Full of Sound and Fuhrer, Signifying Nothing
A quick thanks to Mr. Bill Shakespeare for inspiring today's title. On a side note, how does one type umlauts?
Well, as some of you may know the National Socialist Movement tried to turn my hometown into Munich circa 1939 yesterday. I had to work and was therefore unable to bear personal witness to the goings on, but I have scoured the reports in order to bring you, my readers, a summary of the events.
About two dozen members of the NSM, dressed in full Nazi regalia, showed for the march through downtown Columbia. They were greeted with between 300 and 400 spectators and counter-protesters. No word as yet if any other hate groups represented themselves at the assembly.
The length of the march was much less than anticipated, lasting just more than 30 minutes to the tune of racist chanting and the complementary jeering and cursing from onlookers. It was cut off early when counter-protesters scuffled with the parade's police protection in the only physical confrontation to take place during the event. Police were able to put down the conflict quickly through the use of mace....ouch.
Seven people, 6 men and 1 woman, were arrested. None of those arrested was among the Neo-Nazi group. Of the 7 arrested, only two were from Columbia. The other 5 are thought to be part of a group that follows the National Socialist Movement's demonstrations. All were charged with misdemeanors and released from police custody by Saturday evening.
So in the end it looks like a relatively minor event. I was disappointed to hear of any violence on the part of counter-demonstrators as it only helps the NSM group, but it could have been much worse.
Now, that it's over I just hope nothing is generated by this unpleasant visit and Columbia can go back to being the fairly diverse and liberal town, particularly for mid-Missouri, that it is.
On a different note, I would like to just briefly address the passing of Thomas Eagleton, the three-term Senator from Missouri. It pains me to include any mention of this great man in the same post as a discussion on Neo-Nazis, but I have been remiss in not mentioning his name sooner.
Missouri and the United States lost a statesman of the highest order. He served in the Senate and had his brush with national fame before I was born, but his political relevance continues to this day, especially in St. Louis.
He spearheaded the effort to bring the Rams east from Los Angeles. When the Rams brought home the Vince Lombardi following their Super Bowl victory in January 2000, each St. Louis sports fan owed him a debt of gratitude.
When Missouri tragically lost Governor Mel Carnahan to a plane crash during his own senatorial campaign just before the election of 2000, it was Senator Eagleton who responded to Republican claims a dead man could not remain on the ballot. In speaking of Gov. Carnahan's opponent, then Senator John Ashcroft, Senator Eagleton replied...
"A U.S. senator who can't beat a dead man doesn't belong in the U.S. Senate."
During his own time in Congress, Senator Eagleton was one of the first vocal critics of the Vietnam War. Later in life he would write semi-regular commentaries for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In one of his last he applied his anti-war beliefs to the "no-win" situation facing the United States in Iraq.
Sadly, outside Missouri, many will remember Tom Eagleton best for his brief time as running mate to Senator George McGovern's 1972 Presidential campaign against Richard Nixon. Eagleton had been asked to join the ticket after several high profile Democrats, including Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale, had turned down the opportunity to join what was seen as an unwinnable race.
Shortly after accepting McGovern's offer, it was revealed Eagleton had twice been hospitalized, and received electric shock treatments, for depression and nervous exhaution. For a few days it appeared as if this would not derail Eagleton, who even joked he would undergo a full psychiatric evaluation if Nixon would do the same. However, he soon stepped down from the campaign, replaced by Kennedy in-law and Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver.
McGovern and Shriver got their asses handed to them. Nixon/Agnew won the electoral college 520 to 17 with a 23.2% margin in the popular vote. The popular vote margin is still the largest victory ever. Even Minnesota chose Nixon/Agnew, the only time in the last 50 years my former home state has gone with a Republican President.
As a side note the '72 election is noteworthy by the one electoral vote given to Libertarian candidate John G. Hospers in that it gained his running mate, Theodora Nathan, the first electoral vote ever gained by a female candidate.
But enough American electoral history. I just wanted to say a quick word about Tom Eagleton and here I am running at the....keyboard?
Anyway, hope you enjoyed your history lesson. Until next kiddies all I can say is....leave your jackboots at home, no more marches in my hometown.
JeffRey
News stories about the march in Columbia (As far as I can tell, neither the K.C. Star nor St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the story with their own reporters):
Columbia Missourian (surprisingly not bad)
http://digmo.com/news/story.php?ID=24675
Columbia Daily Tribune
http://showmenews.com/2007/Mar/20070311News005.asp
Tom Eagleton's wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Eagleton
Well, as some of you may know the National Socialist Movement tried to turn my hometown into Munich circa 1939 yesterday. I had to work and was therefore unable to bear personal witness to the goings on, but I have scoured the reports in order to bring you, my readers, a summary of the events.
