I half-watched 60 Minutes this week while I struggled to install a screen door. There was a standard piece about some ridiculous American hate-group. They call themselves "Nazis," to coin a phrase. They want an all-white America.
Gripping, original stuff. Where do these folks ever get their ideas?
This particular piece centered on a newbie Nazi being murdered by his ten year old son. The guy is dead, the son is in juvie, and the kids are being raised by their paternal grandmother, the thinking apparently being that she did such a bang-up job raising Kid 1.0 that she earned an encore.
There isn't a sympathetic character to be found in the lot, of course. But something did surprise me: I found myself suppressing laughter. I know a lot of construction workers who fell upon hard times when the housing bubble burst, and many of them had to learn a new line of work. But I know of only one guy who responded by shaving his head, donning a full SS military costume, and railing about racial purity. Yep. Just the one. Worked out great for him, too.
It was the costumes that pushed me into involuntary giggles. Or maybe it was their lusty sieg heils. It's like watching a convention of 12 year olds who are trying oh so hard to prove their badassedness. 12 year olds with a costume budget. I was so riveted by the ridiculousness of their pageantry, I couldn't even hear what they were saying. I'm sure it was really articulate, though.
Epilogue—Stupidly, I looked at the online comments and found the official rebuttal from some Nazi spokesper—oh, who gives a shit. First and most importantly, being a good American, he claimed victimhood. Just like Hitler before them, they've been unfairly stereotyped by the American media.
Of course, the media finds the "Hollywood version Nazis" much more interestingAnd then the guy signs it with his name and the location of his organization: Burbank, CA.
See what I mean? You giggled, didn't you?
Goddammmit, mainstream media! We're Burbank Nazis! That's seven whole miles from Hollywood Nazis!