Adopt-A-Highway

Ok, here is the link.

There are so many silly things in this that I'm not sure what to think.

At the center of this is a group that calls itself "The National Socialists Movement" which sounds like something the President would approve of. Both the President and the National Socialists want the government to take control of industry, banks, and pretty much every aspect of our lives. The difference is in the basis for deciding exactly WHO should be in control of industry, the banks, and pretty much every aspect of our lives.

I love this quote from one Rabbi Alan L. Cohen of the Jewish Community Relations Board of Kansas City:

For the National Socialist movement to be in the Adopt-a-Highway program is well within their rights, but obviously there were people raising the concern that this is the wrong message for people to see driving down a Missouri highway, that there are National Socialists out here.

If I had socialists running around here I wouldn't want anyone to know about it, either.

I guess it's ok to have socialists in Washington, DC, but not in MO. Surprisingly, the author of the article didn't call the socialists "conservative" or "right-wing" or any of that kind of nonsense. I will give the author, Maria Sudekum Fisher credit for that.

Before you get your panties in a wad, I understand that people in this nation aren't really upset about socialism these days. They are upset about the racial angle that these particular socialists take. Fair enough. I don't like them either.

Another thing that caught my attention is the idea that Susannah Heschel didn't want the road renamed after her father. The symbolism of National Socialists picking up trash on a highway named after a rabbi is strong, but I guess everyone doesn't see it that way.

The Adopt-A-Highway program frequently seems to be used as a political tool. On my way home I see where a Moslem group has adopted the highway in front of a Christian church and private school. I'm sure that was a random pick. I haven't been by the mosque so I don't know who has adopted that section. I saw where a GLBT advocasy group adopted the highway in front of another church, and churches have adopted highways in front of abortion clinics. When you let people put the name of their particular group on a sign on the highway you invite that sort of thing.