Jews Speak Out Against Disgusting Tea Party Images
The continual comparisons of Obama to Hitler and health care reform to Nazi policies reached its nadir at Thursday’s anti-reform tea party rally on Capitol Hill. One sign read, “National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany – 1945.” Another said, “Obama takes his orders from the Rothchilds [sic],” a reference to the famous Jewish banking family often implicated in conspiracy theories. Elie Wiesel’s foundation had a strong response on its Twitter page:
Think Progress notes other reactions:
The National Jewish Democratic Council also criticized the “vile invocations of Nazi and Holocaust rhetoric” and called out GOP leaders who stood in plain view of the signs but ignored them. The Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded that the rally organizers “publicly repudiate the use of Nazi and Holocaust imagery.”
Congressman Steve Israel had the decency to point out the indecency of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who “sponsored and brough to the American people images from the Holocaust…in order to make a point about the health insurance bill.”
Someone was on CNN this morning (I earlier said it was FOX but it was CNN instead) standing next to “Senator Tanning Bed” from Ohio comparing the fight against Democratic health insurance reform to the fight against the Nazis.
He pointed out the nearby WW2 memorial dedicated to the supposed same struggle for freedom against world domination by the Nazis the speaker felt they were now engaged in against Nancy Pelosi. The comparison only seems like even more nonsense when you consider FDR led the real fight against the Nazis and for Democratic social efforts in the USA at the same time.
Jews have a proud (mostly left of center) history of fighting for the common good. The recent Neocon/Republican association has been short-sighted and wrong headed. It’s nice to see Wiesel/Israel speaking up and calling the Teabaggers out for what they are. It’s a good start, anyway.
John Galt Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
the fight against Democratic health insurance reform to the fight against the Nazis.
Both sides of the aisle use Nazis and Hitler when they really want to drive home a point. And it almost always backfires. I hate when the right does it and I hate it when the left does it.
Nazi Germany was a lot of things. And did a lot of things. One of those things, and it’s lasting impression, is the Holocaust.
Was Nazi Germany anti-corporation? You betcha. Does that mean you should take the political chance of comparing the health care bill to Nazi Germany? No way.
Just a bad gamble.
OldLefty Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I don’t know if Nazi Germany was anti-corporation….it was anti union:
The Nazis abolished trade unions, collective bargaining and the right to strike. An organization called the “Labor Front” replaced the old trade unions, but it was an instrument of the Nazi party and did not represent workers.
Certainly, ma ny American corporations were pro Nazis:
Some of the primary and more famous Americans and companies that were involved with the fascist regimes of Europe are:
William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Kennedy (JFK’s father), Charles Lindbergh, John Rockefeller, Andrew Mellon (head of Alcoa, banker, and Secretary of Treasury), DuPont, General Motors, Standard Oil (now Exxon), Ford, ITT, Allen Dulles (later head of the CIA), Prescott Bush, National City Bank, and General Electric
jasperjava Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Thanks to OldLefty for doing the legwork, and to FB for being a firebrand.
We need to shed light as well as heat.
anonymouse Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
“Both sides of the aisle use Nazis and Hitler when they really want to drive home a point.”
And then, on cue, you follow that statement up by using the Nazis/Hitler to drive home “your” point.
LOL!!
The Nazis were virulently anti-union and anti-commie. Anti-corporate? That’s a new one. I suspect you’re incorrect as the Nazis were probably fine with German corporates as long as they kept feeding them war goods.
John Galt Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
And then, on cue, you follow that statement up by using the Nazis/Hitler to drive home “your” point.
Yes. I am pointing out what the comparison was meant to be. And I also say it’s a bad gamble.
I can afford it; I’m just a guy in front of a PC. He can’t; he’s a politician.
burqa Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
John, I agree with you it is a bad gamble, politically, but it goes further than that when you or I try to wheel out the bogus comparisons to the Nazis.
