A professor of German history explains the true horror of Trump’s response to Charlottesville

[Pop23]

As a scholar of modern German history, I’ve been working on a study of antisemitism in Germany and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What I saw unfold over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia and then at Bedminster, New Jersey gave me the horrible, sinking feeling that my book is going to need a new chapter.

On Saturday, August 12, 2017, thousands of young Americans marched through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia chanting hate-filled slogans like, “Blood and soil,” and “Jews will not replace us,” and carrying the swastika flag. They clashed with protesters and caused dozens of injuries. A car plowed into a crowd of people protesting the white supremacist demonstration, killing one person and injuring many more.

Later that day, President Donald Trump issued a statement:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It has been going on for a long time in our country — not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America
​

The “hatred, bigotry and violence” he said, came from “many sides” (a point he apparently felt he needed to stress). He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany. He did not specifically condemn those who carried that flag. They were, according to the president, all equally responsible: those who marched under the Nazi banner, and those who opposed them. All equal. Nazis and anti-Nazis. But how is that possible? How can it be that in 2017, the President of the United States, a country that fought Hitler’s Germany and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its young men in order to ensure its ultimate defeat, could not or would not bring himself to condemn Americans who marched under the flag of the Third Reich?

What does it mean to march under the swastika flag? What does the swastika flag symbolize? What did it mean to the people who hoisted it in Germany—the people who inspired the Americans who marched this weekend in Charlottesville?

Those who inspired the marchers in Charlottesville marched through the streets of Germany, provoking violence, and singing “when Jewish blood spurts from the knife.”

Those who inspired the marchers destroyed democracy and eliminated all civil liberties in Germany.

Those who inspired the marchers demonized Jewish citizens, physically assaulted them, removed them from all aspects of public life, stripped them of their rights, their property, their very ability to survive in the only country they had ever called home.

Those who inspired the marchers carried out the biggest pogrom in modern German history, destroying 267 synagogues, vandalizing Jewish businesses, attacking Jews in their homes, and killing hundreds, all in a single night in November 1938.

They demonized and physically attacked political opponents, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, the handicapped, and any others they considered outside the boundaries of the German racial community.

They murdered more than 70,000 men, women, and children—German citizens!—who had been diagnosed with mental and physical disabilities in just two years between 1939 and 1941.

They started the most destructive war in the history of the world, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people, mostly innocent civilians.

They murdered more than 33,000 Jews in just two days at Babi Yar, outside Kiev, Ukraine in 1941.

They shot one million unarmed Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—across Eastern Europe in just the last six months of 1941.

They murdered close to three million Jews in the gas chambers of Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, and Auschwitz.

They enslaved millions of people—Jews and non-Jews—from across Europe to work for their war of conquest.

They fought to destroy the most basic values that America has claimed to stand for over more than two centuries: the fundamental dignity and equality of all people.

The world is a complicated place. There are rarely simple, black and white answers to the problems that confront us. But sometimes, every once in a while, there are. And this is one such moment. If the President of the United States cannot condemn individuals who march under the flag of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, how can he possibly claim to represent America, its values, and all of its citizens? In perhaps the easiest test of his young presidency, Donald Trump has failed, and failed miserably.

Rest here: What Does it Mean to Carry the Swastika Flag?
-------------------------------

Pretty simple stuff folks. Trump's comments say more about his character than anyone else ever could.

Trump denounced the white supremacists, the nazis and the KKK within days.

Let's look at the person that Hillary Clinton calls a hero and a Mentor. Senator ROBERT BYRD, was a leader of the KKK and took DECADES to denounce that evil group.

So it appears that the CLINTONS are the true KKK supporters.

You progressives need to spend a little more time in self reflection and a little less time in self gratification. ( I think you know what I mean).

Also took him days to denounce David Duke before the election.

And how long did it take Clinton to denounce Byrd?

Waiting.

Or to denounce Fulbright or Al Gore Sr...............

I'll take the Snowflake serious when that happens.

I'm gonna be waiting a very long time.

 

[SYTFE]

Let's use some liberal logic.
Obama has failed to condemn the Barcelona terrorist attack because he didn’t say “Islamic terrorist” therefore he is a Muslim terrorist.

