State Lawmakers Rename Road; Unfair To Neo-Nazis?

Above: The local chapter of the National Socialist Movement pose in front of their stretch of highway they adopted for litter cleanup.

Last year, a local group of white supremacists — the National Socialist Movement’s Springfield Unit — applied to be part of the litter control program. They were granted an area on West Bypass just north of Sunshine Street. Yeah, they actually pick up trash too, and I’ve passed by while they were doing it…in fact a guy in front of me honked at them and they all stopped to give him the Sieg Heil sign. Pretty whack.

Now to counter this, and this is seen by some as brilliant and others as just plain funny, a bill was passed last week by State Representatives Bob Dixon and Sara Lampe to rename that portion of West Bypass as The Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Memorial Highway.

Lampe herself said it was a counter to hate, and yeah I would have to agree with that.

But here’s where a unique thought, courtesy yours truly, comes into the fray…even with the fact I have Jewish heritage and many friends of mine also do as well.

We have all been given a right to free speech here in America. Regardless of whether we agree with one’s viewpoint or not, we have a right to express our opinions in a non-threatening manner. That being said, I have not heard one report of the NSM bullying people while cleaning up the road…only letting their highly unpopular and offensive views be made known.

Far be it from me to defend a group that spreads hate and evil, but I do think that this attempt to silence them from state lawmakers is a borderline infringement on their protected speech in a very roundabout way. By one-upping the Neo-Nazis by basically pulling out the carpet from underneath their feet, Missouri lawmakers have sent the ultimate message that the NSM’s views must be silenced.

I can’t say I necessarily agree with that. I mean, look at Westboro Baptist Church and all the hate they spew forth. As sick and twisted as that group is, they have been afforded the right here in America to freely speak their minds.

All I’m saying here is, the local chapter of the National Socialist Movement has used a platform of environmental awareness to further their agenda (not only of environmental awareness but also to try to reaffirm publicly their belief that the white race is superior), Missouri’s legislature punked them and I think both are wrong.

I just wonder if the shoe was on the other foot, and a group such as a church youth group were to adopt a section of highway for cleanup, people honked at them and they would wave and say “Praise the Lord!” What would happen if some state lawmaker was offended, they didn’t like what the church stood for and moved to rename that road Anton LeVey Way?

Simply put, I don’t think it’s up to a body of politicians to determine who does and doesn’t have a voice. That lies solely with us, the people, and when it comes to the Neo-Nazis we simply gotta ignore ‘em if we don’t like what they have to say.