Un-American: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about the Arizona "Papers Please" law and comparisons to Nazi Germany. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

Un-American

Chris Matthews in his segment “Let Me Finish” on April 28, spoke about the use of such words as Nazism and Hitlerism by liberals and conservatives when objecting to laws and policies adopted by the federal or state governments they believe to be un-American.

One of the examples Chris used was the recent law enacted by Arizona relating to illegal immigrants. Chris stated that there is a big difference between what Arizona is trying to do-- preventing people from entering America illegally-- and what Hitler did, killing people who were trying to flee Germany.

There is one basic item that is the same in both policies.

The Arizona police may stop anyone for reasonable suspicion who they believe may be in the country illegally. That is the same tactic used by the Gestapo in Germany, by asking people for their papers, with no reasonable cause, only to see if they had proper identification papers to be where they were.

German citizens had to carry their identification papers with them at all times, which is the same requirement under the Arizona law for its citizens.

There are two other examples I believe come under Nazi type tactics.

A GOP congressional candidate proposes installing microchips on illegal immigrants. Doing something like that, would be a modern day version of Hitler requiring patches to be worn on clothing to identify those Germans who were Jewish, Communists, homosexuals or political opponents.

Then we have Duncan Hunter Jr., who stated at a tea party rally in California, that children born in the United States whose parents came to this country illegally should be deported.

In the 1930s, Hitler passed laws that natural born Jewish Germans weren’t considered citizens of Nazi Germany, and among other things, couldn’t hold public office, be a judge, a doctor or teach in the public school system or universities.

The scary part is Duncan Hunter favors deporting natural born citizens of the United States, even though promoting such a policy is in direct violation of the Amendment XIV of the U.S. Constitution.

Conservative Republicans, like Duncan Hunter, love to say the Constitution is the law of the land and it should be obeyed, but they sure like to tear it apart when it gets in the way of their ideology.

While the policies enacted and those being advocated are in no way as evil as those used in Nazi Germany, I just feel the basic foundation of those policies are the same used in Germany.

Many thanks again for another thorough, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective.

VIDEO: Arizona militia recruiting veterans with ‘kill records’ to patrol border

By GottaLaff

All it takes is one little push to get some violent nutcase to pull a trigger. That push might very well come from Arizona's new racial profiling law. We see it as a flashing red light of alarm, but extremists most likely see it as a green light.

As in.... Go:

According to KOLD Channel 5 News in Arizona, local militiaman Bill Davis is recruiting “combat veterans, with kill records, to camp out and patrol” along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Full speed ahead:

[R]ight-wing websites are celebrating Davis’ armed border patrol. The neo-Nazi website Stormfront calls it, “[m]ore good news out of Arizona!”

Empowering neo-Nazis: One of the unintended consequences of recklessly passing a radical law.

White supremacist gangs find a home Southern CA

By GottaLaff

(via)

This morning I opened my L.A. Times, grabbed a cup of coffee, and then nearly choked when I saw this report about an area here in SoCal, not terribly far from where I live:

Residents in Hemet have long known that there is a skinhead element in their city.

They said they have occasionally seen groups of tattooed young men with shaved heads in combat boots and fatigues protesting against illegal immigration.

This is the second time in a week there have been reports of white supremacists rearing their ugly heads in the region.

But authorities now are investigating something far more serious: whether white supremacists are behind a series of attacks on Police Department facilities in the Riverside County city. [...]

Experts who study hate groups said Hemet and surrounding communities are particularly fertile ground for white supremacists. They estimated that there are at least a dozen groups operating in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino:

"There is a significant concentration of hate groups in the Inland Empire, unlike anywhere else in the nation, from the National Socialist Movement to the Hammerskins to" the Comrades of our Racist Struggle, he said.

Remember when the GOP came down on Janet Napolitano for her DHS report about the security risks posed by extremist groups?

Yeah, me too.

Anyone gotten wind of any apologies yet?

PhotOh! Tea Bagger signs from Tupelo, Mississippi

By GottaLaff

Let's take a peek at the Tea Tantrumers at Fairpark in Tupelo, Mississiissississippippippi, courtesy of my Twitter pal JenciTN.

Fairpark is a new development that includes the City Hall and a collection of shops and condos.

The crowd of about 500 (the estimate at the time she attended) brought lawn chairs, tents set up for many of the candidates who are running for office, and was chock full-o'-vendors selling buttons and shirts.

Jenci wandered around for about an hour taking pictures and was kind enough to share them with us.

There were three large tour buses "wrapped with the Teaparty Express stuff". Jenci left shortly after the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem.

Here are her snaps (click on images to enlarge):

This is my fave:


The very special and always popular Obama swastika sign:


Yet one more lovely, kid-friendly, yet oh-so-fashionable Obama tee:


Introducing the slavery theme again, the Tea Tantrumers don't play the race card at all, nope:


And finally, this one was from he front page of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:


Another day, another batch-o'-memories.

