Upset and distraught. This is my most personal D8U post ever. 😢

[Chasstev365]

Last edited Fri Nov 21, 2025, 06:51 AM - Edit history (1)

The US military saying the swastika and nooses are not hate symbols has destroyed me.

My mother had an unusual childhood. My grandfather traveled the USA for the Swift meat company and my mother grew up on "the road" in the 1930's. They were driving through rural Georgia when they came across a bunch of parked cars where people were running with their children towards a grove of trees. My grandfather got an uneasy feeling and they high tailed it out of there. The next day they read in the local paper there had been a lynching. Undoubtedly with a noose.

On my honeymoon in 1998, I insisted that we go to Normandy beaches and American Cemetery. As a retired history teacher now, i remember being so moved about men who gave their lives to defeat Nazi Germany. Later, I saw the Dachau concentration camp which showed the evil of Nazi Germany.

And now the noose and Swastika Hate Symbols? OMG:
Who are these evil people ruining the USA?

[elleng]

1. JUST heard 'they' changed their 'mind.'

[wcmagumba]

2. I'm so sorry, this statement from the US military strikes at my heart and soul too...

Last edited Thu Nov 20, 2025, 07:19 PM - Edit history (1)

I read that t-rump has dismissed a bunch of long standing Generals and other military leadership and either promoted or installed "leaders" more in his disgusting unethical style. Good God what kind of people are we?

[Timewas]

13. That is one step

Actually probably one of the first stages of a coup..........

[B.See]

16. what kind of people are THEY?

[AllaN01Bear]

17. im non mil but it hurts for me as well. gah.

[popsdenver]

23. Good thing

that most of the WWII veterans have passed away, other wise they would be storming the White House, AND the Republicans in Congress, in a way that would make the J6th crowd look miniscule............my old man spent 3.5 years as a grunt ground soldier, chasing Rommel thru north Africa and in Italy and France, and he would be leading the veterans......and the U.S. Military would be backing them 100%..............

[vapor2]

3. Their evilness, sadism has always been here, just now surfacing

with those promoting it.

[Sparkly]

4. Apparently these symbols mean nothing to them

and in their worldview, that's the same as saying they mean nothing.

[Ponietz]

5. Rule #1: Verify -- There are reports it's fake news and the Coast Guard denies it

(The Hill) — The Coast Guard said Thursday a Washington Post report that it will no longer classify swastikas and nooses as hate symbols is “categorically false.”

“The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false. These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting Coast Guard Commandant, in a statement.

The Post reported the branch, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will classify swastikas, widely recognized as a symbol of the German Nazi Party and linked to the killing of millions of Jews, as “potentially divisive,” along with the Confederate Flag and nooses, The Washington Post, citing documents it obtained.

The new policy is set to go into effect on Dec. 15, and if the “potentially divisive” symbol is reported, supervisors have to investigate and could direct it to be removed after advising with the legal office, The Post reported.

https://www.krqe.com/news/national/coast-guard-denies-report-it-wont-classify-swastikas-nooses-as-hate-symbols

Looks like WaPo screwed up.

[UpInArms]

6. WaPo is screwed up

I no longer use them as a legitimate news source

[Rebl2]

18. How in

the world could they make such a big mistake. Report before verifying-how very stupid of the WP.

[W_HAMILTON]

29. They didn't make a mistake -- readers are making a mistake.

The Coast Guard made a non-denial denial, denying something they were never accused of (removing those items from the prohibited list) and not addressing what they were accused of (no longer calling them hate symbols and instead referring to them just as "potentially divisive."

[Disaffected]

7. Hey, stop getting in the way

of a good story that folks can get whipped up about!

And, apparently even if it has been reported here before that the report is likely phony.

[W_HAMILTON]

28. It's a non-denial and it's not fake news.

The issue was them downgrading those things from hate symbols to just "potentially divisive."

They denied something they were never accused of to begin and didn't address what they were actually accused of doing.

[spanone]

12. The Washington Post is worthless since Bezos destroyed it.

[ananda]

15. The problem is that it reads as very plausible.

I just took it as true because those are actually
the symbols that Trump and the Republican
party represent anyway.

