I’ve never liked horror shows. Like, for instance, the one we just witnessed on Wednesday, January 6. I wish we could erase it. Especially some of the wearing apparel.

The trouble with the assault on our Capitol Building, at least as was suggested to us by the White House, was that it was executed by “American Patriots”, and that “we love them”. I couldn’t stop watching them. I must have watched about 28 hours of television that day, and if that’s what “patriots” are, I wish they would move to Mar-a-lago where they would be more welcome. Or to jail.

When you enter the Holocaust Museum – not that far from where the riot took place in Washington D.C., – you see an inscription carved into marble. It reads, “You are my witnesses”. And we were.

These are some of the unforgettable images we witnessed that day. Not just of the defilement of the Capitol but of what some of the perpetrators were wearing and carrying. They wanted to share that ugliness with us, and to remind us that we still tolerate it.

The following isn’t a fashion show Heidi Klum or Tim Gunn em-ceed, but it’s worthy of attention.

I didn’t see any white Ku Klux Klan robes or hoods on display but apparently we were to be explicitly reminded of their presence . . .

This rioter proudly showed up as The Marvel comic anti-hero The Punisher, adopted in recent years by white nationalists and neo-Nazis (to the dismay of its creator).

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Another “American patriot” was a man with an anti-semitic sweatshirt that said “Camp Auschwitz,” a reference to the Nazi extermination camp during the Third Reich’s genocide campaign against Jews during World War II. Not only does it feature the SS ‘totenkopf’, the Nazi’s death-head symbol, but an English translation of ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ a German phrase meaning “Work sets you free”. The slogan is known for appearing on the entrance of Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. The back of the shirt reads “Staff”.

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These Proud Boys, as instructed, were “standing by” and one was offering us the white supremacist “Okay” symbol . . . .

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And this Proud Boy was showing off his 6MWE shirt. It stands for “6 Million Wasn’t Enough”. Meaning that putting 6 million Jews to death wasn’t sufficient for monsters like him.

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There were lots of Nazi accessories on the scene. Such as this neo-Nazi group NSC-131 membership card. NSC stands for Nationalist Social Club and has small regional chapters in the United States and abroad. The 131 division is from New England.

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The Crusader Cross has become popular with other far-right ethno-nationalist groups. It’s meant to relate back to an era of white, Christian wars against Muslims and Jews.

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Below is an image of the Associated Press camera equipment destroyed by the rioters. Note the enlargement of the badge on the sleeve of the man on the right. It’s the logo for the National Anarchist Movement, a far-right, anti-semitic group advocating for racial separatism.

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And speaking of war, check out these MAGA Civil War “patriots”. Apparently, they were having a grand time celebrating their effort to overthrow the government.

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There was lots of flag waving going on. Confederate flags to remind the world of our ugly history of slavery, and others such as the Gazden flag “Don’t Tread on Me”. And there were more . . . . . .

. . . This one featured Trump as a heroic armed Warrior. (The bone spurs on his feet must have healed.)

Of course, QAnon was busy slithering around everywhere . . . .

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Many of the participants seemed like they might be intellectually-challenged, such as this woman. Behold! The Statue of Liberty! Here to save us! As long as we’re not Jewish, Black, Indian, Muslim, Latino, Democrat, etc.

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. . . Or check out the Three Stooges shown below. The nitwit on the right showed up to commit a federal felony wearing his employee ID badge. As soon as the photo appeared, the company he worked for promptly fired him, just in time for him to (hopefully) spend 10 years or so in jail.

Well, this concludes our fashion show. I’m exceedingly ashamed of it. It wasn’t our nation’s proudest day, for sure. The worst thing about what we’re seeing is having to face our own ugliness in tolerating it.

There’s another inscription in the Holocaust museum. Everywhere in that building people only speak in whispers. But at that plaque, everybody seems to stand silent.

It was written by a former Nazi sympathizer in World War II, a Lutheran pastor named Martin Niemöller.

It reads:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

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