Kingpin wrote:It begs the question though, why isn't being a Nazi/Neo-Nazi an actual crime?
First Amendment. As long as all they're doing is saying stupid things, it's not a crime. When it crosses over into intimidation, that's where they're not necessarily protected. And they're definitely not protected when they get violent.
The theory behind the First Amendment is that bad speech much be allowed, or we risk losing all speech. Today I could censor a Nazi, but tomorrow they could gain some influence and censor me. Plus, we'd rather have the Klan announce their stupidity to the world, so we can recognize it for what it is. We don't want them hiding in the shadows. And this has worked for many years. The Klan talked themselves into irrelevancy. But on the other hand, our economy wasn't too bad years back. The Klan has
always been fueled by desperation. That's why they're coming back. Not because of speech.
I mean, you weren't brought up this way, I can understand that it doesn't seem to make sense.
silencing it shouldn't incur a threat of leading to a slippery slope.
It shouldn't. But we've observed that that is human nature.
"You forgot the first rule of fanatics. When you become obsessed with the enemy...you become the enemy."