I think most of us can see the Overton Window is shifting/expanding to include ordinary folks increasing acceptance of fascism, and normalizing the inclusion of fascists and Nazis as engaging in "legitimate political discourse". We are well past the point where these ideas are confined to enclaves in Idaho, or to a few Atomwaffen skinheads on the coast. Ideas that were once restricted to websites like Stormfront are making inroads to middle-class suburbia.
I've posted the linked video before, but if you would do me a personal favor... watch it again. It's footage of the well attended Nazi propaganda "pro-America rally" that was held by the German American Bund at Madison Square Garden in 1939.
When the people in this video gathered to celebrate the common political and ethnic heritage of George Washington, the USA, and the German American Bund, Kristallnacht had already happened. They could see what the Nazi party was about, they had proof... and these 20,000 "American patriots" felt it right to celebrate a feeling of union, kinship, and friendship with fascists.
Do enough Americans recognize the failed putsch on January 6th for what it was? If an American Kristallnacht happened now... would enough of us recognize it for what it was?
When I have these discussions, people continuously make comments that amounts to "Oh come on, Noose... America is not Germany in 1938".
And they're right. Contemporary America isn't Germany in 1938. It's Germany in 1923.
If you have kids in 7th or 8th grade and up... please consider sitting with them, watching this 7 minute movie together, and helping them understand what they're watching.
Help them understand the properly done, propaganda is delivered in calm and measured tones, by someone dressed respectably... and it just sounds so reasonable.
And this plea, from the bottom of my heart: please help your children understand that the monsters don't look like monsters.
(Below, I've included a link to an outstanding scholarly discussion of the events depicted in the video below. It's very good, and would be a great teaching tool for your kids)
