Apr 29, 2006

Tom Metzger on NSM rally

Soon after the rally in Lansing I read that Tom Metzger was in attendance. At first I was surprised at this. Reflecting some more this makes sense. Metzger who has been on the Westcoast for the last 30 some years has recently moved back to the Midwest, possibly Indiana, where I think he is originally from. This would put him only a few hours drive from Lansing. Metzger has recently disbanded W.A.R. and is now doing a project called, The Insurgent. He comes across as "non-sectarian". He obviously is a nazi partisan but he seems to critically support alot of the movement, especially if they are "active" - and that is definatley what the NSM is.

Below is Metzger's take on the situation. I'm not posting this stuff as any kind of endorsement. Only to let people see what others in their movement are saying. Metzger is looking around and analyzing what works and what is gonna drive people away from White fascism. - RX

From Metzger:

On Saturday I was able to view the demonstration from the audience side of the fence. This was probably the most secure event I have seen but also one that had serious negative effects on free speech and assembly.

About one half block from the viewing area check points were set up .Beyond that for several blocks no auto or truck traffic was allowed. At the check points a total body check was made just short of a strip search identical to an airport search.

You can imagine what a slow project that was with several hundred people attending. There were two holding pens of 6 foot chain link plus chain link between the entire audience and the capital steps where the NSM were to speak. Both holding pens would hold perhaps two to 3 hundred people with locks on the only exits to these pens. Of course they were unlocked but could easily be quickly locked if things got to tough for the cops to handle. Essentially when you entered either you were agreeing to a quasi arrest. You did not have to enter either pen since there was ample room between the two areas to stand view and listen.

The problem was many fold. The NSM was not allowed to be closer than about 400 ft. from the crowd. They were not allowed a P.A. system that was effectively heard by much of the crowd. Essentially they were voluntarily under arrest because the police caused them to meet with them at a police controlled area and be rigorously searched then agree to ride in police vans to the event.

This is not a good thing for the NSM since it demonstrates to the public that their members are completely under police protection. We know this is not for the best interests of the revolutionary struggle. We also know it is a wrong perception that the social Marxist promote to identify our struggle as a State assisted struggle. The entire set up for the event was for the convenience of the state and not free speech.

Only the vary boldest of people that supported the NSM cause or the Racial Separatist cause would dare attend such a gathering and be placed in a virtual jail surrounded by hundreds of social Marxists many bent on violence to squash free speech. In this case only about 6 or seven brave civilian people chase to do so.

The only observable violence that occurred was when many of the anti's started filtering into the supporter chain linked area. Even though this was obvious to the police it was not stopped until the anti's surrounded the supporters and attacked them. It was a short fight and the supporters did well considering the odds. Finally the mounted police entered to drive the Social Marxist's out. This was bad because it allowed the press to get photos misleading the public that the NSM members were beaten by the crowd . Its a clever tactic the media use.

Since it was a reasonably small area for a dozen horses to operate this was a stupid act by police that endangered everyone when they had hundreds of on foot cops available to do the job quicker and more safely.

It is my opinion the this was no accident but the police did not want to have pictures in the news of foot soldier cops beating on the anti's while horses tended to obscure the view of prying cameras.

Another tactic that ties the neo con capitalists to the social Marxists was police helicopters hovering so low that much of the speakers were almost impossible to hear. Also down town business were either instructed to shut down or scared into it by system cops and their bosses.
The content of the speeches were generally good but in some cases sent a mixed message. I monitored the crowd quite carefully as to their response. Discounting the professional so called Social Marxist's who would never agree with anything a Nazi said no matter how logical . There were many curious observers that a times agreed with the speakers.

When the speakers attacked Bush, Washington, big business, environmental issues, the war in Iraq along with other imperialist activities many in the crowd around me in the anti section made approving comments. Some speakers unnecessarily baited the crowd because it was made up largely of the lowest elements just their for the circus. I certainly agreed in principal but not in the tactic. Its a hard line to walk but even I who was surrounded by screaming morons so close they were touching me see the benefit of not using that tactic since it sends a wrong message to those Whites on the fence and are still salvageable.
The contingent of NSM was much better than usual. It appeared that nearly one hundred were on the steps of the state house and their salutes were quite audible. The contingent of around 4 ladies who appeared had an effect on the crowd, To many it softened their insults quite a bit. To others primarily niggers and whigger druggies you can imagine what they were screaming.
Tactically I must say the organized opposition put on a good show as they showed up at least a three hundred strong beyond the checkpoints marching up and down and around the intersections.They were loud with drums and large brightly painted canvas signs. Much more impressive than NSM members being hearded around by the cops unable to be close to the crowd.

Before you get over my ass understand one thing . I simply calls them the way I sees them. Its never personal or meant to support the enemy.

