The Nazis are coming to town(keep us in your thoughts and prayers) )

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the National Socialists(aka Nazis) have decided Topeka, Kansas, my hometown, is a great place to have a rally. You see, we already have Fred Phelps living here, and are known nationally as a sort of “epicenter” of hate.

OK, so they will be having a rally on the steps of our state capitol building no less. A group that advocates hatred of how our country is run will have the full protection of it’s law enforcement officials. So what should our reaction be?

I think there is reason for hope. After ten long years of Fred Phelps I think folks are finally getting tired of the crap. The NAACP will be sponsoring a counter-rally across the street from the Nazis, and other community groups, two that I am a part of(Unity Boulevard and Concerned Citizens for Topeka), will all be supporting it. We will attend there rather than be a crowd in front of the Statehouse steps. It is meant to be a peaceful and non-violent way to respond. Of course Fred has announced he will be picketing us. Originally he had declined to show up near the Nazi’s, calling it a “non-event”, but he just couldn’t resist the urge to be in the limelight. He’s also upset that there is a drive to change a city ordinance that bans discrimination based on religion, race, ethnicity, etc, to include sexual orientation. The ordinance is by no means a shoo-in, as some of our city council, including the mayor, are more concerned about getting re-elected. But I think it will pass, after a lot of roaring and screaming.

This is a link to a newspaper story here about a meeting I went to last night to plan a response. http://cjonline.com/stories/081902/com_rally.shtml

That article also provides the means to search their archives for
past stories on the Nazis coming.

The following is a link to Unity Boulevard, a grassroots groups that will be supporting the NAACP this weekend. http://unityblvd.org

If you feel like it, email them and say “good job!”

If you are close enough to Topeka, show up and stand with us this coming Saturday, at 1:00 PM, at 10th and Jackson, Topeka, Kansas. Or if you can’t come, keep us in your thoughts and prayers, that all goes as planned and that nothing ugly happens.

2

Sorry, that’s the middle of my “night”, so I’ll be sleeping. But I’ll have good dreams about you. Don’t forget to wear your “human” shirt. Surely you can get one good whack on a Nazi/Phelpsie with your sign when nobody’s looking.

3

Those bums won their court case so they’re marching today.

What bums?

The fuckin’ Nazi Party.
Kansas Nazis.

I hate Kansas Nazis.

4

Wow. A protest from the Nazis.
A counter protest from the NAACP.
A counter counter protest from Fred Phelps.
A counter counter counter protest from anti-phelpsians.

With any luck we can get the entire state on Kansas on one side or the other and just end it right there. Good guys winning, of course.

I’ll actually be in Topeka at 1 on Saturday, but for an unrelated matter. Too bad I can’t make it to any of the counter counter counter counter counter counter protests .

5

Well, Ender , actually the people who classify themselves as anti-phelpsian are going to be there in support and attendance at the NAACP rally, not on their own. The goal is to have as large as possible an anti-hate group as can be managed, so many groups are coming together to stand against the Nazis. It’s serious business.

And Horseflesh ? I will be wearing the “human” shirt"!

6

Bring a funsaver. I NEED to see pictures of this for a kick.

7

I may have mentioned this before somewhere, but the most effective anti-hate counter demonstration I ever saw was when the KKK held a rally in Wheaton Illinois. Counter-protesters sent a note along to the head KKK guy that they would be across the street, and that each and every one of them was pledging one dollar to the NAACP for every minute of the Klan rally. Bunches of protesters took to the park that day, holding up a timer, toting up the dollars for the NAACP. Result? One VERY short Klan rally. Y’all might consider this tactic.

8

“And in other news, Jerry Springer will be allowed to mediate the event live on MTV, while Mike Tyson and the Grand Dragon hold a celebrity boxing match in an adjacent parking lot.”

9

When I see something like this, I am often left wondering, where are the [expletives deleted] Veterans of Foreign Wars, Legion - whatever they are in your jurisdiction - why aren’t they part of the counter-protests?

I mean, they get all teary eyed and sentimental about their youth and fighting the Nazis, and then when actual Nazis are marching in their community, they are not there to be seen.

10

**bagkitty, ** maybe they will be there. There are a number of groups that will be standing in support of the rally I will be attending. I don’t know who or what all organizations there will be. And with all due respect, it seems to me that folks who are already combat veterans don’t have anything else they have to prove.

11

That’s a great idea. Baker, if they actually do something like this, sign me up for a dollar a minute.

