Question by What’d I Say: Rob Reiner’s words: Is it really so inappropriate to compare members of the Tea Party with PRE-Nazi Germans?
in ref to:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/adl-condemns-rob-reiners-offensive-32418?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=textlink&utm_term=09.10&utm_content=thrnews&utm_campaign=OB090210
“On the talk show, [Director Rob] Reiner compared 1930s Germany’s ‘bad economic times’ to what the U.S. is experiencing today, arguing that that kind of climate allowed for the rise of the Hitler.
‘People were out of work, they needed jobs and a guy came along and rallied the troops,’ Reiner said. ‘My fear is that the Tea Party gets a charismatic leader. Because all they’re selling is fear and anger, and that’s all Hitler sold. ‘I’m angry and I’m frightened and you should hate that guy over there.’ ”
–And the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) hastily says, ” ‘There is simply no comparison between followers of the Nazis, a fascist regime that perpetrated the slaughter of millions of Jews and others in the Holocaust, and followers of a democratic political movement in the United States…,’ ” However, the statement by the ADL is highly suspect because the truth is Reiner was referring to the conditions in Germany BEFORE the Nazi party took over and BEFORE the Holocaust started. He was saying because many members of the Tea Party are being swooned by far right neoconservative fundamentalism it has the potential to turn into a violent fascist movement. Being a member of a “democratic political movement in the United States” does NOT make you immune to hatred, acting violently, or encouraging war. In fact, there are accounts of Tea Party members saying they would support another American civil war, for example http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/us/politics/16teaparty.html and I quote:
“Pam Stout wakes each morning, turns on Fox News, grabs coffee and an Atkins bar, and hits the computer. She is the hub of a rapidly expanding and highly viral political network, keeping a running correspondence with her 400 members in Sandpoint, state and national Tea Party leaders and other conservative activists. Mrs. Stout forwards along petitions to impeach Mr. Obama; petitions to audit the Federal Reserve; petitions to support Sarah Palin; appeals urging defiance of any federal law requiring health insurance; and on and on.
Mrs. Stout said she has begun to contemplate the possibility of ‘another civil war.’ It is her deepest fear, she said. Yet she believes the stakes are that high. Basic freedoms are threatened, she said. Economic collapse, food shortages and civil unrest all seem imminent. ‘I don’t see us being the ones to start it, but I would give up my life for my country,’ Mrs. Stout said. She paused, considering her next words. ‘Peaceful means,’ she continued, ‘are the best way of going about it. But sometimes you are not given a choice.”
In favor of another civil war to support a neocon like Sarah Palin–and this is not evidence these people could easily be turned into Nazis?
And low and behold: You see Yahoo is overrun by others who are the likes of Pam Stout.
Amazing how many people don’t know the typical qualities of a RIGHT WING political view. get it straight: Nazis were RIGHT WING FUNDAMENTALISTS.
Best answer:
Answer by Shovel Ready
The main comparison between the US and Nazi Germany is that the Nazi reforms started out as an affirmative action program to help the Volk.
Give your answer to this question below!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Completely inappropriate and dishonest to make that comparison. The first poster is right on the money with his comparison.
Rob Reiner is entitled to his opinion as much as any 14 year old here on YA. I believe the democrats are the ones to take advantage of any crisis, lest it go to waste.
The Nazis wanted to kill millions of Jews, invade Europe, and establish a strong central government. The Conservatives are sick of dumbasses running our country into the ground, want to impose a fair tax, and want to downsize government. There is no comparison. Any attempt is stupid and offensive.
Sounds like another liberal Hollywood crazy with a vivid imagination to me.
No, not inappropriate at all. Today, we are talking about degree, not essence. It is not far fetched to imaging Tea Party members arresting abortion providers and incarcerating them, snooping in bedrooms to arrest gays or going on a McCarthyesque witch hunt – they even have their very own witch to lead the charge.
Fortunately, thus far, the ultra-extremist loons are the minority. But Hitler was once, also. We must expose the TP for what it is. Far right, nut cases. I had the “pleasure” of listening to Dick Armey speak at a dinner some time ago. I almost lost my rubber chicken. Extremism – unbelievable.
Watch what you ask for! In the case of the TP you might get it. And they may well be coming for you.
Funny thing.. our economic problems have already led rise to a charismatic, extreme leftwing socialist leader…