About two dozen members of the NSM, dressed in full Nazi regalia, showed for the march through downtown Columbia. They were greeted with between 300 and 400 spectators and counter-protesters. No word as yet if any other hate groups represented themselves at the assembly.
The length of the march was much less than anticipated, lasting just more than 30 minutes to the tune of racist chanting and the complementary jeering and cursing from onlookers. It was cut off early when counter-protesters scuffled with the parade's police protection in the only physical confrontation to take place during the event. Police were able to put down the conflict quickly through the use of mace....ouch.
Seven people, 6 men and 1 woman, were arrested. None of those arrested was among the Neo-Nazi group. Of the 7 arrested, only two were from Columbia. The other 5 are thought to be part of a group that follows the National Socialist Movement's demonstrations. All were charged with misdemeanors and released from police custody by Saturday evening.
So in the end it looks like a relatively minor event. I was disappointed to hear of any violence on the part of counter-demonstrators as it only helps the NSM group, but it could have been much worse.
Now, that it's over I just hope nothing is generated by this unpleasant visit and Columbia can go back to being the fairly diverse and liberal town, particularly for mid-Missouri, that it is.
On a different note, I would like to just briefly address the passing of Thomas Eagleton, the three-term Senator from Missouri. It pains me to include any mention of this great man in the same post as a discussion on Neo-Nazis, but I have been remiss in not mentioning his name sooner.
Missouri and the United States lost a statesman of the highest order. He served in the Senate and had his brush with national fame before I was born, but his political relevance continues to this day, especially in St. Louis.
He spearheaded the effort to bring the Rams east from Los Angeles. When the Rams brought home the Vince Lombardi following their Super Bowl victory in January 2000, each St. Louis sports fan owed him a debt of gratitude.
When Missouri tragically lost Governor Mel Carnahan to a plane crash during his own senatorial campaign just before the election of 2000, it was Senator Eagleton who responded to Republican claims a dead man could not remain on the ballot. In speaking of Gov. Carnahan's opponent, then Senator John Ashcroft, Senator Eagleton replied...
"A U.S. senator who can't beat a dead man doesn't belong in the U.S. Senate."
During his own time in Congress, Senator Eagleton was one of the first vocal critics of the Vietnam War. Later in life he would write semi-regular commentaries for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In one of his last he applied his anti-war beliefs to the "no-win" situation facing the United States in Iraq.
Sadly, outside Missouri, many will remember Tom Eagleton best for his brief time as running mate to Senator George McGovern's 1972 Presidential campaign against Richard Nixon. Eagleton had been asked to join the ticket after several high profile Democrats, including Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale, had turned down the opportunity to join what was seen as an unwinnable race.
Shortly after accepting McGovern's offer, it was revealed Eagleton had twice been hospitalized, and received electric shock treatments, for depression and nervous exhaution. For a few days it appeared as if this would not derail Eagleton, who even joked he would undergo a full psychiatric evaluation if Nixon would do the same. However, he soon stepped down from the campaign, replaced by Kennedy in-law and Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver.
McGovern and Shriver got their asses handed to them. Nixon/Agnew won the electoral college 520 to 17 with a 23.2% margin in the popular vote. The popular vote margin is still the largest victory ever. Even Minnesota chose Nixon/Agnew, the only time in the last 50 years my former home state has gone with a Republican President.
As a side note the '72 election is noteworthy by the one electoral vote given to Libertarian candidate John G. Hospers in that it gained his running mate, Theodora Nathan, the first electoral vote ever gained by a female candidate.
But enough American electoral history. I just wanted to say a quick word about Tom Eagleton and here I am running at the....keyboard?
Anyway, hope you enjoyed your history lesson. Until next kiddies all I can say is....leave your jackboots at home, no more marches in my hometown.
JeffRey
News stories about the march in Columbia (As far as I can tell, neither the K.C. Star nor St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the story with their own reporters):
Columbia Missourian (surprisingly not bad)
http://digmo.com/news/story.php?ID=24675
Columbia Daily Tribune
http://showmenews.com/2007/Mar/20070311News005.asp
Tom Eagleton's wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Eagleton
posted by The Crazy Leftist at 11:19 AM
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