Dear Anti-Defamation League,
Okay, okay, okay. Enough with this unilateral ban on comparing anything to Nazi, Hitler or any of the governmental policies of the Third Reich. While I do not condone any of the actions taken by the Nazis or Hitler, I do support the right to free speech and accurate analogies to some of their practices.
Sen. Byrd said, "We, unlike Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy, have never stopped being a nation of laws, not of men. But witness how men with motives and a majority can manipulate law to cruel and unjust ends."
Byrd then quoted historian Alan Bullock, saying Hitler "turned the law inside out and made illegality legal."
Byrd added, "That is what the nuclear option seeks to do."
What, may I ask, is offensive about those comments? They're educated, well defended and explained. Rather than just bluntly saying, "Republicans are Nazis." He described certain actions of Republican senators, not all actions. He's trying to point out that there is a problem with our democracy when the majority steamrolls the minority just because it can.
He's not slandering the suffering of the Jews (or the Gypsies, queers or pagans/atheists), he's pointing out the tactics of the Nazi party. The Nazis did not come to power under a coup d'etat, it was under a fear driven campaign. If you look at the current Republican party, everything that has become law or passed is sold under the guise of fear. "Iraq is an imminent danger," "Social Security will leave you broke and poor," "Canadian drugs could kill you." What's bright about any of those messages?
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Why don't you decry Rep. Nelson's (R-NV) comments at a Republican rally:
"I say we tell those liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else," Gibbons said to another burst of applause.
He said that they are the same people who wanted to go to Iraq and become human shields for the enemy.
"I say it's just too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket," Gibbons said.
Laughter rippled through the room, mingled with more applause.
I know you're the Anti-Defamation League for Jews only, but come on. Your ethnic/religious/political group isn't the only one being defamed. Before you start to scream the sky is falling at every little mention of Nazism or Hitler or the Holocaust, why don't you take some time to understand the context the speaker is using.
Sincerely,
Rick Pickett
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Something will, of course, be said about Byrd's past with the KKK. Don't know how that all fits in or have the time to chew on that. May ya'll?