The other day, I praised the Washington Post’s Opinion Page for moving away from brain-dead leftism, and I stand by that piece.
But, as newspapers will keep telling you, the Opinion section is distinct from the news sections, and I have to tell you, Bezos and company have a lot of work to do to clean out the Augean Stables.
The Washington Post continues to lie to the American people about the USCG.
Today, the @washingtonpost doubled down on their claim the @USCG does not classify the swastika as a hate symbol, even after the USCG clearly defined it, again, as a hate symbol. https://t.co/84KQ9a7vUO pic.twitter.com/X53W3BhWmr
— Matt Tardio (@angertab) November 21, 2025
The Post is Jasmine Crocketting this story about the Coast Guard’s new policy on hate symbols, implying that the Trump administration is encouraging the spread of Nazism and hate symbols because the wording of a newer memo on the subject differs a bit from the guidance put out during the Biden years.
The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika — an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops who died fighting in World War II — as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month.
Instead, the Coast Guard will classify the Nazi-era insignia as “potentially divisive” under its new guidelines. The policy, set to take effect Dec. 15, similarly downgrades the classification of nooses and the Confederate flag, though display of the latter remains banned, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
The Post’s reporting implies that the new policy gives a green light to displaying Swastikas, which is simply not the case. Their complaint is the choice of a different bureaucratic term to describe what is, essentially, the same policy But through all-too-clever parsing of paragraphs, they created this:
Excerpt from November 2025 U.S. Coast Guard policy document, Page 36
Potentially divisive symbols and flags include, but are not limited to, the following: a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, or other bias.
Excerpt from February 2023 U.S. Coast Guard policy document, Page 21
The following is a non-exhaustive list of symbols whose display, presentation, creation, or depiction would constitute a potential hate incident: a noose, a swastika, supremacist symbols, Confederate symbols or flags, and anti-Semitic symbols. The display of these types of symbols constitutes a potential hate incident because hatebased groups have co-opted or adopted them as symbols of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, or other bias.
A Coast Guard official who had seen the new wording called the policy changes chilling.
“We don’t deserve the trust of the nation if we’re unclear about the divisiveness of swastikas,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal.
Oh, FFS.
The entire story is a litany of charges against the Trump administration and how awful it is.
This is a classic hit piece, and nothing else. Rather than going to the Coast Guard and allowing them to discuss the new memo’s language, they pre-write the story and demand comment moments before publication, and then criticize the Coast Guard for not having good enough answers.
In Germany, public display of certain Nazi emblems, such as the swastika, is illegal and can be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up to three years. Exceptions are made if the symbols are used for educational, artistic, scientific or journalistic purposes.
Rosen noted that the wording in the new Coast Guard policy “could allow for horrifically hateful symbols like swastikas and nooses to be inexplicably permitted to be displayed.” The new guidance says that if a “potentially divisive” symbol is reported, supervisors should inquire about it. After consulting their legal office they may order the symbol’s removal, but there’s no further guidance requiring that it be taken down.
The new Coast Guard policy also limits the amount of time that service members have to formally report the display of a noose or swastika — which could be enormously problematic for personnel at sea. Like the Navy, Coast Guard members can be deployed for months at a time. The new policy gives them 45 days to report an incident, whereas the previous policy did not have a deadline other than to advise that Coast Guard members who see a potential hate incident “should immediately report it to a member higher in their chain of command.”
That 45-day deadline will have a chilling effect, said the Coast Guard official who had seen the new policy.
“If you are at sea, and your shipmate has a swastika in their rack, and you are a Black person or Jew, and you are going to be stuck at sea with them for the next 60 days, are you going to feel safe reporting that up your chain of command?” this Coast Guard official said.
The director of the advocacy arm of the Reform Movement, one of the major branches of U.S. Judaism, said in a letter to Lunday that “the values that the Coast Guard is sworn to uphold do not allow a permissive attitude toward hate symbols.”
Now, do the real world. Somebody slaps a swastika on a bunk. What do you think will happen? Do you think every officer on the ship is a secret Nazi drooling over the discomfort of the Joooosss and blacks, and only the benevolent overlords in Washington can save the sailor?
“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. Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as…
— U.S. Coast Guard (@USCG) November 20, 2025
“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. Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished. The Coast Guard remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering a safe, respectful and professional workplace. Symbols such as swastikas, nooses and other extremist or racist imagery violate our core values and are treated with the seriousness they warrant under current policy.”
– Admiral Kevin Lunday, Acting Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Come on. If things were like that, no bureaucratic policy would matter anyway. The matter would be handled on the ship in a nanosecond. And if not, no directive from Washington would matter.
This is a smear job, pure and simple. Read the story, and it is a parade of horribles invented by Gender Studies majors wanting to slime honorable people.
However much you hate the media, you can’t possibly hate them enough.
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