Have you ever read The Nazi Bar story? It goes like this:
I was at a shitty crustpunk bar once getting an after-work beer. One of those shitholes where the bartenders clearly hate you. So the bartender and I were ignoring one another when someone sits next to me and he immediately says, "no. get out."
And the dude next to me says, "hey i'm not doing anything, i'm a paying customer." and the bartender reaches under the counter for a bat or something and says, "out. now." and the dude leaves, kind of yelling. And he was dressed in a punk uniform, I noticed
Anyway, I asked what that was about and the bartender was like, "you didn't see his vest but it was all nazi shit. Iron crosses and stuff. You get to recognize them."
And i was like, oh ok and he continues.
"you have to nip it in the bud immediately. These guys come in and it's always a nice, polite one. And you serve them because you don't want to cause a scene. And then they become a regular and after awhile they bring a friend. And that dude is cool too."
And then THEY bring friends and the friends bring friends and they stop being cool and then you realize, oh shit, this is a Nazi bar now. And it's too late because they're entrenched and if you try to kick them out, they cause a PROBLEM. So you have to shut them down.
And i was like, 'oh damn.' and he said "yeah, you have to ignore their reasonable arguments because their end goal is to be terrible, awful people."
And then he went back to ignoring me. But I haven't forgotten that at all.
- - Michael B. Tager (The bar was Sidebar in Baltimore.)
I share this today because of this:
Wow...Anyone else see a group of about 30 Nazi members marching on Ten Oaks? They made their way to our street on Haviland Mill and who knows where they'll end up.
And this:
My sister in rural Howard County MD just had ~30 flag-carrying, uniform-wearing Nazis march past her house on a country road. I have no idea what they were doing or where they were going, but it was pretty upsetting.
Both were posted on social media last night. One on Facebook, one on Bluesky. (The one on Facebook was subsequently deleted, possibly by admin.)
A reminder: I am not a journalist. This is not breaking news. I did not see it with my own eyes. So, is it irresponsible to share it here? I am uncertain. I will be working today to try to find out more.
Here’s the thing: with all of the hatred and downright violence toward “the other” being promoted in Washington these days, would it surprise you to learn that Nazis were marching in Howard County? Going one step further: would it surprise you that they’ve been here all along just waiting for permission to come out in the open?
Yeah. That.
It seems as though every day we need to decide whether we are going to be the Nazi bar. Because there’s no “agree to disagree” with these folks.
Their end goal is to be terrible, awful people.
When I know more I will let you know.
UPDATE:
1. I have now verified that it was called into the police by eyewitnesses but that officers responding didn‘t find anything when they arrived. So it was reported through official channels but as of yet can’t be corroborated.
2. I am thrilled to share that what a variety of residents saw last night was, in fact, something very different .
(Something about the clothing and flags and the environment of fear we are living in makes this sadly understandable .)
“A witness chased them down & finally It was a group of Quakers marching to a rally in DC. They gave him this pamphlet. “
Thank goodness!
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