H/t: Jenci

Video- Cal Thomas: Pelosi's "deliberately provocative" walk across Capitol was like "the march through Skokie, IL by the Nazis"

Exactly the same, how could I have missed it? Via Media Matters.

AUDIO- A Jewish Soldier Witnesses Nuremberg: "We found it in ourselves to give the worst of men due process"

By GottaLaff

I have posted and re-posted about the injustice and cruelty at Guantanamo Bay, about Fayiz al-Kandari, and his attorney Lt. Col. Barry Wingard.

I have also posted and re-posted about why today's military commissions are inferior to U.S. civilian courts.

Kids often ask why they need to study history in school. After all, it's ancient stuff, stories that have been told, times past that couldn't possibly affect them now.

Wanna bet?

Via NPR:

Sixty years ago, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg handed down its first verdict against Nazi war criminals. The Nuremberg trials were structured as a blueprint for something new in international law law... "crimes against humanity" and "crimes against peace". [...]

Commentator Clancy Sigal was a sergeant in the American army of occupation in Germany. [...]

Evidence which included the shrunken heads of tortured prisoners and lampshades made of human skin. [...]

The U.S. War Department was determined that Goering and the other Nazis leaders would receive a fair trial. At Nuremberg, there would be no secret evidence or closed proceedings. The Allies believed that would betray their ideal of restoring democracy in Germany. [...]

Today, in the midst of a national debate on how to treat captured terror suspects, my mind flashes back to Room 600 at Furtherstrasse 22. We gave Goering and the other war criminals a chance not only to defend themselves but in some cases, preach hate and violence.

In a ruined Germany, where so many corpses still lay buried in the rubble, and life seemed so very fragile, we found it in ourselves to give the worst of men due process.

Those unfeeling, brutal Nazi beasts were terrorists... terrorists who killed millions of innocents.

It's time the GOP starts trusting our legal system instead of playing politics, playing with lives. Our democracy is at stake, as well as our international standing.

Why is that so hard to grasp? And why on earth would the Obama administration even consider caving to the GOP... again? Maybe they should all give a listen to this audio.

H/t: Dave_von_Ebers

GOP candidate compares embryonic stem cell research to "what the Nazis did to the Jews"

By GottaLaff

No. Uh-uh. Don't even go there. Curtis Coleman (R-AR), Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-AR) opponent in the Senate race:

“Embryonic stem cell research is taking the concept of taking a life and using it to conduct experiments so we can temporarily extend somebody else’s life. Let me tell you what I just described. I just described what the Nazis did to the Jews in the death camps of WWII,” says Coleman.

He went there.

This is why people like Blanche Lincoln get Democratic support. We need far better candidates in both parties.

Now check this out:

Curtis vs. Blanche

• Rasmussen Reports, Feb 02
  Curtis 50%

  Blanche 34%
• Mason-Dixon, Jan 22
  Curtis 39%

  Blanche 40%
• Rasmussen Reports, Jan 03
  Curtis 48%

  Blanche 38%
• Rassmussen Reports, Dec 03
  Curtis 44%

  Blanche 40%

VIDEO: Scott Brown supporters call Coakley supporters Nazis

By GottaLaff



I just heard about this on the Thom Hartmann show. How mature and reasonable Brown's fans are. See?

We've all learned a very important lesson. This is what democracy is all about.

Not intelligent communication.

Not reaching out to understand the other side's point of view.

Not substantive discussion of the issues.

Noooonononono. It's all about "Nazi! Nazi! Nazi!" Now, that's how to get someone elected.

Lesson over.

VIDEO: Mikulski compares Nelson amendment to Nazi Germany and Communist China

By GottaLaff



I was gone when this part of the debate aired, and I've heard kudos to Senator Mikulski all over the place. This is the only clip I could find... for now.

Here's the loooong version from CSPAN. Mikulski is at about 455:00.

Video- Glenn Beck's Nazi fetish: Obama's Afghanistan time line is like retreating before Nazis at Normandy

VIDEOS- More hate, more neo-Nazis, more clashes

By GottaLaff



Is it that the media is picking up on these incidents, reporting on them more often, and consequently making them more visible, or is the neo-Nazi movement growing? Pleaseohplease make it the former:

American Citizens United was one of several groups protesting across the country today, opposing a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

The group, which is against amnesty for illegal immigrants, made it clear that racism had no place at its rally. The mood, however, changed drastically when Neo-Nazi protesters tried to join.

Police stepped in and calmed everybody down.

Anger like this is so ugly, so scary, and becoming so prevalent that I'm have an increasingly difficult time posting stories like these. I can barely read them, let alone write about them.

The root cause of this kind of hostility must be addressed. It starts in the home, and should be treated there. However, that's not always possible. The question then becomes, how do we address the issue of deep-seated racism, bigotry, and hatred that has already been ingrained into very dangerous individuals?

Here's one more reason to worry. Please read the accompanying article; here's a taste... a bitter one:

I do like the fact that Fox 10 linked Ready to bigoted state Senator Russell Pearce, though I wish the reporter had asked Ready about his criminal history and being booted from the U.S. Marines after two courts-martial.