Something all of us across the political spectrum need to consider is the power and meaning of certain words, and how repeated usages of them in diminished contexts can serve to strip the power from those words.
We should be very careful when using the word “Holocaust” so it does not lose it’s meaning and end up being used in an ad for bug spray or something.
The same is true for “Nazi” or “fascist.” These words should not be slung around the way they are because they lose their real meaning that way.
See what I mean?
So, just because you are an anonymous person behind a keyboard, you do have some responsibility for your words and whether they contribute to diminishing something I think you will agree needs to be preserved.
(And please notice I am including people across the political spectrum)
jasperjava Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
The Nazis were NOT anti-corporation. Their entire war machine was built by corporations like Krupp. There are chilling documents that detail IG Farben’s bids for the corporate contracts to build Auschwitz-Birkenau, complete with gas chambers and crematoria where “clients” are “processed”.
As a class, industrialists were not fond of Nazis. But once the Nazis were in power, they saw the opportunity to make a few bucks through genocide and war.
average james Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Profit was and is THE motivating factor for corporations.
Right and wrong is largely irrelevant and definitely not the first concern.
The primary concern is profit, which means survival to a corporation.
Can you say ‘pre-existing condition’ ?
How about ‘out of network’ ?
November 7th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Well, it’s a well known fact, Sonny Jim, that there’s a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
So who’s in this Pentavirate?
The Queen, The Vatican, The Gettys, The Rothschilds, *and* Colonel Sanders before he went tits up. Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee *beady* eyes, and that smug look on his face. “Oh, you’re gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!”
Dad, how can you hate “The Colonel”?
Because he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly, smartass!
November 7th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1×72gR01vE
A picture is worth a thousand of the left’s lies to silence the truth about their agenda.
TDro319 Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Well, let’s see, shall we?
Bush spied on American Citizens, – so did Hitler
Bush invaded two countries – so did Hitler
Bush tortured detainees – so did Hitler
Yep. I’d say your video is worth a thousand words. Now, you tell ME what Obama did that compares him to Hitler?
burqa Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
This is another example of what conservatives do when confronted with something they are unable to address. They frequently either,
1) Try to change the subject
2) Play shoot-the-messenger.
Notice piffle is unable to confront the issue raised, so what does he do?
piffle Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I didn’t change the subject. The claim is comparing people to Hitler and invoking the holocaust is out of line. I agree. And when I present actual evidence instead of the vile you losers spew you cower and insult. Own your actions you thugs. This little corner of the universe called the leftwing nuthouse is being confined back, people are realizing they should have listened to everyone warning people what you jerkoffs are. You don’t care about people losing jobs, you don’t care about people getting killed, you care about your insane agenda.
Enjoy the little bit of time because the threat isn’t a few signs, its the idiots killing this country with their callous disregard for anything but a small agenda and the loony toons running wild in the streets disrupting order. No one believes you socialist weasels anymore.
burqa Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
“I didn’t change the subject.”
Of course you did and it is right there in black and white for all the world to see. The subject is the way teabaggers are trying to use the Nazis and the Holocaust to make political points and you tried to change the subject and talk about liberals.
Sorry, it ain’t gonna fly and you can expect to be called out on it every time you try that tactic.
Eventually you will figure out you must confront the subject at hand….
Lee Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
“And when I present actual evidence instead of the vile..”
“you losers ”
“you thugs”
“the leftwing nuthouse”
“you jerkoffs”
“the idiots”
“the loony toons”
“you socialist weasels”
I’m so glad we have people on the right like yourself who manage to keep the debate civil, contain their rage and refuse to ’spew vile’ like the Left. I take points from people like you, very seriously, no really..
November 7th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Republicans: party of hate, unless you’re white, southern, rich, and mean. In my opinion. Seriously, who are your friends?
burqa Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
That is an oversimplification, Nell, and unproductive. There are Republicans who are good people, though we may disagree with them; and lumping them in with the fringe crazies only empowers the Taliban wing of the GOP.
