Richard Spencer punched in the face at protest

[Brittain33]

Reports stating that most of the 230 arrested in the DC riot on Friday will be charged with Felony rioting by Federal Prosecutors. The penalty for is up to 25,000 dolar fine and up to 10 years in prison. One of Jeff Session's first jobs will be to ensure that these people receive substantial prison sentences.

Honestly, if Sessions focuses on jail terms for anarchist rioters who smashed windows instead of on vote suppression and defending "bathroom bills", racial gerrymandering, and voter purges in red states we should all be happy.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm actually now seeing "Keep Calm and Punch Nazis" signs all over lamposts in Minneapolis now.

[Badger]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

[ApatheticAustrian]

if i as an austria may say something in that area.....

1) the punishment systems for the german countries after the first world accelerated the chance for the second one big scale.

2) every idiot who wanted to know it could have forseen hitler's risk for the system since he was in prison for trying to OVERTHROW the government

3) a nazi terrorist group killed the austrian catholic-fascist autocrat in 1934.

4) the weimar system fought hard against left-wing/communist revolutionaries but didn't dare to punish right-wing revolutionaries in the same way.

5) hitler never lied about his goals.....which was clear if you read "mein kampf"...he just sugar-coated them in front of his bourgeoisie-industriy friends.

 

[EnglishPete]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

[Intell]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Stupidity at it's finest.

[EnglishPete]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Stupidity at it's finest.

[Klartext89]

This weekend again was the proof that left-wing thinking is simply a form of mental illness. These are the most violent People on earth, they do the exact opposite of what they think they would stand for, simply unbelieveable how stupid they are. Wow.

[Klartext89]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Stupidity at it's finest.

Are you able to write anything beside "lol" and "you're stupid"?

[EnglishPete]

This weekend again was the proof that left-wing thinking is simply a form of mental illness. These are the most violent People on earth, they do the exact opposite of what they think they would stand for, simply unbelieveable how stupid they are. Wow.

[parochial boy]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Yeah, it's not like they were fleeing a civil war (one egged on the the apartheid government, incidentally) or anything.

Life in Mozambique got quite a lot better once the Communists won that civil war.

[EnglishPete]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Yeah, it's not like they were fleeing a civil war (one egged on the the apartheid government, incidentally) or anything.

Life in Mozambique got quite a lot better once the Communists won that civil war.

It was actually the communists who egged on the civil war (as in Angola) by being so vicious and repressive that it proved a rebellion. the government there was also supporting guerillas from Rhodesia and South Africa so unsurprisingly those countries supported the rebellion. And life didn't get that much better. I would also point out that 25 years after the war ended Mozambique is still one of the most poverty stricken holes in the world, you going to find excuses for that.

Lets put it this way. Imagine a world where the most powerful country in the world was a China with a right wing nationalist government who had conquered the UK and were ruling over it under a system of legal racial privilege where non-ethnic Chinese, including white British, were second class citizens. If I had the choice between living in that society and living in a communist dictatorship ruled by white British communists I would chose the former in a heartbeat.

[Badger]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Yeah, it's not like they were fleeing a civil war (one egged on the the apartheid government, incidentally) or anything.

Life in Mozambique got quite a lot better once the Communists won that civil war.

It was actually the communists who egged on the civil war (as in Angola) by being so vicious and repressive that it proved a rebellion. the government there was also supporting guerillas from Rhodesia and South Africa so unsurprisingly those countries supported the rebellion. And life didn't get that much better. I would also point out that 25 years after the war ended Mozambique is still one of the most poverty stricken holes in the world, you going to find excuses for that.

Lets put it this way. Imagine a world where the most powerful country in the world was a China with a right wing nationalist government who had conquered the UK and were ruling over it under a system of legal racial privilege where non-ethnic Chinese, including white British, were second class citizens. If I had the choice between living in that society and living in a communist dictatorship ruled by white British communists I would chose the former in a heartbeat.

Stupidity at its very finest.

[Brittain33]

Millions of refugees have fled from Afghanistan to Pakistan, so clearly the best possible form of government is a corrupt dictatorship where terrorists are tolerated and the army controls much of the economy.

[Waterfall]

I'm kinda torn on this one.

On one hand, I don't like Spencer's haircut. If I saw a high schooler with that haircut and another high schooler came and socked him one while yelling "Your haircut sucks!" I'd probably just chuckle. Also, it's just a punch. It's not like he got stabbed or curb-stomped or anything.

On the other hand I haven't read much by Spencer, but the one or two articles I have read were explicitly anti-violence. Though I also think I've seen people dig up quotes by him that are pro-violence. Still, I'm a pretty staunch 1st Amendment guy and I don't think anyone should have to fear for their safety just because of their views, even if they say things that amount to being pro-violence. (That is a separate issue from whether I think people will always have to fear for their safety because of their views.) (Actually organizing or calling for a violent event is where I draw the line on "incitation," not just on statements that amount to "I give a thumbs-up to violence.") Also in practical terms, the assault probably helped Spencer more than anything because now he can say "Look what dissent gets you!" and he'll have a point. Plus the Alt Right will be milking this for all its worth.

The minute we say "It's OK to punch Nazis" another person will say "Well, uh, this guy I don't like is a Nazi." And because most people say stupid or mean stuff online sometimes and because tons of people call everyone they don't like Nazis anyway, then it basically means we've sanctioned all violence. That's not a good idea.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

There's a saw that mainstream liberals/progressive/social democrats/whatever reject violence in theory but accept it in practice, whereas more radical leftists are (these days) the other way around. On the punching-Nazis question I'm honestly not sure which I am at this point.