How about let's stay on topic, shall we?

Is the "topic" smearing Donald Trump with a charge of being a Nazi supporter because he pointed out that there was blame on both sides for the violence that took place in North Carolina? Donald Trump's son in law is Jewish! His favorite daughter has converted to Judaism! You think Donald Trump hates Jews? How stupid can you possibly get with these attacks on Trump? This borders on farce!

How about you read the fucking article so you can figure out what the topic is, drooling tard?

 

[Oldstyle]

Let's use some liberal logic.
Obama has failed to condemn the Barcelona terrorist attack because he didn’t say “Islamic terrorist” therefore he is a Muslim terrorist.

How about let's stay on topic, shall we?

Is the "topic" smearing Donald Trump with a charge of being a Nazi supporter because he pointed out that there was blame on both sides for the violence that took place in North Carolina? Donald Trump's son in law is Jewish! His favorite daughter has converted to Judaism! You think Donald Trump hates Jews? How stupid can you possibly get with these attacks on Trump? This borders on farce!

How about you read the fucking article so you can figure out what the topic is, drooling tard?

Oh, you mean this post ISN'T about smearing Trump? This claim that Trump is a Nazi or sympathizes with Nazis is stupid even for you!

 

[nat4900]

He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany.

Or that the other side was carrying a flag of Communist thugs.

...BUT is this thread's TOPIC, Nazism or Communism???? Simple questions for the mentally challenged right wingers.

 

[Marion Morrison]

TL;DR

You're a putz.
The End.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany.

Or that the other side was carrying a flag of Communist thugs.

...BUT is this thread's TOPIC, Nazism or Communism???? Simple questions for the mentally challenged right wingers.

It's about the stupidity of redshirts whining about brownshirts.

 

[Shrimpbox]

And how long have swastikas been flying and society has rightly kept a tight lid on it. Most regular people have a better grip on right and wrong than our establishment politicians. Let's face it STFU. You are not a Paul revere alerting us to the mounting and swelling population of new fascists taking over our country. You are a trump hater trying to find any way to delegitimize our president by any means necessary. I believe people like you spewing a false narrative are just as dangerous as any fascist. And I severely doubt you are writing any books.

 

[2aguy]

As a scholar of modern German history, I’ve been working on a study of antisemitism in Germany and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What I saw unfold over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia and then at Bedminster, New Jersey gave me the horrible, sinking feeling that my book is going to need a new chapter.

On Saturday, August 12, 2017, thousands of young Americans marched through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia chanting hate-filled slogans like, “Blood and soil,” and “Jews will not replace us,” and carrying the swastika flag. They clashed with protesters and caused dozens of injuries. A car plowed into a crowd of people protesting the white supremacist demonstration, killing one person and injuring many more.

Later that day, President Donald Trump issued a statement:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It has been going on for a long time in our country — not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America
​

The “hatred, bigotry and violence” he said, came from “many sides” (a point he apparently felt he needed to stress). He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany. He did not specifically condemn those who carried that flag. They were, according to the president, all equally responsible: those who marched under the Nazi banner, and those who opposed them. All equal. Nazis and anti-Nazis. But how is that possible? How can it be that in 2017, the President of the United States, a country that fought Hitler’s Germany and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its young men in order to ensure its ultimate defeat, could not or would not bring himself to condemn Americans who marched under the flag of the Third Reich?

What does it mean to march under the swastika flag? What does the swastika flag symbolize? What did it mean to the people who hoisted it in Germany—the people who inspired the Americans who marched this weekend in Charlottesville?

Those who inspired the marchers in Charlottesville marched through the streets of Germany, provoking violence, and singing “when Jewish blood spurts from the knife.”

Those who inspired the marchers destroyed democracy and eliminated all civil liberties in Germany.

Those who inspired the marchers demonized Jewish citizens, physically assaulted them, removed them from all aspects of public life, stripped them of their rights, their property, their very ability to survive in the only country they had ever called home.

Those who inspired the marchers carried out the biggest pogrom in modern German history, destroying 267 synagogues, vandalizing Jewish businesses, attacking Jews in their homes, and killing hundreds, all in a single night in November 1938.

