That seems to be the message the white seperatist movement is clinging to today, through one of its chief spokesmen, John de Nugent:
"The responsible white separatist community condemns this," he said. "It makes us look bad."
Ah, yes. The responsible white seperatist community. Let's break that down for a second...
First off, I can see where de Nugent might be worried a tad. His "well duh" statement of this incident making his ilk "look bad"...well yes. This is indeed a bad PR moment for hate, isn't it?
But there is a deeper, scarier message here, one in which not only fringe extremist groups want us to believe, but a lot of right wing talking loonies want you to believe as well.
It's OK to be racist and an anti-Semite...so long as you don't go into a building and shoot somebody.
It's OK to rile people up at rallies (kind like the shades of scary stuff we saw during the 2008 campaign)...so long as you don't actually act on your threats.
It's OK to use or listen to violent speech over the internet, or radio...so long as you don't become a loner or a hothead and get out of control.
It's OK to advocate elimination of certain races or political views or people...so long as you do actively take that next substantial step of actual violence.
In short, it's OK to hate...so long as you don't kill.
Of course, the problem with all that hatred is that evenually, it produces a von Brunn. Or a Timothy McVeigh. Or an Osama bin Laden. Radical hatred based on animus never really produces incrimentalism, or constructive change.
It produces terrorists.
And that's the problem, Mr. de Nugent.
Not the PR diaster of making the "responsible white seperatist" movement look bad. But the tragedy of lost life due to hate.
And it is time for that hate to end.