Here is a picture of a sign seen at a Republican Party anti-healthcare rally last week.
In case you can't tell (the photo isn't as clear as it could be), it's a photo of Holocaust victims piled up. The sign reads "National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany – 1945”.
That's right - Obama's plans are now being openly compared to the Holocaust. The irony is that some of the people using horror images of the Holocaust to make a point are marching alongside hardcore anti-Semites.
I wonder how you reason with people who truly believe such comparisons are reasonable ones to make. Should anyone bother?
Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel has said of such signs: "This kind of political hatred is indecent and disgusting". For his troubles he attracted the ire of the Teabaggers. Read some of the comments on this Politico article, some of which are so hateful you can only laugh (because the only other reaction appropriate for the situation would be to weep inconsolably). Like this one:
What is wrong with Nazis and swasticas? That is exactly what this country needs right now.At least this one was genuinely funny (unintentionally):
Elie is a whiner. She should stop her whining. You didn't not complane when the libs were calling Bush Hitler.It is abundantly clear that the Teabaggers have within their movement some very unpleasant people. Not to mention stupid.
The United States seems to have become an indulged and dyfunctional nation made up of over-weight, ignorant, and deeply, deeply stupid people.
ReplyDeleteTheir ossified political system institutionalises and celebrates deadlock, something they've got away with by simply giving everyone everything they want and paying for it by raping their continental resources to an extraordinary degree.
What we are seeing is the end of the easy way out for America, and we are watching the spoilt, fat rich kid on the global street corner having an hysterical fit because he has to start living in the world that the rest of us inhabit.
"over-weight, ignorant, and deeply, deeply stupid people."
ReplyDeleteI'm sure this applies to a large number of people, and to enough people for it to be a concern.
But the US also has some of the smartest people you'll find, many of whom have been despairing at the direction the country has taken. It was the promise of change that led to Obama's election, so clearly there is a significant part of the population that wants change. Most polls show a majority of Americans in favour of healthcare reform, despite the rhetoric adopted by opponents of the plans.
"Their ossified political system institutionalises and celebrates deadlock, something they've got away with by simply giving everyone everything they want"
Well not everyone gets what they want. America has always had an underclass - people who have traditionally missed out on the benefits years of economic growth have brought the country.
I remain optimistic/hopeful that what we're seeing with the teabaggers is just a bunch of angry middle class people (many of whom are disgracefully ignorant) looking for someone to blame for their troubles. That doesn't mean they're not potentially dangerous. But they don't represent a majority of Americans.
Shakespeare could have been talking about the teabagger movement when he said (Henry V): "As empty vessels make the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest blabbers".
I find the whole healthcare debate in the USA to be rather depressing. I would really love these so called 'teabaggers' to front up and explain why people should have to be denied coverage and be left to die.
ReplyDeleteMillsy