Our system would work a lot better if the sensible Republicans took their party back….
November 7th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Alan,
You know that you are one of my favorite libs…here’s the problem: to get anyone to notice anything these day, some take it to the extreme, whether it be invoking Hitler and Nazis or urinating on a picture of Jesus Christ.
Because the Tea Party movement is a disparate collection of groups and individuals, some take things to the extreme. It does not mean that the message of excessive government spending, in turn debt and corruption is a good thing.
(BTW: Shameless plug alert – I’m available if you need a guest on your show!)
November 7th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
“1) Try to change the subject
2) Play shoot-the-messenger.
And don’t forget (3) blame everyone else for the exact actions and biases you yourself hold.”
I was waiting long enough for one of you to trip on your own swords. You lefties can’t help it, move the goal posts around. If someone starts a fire or a riot or god forbid kills someone, well it was all for the best, your cause was just. But someone even opposes your Marxism on the grounds of common sense you want legislation shutting them up and locked away, showing what you really think of “free speech.”
I don’t know that much about HTWW other than that didn’t include any commentary. It was footage directly from the mouths of the White House propagandist and you lunatics raising hell the last 8 years, topped off with Alan Colmes’s hero Alan Grayson, the model of what Democrats really think when they aren’t depending on a push poll to get a speech writer to dictate their every word. In fact I think it was linked from an entirely different site.
So the fact you attack the host of that site when he didn’t even appear in the video and you won’t even own your misdeeds for the last decade show what its about. You’re a bunch of jack booted thugs. Is showing Obama as Hitler over the top, I would say so. But to feign outrage as Alan the self hating kapo is doing right now when he ignored the delusions of Cindy Sheehan calling Iraq the Zionist terror war and every other line of drivel coming from other kapos like Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman, Chomsky the mother of all judenrats… To pretend that some ZOG conspiracy theorist who probably doesn’t even vote and I imagine believes Bush is related the Queen of England, if not a Reptilian, speaks for a whole movement because they have a sign about the Rothschilds which is a theory that goes back two hundred years and is well known among economic historians, well that just shows how compartmentalization and Orwellian disinformation amongst the radical socialist left really works.
burqa Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
“1) Try to change the subject
2) Play shoot-the-messenger.
And don’t forget (3) blame everyone else for the exact actions and biases you yourself hold.”
I was waiting long enough for one of you to trip on your own swords. You lefties can’t help it, move the goal posts around”
It is you trying to move the goal posts and trying to change the subject because you know the conservatives are wrong on this one.
Man up.
Every time you try to change the subject it will be pointed out.
The subject of this discussion is teabaggers using the Holocaust and the Nazis to make political points.
Either defend the teabaggers or say they are wrong.
Your call.
jasperjava Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Piffle, you are fascist filth.
B*sh is a war criminal. Comparisons to Hitler are unfair, but only in terms of degree.
Extending access to healthcare to millions of Americans is in no way, shape, or form similar to Dachau.
Hitler murdered millions. Healthcare reform is designed to save lives.
Calling Jews “Kapo” shows what a dirty piece of slime you are. Go away, you Nazi scum.
jasperjava Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
“Judenrat”?
I rest my case. We have a real live anti-Semite here, my friends.
average james Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Wow Piffle,
I believe Jasper is correct in calling you out as an anti-Semite.
Disturbing.
burqa Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Not only that, but piffle seems intent on living up to the label.
Wait till his mommy finds out………..
OldLefty Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
To Piffle,
Saw this a few days ago and just had time to respond:
I only comment on these things because it amazes me to see the narcissism that allows people say things that have been said by both sides, for years and years, (probably forever) as though when THEY say it it is special and original, and has more meaning.
