Whitefish

So, there's this Nazi named Richard Spencer.  And let's be clear on this: he's a Nazi.  Not a 'neo-Nazi' --- adding the 'neo' part simply serves to distance him from his true ideological heritage, and in so doing makes his views seem slightly less horrible.

He's not a neo-Nazi: he's a Nazi.

Like all Nazis, Spencer has a mother, and she happens to live in a town called Whitefish, Montana.  I know nothing about Sherry Spencer, really, except that she owns a 'mixed-use' facility there.  She probably isn't a Nazi, but she published a letter recently which, either by accident or design, now has the Nazis of America (otherwise known as the hard-right wing of the Republican party) rather upset.  She alleges that a real estate agent named Tanya Gersh had threatened to boycott her business and draw national attention to it unless she agreed to sell out.  I know even less about Tanya Gersh than I do about Sherry Spencer, so it's entirely possible that Spencer is telling the truth.  However, it's hard to see any malicious intent in the emails Spencer published to back up her claims.  For example, this email from Gersh:

Sherry, Thank you for talking so openly with me today. I just can't imagine what you are going through. I am getting the listing agreement together and having the owner/broker of my office consult with a recommended price as well. I should have something to you later this evening. Please stay in close contact with me if you need anything or have questions at all about what is going on in the community. I put out many fires today just by mentioning the possible sale. All is very quiet right now waiting for your announcement. I will have public statement drafted shortly as well for you to review.

(I'm not linking to the emails, because they contain contact information which the Nazis are now using to harass Tanya Gersh --- but they're easy enough for interested parties to find).

This is hardly a shakedown letter.  The one thing Spencer and Gersh seem to agree on is that something was happening in Whitefish that made Spencer's continued residence there uncomfortable (the 'fires' Gersh managed to put out), and it seems likely that 'something' is genuine harassment on the part of anti-Nazi activists.  And if that is the case, shame on them.  Even if Sherry Spencer IS a Nazi --- and there seems to be no evidence that she is --- she has the right to live her life free of harassment, so long as she isn't running her business in a discriminatory manner or using it to promote a Nazi world view.

What also seems likely --- although by no means certain --- is that Spencer chose to address the problems in Whitefish by selling out, donating a portion of the proceeds to Human Rights Network, and making a public statement denouncing her son's beliefs.  Perhaps that suggestion is a complete fabrication on Gersh's part; more likely Spencer's son or some other Nazi persuaded her to change her mind.  If it's the latter, Spencer couldn't just change her mind, since even the thought of selling out would be perceived as weakness, which is why she instead turned around and accused Gersh of being the harasser.

Whatever the reality, Richard Spencer and his Nazi buddies are handling the situation with the kind of calm, reasoned restraint one might expect:

Andrew Anglin, the neo-Nazi who runs The Daily Stormer, a blatantly racist and anti-Semitic website, has ratcheted up his campaign of harassment against the Jewish community in and around Whitefish, Montana, including announcing an armed march in the town by white supremacists that he has scheduled for January.

And like all Republicans, these Nazis wouldn't dream of staging a protest without their precious guns.  Anglin is rubbing his hands together with glee, saying:

 Montana has extremely liberal open carry laws, so my lawyer is telling me we can easily march through the center of the town carrying high-powered rifles.

And here we see the idiocy of 'open carry' laws on full display.  The First Amendment guarantees the right of Americans to peaceably assemble, and to protest.  The Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms, although contrary to what the Supreme Court has decided, it's obvious to me that the Second Amendment was talking about community policing, not Glocks for everyone.

Nevertheless, what Anglin and other Republicans like him are really talking about when they talk about open carry, or 'march[ing] through the center of town carrying high-powered rifles' is intimidation, something most definitely not guaranteed by the Constitution.  But this is where we've come as a society, when we have just enough gun-worshippers to defeat common-sense gun control legislation and put an orange stain in the White House.

There are now some hints that the Whitefish protest might be called off, but even if it is, we would all do well (especially Richard Spencer and the Nazis) to heed the final words on this matter from Sherry Spencer:

I strongly urge that everyone stays within the bounds of respectful, civilized discussion of this matter by refraining from abusive comments or targeted harassment of any of the parties involved, or their families. I disavow the harassment that anyone faced as a result of these events first being brought to light by the media even prior to this publication of my side of the story. After all, my own family and I have faced — and continue to face — numerous threats and bullying on social media as well.