I can’t believe I’m defending a swastika armband

I’m going to try and run through a minefield and not blow up. I want to defend the guy wearing the swastika armband through the streets of Seattle this week.

In case you’re new to the story: a man in Seattle, we don’t know his name, was on a city bus wearing a black jacket and a red swastika armband.

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He allegedly made a racist comment to a person of color on the bus. That’s when his photo was taken, posted to the Internet, and people swarmed the streets looking for him. When he was found, he was promptly knocked out with a punch to the face. The assailants congratulated themselves and dissolved back into the crowd.

Now I’m no fan of swastikas or Nazis, but I am a big fan of the First Amendment to the Constitution. You know, that whole freedom of speech thing. The clause that enables me to do what I’m doing right now without fear of reprisals.

So what exactly were these vigilante thugs celebrating? “Yeah! We just used violence to take down someone we disagree with. Merica!”

This is the same logic that says, “Hey Michael Bennett, if you don’t behave the way I want you to behave, then I’m not going to Seahawks games anymore.”

That’s not how freedom of speech works. If you actually think about it for a second, it’s the most radical political concept in the history of planet earth. Let the people believe and express their beliefs without fear. That includes wearing a swastika on your arm. In fact, I would say it especially includes things like that. Protecting this guy, no matter how disgusting his views, is exactly the point of the First Amendment.

Why? Well, look around at places where you can’t express what you believe. From North Korea to the Arab Spring, nothing fuels resentment and revolution like forcing people to believe in something that they don’t want to.

Those Seattlites that used technology to crowdsource the beating of a swastika-wearing man — you are not heroes. Stop patting yourselves on the back. You are the same as the thing you say you despise. You used violence and intimidation against someone who was different from you. You’re the villain in this story, not the guy in the armband.

The real strength of America is self control in the face of an opinion you don’t agree with.

I can’t believe I’m defending a swastika armband. What have we become?