I talked to many of these people in the crowd and found many could be reached at least on some points. Of course I could not identify myself for obvious reasons.
In conclusion I feel the demonstration served a few conclusions. The NSM did not lose ground with those that agree and respect the guts it takes to put on the shirt as my National Socialist friends used to say back in Rockwell's day. But the albatross of uniformed Nazi's will always only appeal to a tiny percentage of Whites even if many do secretly admire the National Socialists.
To get around the obvious visible road blocks that have been practiced ever since Rockwell operated in a similar manner their needs to be a modernization of National Socialism to bring it into the 21st century and leave the 30's and 40's to history. In Russia and eastern Europe did you notice how hard core communist's repackaged themselves and slipped right back into power? It is not cowardice to repackage oneself or a movement as long as it moves one closer to a goal.

I stood in the crowd I tried to put myself in the shoes of those seriously interested. Would I be more apt to consider the argument from a person in working class clothes or in black or dark blue suits with red ties or someone who looks like he or she walked off the set of a Hollywood Jew movie about the third Reich.? Would I be more impressed if I saw normal looking Whites picketing the big outsourcing corporations?

Or joining into large anti war demonstrations gradually recruiting mislead people on the left.They must be convinced that the present leadership of the left consciously or sub consciously support the same wishes or the elitist money grubbers that they shake their fist at.

The present leftist opposes globalization, war, environmental destruction, over population etc several other points The Insurgent can agree on these points also. In today's sense of the word we are not Nationalists and by today's capture of Socialism by the Jews and its perversion we are not Socialists or Capitalist either.

So we are simply White and fanatically promote a healthy White Society world wide. Right and left are meaningless buzz words today that only serve to divide White people. That's just what our masters want.

So lets really think over our direction no matter what group or faction or network you support.

The message must be clarified and made simple. Our skin is our uniform . We need no other.PS. If I didn't offend everyone then call me and I will try to figure a way to do so.

Apr 24, 2006

round up of Lansing anti-NSM news

i'm gonna post some links to various reports about this past weekends events in Lansing. it seems that there is a general thougt that the NSM had roughly 80 members present (although the NSM is claiming higher - 160) with 25 visible non-NSM supporters show up. the anti-racists who went to directly confront the NSM seemed to number between 700-900, while the Lansing city government sponsored diversity rally, Win The Day, had somewhere around 1,000 people show up throughout the day.

Hundreds Protest Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement in Lansing

White supremacists rally in Lansing, face protests

Nazi rally kept under control

Neo-Nazis, counter-protestors exchange shouts at State Capitol

Protesters herald a mix of messages

with the exception of the first link these are mainstream media reports and offer no critical view of the events. i hope to add some of these in the next few days.

Apr 21, 2006

here are some more articles regarding anti-NSM actions:

the first is a report on Grand Rapids, Michigan anti-racists organizing an "outing" of the NSM 's Southwest Unit leader, Ken Matthews

the second is more views on the radio event that had a Lansing antifascist arguing against the NSM and their spokesman

the third is the most recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center documenting the rise of the NSM.

as they are no friends of antifascists, i would prefer to not be posting stuff by the SPLC . indeed, the SPLC has distorted information for their own ends (mostlty to create fear and rake in cash from the liberals) and works with the State to monitor and disrupt not only the fash, but radical antifascists like ARA and their fellow travellers. the first issue of the now defunct ARA Research Bulletin carried an article detailing this. however, the current antifascist and radical movement hasnt produced much in the way of indepth investigation and reporting on the fash and their up's and down's.

although 3Way Fight has tried to be better at posting articles that are critical, more detailed, and outlining trends within the Right and fascist camps, in the end were still a part of this failure to take research more seriously. so with that said i guess were gonna have to wade through the info put out by the State aligned anti-racists.

Debating the NSM's Bill White

For those not in the know, the NSM is planning a rally in Lansing, Michigan for April 22nd. This has led to some local grassroots organizing to counter the fascists. LCAN (Lansing Coalition Against Nazis) is taking the lead in this and has come to be butting heads with the city government who are urging people to stay away fromt he NSM's rally and instead attend a city sponsored "Diversity" rally. LCAN has taken the position that the fascists have to be oppossed in a visible way, arguing for a same time, same place approach.

The following is from Antifa Portal and are some comments made on the radio "debate" between the National Socialist Movement's spokesman, Bill White, and an antifascist from LCAN.

The debate was hosted by the editor of the City Pulse. The event had White and the antifa calling over phones - the antifa refused to be int he studio with White. The alternative weekly newspaper wanted to provide an opportunity to have the NSM and it's opponnents speak and "present" their sides - believing that in a democracy all sides should be allowed to get representation (I think a flawed, but understandable position. And given that the mainstream and corporate media of Lansing has had a virtual media blackout of the event, I think in the end it's not a bad position for the City Pulse to take). Although antifascists generally refuse to participate in "debates" with fascists that gives them air time - the no platform idea - if the nazi's are gonna get a say anyway, it may be wise for antifas to make the most of the opportunity.

from Antifa Portal:
"A couple of things. Bill really played up the 'law abiding”'bit and said the NSM was not about violence. He down-played any anti-system politics, actually, anti-system politics were totally lacking from his rant. Funny, because I think a lot of Nazis despise the current system and want to see it overthrown (isn’t this Bill White’s websites’ name, Overthrow.com?!?) and believe that only through an insurrection can this be achieved. By rejecting this, Bill paints himself as an opportunist and, really, pretty politically dishonest. It’s one thing to try to be subtle and say radical things in a popular way that doesn’t sound all crazy, but it’s something really different to just avoid all together the presentation of your politics, which is what Bill did. Or maybe the NSM isn’t really for anything anti-system or radical" (read more)

Apr 16, 2006

Christian Rightists and Neocons: A 25-Year Alliance

This is the text of a talk I gave in October. It offers some historical background about two of the main factions in the non-fascist sector of the U.S. right.

