Neo-Nazis and freedom

Originally posted on my birthday (July 3) on my MySpace blog. For some reason, this entry got more hits than almost any other I've ever posted.
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Last night, I was channel surfing, trying to find some Law & Order. Well, Hell must be freezing over because there was a two-hour window without any episodes on anywhere. But when I got to A&E, they had a documentary about a group of skinheads in Alabama. So I watched that instead.

Racism is stupid. I'm just going to get that out of the way right now. I think that, next to Anarchists, Nazis are the most backwards, ill-informed group of people in the world. All these skinheads did was sit around and talk about how white they are, and how good it is to be white, and how great Hitler was, and how much all non-whites suck. YAWN. Seriously people. Grow up and find some rhetoric that isn't laugh-out-loud stupid.

But anyway, while watching the documentary, I actually felt vastly grateful that groups like this exist...they are living proof of the extent of our freedoms. Even though it makes my stomach churn to see rallies in Hitler's honor (with children in attendence, no less!) I am glad to live in a country where that's allowed.

Same goes for flag-burning. I don't like to see it, but I'm glad the Senate didn't pass the bill that would make it a crime to burn an American flag in protest. Free speech is very important to Americans, and it shouldn't be taken away--even if the speech protected is that of people with bad ideas.