They demonized and physically attacked political opponents, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, the handicapped, and any others they considered outside the boundaries of the German racial community.

They murdered more than 70,000 men, women, and children—German citizens!—who had been diagnosed with mental and physical disabilities in just two years between 1939 and 1941.

They started the most destructive war in the history of the world, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people, mostly innocent civilians.

They murdered more than 33,000 Jews in just two days at Babi Yar, outside Kiev, Ukraine in 1941.

They shot one million unarmed Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—across Eastern Europe in just the last six months of 1941.

They murdered close to three million Jews in the gas chambers of Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, and Auschwitz.

They enslaved millions of people—Jews and non-Jews—from across Europe to work for their war of conquest.

They fought to destroy the most basic values that America has claimed to stand for over more than two centuries: the fundamental dignity and equality of all people.

The world is a complicated place. There are rarely simple, black and white answers to the problems that confront us. But sometimes, every once in a while, there are. And this is one such moment. If the President of the United States cannot condemn individuals who march under the flag of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, how can he possibly claim to represent America, its values, and all of its citizens? In perhaps the easiest test of his young presidency, Donald Trump has failed, and failed miserably.

Rest here: What Does it Mean to Carry the Swastika Flag?
-------------------------------

Pretty simple stuff folks. Trump's comments say more about his character than anyone else ever could.

Moron....antifa and black lives matter hate Jewish people too......you must have missed where he denounced the white racists......dumb shit.

 

[bripat9643]

As a scholar of modern German history, I’ve been working on a study of antisemitism in Germany and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What I saw unfold over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia and then at Bedminster, New Jersey gave me the horrible, sinking feeling that my book is going to need a new chapter.

On Saturday, August 12, 2017, thousands of young Americans marched through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia chanting hate-filled slogans like, “Blood and soil,” and “Jews will not replace us,” and carrying the swastika flag. They clashed with protesters and caused dozens of injuries. A car plowed into a crowd of people protesting the white supremacist demonstration, killing one person and injuring many more.

Later that day, President Donald Trump issued a statement:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It has been going on for a long time in our country — not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America
​

The “hatred, bigotry and violence” he said, came from “many sides” (a point he apparently felt he needed to stress). He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany. He did not specifically condemn those who carried that flag. They were, according to the president, all equally responsible: those who marched under the Nazi banner, and those who opposed them. All equal. Nazis and anti-Nazis. But how is that possible? How can it be that in 2017, the President of the United States, a country that fought Hitler’s Germany and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its young men in order to ensure its ultimate defeat, could not or would not bring himself to condemn Americans who marched under the flag of the Third Reich?

What does it mean to march under the swastika flag? What does the swastika flag symbolize? What did it mean to the people who hoisted it in Germany—the people who inspired the Americans who marched this weekend in Charlottesville?

Those who inspired the marchers in Charlottesville marched through the streets of Germany, provoking violence, and singing “when Jewish blood spurts from the knife.”

Those who inspired the marchers destroyed democracy and eliminated all civil liberties in Germany.

Those who inspired the marchers demonized Jewish citizens, physically assaulted them, removed them from all aspects of public life, stripped them of their rights, their property, their very ability to survive in the only country they had ever called home.

Those who inspired the marchers carried out the biggest pogrom in modern German history, destroying 267 synagogues, vandalizing Jewish businesses, attacking Jews in their homes, and killing hundreds, all in a single night in November 1938.

They demonized and physically attacked political opponents, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, the handicapped, and any others they considered outside the boundaries of the German racial community.

They murdered more than 70,000 men, women, and children—German citizens!—who had been diagnosed with mental and physical disabilities in just two years between 1939 and 1941.

They started the most destructive war in the history of the world, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people, mostly innocent civilians.

They murdered more than 33,000 Jews in just two days at Babi Yar, outside Kiev, Ukraine in 1941.

They shot one million unarmed Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—across Eastern Europe in just the last six months of 1941.

They murdered close to three million Jews in the gas chambers of Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, and Auschwitz.

They enslaved millions of people—Jews and non-Jews—from across Europe to work for their war of conquest.

They fought to destroy the most basic values that America has claimed to stand for over more than two centuries: the fundamental dignity and equality of all people.