“The claim is comparing people to Hitler and invoking the holocaust is out of line. And when WE present actual evidence instead of the vile you losers spew you cower and insult. Own your actions you thugs. The little corner of the universe called the RIGHTwing nuthouse is being confined back, and in 2006, and 2008, PEOPLE DID realize they should have listened to everyone warning people what you jerkoffs are. You don’t care about people losing jobs, you don’t care about people getting killed, you care about your insane agenda.
Enjoy the little DEFEAT OF AN UNPOPULAR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR AND THE VICTORY OF A REPUBLICAN WHO RAN AWAY FROM HIS FRINGE ROOTS, FAR TO THE MIDDLE.
Because the ANSWER isn’t a few signs, its the idiots killing this country with their callous disregard for anything but a small agenda and the loony toons running wild in the streets disrupting order, AND SHOUTING PEOPLE DOWN AT TOWNHALLS, LIKE THE BROWNSHIRTS. No one believes you PLUTOCRATS and RELIGIOUS FANATICS anymore.
Again to Piffle,
Anyone can say these things:
“1) Try to change the subject
2) Play shoot-the-messenger.
And don’t forget (3) blame everyone else for the exact actions and biases you yourself hold.”
I was waiting long enough for one of you to trip on your own swords. You RIGHTIES can’t help it, move the goal posts around. If someone BOMBS THE WRONG COUNTRY, HARASSES WOMEN GOING TO ABORTION CLINICS, god forbid, KILLS DOCTORS, well it was all for the best, your cause was just. But someone even opposes your FANATICISM on the grounds of common sense you want legislation shutting them up and locked away, showing what you really think of “free speech.” , a la Newt Gingrich proposing that free speech may have to be curtailed in order to fight terrorism in 2006
I don’t know that much about MOVEON. Org, or MEDIA MATTERS, other than that didn’t include any commentary. BUT THEY USE footage directly from the mouths of the BUSH White House and FOX NEWS propagandist and you lunatics raising hell the 8 years of CLINTON, , topped off with GLENN BECK”S HERO , MICHELE BACHMANN in the model of what REPUBLICANS really think when they aren’t depending on a push poll to get a speech writer to dictate their every word. In fact I think it was linked from an entirely different site.
You’re a bunch of jack booted thugs. Is showing BUSH as Hitler over the top, I would say so. But to feign outrage as LIMBAUGH, the self hating kapo is doing right now when he ignored the delusions of RIGHT WING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS;
John Ashcroft
“To those who pit Americans against immigrants, and citizens against non-citizens; to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America’s enemies, and pause to America’s friends. They encourage people of good will to remain silent in the face of evil. “
And Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) claims that terrorists “are going to throw everything they can between now and the election to try and elect Kerry,” adding that Democrats are “consistently saying things that I think undermine our young men and women who are serving over there.”
Bush said, “You can embolden an enemy by sending a mixed message… You send the wrong message to our troops by sending mixed messages.”
and every other line of drivel coming from other kapos like WILLIAM KRISTOL, BRITT HUME, and FRANK GAFFNEY, the mother of all HATE MONGERS… To pretend that some MUSLIM/ MARXIST conspiracy theorists who probably don’t even vote and I imagine believes OBAMA IS A CITIZEN OF KENYA, AND DOES NOT KNOW HOW MUCH WE SUPPORTED RADICAL ISLAM BECAUSE IT IS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO SOCIALISM, AND TO SUPPORT A BUNCH OF TEAPARTY PEOPLE WHO APPARENTLY DON’T WORK, AND DON”T EVEN KNOW THAT THEIR MEDICARE IS GOVERNMENT RUN, well that just shows how compartmentalization and Orwellian disinformation (WAR IS PEACE, CLEAR SKIES INITIATIVE, HEALTHY FORESTS INITIATIVE, TOTAL INFORMATION AWARENESS) amongst the radical FASCIST RIGHT really works.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
“And when I present actual evidence instead of the vile you losers spew you cower and insult. Own your actions you thugs. This little corner of the universe called the leftwing nuthouse is being confined back, people are realizing they should have listened to everyone warning people what you jerkoffs are. You don’t care about people losing jobs, you don’t care about people getting killed, you care about your insane agenda.”