The Randy Newman-style piano ballad that Tim from Tim and Eric did about this incident is pure gold, is what I know for sure. How long before it enters the Great American Songbook?

[ApatheticAustrian]

against violence, especially since it only helps those idiots to convert new followers.

[EnglishPete]

Millions of refugees have fled from Afghanistan to Pakistan, so clearly the best possible form of government is a corrupt dictatorship where terrorists are tolerated and the army controls much of the economy.

I don't know if you normally have problems with reading comprehension but "less awful" is not the same thing as "best possible".

[EnglishPete]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Yeah, it's not like they were fleeing a civil war (one egged on the the apartheid government, incidentally) or anything.

Life in Mozambique got quite a lot better once the Communists won that civil war.

It was actually the communists who egged on the civil war (as in Angola) by being so vicious and repressive that it proved a rebellion. the government there was also supporting guerillas from Rhodesia and South Africa so unsurprisingly those countries supported the rebellion. And life didn't get that much better. I would also point out that 25 years after the war ended Mozambique is still one of the most poverty stricken holes in the world, you going to find excuses for that.

Lets put it this way. Imagine a world where the most powerful country in the world was a China with a right wing nationalist government who had conquered the UK and were ruling over it under a system of legal racial privilege where non-ethnic Chinese, including white British, were second class citizens. If I had the choice between living in that society and living in a communist dictatorship ruled by white British communists I would chose the former in a heartbeat.

Stupidity at its very finest.

[ingemann]

Violence is never the answer.

WWII.

It would be a good point, through this is more Communist in the late Weimar Republic than the Allies in WWII. Remind me about the great success of the Communist stopping Hitler from gaining power.

[publicunofficial]

Apparently Spencer has said he will be more careful about expressing his ideas in a public space. So as far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished.

Don't let these skinheads get comfortable.

[ingemann]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

All respect to you, but no it was not obvious that Hitler would be anything, but another strongman, he had written a book with very extreme views. But Europe was full of strongmen which had said extreme things. At the same time let's remember that the crimes of USSR was not unknown at the time. So there was a very real fear of USSR in Germany at the time, only made worse by the fact that the Versailles Treaty had weaken the German state's monopoly of force, which had enable the political violence of the Weimar Republic. So there was a demand for a strongman, even if he was a thug like Hitler.

[parochial boy]

It wasn't obvious until after they came to power and in particular during the war that the nazis were just as bad as the communists, but by then it was too late. If it hadn't been for far left violence and the Weimar authorities failure to control it then World War Two and all its horrors could have been avoided.

No, chucklefu#*. it was really REALLY obvious to most non-cretins that Hitler was going to be as bad as he was. That is to most non-cretins who rightfully put RIGHT wing violence as the pre-eminent reason Hitler came to power.

I'll go back to the point I made earlier. Now of course we all know how bad things were for black African people under Apartheid. Bear that in mind whilst considering the case of the South Africa-Mozambique border in the 1980s. At that time you had a stream of illegal immigrants crossing from communist Mozambique to Apartheid South Africa to look for a better life.

Think about that for a second. Black people were willing to sneak through the barbed wire border fence, cross Kruger National Park which is inhabited by lions, elephants, hyenas and other dangerous as hell animals. They were willing to take those risks because they wanted a better life living as illegal immigrants in a country that was ruled by apartheid.

It was always obvious to most non-cretins how bad life would be for them living as black African people under Apartheid. And yet life for them under communism was significantly worse. That's how bad communism is.

Yeah, it's not like they were fleeing a civil war (one egged on the the apartheid government, incidentally) or anything.

Life in Mozambique got quite a lot better once the Communists won that civil war.

It was actually the communists who egged on the civil war (as in Angola) by being so vicious and repressive that it proved a rebellion. the government there was also supporting guerillas from Rhodesia and South Africa so unsurprisingly those countries supported the rebellion. And life didn't get that much better. I would also point out that 25 years after the war ended Mozambique is still one of the most poverty stricken holes in the world, you going to find excuses for that.

Lets put it this way. Imagine a world where the most powerful country in the world was a China with a right wing nationalist government who had conquered the UK and were ruling over it under a system of legal racial privilege where non-ethnic Chinese, including white British, were second class citizens. If I had the choice between living in that society and living in a communist dictatorship ruled by white British communists I would chose the former in a heartbeat.

Mozambique is one of the world's most buoyant economies.

It is also pretty well accepted that RENAMO committed far worse atrocities than FRELIMO.

[Waterfall]

All respect to you, but no it was not obvious that Hitler would be anything, but another strongman, he had written a book with very extreme views. But Europe was full of strongmen which had said extreme things. At the same time let's remember that the crimes of USSR was not unknown at the time. So there was a very real fear of USSR in Germany at the time, only made worse by the fact that the Versailles Treaty had weaken the German state's monopoly of force, which had enable the political violence of the Weimar Republic. So there was a demand for a strongman, even if he was a thug like Hitler.

Come on, ingemann, that's not fair. You're asking people to actually have a sense of history rather than just smugly judge it retrospectively from their modern perspectives and hindsight.

[Chief Justice Keef]

Violence is never the answer.

WWII.

It would be a good point, through this is more Communist in the late Weimar Republic than the Allies in WWII. Remind me about the great success of the Communist stopping Hitler from gaining power.