Flying Nazi flags should be considered a hate crime.

[raccoon]

I don’t know if it is but it should be.

[doc03]

1. Voting for Trump should be a hate crime but

unfortunately it isn't.

[empedocles]

9. The U P ?

[Johnny2X2X]

2. You see the all over Northern MI

It's just crazy that people think it's OK, but I see them whenever I drive up North here in MI.

And people don't just display them, they sell them, there will be roadside stores selling Nazi flags and bandanas.

[LeftInTX]

16. Yep, there is a Nazi colony up there

I saw a documentary about it.

[Johnny2X2X]

18. I've seen the stuff at Flea Markets

Just crazy that people would be OK with it.

[LeftInTX]

20. Michael Moore documentary from 1991

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_in_the_Face

One of his better documentaries..

[Polybius]

30. Idaho too

No idea why there are so many there.

[Johnny2X2X]

32. I always want to ask them

So, you wish the US had lost WWII? Where are these people coming from? Do they really wish Hitler had taken over the world and slaughtered perhaps 50 Million Americans including our entire military?

How can they fly the Nazi flag and the US flag? Furthermore, how can someone fly the US flag and the Confederate flag, you kind of have to pick a side in both cases. You're either for America or for Nazis, you're either for America or for the Confederacy.

These same idiots flying Nazi and Confederate flags consider themselves patriots too.

[Dustlawyer]

3. To have the First Amendment you have to allow unpopular speech. Where would you draw the line?

You cannot use certain speech that advocates harm or destruction (shouting fire in a crowded movie theater where there is no fire), the Amendment does have limitations, but the test to limit speech is very narrow.

[AnyFunctioningAdult]

27. It is frightening to me

How many people either do not understand this or do not believe this. Popular speech does not need protection. And what is popular changes.

[Devil Child]

4. Free speech is enshrined in our 1st Amendment

This includes the right to display a Nazi flag if one so chooses.

[LongtimeAZDem]

5. While I understand the sentiment, I have to disagree:

America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours."

- The American President

[panader0]

6. Can't do it in Germany.

And there are no statues of Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels etc in Germany.

[packman]

7. Displaying the Confed flag should be considered a hate crime

But then again, I guess with heritage and tradition and all that other B.S. , it should be allowed. Then why are we taking down statues and other remnants of that glorious age? Sort of like Present day Germany is filled with statues of Hitler, Goebbels, and has towns and villages named after them and all those Nazi flags flying over people's homes - OH, WAIT- they don't do that in Germany. But, we do it in the good Ole' US of A because we value our freedoms....

[RobinA]

24. Something That Isn't A Crime

can't be a "hate crime."

[SCantiGOP]

8. It's not and it shouldn't be

You don’t criminalize speech, no matter how offensive it is.

[empedocles]

12. Even the admirable Justice Hugo Black, a free speech absolutist, recognized limits on

'free speech' - as in free speech did not necessarily justify 'conduct'.

'No right to shout ''FIRE" in a crowded theatre, etc., well established precedent.

[SCantiGOP]

22. Classic misunderstanding of this concept

Yelling 'Fire' in a theater endangers someone else. Me flying a rebel, Nazi or anti-Trump flag does not endanger anyone else and, as long as it is on my property, is no one else's business.
His friend and fellow free speech absolutist William O Douglas said that the measure of free speech lies in how we tolerate the most offensive and disruptive speech.

Anyone who, on principle, would allow the State to ban particular flags could not object to criminalizing the burning of an American flag, or any other sign of disrespect to a symbolic piece of cloth.

[empedocles]

31. Suspect you, as I, know there is no consensus on 'free speech'. Willam O. not quite the same

'absolutist' as Black, stating bluntly in an opinion, 'the freedom to speak is not absolute', - though in spirit at least, he was close to Black.

SCOTUS has never adopted an absolutist approach, despite 'original intent', etc. doctrines.

In practice, there has been much consideration of conflicting 'rights' and legitimate interests - and much 'balancing' of interests whether admitted or not.

[I've written a couple of briefs, and a number of memoranda on the subject - a humbling experience. Learned to despise the thickets of 'titlillating hypotheticals].

[Coleman]

10. In the US, there is no such thing as a hate crime.

Hate may be used as a state of mind during a trial and as a contributing factor when it comes to sentencing. Yes Germany has banned the display of all Nazi related objects and a person can be prosecuted for the possession of such an item like a Nazi flag or armband. Just imagine if the US did have hate crimes. Hell, Rumple Trumpskin is saying that the painting of "Black Lives Matter" on a street is a hate crime. Who decides? A republican prosecutor, judge, jury?

[clementine613]

11. It may be an act of hate, but it's not a crime...

... nor should it be.

[redstatebluegirl]

13. You see a lot of them in rural Oklahoma.

[LeftInTX]

17. Ewww Nazi flags?

I figured Confederate flags, but not Nazi. I've never seen a Nazi flag in TX. I've seen confederate stuff, but not Nazi.

[redstatebluegirl]

19. We went out for a drive a few days ago just to get out of the house.

We drove to the Southwest of OKC. The further out we got, the more stars and bars and then we started seeing nazi flags, more than we have ever seen before. I think this is a trump thing.

[RobinA]

25. A Girl I Was Friends With

in high school (southeastern PA) wound up in Oklahoma due to her job and she married there. She seems (based on Facebook posts) to be a completely different person than she was when I knew her. Completely Trumpified, NRAified. She was really nice, too.

[redstatebluegirl]

26. We have been here over 20 years now.

There are some really nice people here, they will do anything for you. The problem is the loudest group are the crazies. It makes it appear they are all that live here. We are fortunate we live in a college town that is more progressive, still not like other parts of the country, but we both have jobs we like so we stay. We have found pockets of progressives we socialize with and I don't get or read the local paper anymore.

If she ended up in a rural community here, I feel for her, it would be hard to fight the majority every single day.

[dalton99a]

14. Let them identify themselves

[bdamomma]

21. they are stupid

enough to do it too.

[sarisataka]

15. Banning hate speech always sounds like a great idea

As long as you get to determine what is hateful. It can be very different when someone else gets to choose

Trump Tweet: Street Painting on 5th Ave 'Black Lives Matter' is a "Symbol of Hate"
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213682363

I can tolerate someone flying Nazi or Confederate flags as the price of free speech. Much like the hood of a cobra or the buzz of a rattlesnake, it tells me what sort of animal I am dealing with.

[hunter]

23. Punching Nazis should not be a hate crime.

Captain America did it.

I honestly believe some parts of the U.S.A. are populated by stupid hateful people because most of the bright kids leave. "Brain Drain" is a real thing.

And then the stupid people left behind wonder why their towns are so frustrating and stupid as they become more and more fearful, buy guns, vote for stupid people and cons like Trump, and fly their Confederate and Nazi flags with stupid pride.

How bad does it have to get before they wake up?

Does it have to be war? The Nazis didn't go away when Germany was defeated, but most of them had enough sense to shut the fuck up and keep it to themselves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nasty_Girl

We have our own versions of this in the U.S.A.. The Civil War never really ended. We have a large population of racists, fascists, and other deplorables. Trump has encouraged them to fly their banners high.

[brooklynite]

28. "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech"

If a Republican evangelical decided that a Gay Pride flag was "hate speech" and wanted it banned, how would you feel?

[Polybius]

29. Nope

Free speech, plus it's always good to know who the fascists are.

[Renew Deal]

33. You know about the first amendment right?

Just flying them isn't illegal no matter how horrifyingly vulgar it is. But they can be used to support hate crime charges.