My grandfathers fought their way across Europe and the Pacific to free the world from Nazis and their fascist Japanese Imperial allies. They earned campaign ribbons. One got a bronze star for gallantry in combat at Ipo Dam in the Phillipines. The other was a combat medic in Europe who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. My mother’s step-father had his bomber shot to ribbons with him inside it, and he somehow survived. My great-uncle Michael took a grenade blast in the face in a battle in Germany, and was scarred for the rest of his life. They all watched friends die, and saw the horrors these ideologies inflicted upon the world. They were all immigrants, or the children of immigrants.

As this despicable ideology raises its ugly head again today, we must look to the past, to the heroes of our grandfathers’ generation, for inspiration. They suffered and sacrificed so that others might live free of the oppression of fascists, racists and tyrants. They stood up. So must we too.

I do not advocate violence. I reject it. Leave justice to the professionals, the men and women in law enforcement, at the FBI, in the courts. Trust justice will be served. Our role is to denounce fascism, racism and bigotry, in all of its myriad forms, both online and in the world we live in. We must be strong, and principled, and drive this hateful rhetoric back into the darkness where it belongs.

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This is not a meditation on the Confederacy, or Black Lives Matter, or statues, or free speech, or Antifa or politics at all, really. It’s a matter of human decency.

If you are a neo-Nazi, or some permutation of white supremacist, or support neo-Nazis, or are laughing about the murder of one of your fellow Americans by neo-Nazis, you are wrong.

If you think any one of your fellow Americans is subhuman or beneath you because of their race or religion, you are wrong.

If you think vehicular manslaughter is an acceptable way to exercise “freedom of speech,” you are wrong.

If you think any of these points are up for debate, you are wrong.

Fascism is un-American, and is unacceptable.