Snohomish

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We want to remind our neighbors and share with all visitors to our town, (er...city), what is very magical about Snohomish, and what has, is, or will be happening around Snohomish.  

Snohomish is a great place to live. So much so, family homes turn over infrequently. It is one of the few remaining small towns in western Washington, where the city core of historic old town, residential area, schools and essential services are all within a mile, even if you live on the perimeter. Yet it is within commuting distance of major job markets. 

Because sidewalks line almost every street in town, residents and visitors who want to walk certainly can. Visiting? Get out of the car, and walk your dog. Count the number of likeminded dog walkers you encounter. This is a good city in which to play dog walker bingo. 

Snohomish has great recreational opportunities, including the Centennial Trail, a biking, walking, commuting corridor that begins in town and proceeds 30 plus miles north to Nakashima Farm. 

Duck hunters, fisherman, golfers all come to Snohomish to enjoy their sports. 

Snohomish reinvented it's reputation on antiquing; that is still a part of commerce in the historic downtown. But we also have the restaurants, art galleries, clothing, shoe, and lifestyle stores, breweries, and a distillery to make a visit appealing to everyone.

There are a number of walking tours in the city that are also worth checking out. Most are dog friendly. Some are seasonal, some annual. They include a birding tour, tree tour, historic business and historic home tours, J.S. White (architect) tour, wine walks and solstice walk.  

For those of us that live here, our secret is we enjoy these things too.   

Snohomish prides itself on its friendliness, charm, safety, unpolished authenticity and historical quirkiness. Snohomish citizens have spunk to spare, and if they are intolerant of anything, it is intolerance. 

That said, we seem to have a few loose tools rattling around the virtual Snohomish toolbox. 

I speak of the Proud Boys, an organization that is barely 4 years old, and whose plans and deeds, until exposed, are generally secret and kept between members. We may see or experience their activity, but not know who to “thank” for it. 

So it appears to be with our change of government two years ago, and the ensuing mayoral election.  We now see similar interference in electoral politics in Lake Stevens. It is Lake Stevens, and their recent political woes that Snohomish has to thank for illuminating and exposing the common thread between our two towns electoral events, and tying that thread to one of Snohomish’s ex-residents.

How the Proud Boys describe themselves, makes them sound like the manly wing of the Boy Scouts…before the Boy Scouts began admitting girls.  How others, by which I mean watchdog groups, academic institutions and law enforcement, characterize the Proud Boys differs. Based on observed statements and actions of Proud Boy members, watchdog groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, Anti-Defamation League, and the FBI label the Proud Boys a “neofascist hate group,” and an “alt-right fight club.”

The warning: “Pay attention to what they do, not what they say” is as timely in local politics as it is in the world broadly. The Proud Boys are not who they say they are.  

The Proud Boys hate, Hate, HATE Antifa. The feeling appears to be mutual. The thread that I refer to above was unravelled by a local Antifa organization called Salish Black Flag. Having located a posted photo of a Proud Boy celebration in  Lake Stevens, Salish Black Flag gave background on the group and requested information on the participants’ identities.  Angry Lake Stevensites stepped up. 

Did I say there is at least one ex-Snohomish resident in that photo? Yup, there is. Did I say he was campaign manager for Snohomish’s Mayor? No?  Well, he was. 

Antifa’s story has long roots leading back to Europe and the run up to WWII. The name is a shortened version of the original German: “Antifaschistische Aktion”…Antifascist Action. Pre WWII, Antifa was affiliated with the German Communist party, which was all but eradicated by the Nazis in WWII.  

Through the decades since, Antifa, as an organization appears to wax and wane, depending on the political environment, infringement of rights, and the perceived presence of fascism. Their motto is “We protect us.” They are willing to act immediately and independently when they see fascism at work. They do not wait for a remedy in law to solve a hate speech or action issue, because often there is no remedy.  

I refer to neofascists, and antifascists. But what are the characteristics of fascism, cropping up anew, and prompting the mobilization of fascist opposition? britannica.com offers a very thorough article on fascism and its characteristics. I am going to abridge and summarize it here as a checklist. This does not mean the terms I am leaving out don’t apply, but that they are complex, and don’t lend themselves to a simplistic and easily understood list. Plus the list is long enough as it is…here goes:

• Fascism is opposed to Marxism;
• opposed to Parliamentary democracy;
• opposed to cultural and political liberalism;
• Fascism has totalitarian ambitions;
• pursues conservative economic programs;
• Fascists endorse Corporatism, that is, allowing corporate interests to manage capitalism, and the interests and welfare of workers;
• Fascists allege equality of social status; that is, rather than narrowing class and economic differences, fascists teach these differences are subjective and unimportant;
• Many past fascist regimes had imperialist expansionist aims;
• Fascism values Militarism, including obedience to authority;
• Identifies dissent and opposition as decadent, corrupt and weak;
• Fascism employs violence to quell opposition;
• Fascism is characterized by extreme nationalism;
• Fascism scapegoats groups, individuals; organizations;
• Fascism promotes a revolutionary image;
• Fascist movements are Populist;
• Anti-urban;
• Sexist and misogynist;
• Accept racism;
• Fascism Identifies with Christianity.

That last one is a gut punch.  

Read the whole article at britannica.com. It is very worth your time. 

Search 

“Wikipedia Proud Boys”, 

“SPLC Proud Boys,” 

“ADL Proud Boys,” 

general news stories under “Proud Boys,” 

“Salish Black Flag,” 

“Wikipedia Antifa,” 

brittanica.com, search “fascism.”

In 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith stood in the well of the Senate and stated the following rights of individuals, in relationship to their government, as the basis for Americanism in her Declaration of Conscience:

The right to criticize;

The right to hold unpopular beliefs;

The right to protest;

The right of independent thought;

Her speech was made at the start of the Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “red scare” inquiries. Margaret Chase Smith was the ONLY woman senator at the time, and one of  very few senators to stand up to Joseph McCarthy. Why so few? They were afraid.  Margaret Chase Smith's declaration was not enough. What followed were four years of accusations, trashed reputations, derailed careers, and shortened lives; resulting in many victims of smears, inuendo, and inappropriate, or irrelevant accusations.  

This four year era did end, with Joseph McCarthy discredited and disgraced.   Margaret Chase Smith continued to serve in the Senate for four terms, retiring in 1973.

We recall this incident to remind us all:

Our personal political choices are unassailable.  No one has a right to threaten or expose another to harrassment or potential danger because of their political differences.  Behaviors like this do have consequences.