[KPN]

19. So question. The article I read -- either in The Hill or Politico // said Coast Guard

has changed the classification from “hate symbols” to “potentially divisive”. Is that not the same as no longer classifying them as “hate symbols”?

The report does not appear fake in that context. The administration apparently is very clear that they should not be characterized, called or classified as “hate symbols”. Maybe the CG sitting in a hot spot played ball by coming up with another new and/or happy medium term.

PS — happy medium is euphemistic when the term is “potentially divisive”. Maybe the Coast Guard’s rejoinder that today’s report was fake is actually what’s fake. At a minimum, it seems to me — at best — a rationalization.

[W_HAMILTON]

30. You are exactly right and passed the critical reading test -- gold star for you!

Judging from the other replies, you might be getting the only one...

But it worked: they removed those items from being classified as hate symbols and got people to believe they didn't by everything else they said in their non-denial denial.

[KPN]

35. Haha ... gold star. My wife gives me those all the time.

[haele]

8. It's the Conservative attempt to get rid of the definition of Hate Speech...

Conservatives honestly believe that Liberals and Minorities can say "all sorts of vile things" against them and not have any consequences, while if they call someone the N word, or make a "joke", they get called out or "cancelled".
See, they're being discriminated against for being Nazis.

[usonian]

9. Someone MADE YOU upset and distraught. Check this out.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220820095
US Coast Guard is denying report about swastikas

.
(screenshot of tweet)

We are living in a post-truth world.
WaPo issued the lie, and I didn't see any references in the article.

There's your reference, The Coast Guart twitter account, verified.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5615799-coast-guard-denies-report-it-wont-classify-swastikas-nooses-as-hate-symbols/

The Coast Guard said Thursday a Washington Post report that claimed it will no longer classify swastikas and nooses as hate symbols is “categorically false.”

“The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false. These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy,” Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting Coast Guard commandant, said in a statement.

The Post reported the branch, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will classify swastikas, widely recognized as a symbol of the German Nazi Party and linked to the killing of millions of Jews, as “potentially divisive,” along with the Confederate flag and nooses, citing documents it obtained.

.

Obtained from where? GROK????

[Chasstev365]

10. Thanks!

[mn9driver]

11. The WaPo is still showing this as a top story.

They have not taken it down or disavowed it yet. Perhaps they are going to stand by what they wrote?

[AntiFascist]

14. I'll bet this is due to tattoos...

on the type of service members that Hegseth is trying to recruit, aka neo-Nazis and white supremacists!

[live love laugh]

20. The swastika is a hate symbol in its country of origin. This is beyond insane.

[B.See]

21. Either the story was false, or

it was accurately reported and it caused such BLOWBACK that someone quickly got on the horn
to deny it all.

Let's face it, it is in keeping with Trump's actions and directives, including his attacks on DEI, the reported removal and/or obscuring of notable Blacks and other minorities from the national archives, his restoring of confederate names to parks, bases, ships and monuments, and MAGA achieving the complete obliteration of the ADL's decades old hate database because they called hate peddler Kirk's outfit, TPoint, out for what they really ARE.

So this story wasn't wholly incongruous with what THEY'VE been up to.

Coast Guard disputes claim new guidelines change stance on swastikas - The Independent UK via MSN

The U.S. Coast Guard will reportedly no longer consider swastikas, nooses, or the Confederate flag to be hate symbols, according to forthcoming guidelines obtained by The Washington Post, though the service branch denies changing its stance towards such imagery.

Under the guidelines reported by the paper, these symbols will instead be considered “potentially divisive” imagery, though flying the Confederate flag will remain banned.

“We don’t deserve the trust of the nation if we’re unclear about the divisiveness of swastikas,” an anonymous Coast Guard official who has seen the alleged guidelines told the paper.


“The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false,” Admiral Kevin Lunday, Acting Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, said in a statement to The Independent. “These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy. Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished.”

So maybe it became a case of one sickly twisted cross TOO MANY. Even for the usually sedate GP.

