I think they are different.

Well here’s their statement from just a few weeks ago where they reiterate their defense of free speech, even from nazis, and they defend their decision to sue Charlottesville if it did not allow those nazis to hold their rally last year (you know, the one where Heather Heyer was murdered):

I have mixed feelings about it. I can understand their argument. At the same time, they are defending white supremacists. So... They do a lot of amazing local work here, especially with people who are stripped of their rights due to legal fines and they are on-point in the fight against ICE. So I think they are a rad…

Interesting. Can’t they carry guns legally in Oregon regardless? 

Thanks! I know nothing whatsoever about anime, so that’s news to me!

They might’ve very recently stopped defending the rights of actual swastika flag carrying nazis. They have a specific definition of nazi. I tend to call all the fascists nazis, but it is true that Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys are not actually nazis, though some of the militias and white supremacist groups are. But…

Those are all great things to hear.

I can’t speak about all the rallies, but I can explain a little why there are so relatively few protestors when this happens in Portland and Seattle. Note right now it is going on in Berkely. These cities are all roughly in the same region, and that’s because these groups (Proud…

I can only guess this is a reference to some anime show that I have never heard of but am morbidly curious to hear about...

When? I’m not arguing with you, I’m honestly asking. I know they had their permit revoked earlier this summer, but I did not hear about this one getting revoked. And my attempts at google are not turning anything up though that could be my own stupidity.

You mean why do they have the right to get a permit to attend a rally while carrying military rifles? Well my friend, that would be the confluence of the federal level 1st and 2nd amendments (which apply to the entire country), and state level open-carry rights (which apply to 45 states).

While I could say a lot about…

Yes. Our own modern American aristocracy is just as gross and entitled and obsessed with celebrity and just as willing to grind the masses to dust as the European aristocracy in the past. 

Yes because what we need are more civil polite technocrats with spreadsheets.

Fuck off.

These are the same assholes who think that the real tragedy is that the Homeland Security Secretary who is running a concentration camp system can’t have a peaceful dinner in a restaurant. They are the same fuckers who complain that the traffic is bad when antiwar protestors attempt to prevent a US invasion that will…

Usually in organized civil disobedience, it’s the role of the organizers to make sure that all participants are aware of their individual risk levels (which do change depending on things like income, race, immigration status, jobs, kids, etc) and also what resources they can expect (if any) from the organization.…

It’s possible I’m wrong about this, but I believe Patriot Prayer did indeed have a permit. They usually do, and the permit usually specifies if the rally will include guns, and from what I heard, at this particular rally the permit said they would be armed.

I know these things seem simple from the sidelines, but have you ever actually been in any of these crowds? I know it’s hard to tell tone online but I’m not call-out sneer posting, I’m asking for real what your personal experience is with this sort of thing b/c I think a lot of people who have this opinion haven’t…

No. This is where the #resistance gets it wrong and why their worldview makes it impossible for anything to change other than the head of state. If your resistance includes military generals and FBI directors and billionaire GOP wives, then you don’t have a resistance. You are complicit with the most powerful and…

This happens in every movement that threatens an established power system. There will always be bootlickers who take it upon themselves to help defend the powerful and there will always be infiltrators who cause internal strife and/or instigate an external crackdown. This isn’t unique to what is happening in Portland…

I think there’s a few things, but I think it’s a bigger conversation than we are likely to have on Jezebel. In the first place, we have to divide up who we are talking about. If we are talking about the people who have actually gone full out militia or Proud Boy or Patriot Prayer or any other form of fascist, there is…