The world is a complicated place. There are rarely simple, black and white answers to the problems that confront us. But sometimes, every once in a while, there are. And this is one such moment. If the President of the United States cannot condemn individuals who march under the flag of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, how can he possibly claim to represent America, its values, and all of its citizens? In perhaps the easiest test of his young presidency, Donald Trump has failed, and failed miserably.

Rest here: What Does it Mean to Carry the Swastika Flag?
-------------------------------

Pretty simple stuff folks. Trump's comments say more about his character than anyone else ever could.

You mean a communist explained it? I didn't even bother to read your tripe.

 

[bripat9643]

Let's use some liberal logic.
Obama has failed to condemn the Barcelona terrorist attack because he didn’t say “Islamic terrorist” therefore he is a Muslim terrorist.

How about let's stay on topic, shall we?

Yeah, we figured you wouldn't want to discuss your profound hypocrisy.

 

[bripat9643]

“If the President of the United States cannot condemn individuals who march under the flag of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, how can he possibly claim to represent America, its values, and all of its citizens?”

He can’t.

Of course, Trump is more concerned about appeasing his political base than representing America, its values, and all of its citizens

He did condemn them, you witless baboon.

 

[bripat9643]

As a scholar of modern German history, I’ve been working on a study of antisemitism in Germany and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What I saw unfold over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia and then at Bedminster, New Jersey gave me the horrible, sinking feeling that my book is going to need a new chapter.

On Saturday, August 12, 2017, thousands of young Americans marched through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia chanting hate-filled slogans like, “Blood and soil,” and “Jews will not replace us,” and carrying the swastika flag. They clashed with protesters and caused dozens of injuries. A car plowed into a crowd of people protesting the white supremacist demonstration, killing one person and injuring many more.

Later that day, President Donald Trump issued a statement:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It has been going on for a long time in our country — not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America
​

The “hatred, bigotry and violence” he said, came from “many sides” (a point he apparently felt he needed to stress). He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany. He did not specifically condemn those who carried that flag. They were, according to the president, all equally responsible: those who marched under the Nazi banner, and those who opposed them. All equal. Nazis and anti-Nazis. But how is that possible? How can it be that in 2017, the President of the United States, a country that fought Hitler’s Germany and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its young men in order to ensure its ultimate defeat, could not or would not bring himself to condemn Americans who marched under the flag of the Third Reich?

What does it mean to march under the swastika flag? What does the swastika flag symbolize? What did it mean to the people who hoisted it in Germany—the people who inspired the Americans who marched this weekend in Charlottesville?

Those who inspired the marchers in Charlottesville marched through the streets of Germany, provoking violence, and singing “when Jewish blood spurts from the knife.”

Those who inspired the marchers destroyed democracy and eliminated all civil liberties in Germany.

Those who inspired the marchers demonized Jewish citizens, physically assaulted them, removed them from all aspects of public life, stripped them of their rights, their property, their very ability to survive in the only country they had ever called home.

Those who inspired the marchers carried out the biggest pogrom in modern German history, destroying 267 synagogues, vandalizing Jewish businesses, attacking Jews in their homes, and killing hundreds, all in a single night in November 1938.

They demonized and physically attacked political opponents, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, the handicapped, and any others they considered outside the boundaries of the German racial community.

They murdered more than 70,000 men, women, and children—German citizens!—who had been diagnosed with mental and physical disabilities in just two years between 1939 and 1941.

They started the most destructive war in the history of the world, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people, mostly innocent civilians.

They murdered more than 33,000 Jews in just two days at Babi Yar, outside Kiev, Ukraine in 1941.

They shot one million unarmed Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—across Eastern Europe in just the last six months of 1941.

They murdered close to three million Jews in the gas chambers of Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, and Auschwitz.

They enslaved millions of people—Jews and non-Jews—from across Europe to work for their war of conquest.

They fought to destroy the most basic values that America has claimed to stand for over more than two centuries: the fundamental dignity and equality of all people.

The world is a complicated place. There are rarely simple, black and white answers to the problems that confront us. But sometimes, every once in a while, there are. And this is one such moment. If the President of the United States cannot condemn individuals who march under the flag of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, how can he possibly claim to represent America, its values, and all of its citizens? In perhaps the easiest test of his young presidency, Donald Trump has failed, and failed miserably.