[dalton99a]

22. +1

[mucholderthandirt]

24. I'm so sorry you're hurting. It's a damned shame this is happening again. The new Nazis, fascism rising again.

Seems humanity just can't learn the stuff they should be learning. But, hey! We'll have a new iPhone in a month or so. Or next week. Hold on, we can all be happy sheeple again!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

25. Some portion of humanity

Will never learn the dark triads.

[B.See]

26. Seems like today's report from The Hill

sheds more light on the hurtful report re the CG's reclassification of certain hate symbols, particularly the noose and swastika.

The article linked below, seems to support what I suggested above, the change WAS in the works, the GP threw a fit, and the powers that be scrambled to do an about face.

And I BELIEVE Trump's, HegsDEATH's, and puppy killer Noem's fingerprints were all over this debacle.

As another pointed out above, these fascists are trying to redefine hate speech.

Coast Guard scrambles on swastika, noose symbol policy reversal - The Hill

The Coast Guard is scrambling to insist it is not changing its policy after it was set to downgrade the swastika and noose to “potentially divisive” symbols before quickly reversing course and declaring they would still be considered hate symbols that are prohibited in the branch.

The swift about-face came late Thursday, after The Washington Post earlier in the day reported the Coast Guard was set to enact a new harassment policy that would downgrade the classifications of the Nazi insignia and the representation of racially-motivated lynchings.

The new categorization, intended to be rolled out Dec. 15, would have meant the military branch might not be required to remove any swastika and noose signage, even if a Coast Guard member reported them.

The Coast Guard has said little publicly on the matter, with the Trump administration initially arguing the Post’s report was inaccurate. The service later told the Post it is “reviewing the language” of the policy.

[rampartd]

27. didn't you see their convention at madison square garden"

their flags on jan 6?

these people have bever hidden their identity.

[Norrrm]

31. Trump "emboldened" the Nazis

Trump "emboldened" the Nazis

America fought a war against the Nazis and supposedly won.

Yet here they are marching to "take back America". 1917 Charlottesville

When did the Nazis have America?

" Michael Von Kotch, a Pennsylvania resident who called himself a Nazi, said the rally made him "proud to be white."

He said that he's long held white supremacist views and that Trump's election has "emboldened" him and the members of his own Nazi group. "

https://starherald.com/alleged-driver-of-car-that-plowed-into-charlottesville-crowd-was-a-nazi-sympathizer-former-teacher/article_23a7866c-6dfe-583c-abfa-290190baec47.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fights-in-advance-of-saturday-protest-in-charlottesville/2017/08/12/155fb636-7f13-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html?utm_term=.b54a0162fe07

https://www.google.com/search?q=Michael+Von+Kotch%2C+a+Pennsylvania+resident+who+called+himself+a+Nazi%2C+said+the+rally+made+him+%22proud+to+be+white&sxsrf=AJOqlzVlh71HViu_tfsW4wQob0J_OVslWw%3A1677444332789&source=hp&ei=7MT7Y7HBLeix5NoPloKB0As&iflsig=AK50M_UAAAAAY_vS_HOZRruXwfHaIXtI24hmU5l-8Uha&ved=0ahUKEwix59WMh7T9AhXoGFkFHRZBALoQ4dUDCBI&oq=Michael+Von+Kotch%2C+a+Pennsylvania+resident+who+called+himself+a+Nazi%2C+said+the+rally+made+him+%22proud+to+be+white&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAxQAFgAYMQXaABwAHgAgAEAiAEAkgEAmAEAoAECoAEB&sclient=gws-wiz

[B.See]

32. Indeed. Rubber stamped 'em

for all practical purposes. "Fine people...."

Re normalizing racism, bigotry, and HATE speech, der "new world order" under Trump most definitely have A PLAN.

Ja!

[BigDemVoter]

33. I have been on vacation out of the country and just muted all news dealing with our Piggy President.

I am horrified. Is there something in particular I missed regarding nooses & Swastikas?

[B.See]

34. other than what's presented herein?

nope... not much .