And if that's not enough, try this from last August.

H/t: Tiggrr1

VIDEO ADDED: Neo-Nazis rally against illegal immigration in Phoenix

By GottaLaff

2007

The good news? There were protesters protesting the Nazi protesters. The bad news? The Nazi protesters:

"I've never done anything like this before, but there's just so much racial tension in Phoenix lately," Wilcox said, as he held a sign that read "Nazis stay out of PHX" "I don't want it to seem like (they are) welcome here."

Members of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group based out of Detroit, were met with a greater number of protesters. [...]

J.T Ready of Mesa also spoke at the America First Rally. He said the group was defending his country against invaders.

I consider Nazis the invaders... of democracy, of the general health and welfare of this country, of rationality and sanity... the list goes on.

Andy Hernandez of Phoenix said he was surprised at the different types of people who showed up to protest the neo-Nazis.

"There's all kinds of people, from different races and colors," Hernandez said. "We represent America. We didn't shut them down, but we gave them a counter protest. We just oppose what Nazi represents."

The Nazis want to shut down people of all races and colors, yet those very same people, the ones who the Nazis long to eradicate, somehow willingly uphold their enemies' liberties.

And the Tea Partiers/Bachmanns/Becks et al. equate the name Obama with the word Nazi... claiming that they represent "real" America.

UPDATE (blog title has been amended):

H/t: Tiggrr1

More corporate sponsored, right-wing anti-Semitism...

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

I saw this earlier, but my friend Larisa Alexandrovna beat me to the punch on writing it up, so I'll post a few excerpts from her post, and suggest you go here to read the rest:

No matter the issue, be it tax cuts for the middle class or health care for all, the stupid (and/or paid for) are out protesting against their own best interests.

But stupidity has crossed the line into offensive propaganda.

The photo was taken at today's glue-sniffer rally by ThinkProgress' Lee Fang. The sign above reads “National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany – 1945."

Fox News has aggressively promoted this rally and its talking heads, like Glenn Beck, have aggressively tried to tie health care reform to Nazism. Americans for Prosperity, a corporate front-group sponsored this event.

Please read the whole thing, and thank you Larisa.

I'm sickened by this, and it's long past time to stop these ignorant, bigoted hate-mongers.

Nazi looted art found at future site of Bush presidential library

By GottaLaff

(via)

That's some blog title. It's not mine, it belongs to The Hill:

Two valuable works of art looted by the Nazis during World War II have been discovered at Southern Methodist University (SMU), which is the future home of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

I vill not make any Chimpenfuhrer jokes. I vill not make any Chimpenfuhrer jokes.

Because if I did, I'd be just like those mean ol' Tea Tantrumers and ClusterFoxers linking Obama to Hitler, right?

The former president's office declined to comment on the story.

Of course, this Bush/Hitler connection comes to mind, no matter how hard I try to suppress it.

VIDEO: Noam Chomsky Compares Right-Wing Media to Nazi Germany

By GottaLaff



You can see the complete video here.

Linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky criticizes right-wing media outlets, which he describes as delivering a message of paranoia and economic populism comparable to Nazis during the Weimar Republic. "There were people with real grievances," says Chomsky. "The Nazis gave them an answer."

-----

World-renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky has been pushing change in language, politics and culture for decades. The controversial expert on modern language explains why "the smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." - Commonwealth Club of California

Noam Chomsky, a professor of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, is the author of numerous books on U.S. foreign policy, including American Power and the New Mandarins, Political Economy of Human Rights (two volumes, written with Edward Herman), Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians, and Pirates and Emperors, Old and New: International Terrorism in the Real World. His most recent books are Failed States and Perilous Power.

H/t: Hippie_Cyndi

Doonesbury: Scary Nazi in the White House edition

By GottaLaff

Zing!

(click on image to enlarge)

MSNBC removes Buchanan column from site

Wonder what took them so long? I'm sure my Polish father who fought and was imprisoned in the war that was "Poland's fault" would have a couple choice words for Mr Buchanan. Media Matters has more.

Pat Buchanan has received a lot of criticism recently for his column marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland, where the conservative pundit questions whether Hitler has gotten a bum rap.

By extension, MSNBC, where Buchanan is a commentator, has taken heat for promoting the column on its website. In the revisionist piece -- "Did Hitler Want War?" -- Buchanan argues that other countries, such as Poland, should be held responsible for the invasion, and later escalation of World War II. Hitler, he claims, wanted peace and wasn't out for world conquest.

David A. Harris, President of the National Jewish Democratic Council, condemned MSNBC's promotion of the "deplorable" column and urged that it be removed from MSNBC.com.

Well, now the network has pulled it.

Nazis

By GottaLaff

This post is dedicated to those who died at the hands of the real Nazis.

Please go read. It's one you will not soon forget. You might think of passing it along to a few wingnuts and/or their sites.

Video- Rachel Maddow: Nazism is not a metaphor

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