The "Republicans Are Nazis" Rolledex of Quotes

1) “We see dangerous signs of Hitlerism in the … campaign.”

2) His “election would bring a police state.

3) “… Republicanism is the closest thing in American politics to an equivalent of Russian Stalinism.”

4) His acceptance speech “had the stench of fascism … All we needed to hear was “Heil Hitler”

5) “I would say that I now believe I know how it felt to a Jew in Hitler’s Germany”

6) The Republicans “had Mein Kampf as their political bible.”

7) “the smell of fascism has been in the air at this convention.”

8) The London Observer found “disquieting similarities” between Hitler and the Republican candidate.

9) The Chicago Observer headline: “GOP Convention … Recalls Germany, 1933”

10) The Republican convention gave off “a whiff of moral fascism.”

11) The Republican delegates on the floor of the convention “were exactly those who in Germany gave the Nazis their main strength and in France collaborated with them and sustained Vichy.” His constituency was “narrow minded, book banning, truth censoring, mean spirited: ungenerous, envious, intolerant, afraid; chicken, bullying; trivially moral, falsely patriotic, family cheapening, flag cheapening, God cheapening; the common man, shallow, small, sanctimonius.

12) Patricia Harris, Carter’s Secretary of Health and Human Services said that when he speaks before the National Urban League, many blacks “will see the specter of a white sheet behind him.”

13) A former aid to Carter said that Republican candidate’s remarks seemed “like a code word to me that it’s going to be all right to kill niggers when he’s president.”

14) On civil rights leader expressed fear that if the Republican candidate gets elected, “we are going to see more of the Ku Klux Klan and a resurgence of the Nazi Party.”

Quotes 1-9 were aimed at Barry Goldwater, and 10-14 at Ronald Reagan. Brace yourself for more “Republicans are Nazis” articles written by our best and brightest now that Bush has won a second term. In fact, in one of the more despicable political ads of all time, the NAACP had run an ad in 2000 with the daughter of the black man (James Byrd?) who had been dragged behind a truck to his death; the women claimed that when Bush vetoed a “hate crimes” bill in Texas, it was as if her father had been brutally murdered all over again. Of course the killers are on death row, but boy would they be sorry if they were also found guilty of a hate crime to boot. Below is a key to the above quotes.

(1. Martin Luther King, 2. Roy Wilkens, 3. Senator William Fulbright, 4. Governor Pat Brown of California, 5. Jackie Robinson, 6. San Fran Mayor John Shelley, 7. Columnist Drew Pearson (no relation to the Cowboy’s great receiver), 10. Columnist Richard Reeves, 11. Henry Fairlie in the Washington Post, 12. Patricia Harris, Carter’s secretary of Health and Human Services, 13. Andrew Young, 14. Coretta Scott King.

Anyway, the rolledex of "Republicans are Nazis" quotes is growing in leaps and bounds, and I am not likely to capture even a fraction of such quotes. By I did come across an article on Slate.com by one Jane Smiley - here are some quotes and some comments that follow:

“I grew up in Missouri and most of my family voted for Bush, so I am going to be the one to say it: The election results reflect the decision of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry. I suppose the good news is that 55 million Americans have evaded the ignorance-inducing machine. But 58 million have not. (Well, almost 58 million—my relatives are not ignorant, they are just greedy and full of classic Republican feelings of superiority.)”

No doubt Ms. Smiley has watched Farenhiet 9-11 on a continuous loop since the summer, which explains her comparative state of enlightenment versus her Missouri relatives. Must not be hard to get a seat next to her at the family reunions. Anyway, good thing that she isn’t as ignorant or as greedy as her extended family – otherwise she might be led to feelings of superiority.

“Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states. When the forces of red and blue encountered one another head-on for the first time in Kansas Territory in 1856, the red forces from Missouri, who had been coveting Indian land across the Missouri River since 1820, entered Kansas and stole the territorial election. The red news media of the day made a practice of inflammatory lying—declaring that the blue folks had shot and killed red folks whom everyone knew were walking around. The worst civilian massacre in American history took place in Lawrence, Kan., in 1862—Quantrill's raid. The red forces, known then as the slave-power, pulled 265 unarmed men from their beds on a Sunday morning and slaughtered them in front of their wives and children. The error that progressives have consistently committed over the years is to underestimate the vitality of ignorance in America.”

Umm, excuse me for one moment there, Miss Smiley, wasn’t the abolitionist movement primarily one fueled by devoutly religious people? No doubt there were religious people on both sides, but why pretend they all stood on the red side? And what the hell are you talking about with red folks declaring that blue folks had shot red folks who were walking around. Did the pharmacy run out of your Prozac?

The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know, decided to make use of the religious right in their class war against the middle class and against the regulations that were protecting those whom they considered to be their rightful prey—workers and consumers. The architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules. They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant.

Ahh, yes, the big capitalists have no morals – as we know! So some corporate board decided that the best way to sell their product and increase their profits was to enlist the religious right (largely middle class) in their war against the middle class. Mix in a little racism, but not enough to prevent getting 45 percent of the Hispanic vote, and the evil greedy capitalists are certain to maximize their profits. Now they can really prey upon consumers by developing life-saving drugs and the like. Bastards!

Now, you may be saying to yourself, who is Jane Smiley? The name rang a bell with me as well, and then I remembered – my wife has a paperback novel of hers. So what did I do, dear reader? I burned the book, kicked my heels up with a Wagner opera playing in the background, and read a couple chapters from Mein Kampf. As a red-stater, any other actions would only have disappointed Ms. Smiley. Of course, I am more than a little distressed that the Nazi party is now run by a bunch of neo-conservative Jews. First they took over the finances of the world, then Hollywood, now the Nazi party. No one would have guessed the third - you gotta admit those Jews are crafty!

But don’t go away, Ms. Smiley – keep enlightening us with your tolerance and high-mindedness. With enemies like you on the left insulting 59 million people daily, who needs friends?