Well, I don’t know about anybody else, but I especially don’t give a F about you, your opinions, your job, your family, your health, your home, your neighborhood, and here’s hoping you get on a corporate jet with lots of your rightwing friends and the windows frost over at 50,000 feet.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
if anyone attacks me for what I just wrote…wow…get netflix.
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 11:18 am
looks like something got deleted…
libpatriot Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
But at least you’re still with us, Guido.
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
it wasn’t my post…but the post I was replying to…and I don’t remember anything objectionable in it.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Just more KKk-verbal back lash….from the republicans:
remember during the campaine ??
Michelle Obama has been First Lady for only two months. A mere eight months ago, Republicans tried to vilify her — not just as someone to dislike, but as a person who supposedly hated America. An edited tape made its way around right-wing talk radio to sound as if she had never before been proud of America. Fox News actually tried to suggest that she and her husband had made a “terrorist first bump.” The goal was to frighten Americans of Michelle Obama. It was unprecedented — wives are off-limits in campaigns, let alone, untouched, with the understanding that spouses aren’t running for anything. Yet here were Republicans daily smearing the wife of Barack Obama. And it had its effect. A Gallup Poll last June had Michelle Obama’s approval rating at only 43%.
And now, just eight months later, her popularity in polls is even higher than even her husband’s, the president of the United States — and his are really high. Barack Obama’s approval is a soaring 69%-28%. Michelle Obama’s rating, however, is ethereal — 72% approval-17% disapproval.
libpatriot Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Nice post, Dennis, even if it seems slightly off-topic (but only slightly, IMO). There even seems to be a moral in here,..somewhere.
“It was unprecedented — wives are off-limits in campaigns, let alone, untouched, with the understanding that spouses aren’t running for anything. Yet here were Republicans daily smearing the wife of Barack Obama.”
Good point.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
“spreading racism, bigotry and hatred in place of spreading ideas”
Have you ever heard of a “self-fulfilling prophecy”? You say that baseless nonsense enough, EricG, you might actually believe it.
TDro319 Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
You really need to stop projecting, flap. We see you for what you are.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Ok, guys, let’s put it to a vote.
Gimme a yes or no to the following question:
Should either side in current political debate use comparisons to Nazis and the Holocaust in order to make political points?
I vote no.
John Galt Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
no
libpatriot Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
NO
jazmine Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
NoOOoooOo!
Sorry, I had a creative moment:)
jasperjava Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 12:26 am
I say, “If the jackboot fits, wear it.”
If a certain political party endorses torturing detainees, invading weak countries for bogus reasons, massive sweeping surveillance through extra-legal means, violation of human rights and legal rights, scapegoating certain religious or ethnic groups, advocating genocide, engaging in jingoistic ultra-nationalism, promoting militarism, accepting white supremacists in their ranks, using fear tactics to terrorize the population, treating gays and racial minorities as second-class citizens, calling any criticism of war policy “unpatriotic” or “treason”, having a cavalier attitude towards constitutional and international law, then comparisons with Nazis are not unwarranted.
The difference is one of degree, not of kind.
jasperjava Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Oops, I missed the “yes or no” part.
The short answer is yes. If you behave like a Nazi, you should be called on it.
The Nazis were crushed in 1945, but that doesn’t mean we should let down our guard. Never again. We can’t be afraid to identify fascist tendencies wherever they rear their ugly heads.
November 8th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Nice to find agreement at times, eh? Waitin’ on flap to weigh in….
jasperjava Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Sorry to break unanimity. But that’s the nature of freedom, isn’t it?
November 8th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
While you are waiting for flap to weight in….enjoy http://www.indecisionforever.com/2009/08/28/the-daily-show-and-colbert-reports-best-glenn-beck-moments/
November 8th, 2009 at 11:57 pm