with the (in)significance of the NSM - but, then, none of this is about rationality. This segment of the US left loves nothing better than "confronting fascists" - and the more insignificant the fascists in question, the better - bcause:
1. Opposing the Nazis allows the far left to pick on the one group actually less popular than they are. Given the visceral hatred felt by the vast majority of Americans for anyone who dresses up like a storm trooper, the far left can, for a moment, feel like it really is one with "the people."
2. Throwing things at a vastly outnumbered group of losers makes the far left feel like rough, tough 30s-style proletarian militants, instead of the wimpy, over-educated, spoiled upper middle class wanna-bes that they really are.
3. They can actually win for a change, sending the miniscule brown-shirt crew scurrying home.
4. Most importantly, they get a little visibility and, in the world of desperate self-promotion that passes for party building among American political sects, this is everything.
All of these clowns are a good match for each other. They are more like the Society for Creative Anachronism than anything else - living out a nostalgic political fantasy life as if this was still the 1930's. Nazi, Trotskyite and Anarchist alike, they are hobbyists and poseurs who have convinced (no one but) themselves that they are real revolutionaries.
The Cops
Simple - Where were they?
The Criminals
For all the talk about Nazis and Anti-Nazis, all this was really just an excuse members of Toledo's Black underclass to run amok. Looting a gas station, burning a neighborhood tavern, stoning and beating news reporters simply has nothing to do with "fighting fascism."
It probably does, however, have everything to do with racial tensions in Toledo, as well as with the seething race hatred so prevalent within the Black community.(2)
The Blogs
Not surprisingly, left-wing bloggers have had little to say on the Toledo events. On the right, many point to the hesitance of the MSM to point the finger at the ones responsible for the riot - THE RIOTERS. As always though, Michelle Malkin is worth reading as a starting point. The award for the best analysis, however, goes to Truthprobe:
What do you expect when gang members wear their baseball caps sideways, pull their pants down to their knees, and reveal their underwear to the world?
Also see Diggers Realm and Anti-Racist Losers.
(1) The ISO's anti-fascism is rather selective. When it comes to the Islamo-fascists of the "Iraqi resistance," the ISO is more understanding. "Even if it were true that the resistance was dominated by Baathists and hard-line Islamists, this wouldn't be the central issue. Whatever the religious and political affiliations of the different resistance organizations and groupings, the main goal - the one that unites various forces of the Iraqi resistance - is 'to liberate their country from foreign occupation.' It is precisely this agenda of the resistance that requires our support."
And "The antiwar movement must not lose sight of the fact that its main enemy is at home - and any resistance to that enemy deserves our unconditional support." (Socialist Worker quoted in Socialist Alternative)
See here for Wikipedia on the ISO. For our UK readers, the ISO was formerly associated with the Bristish SWP, from whom they had a nasty divorce in 2000.
(2) While there has been precious little coverage regarding the tensions within North Toledo, there are hints that the racial transition of this formerly blue-collar Polish neighborhood has given rise to real issues, particularly regarding local crime. And, while to many liberals this is all too often a rather abstract concern, to Toledans it is all too real. According to News By Us:
With a population of over 309,000, Toledo's violent crime rate is 1.72 times the national average and their overall crime rate is 1.70 times the national average. Alarmingly, the city's arson rate is almost 5 times that of of national average, according to FBI crime statistics.
Posted by John at October 16, 2005 08:24 PM
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Liberal Larry provides us with the definitive statement on the Toledo riots: “… [W]hen a small band of Republicans descended upon a predominantly black Toledo neighborhood to denounce its residents as subhuman animals prone to violence, the communi... [Read More]
Tracked on October 18, 2005 08:04 AM