There's something happening here...

Today was one of those days when it is exciting to live within walking distance of a state capitol. Saturday afternoon a neo-Nazi group held a rally on the capitol steps and the entire downtown area turned into an armed camp. I believe every Lansing cop was working today; in addition, we had police on loan from other cities, county cops, state cops, and National Guard troops, all patrolling the capitol grounds and much of the area around the capitol. Many of these people were outfitted with bullet-proof vests, helmets, batons, and some genuinely nasty looking firearms. Trying to drive through Lansing was an exercise in patience, as several streets in the area were blocked off, and you had an excellent chance of ending up stuck at an intersection at any time, either waiting on a group of people protesting the rally to parade by, or perhaps for a string of  emergency vehicles to come screaming through on their way to some urgent destination. I also counted at least two helicopters circling the area most of the afternoon. Anyone attending the rally (which I did not) had to pass through a metal detector and submit to a personal search. I have a handful of bearings in the pocket of my leather, and I am certain there would have been questions concerning those.

After the all the excitement had died down and things were a bit quieter, a group of students from MSU held a "Wash Away The Hate" demonstration and scrubbed down the steps of the capitol, which I thought was a great counterpoint to the Nazi group. For a little while today, with all the people marching around "singing songs and carrying signs", it almost felt as if we were living in 1968, rather than 2006. Amid all the hoo-rah, it is comforting to know that one of our nation's basic freedoms, the freedom of speech, is still very much a part of the American way of life. Even for a bunch of knuckleheads.