Ahh yes, my northern Kentucky home continues to do me proud with examples of FREE SPEECH AND LIBERTY like this.
A whites only group has adopted a stretch of the AA Highway in northern Kentucky through the state’s anti-litter program.
National Socialist Movement member Geoffrey Rash of Alexandria told The Kentucky Enquirer that the organization is not a hate group, even though it uses a swastika as a symbol. Rash says the symbol shows they are socialists, not Nazis.
“We feel that a national socialist structure, it worked in Germany, things just got a little crazy and they entered a world war,” Rash said.
The group adopted a two mile stretch of highway between Cold Spring and Wilder. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman Chuck Wolfe said the state does not have a restrictive policy on the program because the point is to encourage people to pick up litter.
Transportation Cabinet district spokeswoman Nancy Wood said people have been calling about the sign designating the National Socialists as responsible for the cleanup since Oct. 1.
Zee Germans were misunderstood, you see. Those wacky guys. Anyway, DON’T TREAD ON ME and stuff. Le sigh.
Wilder is a few miles down 275 from me, I sometimes go out there for the movie theater (it’s nice) and the Mellow Mushroom pizza place (which is awesome).
If I’m reading this right, that stretch of AA Highway they are talking about is just off the 275 exit and starts right there at the Mellow Mushroom, too. If “having a white supremacist group adopt the highway next to the one place around here that you can get a decent gluten-free pizza” isn’t northern Kentucky in a microcosm, I don’t know what is.
Mnemosyne
As G always says, the only problem some people seem to have with the Nazis is that they killed too many Jews. If they’d only restrained themselves a little, people wouldn’t be embarrassed to associate themselves with National Socialism.
Barentw
It says Socialist! Therefore Obama is the real white supremacist!
Frankensteinbeck
A socialist group. Really. That would be great and all, but the ‘National Socialists’ weren’t socialists. Their tenets were ‘absolute power for us’, ‘hate’, and closely tied to the hate ‘the rest of the world should bow to us’. That was IT. They loved big business, as long as it wasn’t run by evil Jews. You can’t imitate the Nazis without the hate, because there’s nothing left to imiARGLBLRGLBLRGL
Pardon me, I have to go wipe the foam off my teeth and the blood from my ears.
Napoleon
I think I will drive down to that streach of highway tonight and toss a milk jug full of urine out the window for them to pick up.
BGinCHI
“Things got crazy.”
I remember using that on a history exam in the 11th grade.
Can’t believe I didn’t get an A.
Omnes Omnibus
Are Kentucky Nazis worse or better than Illinois Nazis?
TooManyJens
IIRC, Missouri dealt with this problem by designating the stretch of highway the KKK was cleaning up as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway or some such. Should be something similar that could be done here.
Tom65
Fine, but it better be the cleanest stretch of highway in the state.
cintibud
@Napoleon: @Napoleon: You know, that actually sounds like a good “civil disobedience” act. Well maybe not the urine filled milk jug, but I’d be willing to break my life long habit of not littering to litter that stretch of highway – the state is encouraging folks to pick up litter – let’s give the
Nazislitter picker uppers something to do.EnfantTerrible
Not many people know this, but the Fuehrer was a terrific dancer.
Frankensteinbeck
@TooManyJens:
Could be. Won’t be. I live in Kentucky, and it is a state and a culture steeped in hate. Not just racism, although a different skin color is an obvious outlet for it they’re glad to (literally) jump on. Not just hatred of everyone who is different. Spite, a stewing resentment looking for any outlet, is imbedded in the culture and well represented in its government. A hate group inserting itself in the public discourse here just makes the assholes feel warm and fuzzy.
SBJules
Good grief! Thank goodness my Grandfather moved from Campbell county to Los L. A. long ago!!
catclub
Of course, who better to recognize trash on the highways.
Is AA Highway an abbreviation for African American?
The Moar You Know
I’m sure I’m not the first person to say this, but if you can find a way to swing it you should move.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Kentucky Nazis have more of a Volk sound as opposed to in IL, where it’s electrichkeit.
Bubblegum Tate
Either way, they’re LIEbruls, amirite?
[/wingnut]
cokane
La Mexicana in Newport is probably the best Mexican restaurant in the greater Cincinnati area.
Zandar
@The Moar You Know: You know, I get a lot of that. Ohio’s higher taxes are starting to look pretty sexy right about now.
Bubblegum Tate
@catclub:
No, it’s an abbreviation for affirmative action; it only got to be a highway because of its black surface, you see.
Quaker in a Basement
I’m not at all in favor of neo-Nazi white supremacist groups, but if such folks want to get together, I can’t think of anything I’d rather have them do than go pick up trash on the roadside.
trollhattan
Uncited is the NSM’s planting cotton in the drainage ditches. Will be watching to see their harvest plans.
karl
Love the “things just got a little crazy and they entered a world war” part. Makes those wacky old Nazis sound like party crashers.
The Moar You Know
@Quaker in a Basement: Agreed, although I prefer that they be wearing stripes and be chained together at the ankle, but that’s just fashion choices.
me
@BGinCHI: 50,000,000 people die all the time when things get a little crazy.
Frankensteinbeck
@trollhattan:
Wait, is this true? Because Kentucky is not cotton country, and it’s not all that pretty a plant. Purely random pick seems unlikely. The only explanation I can think of is to make the statement ‘This is what you should be doing, black people.’ Seriously, is this true, or are you joking?
japa21
As noted, there is a certain irony in a whites only group being in charge of cleaning up (highway) AA trash.
