White Supremacists Cleaning Ditches In Oregon [Say Anything]

First it was the Klan, now its the Nazis.

Salem Statesman - Marion County has allowed a Portland-area skinhead group to adopt a rural Salem road as part of a volunteer litter clean-up program.

The signs proclaiming that Sunnyview Road NE between Cordon Road and 82nd Avenue is sponsored by the American Nazi Party NSM were installed Monday.

County officials say they were legally advised that excluding the organization would violate a constitutional right to free speech. Their choices, they said, were: allow the group to join the program, remove all of the signs from the program or refuse the group and risk a lawsuit.

Commissioner Sam Brentano said he wanted to turn the organization down anyway and face whatever lawsuits came.

He was outnumbered by commissioners Patti Milne and Janet Carlson. The commissioners did not vote on the issue, but gave staff direction by consensus.

Milne said she considers it strictly a constitutional issue that goes to the core of being American.

Carlson said she didn't want to end a good program for many volunteers as a way to keep this group from joining.

These two groups must have signed up for the same PR classes.

Regardless, I don't think the people of Missouri or Oregon have much of a choice in this matter. As distasteful as it is, it is a free speech issue. As I pointed out in my post about the situation with the Ku Klux Klan, if we're going to let the Michael Moore’s of the world blather on about terrorists being this millennium’s “minutemen� then we have to let the Nazis blather on about white supremacy.

(via Six Meat Buffet)

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

posted by Ace at 03:17 PM

| Access Comments