For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Or something like that. Jumping off Ursula’s piece from earlier today, for something that could be good, getting Trump out of office, then something bad – the Patriot Front group. Perhaps we should have expected something of the kind to show up for the Trump Rally Not America’s Birthday in D.C. It certainly doesn’t mean we have to like it. It still was random. There are worse groups. My regards to Raw Story:
Hundreds of members of the white nationalist hate group Patriot Front descended on Washington DC Saturday morning as the nation’s capital prepared to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Members of the group, wearing masks and carrying Confederate and US flags, rode the DC metro and marched around parts of Capitol Hill before departing the city by train, as WUSA reported. Beyond the march itself, no other incidents were reported connected to the group.
Random. At least they did their walkaround/march, their pseudo-cheers, didn’t start anything, and left quietly. Let us be thankful for small favors. DC was fortunate. Of course, it’s so hot there that they might not have had the energy to start anything. It’s surprising anyone is able to move around in that weather, and that includes the performers! Here’s hoping they are being well taken care of. They’ll need it.
“What kind of fascist hellscape is [happening] on Pennsylvania Ave at the Eastern Market Metro stop?” Georgetown Law professor Josh Chafetz wrote on Bluesky upon spotting the group.
“Absolutely terrifying to have white supremacist hate group Patriot Front march through our streets today in Washington, DC,” human rights lawyer Mai El-Sadany wrote on social media. “Their manifesto calls for a white ethnostate, excludes people of color from their definition of citizenship, and is deeply antisemitic and xenophobic.”
Not the sort of neighbors any of us would want. They’re not people to try to understand. The qualities listed above are disturbing. What a rigid world order. It would be much more difficult to live under those restrictions. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as noticeable if you grew up inside it. But let’s not.
The group believes that democracy no longer functions and wants to transform the US into a “pan-European” ethnostate that excludes both citizens of color and new immigrants and refugees. Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, blasted the group for carrying Confederate flags and embracing fascism while claiming the mantle of US patriotism. “You have no right to call yourself a ‘[patriot]’ while carrying the flag of one of America’s enemies, and claiming victory on behalf of the ideology that fueled another—both of which the US defeated,” D’Arrigo wrote on social media.
WHAM. She laid it right out there. There’s so much that’s wrong about this ideal. There’s so much that’s *limiting* in this ideal. They miss all the rich ways of the world. They miss knowing the people of the world. They forget their forebears were once immigrants. They miss a whole lot. Thank you, no, I’ll pass.
See you soon!
Friends, I know everybody begs you for money. I promise you that, of all the outlets bugging you for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a bunch of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. But the rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the ability to continue our quest to tell the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
