Elected officials, like the rest of us, are in on the Nazi taunt until they're not

The Nazi boys sought to smirk their prey into isolation by taunting them with murder. The silence or indifference of power helps them do it.

When you decide to put on Nazi gear and wave Nazi flags and do Nazi salutes and project Nazi slurs onto buildings used by law-abiding good people, who are under constant rhetorical attack from “mainstream” politicians and power, you are saying something very clearly, with a taunting smirk. This is what you want people to hear (as rendered in my words):

If and when the constraints of society slip enough, we will torture and murder you all as a group, just because of who you are. And we’ll get away with it because power is on our side. Indeed, power will help us do it. Just you wait.

In 2022 America, the word “Nazi” and its emblems mean “identity-based murder at scale,” specifically of Jews, but of anyone else society deems killable at scale, too.

That’s what drives all the cultural and historical and racial and theatrical pyrotechnics that inform our reactions to the word.

“Nazi” means human extermination — of men, women, and children. It means the end of society as we know it. It means society defined by who can impose death at scale on whom.

That’s why “Nazi” retains transgressive power for those on the edges of civil society. Grinning at the notion of mass murder and torture is the ultimate vain act of “I don’t give a fuck about you or your society. Look at me.”

When that’s backed by power — or intimidates power into silence — the menace grows exponentially. It turns the murderous fantasies on the fringes of society into society itself.

Transgression designed to create isolation

Saturday’s Lakeland Nazi boys weren’t just threatening the performers and families who went to see the family-friendly musical theater with the historical weight of mass murder; they were taunting the performers and families with the isolation from civic and moral protection they knew would follow.

They were taunting them with the fact that, as of now, Grady Judd and Ron DeSantis (and their voters) are on the side of the Nazi boys, as is every other silent elected embodiment of governing power in Polk County.

Silence from those chosen to govern on behalf of society — silence when citizens are taunted with their violent deaths because of their identities and entertainment choices — is very much an affirmation of the Nazi taunts.

That’s why it was so important that Lakeland police responded in force in a way that made the organizers feel protected. In this case, the unelected, armed “constraints of society” held, as they did on January 6th, despite the erosion of those constraints from within by the nominal elected preservers of them.

Good for LPD. Bad for everybody else except Polk School Board Member Lisa Miller, who did speak up forcefully and showed you why her recent re-election was so important.

U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin also at least acknowledged what happened; but this is a pretty lame and unhelpful statement. Pandering to the ghost of Rush Limbaugh won’t do anything to discourage Nazis or protect public space. Judge for yourself:

Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, who represents Lakeland in Congress, said he was thankful the “malcontents” were not locals.

“Our Constitutionally protected right to free speech doesn’t shield people from parading their stupidity. But as Rush Limbaugh said, ‘The First Amendment doesn’t give anybody the right to be heard. People don’t have to listen to you.’ The more oxygen we give to haters, the more we fan their flames,” said Rep. Franklin in a statement.

Can you say this?

We can debate whether the dozen jackass Nazi boys who showed up at the Lakeland drag show have murderous, organized group action in them (I tend to doubt it) — or whether they just enjoy the taunt. But that’s a gross debate because the taunt itself is an act of extreme mental violence.

Moreover, it’s entirely possible that one of these Nazi boys — or someone else who is emotionally addled and sees their propaganda pictures — will pick up one of Grady Judd’s beloved AR-15s and shoot up a drag show — or anything else. That individual action is just a slight escalation in transgression from Saturday night. We saw it happen recently in Colorado.

What are you prepared to do — as a citizen or governing official — to discourage that?Can you say this in public? (Saying it in private is meaningless.)

My neighbors and fellow citizens targeted by the Nazi boys deserve to be able to pursue their happiness and creativity free from Nazi boys — or anyone else — tormenting them. If I don't like drag shows, I don't have to attend one.

If you can’t say that, you know whose side you’re on. And the “lone wolf” will take your silence as permission — and/or silent encouragement.

That’s why drag performers are on the front lines of the American battle to save our society from violent, murderous transgression. I admire them very much. And it’s important to say that publicly. I haven’t said it enough. They’re risking everything to exist as Americans.

And they still have to approach that society with humility and a galling need to prove themselves worthy of protection from Nazi taunts. This is from a drag performer, advocating for their humanity in a comment exchange with a “conservative” on my Facebook page.

We'd just ask that you witness a family friendly event before you label all drag shows inappropriate. Like any actor we can perform in G rated shows and R. Fun fact, we have kids in our families, too and we would never disrespect a child.

A very low bar, unmet

Now, for Lakeland city commissioners, let me ask a second question:

If you can’t say what I just said above, are you proposing to shut drag shows down?

I’m pretty sure the building targeted was city-owned property. Are you going to follow the Nazi boy dictates and run law-abiding, decent, constructive, creative people out of our city’s life under threat of murder?

The actions here are black and white.

If you don’t shut them down — and you should not because there is no reason but toxic lies and Nazi rage to do so — you are essentially saying what I did above, without having the public courage to actually say it in a way that has meaning and force.

You’re making “lone wolves” more likely.

And if you shut them down for no reason, you might as well line up next to the Nazi boys and do the salute. There’s no gray area or compromise here.

Honestly, clearly expressing preference for law abiding drag performers and civil society over Nazis is such a low bar that it’s physically painful to beg you to step over it.

Grady Judd is quite capable of expressing disapproval — just not of Nazis who taunt drag performers with mass murder

Finally, if you think elected power in this county is incapable of expressing disapproval, consider soft-on-crime Polk Sheriff Grady Judd — he of the 70 percent murder rate spike and legalization of election felonies and tolerance of Rick Nolte’s groomerish “T.I.T.S.” manifesto and book-banning.

It wasn’t that long ago that Grady used a literal white supremacist hoax to rage in public about “Antifa” that didn’t exist after a Lakeland “riot” that didn’t happen.

He said the following in a 2020 Lakeland press conference, citing unquoted, undocumented social media “threats” from “Antifa.” These threats were almost certainly part of a hoax by a white supremacist group called “Identity Europa” (Judd has never denied it.)

The people of Polk County like guns. They have guns. I encourage them to own guns. And they’re going to be in their homes tonight with their guns loaded. And if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I’m highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns.

Can you imagine Grady Judd saying the same thing about the very real Nazi boys who actually terrorized real people in Lakeland and then dispersed, potentially to our neighborhoods?

The fact that you can’t imagine it tells you everything you need to know about Grady as a man, as an expression of elected power, and this moment in our shared history.

Remember, the Nazi boys were saying this Saturday night:

If and when the constraints of society slip enough, we will torture and murder you all as a group, just because of who you are. And we’ll get away with it because power is on our side. Indeed, power will help us do it. Just you wait.