Everyone I Dislike is (Probably Not) a Nazi

A Humor Column. Don’t Overthink It.

Meme Of The Week:

Advice can be a tricky thing. Sometimes an outside perspective can shed new light on an issue or help guide you through an unfamiliar situation.
Or.
As in the case you see above, sometimes you have a disagreement about appropriateness and get told to toss out that American flag profile pic that you undoubtedly have, adopt the tenets of national socialism, and line up for a punchin’, you pinko/Nazi/vegan/hillbilly/yuppie scum! (Yes, I will find as many excuses as I can to show you different versions of that video.)

It can be all too easy to forget that letting something go and *actually getting off the Internet* is an option you have, so let’s see how we can do better.

HITS

• Lady Liberty was erected as a tribute to the freeing of American slaves after the Civil War, and does have a plaque saying, “Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” on it. That one’s a little tough to get around.
• An activist group put up the banner in response to the controversial Executive Order 13769 on immigration policy, covered in FRAY’s first issue. Right, wrong, or indifferent, though, the current administration is taking steps to curb immigration and, suffice it to say, there are *bajillions* of diverging opinions on the matter.

MISSES

• So, national monument defacement is on the menu now? I can think of an awesome place for a Grand Canyon bike jump, if anyone’s asking.
• To be fair, the Executive Branch does hold extensive power as to our immigration policy through the plenary power, and as was pointed out, the past five administrations issued travel bans at one point or another. Womp-womp.
• The argument can be made that this actually cheapens the insult of calling someone a Nazi. For instance, don’t look back at the horrors of the Third Reich and go straight to their strict immigration policies. Think genocide instead.

-And, this may be petty, but if you’re going to go through the trouble of slapping an enormous banner on our nation’s symbol of freedom, at least get it centered. Do it for me.

CONCLUSION

Not that I’ve seen any scholarly work on the subject, but I’m confident enough to say that the name of the game is to get fewer swastikas in the world. Believe it or not, you can think that Executive Order 13769 was flawed, that immigration is a net positive for the country, and at the same time not think that people who believe otherwise are Nazis. Chances are, they probably aren’t, so let’s save that title for the people who actually deserve it.

This column is a part of FRAY, a thrice weekly email written by a team of liberals, moderates, and conservatives dedicated to separating fact from opinion. Subscribe below and we’ll send you a new issue with perspectives from all sides of the political debate each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.