I remember a case that appeared in the news, probably occurring in some place like Maryland or New Jersey.
A neo-Nazi group determined in their collective sick minds to harass members of a Jewish congregation at their synagogue. Whether they rented the property across the street from the synagogue or owned it, they hung the Nazi flag there on the Sabbath when worshippers were attending services.
The Synagogue sued, and I think they won, in a judicial exception to "1st Amendment" rights.
I remember a non-incident -- meaning that I couldn't do anything about it and nobody else chose to -- back when Obama had been president for maybe a year. It was a warm, sunny day, and I went down to Riverside Plaza to get some hamburgers at Jimmy's. Right at the corner in front of El Chipotle, there was a big red late-model Ford F-250 parked in one of the diagonal spaces. The owner had affixed a USMC/Marine-Corps flag on a pole at the back of his truck -- just askew from being perfectly vertical. And he'd added another flag with the same pole length set at the same but opposite angle -- the Stars and Bars.
I was so offended by it, as I waited for my Teriyaki Burgers and fries, all I could think of was how I might get away with setting the Confederate flag ablaze. While I was standing there in line for my order, I came up with the idea of using a rubber-band or some sort of makeshift slingshot to fling a lit match at the flag, but realized it would need an accelerant sprayed on it to make it blaze up. And then I looked at all the people milling around. And I thought about my responsibility to myself and my family.
And I collected my burgers and fries and left. But thinking about it today, ten or eleven years later, I almost want to explode.
Howsoever it's done, it is important to expunge, shame, shun, and embarrass these people and ruin their day. Technically, one is free to harbor any idea he or she wants. But showing advocacy for the Confederacy or the Third Reich -- this should offend every American. It's a sick waste of the public's time and well-being, to cope with this nonsense whether coping takes energy or not.
If you think about it, the Trump election is like winning a hockey goal or football touchdown for these people. Trump is the ultimate expression of the petty little displays they make on their front lawns. When they elected Trump, it was a slap in the face to normal citizens of the Republic, and the slap carried the message "This is what we think of you and your two-term N***** President!" They didn't vote for policy. They didn't vote for likeability. They voted out of anger to create offense and assure the public would be slapped in the face every day.
That's why the BLM movement and the call to remove the Confederate statutes is so timely. We've given all this tolerance over the years to these very hateful un-American space-aliens, and the tolerance has run out. And so far, the "Creative Non-Violence" of MLK has worked profoundly, with massive, peaceful demonstrations arising in cities not just here but around the world.
However, as we re-examine our tolerance, we are now compelled to split hairs over statues and flags. At this moment, there may be some who harbor misplaced resentment over the Gettysburg statuary and Mt. Rushmore. The other day, somebody attempted to burn down the historic San Gabriel Mission --- not only a historically important building, but a functioning church in a Catholic parish. It is suspected that it was done to demonstrate the sentiment against Junipero Serra's long-accepted place in history, his sainthood and so forth.
See, this is like saying we need to destroy the pyramids because the pharaohs used slaves to build them. These are troubling times, and we're going to see people stepping over some vague line to destroy buildings and artifacts with controversial meaning.
But the only people who can be blamed for bringing this state of affairs upon us are the Right-wing, bigoted and fascist element. Push the limits of tolerance, and we will push back. At that point, rational discourse about any of it becomes either difficult or impossible.