Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo just posted a strange story sent to him by a reader in Minneapolis:
I wanted to share a really disorienting experience I had yesterday morning in Minneapolis. I live in one of the most liberal neighborhoods in the city. We had a sizable snowfall on Friday night, so my wife and I were shoveling out our front walk on Saturday morning.
As we were digging, a guy in a van drove by and came to a stop. He rolled down his window and said, "I was going to make a funny, but no..." and then shouted "Heil Hennepin! Heil Hennepin! Heil Hennepin!" while making a Nazi salute....
As it happens, my wife and I have been having a debate since the election about whether to put up a yard sign with a welcoming message to all our diverse neighbors. I agree with the sign in principle but I'm worried it could make our house a target for vandalism - or worse, considering Trump's lack of a problem with his supporters' violence.
My worry now, however, is that this is how free speech dies. Random intimidating acts keep normal people from speaking in favor of normality. I can't believe this is happening in our country - in our very city, liberal Minneapolis. But here we are. It is different than anything I have ever experienced, and I suspect that anybody younger than the oldest generation has experienced....
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