Mr Furious
There’s a Mellow Mushroom in Asheville. Not only is it the only palatable pizza in the whole of the Carolinas, it’s the best pizza I’ve ever tasted while not in NYC.
aimai
@cintibud:
They are probably hiring AA convicts to do the clean up. There’s no point punishing the people who pick up the litter. I doubt very much its a real Klan Up. Though I love the idea. I think a better plan would be to have Jews and Non White people and Vets stop at that stretch of highway and call the police to come out and give them an escort through hostile territory.
RoastBeef
@Bubblegum Tate:
Actually, the AA stands for the names of the two towns it was designed to run between: Alexandria and Ashland.
Kentucky people are always quick to point out that there are racists and idiots in Ohio, too. This is true, but the difference is that we are not proud of them up here, and we don’t build museums to their idiocy.
joes527
@Napoleon:
Dude. Unless you happen to already have a full jug on hand … you need to start seriously drinking water/beer right now.
trollhattan
@Frankensteinbeck:
I might could have made it up. They actually planted tobacco.
Okay, made that up too, but it COULD have happened.
I just don’t know how to process crazy shit like this and am pretty sure it wouldn’t fly in California. (Which is not to say we don’t have multiple NSM chapters–dollars to donuts we do.)
The Red Pen
The Nazis have been sponsoring a section of highway in Springfield Missouri for years. Some Missouri lawmakers tried to rename the road after Simon Weisenthal, but Republican lawmakers were too busy figuring out what to do now that slavery is illegal.
Lojasmo
@Napoleon:
Feces in paper bags might be more effective.
Randy P
I can’t remember what state this story was from, but there was a canvaasing story from 2008. Lady answers the door, and when asked about her vote she yells “Who are we voting for?” Answer comes back “We’re voting for the n****r!” She turns to the canvasser, smiles sweetly and says “We’re voting for the n****r.”
Just saying that even among those whose racism is encoded in the DNA, there are nonzero Obama votes.
JoeK
Holy hand grenades, there’s a Mellow Mushroom in northern Kentucky??? I’ve been to the ones in Austin and Atlanta, and they’re great. OTOH I got my BS at Morehead, and I would never have expected to find a MM anywhere in the state of KY.
PeakVT
I wonder what those scum would say if they were told the swastika was a very popular symbol with brown people throughout Asia.
catclub
The more I read it, the more I think it has got to be an Onion article that got loose.
Those would be the only white folks in rural USAmerica who want to advertise they are socialist.
OldDave
@TooManyJens:
I’ve driven that stretch of I-55 many times, and have heard the KKK story. As it turns out, Snopes says “true”.
Glennsyank13
Sounds like a good stretch of road to dump your trash. Put those NAZIs to work
Matt McIrvin
In my town: a big old sign on a guy’s house urging people to re-elect Scott Brown, who is “NOT AN INDIAN”. Oh joy.
Paul in KY
@Omnes Omnibus: I’d like to run over a few & find out.
Paul in KY
@EnfantTerrible: He was also a neat freak.
NonyNony
@Zandar:
Remember our (mildly) higher taxes get you some nice bennies. Like free libraries that are open to everyone in the state (unlike, say, Indiana, where if you don’t pay city taxes you have to pay a fee to join the library). We also have some of the nicest roads in the Midwest because of our taxes.
I used to have other examples, but our Republican legislature has done a damn good job of gutting as much of the good stuff we’ve done
fourfor ourselves as they can and trying to turn us into northern Kentucky (or eastern Indiana – pick your poison). I always try to encourage liberals to move here – help us move the needle back towards sanity!Edit: Just shoot me. Shoot me now. “Done four ourselves” sheesh.
jimmiraybob
Man, that must suck. One day you’re walkin’ down the street, a peaceful happy nation doing social stuff for the people, next thing you know – WHAM, you’re in a world war.
If I had a nickle.
Paul in KY
@Quaker in a Basement: Good point. Doing something constructive, I guess.
Paul in KY
@JoeK: I think there’s one in Lexington Kentucky too.
On Upper Street somewhere.
Captain C
@Napoleon: I recall reading that once, when the Klan adopted a stretch of highway somewhere in the midwest, people would go and dump trash on the sides of the Klan-cleaned (or is that Klan-kleaned?) stretch in the days before the cleanup was happening.
Jay C
@Matt McIrvin:
SRSLY? I thought the whole point of Scott Brown’s campaign was dumping on Elizabeth Warren because she wasn’t an Indian, either?
These folks are very confusing….
Matt McIrvin
@Jay C: Well, that’s what Brown’s campaign would tell you. When it comes to signs hand-constructed by the people receiving the dog-whistles, the message discipline can get a bit nebulous.
Cmm
Xander I always like your posts but today’s title is truly awesome. Kudos.
Central Planning
Sounds like a good place to start dumping trash. How cool is it to say “I got Nazis picking up my shit”
Matt McIrvin
@Central Planning: It’d be like the Mr. Show sketch with the slave class of Hitler clones.
cdmarine
Nauseating. I drive that stretch of AA all the time. The good thing is that people generally don’t pay any attention to those highway adoption signs. I suppose the other good thing is that it drags that shit out into the open where people have to be confronted by the reality that this shit is still out there. On the other hand, maybe it allows the “casual” racist to feel not so bad about their own racism.
Also, yes, the Mellow Mushroom is freakin fantastic. Best pizza crust I’ve ever had in my life.
Kathleen
@Frankensteinbeck: I go to Northern Kentucky when I feel the need to have my soul sucked out of me.
Kathleen
@Zandar: You don’t have a tangible tax to pay when you renew your plates in Ohio. Ohio has Sherrod Brown. KY has Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. I have often wondered how you can stand living over there.
TerryC
@PeakVT: Denisovians! Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Redleg
Zandar,
I work in Highland Heights right near the area you described. I’ll have to look for it. Sheesh.
If you’re ever planning a Balloon Juice get-together for the N.KY.-Cincinnati area, count me in!