Today is “Black Ribbon Day”, the “The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism”.

Note that this commemoration puts Nazism and Stalinism in the same category. In the Trump Tower Discussion on Charlottesville, August 15th , a reporter was shocked at the possibility that Trump would put neo-Nazis and communist antifa on the same level.

Well, Black Ribbon Day does put Nazism and Communism, at least the forms existing in the ‘30s and ‘40s, on the same level.

From Wikipedia:

The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, known as the Black Ribbon Day in some countries, which is observed on 23 August, is the international remembrance day for victims of totalitarian ideologies, specifically totalitarian communist regimes, Stalinism, Nazism and fascism. European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

This observance wasn’t started by some far-right Americans either.

It was designated by the European Parliament in 2008/2009 as "a Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, to be commemorated with dignity and impartiality," and has been observed annually by the bodies of the European Union since 2009.

Why August 23rd?

23 August was chosen to coincide with the date of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a 1939 non-aggression pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany which contained a protocol dividing Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland into designated German and Soviet spheres of influence. The treaty was described by the European Parliament's president Jerzy Buzek in 2010 as "the collusion of the two worst forms of totalitarianism in the history of humanity. The remembrance day originated in protests held in western cities against Soviet crimes and occupation in the 1980s, initiated by Canadian refugees from countries occupied by the Soviet Union, and that culminated in The Baltic Way, a major demonstration during the Revolutions of 1989 that contributed to the liberation of the Baltic states.

How many people today know about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in which the Nazis and the Communists divvied up Eastern Europe?

The purpose of the Day of Remembrance is to preserve the memory of the victims of mass deportations and exterminations, while promoting democratic values with the aim of reinforcing peace and stability in Europe. … 23 August is also officially recognised by Canada and the United States, where it is known as Black Ribbon Day.

So are Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio wearing black ribbons today?

After all, Romney tweeted that Nazis and Communist Antifa are in “Morally different universes.” McCain tweeted that “There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry.” (Those “Americans standing up to defy hate & bigotry” were Antifa.) Rubio tweeted that the organizers of the Unite the Right rally “are 100% to blame”.

John Hayward at Breitbart writes that

…Rubio still has political ambitions. Imagine the priceless look of surprise on his face when he gets branded a Nazi because he favors pro-growth tax cuts, free-market reforms, or balks at allowing illegal aliens to vote. He’ll be so astounded at the way “hate speech” is expanded to cover his policy positions, and how the next wave of Antifa thugs justifies a violent response. McCain, Romney, and Rubio Join the Republicans for Antifa Club, by John Hayward, Breitbart, August 16, 2017.

Trump deserves credit for calling out the antifa.

The fact that Romney, McCain and Rubio attack Trump but can’t criticize violent antifa thugs tells us all we need to know about them and their ilk.

It shows us why they are failed Republican leaders and that somebody like Trump was sorely needed.

Don’t forget Black Ribbon Day.