When we think about the Bush administration or the conservative movement in general, sometimes there's a temptation to see them as a political monolith, with everyone faithfully walking in lockstep. But the Bush forces are not a monolith -- they're a coalition of several different political factions. That's part of their strength, and it's also -- at least potentially -- part of their weakness. If we want to organize effectively against the right, we need to study both the strengths and weaknesses of their coalition-building work. For at least 25 years, the alliance between the Christian Right and the neoconservatives has been at the center of right-wing coalition building efforts, and at the center of the whole conservative resurgence.

Read more

Apr 8, 2006

Organizing against the National Socialist Movement

Interview for Flint's Uncommon Sense. U.S. was an independent newspaper in Flint, Michigan.
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On April 22nd, the National Socialist Movement(NSM), a Neo-Nazi organization, plans to hold their national action in Lansing. This is the same organization who’s rally in Toledo last fall turned into a riot, when they marched through a largely African American neighborhood. Community members in Lansing are planning a counter-demonstration to the Nazi rally. We sat down with a couple of anti-racist activists from Lansing to find out more.

Please introduce yourselves:
Steve: I am a 32 year old counselor and hip-hop dj. I have been doing anti-racist organizing for about 15 years, including work against fascist organizers and police brutality. Currently I work with a group called Lansing Coalition Against Nazis (LCAN), who are organizing a counterdemonstration against the neo-Nazi rally.

Chris: I’m 32 and also involved with some of the organizing against the NSM. I have been involved in anti-racist organizing since I was a teenager. When I was first getting involved in punk and skinhead music I knew kids that got turned on to the whole neo-Nazi thing, this was in the late 1980’s when Nazis were trying to take over space in our music scenes. The Nazis were a real threat and would beat people down, shut down our clubs, and tried to bury the creative, anti-racist, and positive elements of our culture. Resistance to the Nazis grew, which eventually came down to confronting and driving them out of our scenes. We organized ourselves, without reliance on the authorities or the “establishment” – we did it ourselves, for ourselves. That whole experience galvanized kids like me, and I’m still part of struggles like that 16 years later.

So why are these nazis demonstrating in Lansing, and what is going to happen that day?

Steve: The National Socialist Movement is having their national action in Lansing April 22nd to celebrate Hitler's birthday. They are attempting to recruit racists from across the country to attend their event. This is a part of an aggressive recruitment drive by the NSM that has seen them organizing rallies and marches across the U.S., including Toledo, Detroit, Orlando, Seattle in the last few months. All these events receive massive amounts of police protection, and hundreds of thousands of community tax dollars, to essentially protect the right of racists to organize for genocide.

The Lansing Coalition Against Nazis (LCAN) is organizing a visible counter demonstration to show the racists organizers that they are not welcome to recruit in our neighborhoods. LCAN is a new group which sprung up in response to increased fascist organizing in Michigan, which includes community members, M.S.U. students, and anti-racist activists.

Why demonstrate against the Nazis? Why not ignore them?

Chris: Ignoring the Nazis is a common argument that the authorities make. Ignoring them wont make them go away, their already here trying to build their base. I think we have to figure out how to educate and defend our communities against them. A lot of working class and poor people are already going through problems, I think the Nazis are one more attack on us.

Aren’t these Nazis just a joke? Who would take them seriously?

Chris: Actually, a lot of people take them seriously, and so should we. People like to see the Nazis as a Hollywood character. I think the NSM, who dress up in World War 2 Nazi costumes may fit that category at times. But I think it’s really shortsighted to think of them all as jokers and clowns.

The Nazis try and speak to people’s frustrations and fears. They present themselves as a radical alternative to a system that a load of people are really considering bankrupt in more ways than one. A lot of people feel that this society is failing it’s citizens and that they are falling through the cracks. The Nazis are a fringe, but their trying to be an ideological lightning rod. They organize to put their ideas out there.

I think it’s important that we organize and present our own vision that speaks to peoples concerns and frustrations. I’m not for trying to convince people that the “establishment does work” and that we “have patience and give our leaders time”. No way. I’m saying we got to organize and promote our own agenda of a grassroots movement based on diversity, solidarity, cooperation and a shared desire to see things radically turned around. It’s gonna be tough, but something’s got to be done. Either we keep putting up with the same old, same old and just accept the mess were in. Or movements like the Nazis are gonna try and capture some attention and possibly win support from people looking for a new direction.