Rest here: What Does it Mean to Carry the Swastika Flag?
-------------------------------

Pretty simple stuff folks. Trump's comments say more about his character than anyone else ever could.

Trump denounced the white supremacists, the nazis and the KKK within days.

Let's look at the person that Hillary Clinton calls a hero and a Mentor. Senator ROBERT BYRD, was a leader of the KKK and took DECADES to denounce that evil group.

So it appears that the CLINTONS are the true KKK supporters.

You progressives need to spend a little more time in self reflection and a little less time in self gratification. ( I think you know what I mean).

Also took him days to denounce David Duke before the election.

He denounced David Duke 17 years ago, dumbass.

 

[bripat9643]

As a scholar of modern German history, I’ve been working on a study of antisemitism in Germany and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What I saw unfold over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia and then at Bedminster, New Jersey gave me the horrible, sinking feeling that my book is going to need a new chapter.

On Saturday, August 12, 2017, thousands of young Americans marched through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia chanting hate-filled slogans like, “Blood and soil,” and “Jews will not replace us,” and carrying the swastika flag. They clashed with protesters and caused dozens of injuries. A car plowed into a crowd of people protesting the white supremacist demonstration, killing one person and injuring many more.

Later that day, President Donald Trump issued a statement:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It has been going on for a long time in our country — not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America
​

The “hatred, bigotry and violence” he said, came from “many sides” (a point he apparently felt he needed to stress). He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany. He did not specifically condemn those who carried that flag. They were, according to the president, all equally responsible: those who marched under the Nazi banner, and those who opposed them. All equal. Nazis and anti-Nazis. But how is that possible? How can it be that in 2017, the President of the United States, a country that fought Hitler’s Germany and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its young men in order to ensure its ultimate defeat, could not or would not bring himself to condemn Americans who marched under the flag of the Third Reich?

What does it mean to march under the swastika flag? What does the swastika flag symbolize? What did it mean to the people who hoisted it in Germany—the people who inspired the Americans who marched this weekend in Charlottesville?

Those who inspired the marchers in Charlottesville marched through the streets of Germany, provoking violence, and singing “when Jewish blood spurts from the knife.”

Those who inspired the marchers destroyed democracy and eliminated all civil liberties in Germany.

Those who inspired the marchers demonized Jewish citizens, physically assaulted them, removed them from all aspects of public life, stripped them of their rights, their property, their very ability to survive in the only country they had ever called home.

Those who inspired the marchers carried out the biggest pogrom in modern German history, destroying 267 synagogues, vandalizing Jewish businesses, attacking Jews in their homes, and killing hundreds, all in a single night in November 1938.

They demonized and physically attacked political opponents, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, the handicapped, and any others they considered outside the boundaries of the German racial community.

They murdered more than 70,000 men, women, and children—German citizens!—who had been diagnosed with mental and physical disabilities in just two years between 1939 and 1941.

They started the most destructive war in the history of the world, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people, mostly innocent civilians.

They murdered more than 33,000 Jews in just two days at Babi Yar, outside Kiev, Ukraine in 1941.

They shot one million unarmed Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—across Eastern Europe in just the last six months of 1941.

They murdered close to three million Jews in the gas chambers of Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, and Auschwitz.

They enslaved millions of people—Jews and non-Jews—from across Europe to work for their war of conquest.

They fought to destroy the most basic values that America has claimed to stand for over more than two centuries: the fundamental dignity and equality of all people.

The world is a complicated place. There are rarely simple, black and white answers to the problems that confront us. But sometimes, every once in a while, there are. And this is one such moment. If the President of the United States cannot condemn individuals who march under the flag of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, how can he possibly claim to represent America, its values, and all of its citizens? In perhaps the easiest test of his young presidency, Donald Trump has failed, and failed miserably.

Rest here: What Does it Mean to Carry the Swastika Flag?
-------------------------------

Pretty simple stuff folks. Trump's comments say more about his character than anyone else ever could.

He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany.

Or that the other side was carrying a flag of Communist thugs.

View attachment 144734

Do not see a hammer or sickle there.

