Yesterday I wrote a column suggesting that Moveon.org do exactly that…move on.
https://tygrrrrexpress.com/2007/07/moveonorg-needs-to-just-move-on/
The whole point of the column was to suggest that Move get beyond hatred of George W. Bush and develop an actual philosophy that can be translated into a positive agenda. Disagreeing with the President is fine. Comparing him in any way to Adolf Hitler is antisemitism. As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I know a thing or two about Hitler.
Commenter # 6 offered overt antisemitism.
“George Bush is compared to Hitler at moveon.org for several reasons.
1. Bush is guilty of the same crimes as Hitler. According to precendents set at Nuremberg it is an international war crime to invade or attack another nation that has nothing to you. Bush invaded Iraq and it had done nothing to us.
2. Hitler attempted to create an ethnic state and slaughtered all those who were different. Bush puts Israel’s interests before US interests and Israel is an ethnic state and Jews slaughter all non jews.
3. Hitler rounded people up and put them in camps. Bush has rounded people up and put them into Gitmo.
4. Hitler took away the rights of the German people under the excuse of protecting the homeland. bush has taken away the rights of Americans under the guise of protecting the homeland.
5. Hitler unleashed chaos, wars and slaughters and destablized the entire world with his warmongering. Bush has destablished the entier middle east and caused a dangerous shift in the world and untold suffering and slaughter that has spread to Pakistan.
Rather than look to our best interests bush is taking out Israel’s enemies. ”
They also left more virulent antisemitic comments at www.thescolai.wordpress.com.
Commenter # 13 was more troubling because his antisemitism was done in a stealth manner. This covert approach started out very reasonable.
“Personally, I believe in free speech. I am also a charter member of MoveOn. Here’s the other side: The originators of MoveOn and I were raised Republicans.
We BEG them (The republican congress of 1996) to censure and move on. AND THEY STILL CONTINUED WITH THE IMPEACHMENT!!! They lost the chance to go down as one of the greatest Congresses ever, all because of their hatred for ONE man (Bill Clinton).
To be fair, it is true that both MoveOn members and I will never be Republicans again. Let’s get past that, and continue having an adult discussion.
What are the Republicans doing once again? They are shooting themselves again in the foot, this time not just for the next election, but probably for the next generation at least.”
Not one word of that offended me. The fellow wanted a constructive dialogue, and I was prepared to engage in a spirited but respectful debate. However, before I did that, I sent him the following email:
“So that I can decide whether or not to give you an intelligent response, I need to ‘gauge’ you first. Please read comment # 6 by Southern Voice. I want your honest, brutal opinion on those specific remarks.”
I was hoping that this fellow would condemn the remarks. This did not happen.
“I don’t like that post. I will tell you honestly that I do not like what Bush is doing, but I think those comments take a kernel of truth and exaggerate it into untruth. I don’t like untruth. I will also say, I don’t blame Bush so much as I blame the Loyal Bushies who ALLOW him to do what he’s doing.
Also, I think we should be very careful about throwing out the Hitler sh*t. (and, in return, I’d be interested in what you think of Bill O’Reilly comparing DailyKos with Hitler.) Like the Dogs, my interest in Hitler is not 1939; it is 1933. People made choices in 1933 about what power they would cede to their government. Hitler roused them and for that they rewarded him with some of their liberty. I do believe that Bush did some things in 2003 that are not good for a democracy.”
I responded as follows: “The difference between you and post # 6 is you at least put a semi-moderate face on it. Your refutation of the Bush-Hitler link was too tepid for my tastes. Your inability to unequivocally condemn those remarks invalidates anything else you may have to say. Perhaps there is someone in Moveon.Org who will actually have the decency to disagree with Bush while condemning comparisons with Hitler as wrong and evil.”
I then recommended the fellow learn about the Simon Wiesenthal Center, so that he could gain a better understanding of why this issue was important. I also stated that dialogue was no longer possible, and his commenting on my blog would no longer be welcomed.
The final response I received was this:
“A brook, a toy, and annoy…You have NO idea who I am! You label me an anti-semite… !!!!! Do you know where Skokie, Illinois is? What a f*cking arrogant FOOL you are! Good riddnace.”
I have sent these comments to www.hughhewitt.com, www.michellemalkin.com, www.rjchq.org, and www.chabad.com. If they choose to follow up with these comments, that is their prerogative.
I also sent the responses to Moveon.org, Daily Kos and the Huffington Post. I want them to condemn these remarks and state unequivocally that their websites and their organizations do not condone any comparison between President George W. Bush or Adolf Hitler. I do not expect any responses from them, but when they get angry at their organizations being labeled “antisemitic,” it is because the analogy fits like a glove.
I will for the milli-vanillionth time explain to those on the political left what decent people know everywhere. Dissent is healthy. Political disagreements are vital to America. Disagreeing with George W. Bush on every political issue is legitimate. Comparing him to Adolf Hitler is antisemitism, and antisemitism is a cancer that must be removed from society.
Moveon, Kos and Huffington have all allowed antisemitic rantings on their websites. I am responsible for every comment on my site, and so are they. The comments do get removed when enough pressure is applied, but at this point more needs to be done.
