Senator's Hitler Comparison on Judicial Nominees "Offensive and Insensitive"

"Senator's Hitler Comparison on Judicial Nominees 'Offensive and Insensitive'

New York, NY, March 2, 2005 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed outrage at the remarks of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who suggested that some Republican tactics on judicial nominations were similar to Adolf Hitler's use of power in Nazi Germany. 

In remarks from the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Byrd compared a Senate rule cutting off debate on nominations to Hitler's use of constitutional means to push legislation through the German Reichstag at the start of the Nazi era."

to which I replied:

To the ADL:

Robert Byrd’s remarks were neither offensive nor insensitive. They were entirely accurate, and at this point, your organization has crossed the line from protecting the sensitivities of Holocaust survivors to enabling a new holocaust to happen. If no one dares call it fascism, there’s no way to stop it. You owe Robert Byrd an apology, and you owe Jews and Gentiles alike better than enabling neo-Nazi tactics in America.

You’d better wake up. It’s happening here – either lead the charge against it or get out of the way. You aren’t helping anyone right now.

Morgaine Swann

I used to have a lot of respect for the Anti-Defamation League, but I'm suspicious of their leadership. Their website inaccurately soft pedals Bush's Nazi connections, and they won't allow anyone to make a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis under any circumstances. If we don't call it fascism, if we don't call a Nazi what he is, then we can't prevent its return.

Think I'm paranoid? Ask American Citizen Jose Padilla about Constitutional Rights. He has had neither access to counsel, the knowledge of charges against him, a speedy trial, and he's been locked up for years. The government doesn't have enough evidence to charge him - so why is he still in jail? Is the Bush Administration going to ignore this latest judicial order as they have others before it?

Think they aren't as bad as the Nazis? They've tortured people they know are probably innocent. They've beaten prisoners to death. They're keeping "shadow" prisoners who have no access from human rights organizations. 100,000 or dead Iraqis for NO REASON. 1500 dead American Soldiers for Nothing. The Right Wing is waxing rhapsodic about internment camps.

Propaganda is being bought with tax dollars. The Republicans are trying to undo the social contract that made America what it was. Lynn Cheney has had government pamphlets destroyed because they conflicted with Right Wing ideology. Our scientists have protested by the thousands against the Administration supressing scientific findings that don't fit their policies.

The U.S. now meets all 14 criteria for a fascist regime.

They've already started rounding people up as "enemy combatants" and are planning to keep them inprisoned for life without ever seeing a lawyer, let alone a judge.

We need Robert Byrd and every other Democrat to stand up and speak the truth that when one acts as a Nazi, it's too close for comfort. Not in my America.