Trump just condemned the anti-Nazi demonstration in Boston as being "anti-police", even though there was no violence. (edit: have just heard there might have been something, but keep in mind it's 20,000 people)

 

[xyz]

As a scholar of modern German history, I’ve been working on a study of antisemitism in Germany and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What I saw unfold over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia and then at Bedminster, New Jersey gave me the horrible, sinking feeling that my book is going to need a new chapter.

On Saturday, August 12, 2017, thousands of young Americans marched through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia chanting hate-filled slogans like, “Blood and soil,” and “Jews will not replace us,” and carrying the swastika flag. They clashed with protesters and caused dozens of injuries. A car plowed into a crowd of people protesting the white supremacist demonstration, killing one person and injuring many more.

Later that day, President Donald Trump issued a statement:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It has been going on for a long time in our country — not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America
​

The “hatred, bigotry and violence” he said, came from “many sides” (a point he apparently felt he needed to stress). He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany. He did not specifically condemn those who carried that flag. They were, according to the president, all equally responsible: those who marched under the Nazi banner, and those who opposed them. All equal. Nazis and anti-Nazis. But how is that possible? How can it be that in 2017, the President of the United States, a country that fought Hitler’s Germany and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its young men in order to ensure its ultimate defeat, could not or would not bring himself to condemn Americans who marched under the flag of the Third Reich?

What does it mean to march under the swastika flag? What does the swastika flag symbolize? What did it mean to the people who hoisted it in Germany—the people who inspired the Americans who marched this weekend in Charlottesville?

Those who inspired the marchers in Charlottesville marched through the streets of Germany, provoking violence, and singing “when Jewish blood spurts from the knife.”

Those who inspired the marchers destroyed democracy and eliminated all civil liberties in Germany.

Those who inspired the marchers demonized Jewish citizens, physically assaulted them, removed them from all aspects of public life, stripped them of their rights, their property, their very ability to survive in the only country they had ever called home.

Those who inspired the marchers carried out the biggest pogrom in modern German history, destroying 267 synagogues, vandalizing Jewish businesses, attacking Jews in their homes, and killing hundreds, all in a single night in November 1938.

They demonized and physically attacked political opponents, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, the handicapped, and any others they considered outside the boundaries of the German racial community.

They murdered more than 70,000 men, women, and children—German citizens!—who had been diagnosed with mental and physical disabilities in just two years between 1939 and 1941.

They started the most destructive war in the history of the world, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people, mostly innocent civilians.

They murdered more than 33,000 Jews in just two days at Babi Yar, outside Kiev, Ukraine in 1941.

They shot one million unarmed Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—across Eastern Europe in just the last six months of 1941.

They murdered close to three million Jews in the gas chambers of Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, and Auschwitz.

They enslaved millions of people—Jews and non-Jews—from across Europe to work for their war of conquest.

They fought to destroy the most basic values that America has claimed to stand for over more than two centuries: the fundamental dignity and equality of all people.

The world is a complicated place. There are rarely simple, black and white answers to the problems that confront us. But sometimes, every once in a while, there are. And this is one such moment. If the President of the United States cannot condemn individuals who march under the flag of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, how can he possibly claim to represent America, its values, and all of its citizens? In perhaps the easiest test of his young presidency, Donald Trump has failed, and failed miserably.

Rest here: What Does it Mean to Carry the Swastika Flag?
-------------------------------

Pretty simple stuff folks. Trump's comments say more about his character than anyone else ever could.

He did not mention the fact that one side was carrying swastika flags, the flag of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the flag of Nazi Germany.

Or that the other side was carrying a flag of Communist thugs.

View attachment 144734

Do not see a hammer or sickle there.

Trump just condemned the anti-Nazi demonstration in Boston as being "anti-police", even though there was no violence. (edit: have just heard there might have been something, but keep in mind it's 20,000 people)

O.k., there could be some Communists who go to those demonstrations, mainly to push their own agendas.

I've been to some demonstrations where they are told to leave, and usually it's just one or two Communists, but often they are allowed to stay on. I've never seen a demonstration where they are in a majority, and they don't have any major role in any big demonstrations.

There is no indication at any of these that the majority of demonstrators espouse Communist views, unlike at White Nationalist demonstrations, where most people espouse that point of view.