The left has a cancer eating itself to death. If allegations are lodged against me, and I do not refute them, then silence is acquiescence. The leftist websites need to condemn hate speech in the strongest possible terms, without equivocation. Tepid statements of regret will no longer cut it. Saying that such remarks are “not helpful,” is not good enough.
Hatred is wrong, and that includes hatred of republicans, conservatives and George W. Bush. While I would enjoy watching the democratic party rip itself to shreds trying to fight their own cannibalistic left wing elements, I would rather that these elements that embrace Moveon, Kos and Huffington simply become decent human beings.
They are the axis of antisemitism, and that axis must be confronted from within and externally. Honorable liberals and conservatives will be better off for this.
eric
When are we going to draw the line between free speech and destroying someones life ?
That line has grown awfully thick and grey.
Free speech can be abused , and that is the individuals right.
But it can also be used with responsability , and with that comes the best results
I believe that responsable ones are the better Americans.
I think if enough of us joined you in sending your message to the sites you mentioned it would send a message that would be heard beyond the blogosphere.
Just say the word.
I have seen a very peculiar surge in antisemitic rhetoric lately, and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Whereas some of the antisemitic talk you’re talking about is at least somewhat veiled, a lot of what I have seen on my blog is extremely overt and absolutely over the top. Whenever I speak out and am critical of the media, I always get people posting in and commenting on the “Zionist media” this and that and lots of talk about “Zionist plots” and whatnot.
Admittedly, some are from white supremecist-style people who are truly delusional in their opinions a lot of times, but some of it certainly comes from the left, which has been the hard part to figure out.
It almost seems that the left is going so far overboard in trying to sympathize, empathize or just appease the muslim community and muslim nations (such as Syria, thankyouverymuch Nancy Pelosi) that they’re actually starting to err on the antisemitic side of things because that’s what makes these extremist cultures happy.
Of course, I’m just speculating a bit here, but it’s the only sense I can make of a very bizarre turn for the leftist extremists these days.
What’s ironic is that they compare Bush to Hitler, and then act just like Hitler with their anti-semitism. Bush is nothing like Hitler. I think people need a history lesson when they say things like this. Jews are being bombed DAILY by Palestinians. They have a right to defend themselves. And as our ally, we support them. Comparing Gitmo to concentration camps baffles me. These are terrorists we have in prison down there! Not innocent families. Besides, many were murdered or experimented on in concentration camps. We do nothing of the kind! Do they also forget that we deposed a dictator who really WAS like Hitler? This astonishes me how people can be so ignorant in order to back up their own ludicrous theories.
I find it sad that most people are ignorant by choice. A basic education in world history would prove to any open minded individual that no connection exists between Bush and Hitler. Further, I believe this country has been blessed because of it’s support for Israel not in spite of it.
What they fail most to realize is that if Bush were indeed like Hitler, everyone of them would be in a jail somewhere with little to no food.
It sometimes irks me that I just spent 22 months of my life fighting for the rights of DailyKos to be so lacking in common sense. But the fight to secure liberty and freedom is not limited to those of us in uniform. Perhaps this is why the Dems are oppossing the John Doe law-they are afraid that the suspicious activity being reported will be theirs.
I post on this stuff all the time. It gets tiring, not only because the Bush/Hitler (Bushitler) comparison has no reasonable support in objective facts, but becuase it’s simply juvenile. I’m impressed with how well you engage these fools. I’ve been called just about every name in the book by the anti-American, radical, fringe, wacko, Bush-hating, Hamas-backing, Israel-killers, that I’ve learned to let it slide down my back.
Have a great week. Keep up your good work!
A lot of the antisemitism IMO comes from the upsurge in the 911 “troooother” movement. Claiming that GWB was responsible for 9/11, instead of jihadists, feeds into their paranoia that the administration set it up for the sole purpose of going to war against muslims in support of Israel.
Blacktygrrrr, I’m glad you’re able to give your perspective on why Bush should not be compared to Hitler. God bless your dad and the rest of your family. If anyone knows about this stuff, you and yours would be “it”.
Other reasons it’s ridiculous to compare Bush to Hilter:
Bush doesn’t believe in a master race, nor is he taking steps to ensure that all that don’t fit that mold are “eliminated” … he’s simply trying to help oppressed people get their act together so they can take care of themselves and learn how to stop being victims … maybe this is part of why the leftists hate him so much.
Terrorists may be sitting in Gitmo (**thank God for that!**), but I agree with Braden … if Gitmo were to be compared to even the most low-key concentration camp (could there ever have been such a thing? NO!) the *worst* they would be doing would be making big rocks into small rocks. If Gitmo were actually like a concentration camp, it would be slowly (?) emptied to make room for more terrorists, and those who gave up their spots wouldn’t be sent home. The terrorists would be giving up all sorts of personal things (don’t want to go into what concentration camp prisoners gave up in body parts, etc.), but I don’t think Allah would be recognizing them when they got up to meet ther 72 virgins (which can’t possibly be young anymore and …. eeeewwww … there’ve only been 72 to go around for eternity … they’re not virgins *anymore*!!).
Just my two cents.