And I’ll donate another $50 if Elwood makes them jump in the river. :smiley:

12

bagkitty, I think Baker speaks the truth. As a combat veteran myself, I don’t go looking for fights. They’ve seen about the nastiest fighting you can imagine and don’t really want to experience it again.

The VFW and AFL may be limited in their charters about what kinds of rallys they can attend. One thing a lot of non-military folks don’t know is that one of the freedoms you give up when you join a service is to participate in political protests (or anti-protests). Perhaps the members of those organizations can participate as a private citizen but the organizations themselves might consider this “rule” as a holdover from military service. They go to bat for veterans rights all the time and some people may view them as representing the military or the military’s stance on political situations.

13

*They’re making a list,
Checking it twice,
Gonna find out who eats kosher or rice.
Kansas Nazis coming to town!

They sees you when you’re sleeping,
They know when you’re awake.
They know if you’ve been black or Jew,
So be white for goodness sake!

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why:
Kansas Nazis coming to town!*

14

Shameless bump.

I got back from the counter rally a little over an hour ago. I left about 2:20PM local time, although it was from 1:00-3:00PM, because it was so hot and humid, there was no shade, my kidneys were in revolt, and we were not allowed to take water into the fenced off rally area. The latter dictum was the doing of the law enforcement people. And d12 ? I would bring you pictures as you asked for, but we couldn’t take cameras, cell phones, any sort of bags, no umbrellas for shade. This was not a pre-announced condition, it was only announced when we wanted to pass through the security. I, along with many, many others had to return items to cars that were perforce parked blocks away. Grrr!

Anyway, the rally was great. There were fantastic speakers, we sang patriotic songs, and were reminded that if felt we had done something good by simply showing up we were dead wrong. Now we have to have a resolution to see through the changes in local anti-discrimination laws, to be sure they pass.

Sorry this is getting long but I want to ask for your thoughts and prayers for a man I saw at the rally. He is Joe Thompson, an ordained deacon in the Episcopalian church I attend, Grace Cathedral. Joe is 95 and shouldn’t have got himself out in that heat, but wanted to take a stand I guess. I was standing to his right when he began to sway back and forth. Several of us bystanders held him up as he started to collapse. They took him inside to the shade, and later came out and told us he was doing better but he was being taken to St. Francis hospital for observation. The bishop of the Kansas Episcopalian Diocese was up front with the speakers, scheduled to give a benediction at the rally, so he led us in a prayer for Joe. This article in our local paper has a picture of him, but doesn’t mention his church service.
http://www.cjonline.comstories/042602/bus_blackleaders.shtml

and this info from our church website tells more about him, although the picture must be twenty years out of date!
http://www.gracecathedraltopeka.org/html/clergy_-_deacons.html

God, I love the SDMB. Writing this has helped me work out some of the pissed-off feelings I was having at the Department of Justice and our local law enforcement.

15

Hmmm, not sure what is wrong with the first link. ALet me try that again

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/042602/bus_blackleaders.shtml

I think it’s working now.

16

Glad everything went okay. Nothing got out of hand with the Nazis or Phelpsies I take it?

Err, did local law enforcement do something wrong at the rally, or are you talking about something that they’ve been doing prior to today? The corruption scandal with Sherriff what’s-his-name and the officer that killed the old man by running a stop sign at a Lower Silver Lake Road intersection come to mind.

17

**Horseflesh, ** I was talking about today. The rules in the paper and on the signs at the security checkpoint only said purses and such would be searched. They weren’t allowed at all. The signs said nothing about cameras being forbidden, but we couldn’t take them in. No umbrellas against the drizzle(and later hot sun). I saw an officer tell a guy he would be happier if he didn’t take in his ball point pen. No cell phones allowed, that wasn’t on the signs and I’m not sure what the rationale was. Oh well, as my mother has said, if this is the worst thing that ever happens to me I am lucky.

No problem with the Westboro clan, as they were a couple of blocks away.

18

I’m having trouble understanding something. You’re at a public rally in a public place. How can you be forbidden to have a camera?

19

Goodness. Nazis AND Fred Phelps? That’s just too much for one city. [minorhyjack] Has anyone seen the episode of Michael Moore’s The Awful Truth where they picket outside Fred Phelps’ house with the Sodomobile? Damn funny stuff. [/endhyjack]

Here’s hopin’ ole Joe gets better soon. But I have to say, if you have to go, fighting NAZIS in the 21st century isn’t a bad way.