An 88-year old neo-Nazi, James Von Brunn, is expected to live after he, according to witnesses and the FBI, murdered a security guard in cold blood. The younger man was trying to help him through the door when the aged hate-monger shot him in the heart.
The rise of hate groups in the USA is quite disturbing---a 50 percent increase in the last few years to over 900 identified hate groups. As Bob Herbert of the New York Times pointed out in a recent editorial, the election of Barack Obama, and the rise of former "minority groups" in prominence and voting strength and the bad economy will no doubt continue to add to the ranks of the white, male, dumb and dangerous fringe of far-right politics.
Von Brunn, a blogger who denied the Holocaust and claimed "the best gentiles" were all being murdered as part of some conspiracy, was also a donor to a group called American Friends of the British National Party, a fascist group that recently won a seat in the European Union elections. (The group, thankfully, was reported disbanded in 2001. Which leaves 900 more groups that could disband and not be missed.)
This is a disturbing problem, Doug, more so now that American military recruiters are desperate to fill ranks left wanting from the war - they're no longer looking so closely at people, and these hate-groups are finding a new 'home' - plus some pretty scary training - in the American armed services.
ReplyDeleteWe're creating a monster.
A politician known for his racial bigotry in my country just won several seats for his once 'one-off' party. This gives this party greater influence in our EU representation in Brussels. Who voted for such a party and person? I'm not totally sure, as I'm no official politicker. However, the few that I've met who do support him and his party are from the older and native born generation. This has made me think. Why would so many of this older generation of native Dutch cast their votes in such a direction? IMO, the bottom line is fear: fear that the country is changing too rapidly and a desire to hold onto the past, its traditions - whether real or fantasized - more tightly.
ReplyDeleteHowever, such parties, regardless of being ethnic-, religious- or class-based, are more often than not stemming from fear, which is the catalyst of such extreme hate. And the longer these stem cells of hatred fester the more rancid like a cancer the fear they manifest becomes.
You're right in commenting that such people are very dangerous and no asset to any society. No matter what they preach, they tear down instead of attempt to construct.
very well said. This kind of hate scares the begebbies out of me. I do not understand what can casue a group of people to loathe another group of people like they do. I feel scaered and sorry for them as a whole
ReplyDeleteI think that's an important point, Astra, given the immense amount of pressure that is already on these troops with multiple year-long tours in hostile countries. I'm sure most of these men and women are honorable and mentally fit--but, as you say, the standards are being lowered. One can recall Timothy Mc Veigh and the horrific damage he did with the Oklahoma City bombing after returning from Gulf War One, to cite just one example.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I see hear in America as well, Red. A lot of support I see for radical groups comes from people who are older and see a different America from when they were younger. They want a sort of 1950's-early 60's America, made up of people bent on conformity and looking a lot like them. And, yes, reactionaries are always about "tearing down". Change scares them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
Me too, Fred. And there seems to be a lot of hate out there, which you see channeled in the media. It seems like some use some issue--abortion, crackpot historical revisionism, fear of non-existent government programs to confiscate guns, etc, to vent their pathology. There are others like Von Brunn out there and if he recovers may he stand trial and face the family of the guard he murdered. Thanks for your remarks.
ReplyDeleteFascists persecuting fascists for doing what comes naturally, murdering innocent people. Maybe Von Brunn's visit to the museum was part of his obsession with rewriting history? The murderous thugs we should fear most are the ones in our own governments.
ReplyDeleteBarack Obama scares me a lot more than James von Brunn does Doug, his victims are currently being counted in the millions.
I didn't mean to imply that hate groups--or crazed elderly gunmen-- have a monopoly on things we should worry about, AA. Every major public and private institution needs watching in a world where so few have a lot of power over the many.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nasty-hate-filled old man. To be honest I am a little gobsmacked, I am more used to nice old people.
ReplyDeleteYes, Iri Ani, most older people mellow out in my experience . Even this man's son said he wished he had died before this all happened. Could be Von Brunn had severe hatred compounded by some type of dementia.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it would be kind to hope that he was indeed senile. How sad when even your children might wish you dead first.
ReplyDelete