Republican candidate doing Nazi "reenactments"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are all sorts of embarrassing acts that come to light. Some politicians handle them well, others blow it. The reaction is generally more important, and gives an indication of political skill.

For example, Iott's reaction to Eric Cantor could have been something like "I understand now that what I did may have offended people, especially Jews. The offense was unintended, and I apologize for it. My interest in World War II does not imply any sympathy for Hitler or the Nazi Party."

Instead, he got defensive, and then attacked Cantor for acting like a Democrat. Attacking an important member of your own party is hardly the way to win friends.

Did you actually read his statement? It said, in part:

Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish Community. I have immense respect for veterans who served our country valiantly, particularly those who fought to rid the world of tyranny and aggression by relegating Nazism to the trash heap of history. I also believe we need to ‘never forget’ what happened to Jews during that war. In fact, my respect for the militaryand our veterans and my concern for the victims of war is one of the reasons I have actively studied military history throughout my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because dressing up like them is honoring them. They deserve no honor.

IN Williamsburg and other historical plantations in the south when dressed in clothes of that era are they honoring slavery? Your argument doesn't hold water.

It is certainly an inherent contradiction that many of the founding fathers, for example, were slave owners, while they prattled on about freedom.
I am not sure that that means that Jefferson, for example, "deserves NO honor". I think his life's works demonstrate there is a great deal of good mixed in with the bad.

I don't think it's a fair comparison to equate Nazi genocide with Southern Colonists/slave owners. There are many cultures that engage in particular behaviors or practices that we now find objectionable - caste systems, systematic segregation and degradation of women, cutting off hands for stealing, aborting female fetuses, what have you. We decry those aspects of the culture but don't condemn the culture overall. I think the same holds true of this tragic, shameful aspect of Southern history.

We romanticize ancient Egyptian culture - where there were also slaves. We have great respect for Greek and Roman history and philosophy. There were also slaves.

Hard to think of an aspect of Nazi culture that WASN'T reprehensible....

[Anonymous]

I think the above misses the point. Re-enactment does not equal "honoring". Re-enactment is a way to study history, and military re-enactment is a way to study military history. You need the bad guys to do it. And the soldiers they re-enact are not death camp operators. They are typically men drafted into war, handed a rifle, and sent off to be killed. In this particular case, they look to be a bunch of guys sent off to the Russian front, which is a miserable place to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Hard to think of an aspect of Nazi culture that WASN'T reprehensible....

This.

Iott has every right to do what he enjoys. But others also have every right to think his values are out of whack. I certainly wouldn't want to socialize with someone who dresses up as a Nazi for fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are all sorts of embarrassing acts that come to light. Some politicians handle them well, others blow it. The reaction is generally more important, and gives an indication of political skill.

For example, Iott's reaction to Eric Cantor could have been something like "I understand now that what I did may have offended people, especially Jews. The offense was unintended, and I apologize for it. My interest in World War II does not imply any sympathy for Hitler or the Nazi Party."

Instead, he got defensive, and then attacked Cantor for acting like a Democrat. Attacking an important member of your own party is hardly the way to win friends.

Did you actually read his statement? It said, in part:

Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish Community. I have immense respect for veterans who served our country valiantly, particularly those who fought to rid the world of tyranny and aggression by relegating Nazism to the trash heap of history. I also believe we need to ‘never forget’ what happened to Jews during that war. In fact, my respect for the militaryand our veterans and my concern for the victims of war is one of the reasons I have actively studied military history throughout my life.

It;s not that part that I was speaking of. It was this part:
"I think that Representative Cantor did what so many career politicians do," Iott said. "He reacted before he had all the facts. He didn't know the whole story. He didn't understand what historical reenacting is all about, or the education side of it. And he just made a decision without all the facts. My opponent here is cut out of the same cloth. Those are the people who passed the health care bill before they knew what was in it. The same folks who passed the stimulus bill..."

The problem politicians often have is not that they don't say the right thing, it's that they don't stop until they put foot in mouth. By the way, did he ever apologize, or am I correct that he merely justified himself?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I think the above misses the point. Re-enactment does not equal "honoring". Re-enactment is a way to study history, and military re-enactment is a way to study military history. You need the bad guys to do it. And the soldiers they re-enact are not death camp operators. They are typically men drafted into war, handed a rifle, and sent off to be killed. In this particular case, they look to be a bunch of guys sent off to the Russian front, which is a miserable place to be.

This misrepresents who Iott chose to re-enact. I'll quote extensively from Josh Marshall who researched this:

"First you have men serving in the German regular army, the Wehrmacht. Then there were militarized SS formations, actually part of the Nazi party, the Waffen SS. Then there was duty on the Eastern front, where the Nazis followed a much more barbaric approach to war than they did on the Western front - and where casualties were vastly higher on both sides. Then on top of all that there were the Waffen SS divisions recruited from non-German volunteers. That's the category of the 'Wiking' division Rich Iott is into. So these were the folks who weren't conscripted and weren't even German but thought the whole National Socialism thing was such a great idea that they signed up voluntarily, as even sub-German master race junior partners."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/10/annals_of_bad_lines_of_defense.php

So, Iott was re-enacting one of the worst possible groups. Moreover, the website for his re-enactment group heavily white-washed the history of the division. That is particularly strange for people allegedly dedicated to learning about history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because dressing up like them is honoring them. They deserve no honor.

IN Williamsburg and other historical plantations in the south when dressed in clothes of that era are they honoring slavery? Your argument doesn't hold water.

Well the whole concept of Williamsburg is absurd. It may as well be called Slavesburg. Do Black people even go there? But then I will allow myself to be dragged to "Renn-Fest" to eat those historical funnel cakes.

It is simple. Americans, particularly in the South, are more comfortable with the concept of the enslavement of Black people than they are with genocide.

Go ahead--wail and gnash away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because dressing up like them is honoring them. They deserve no honor.

IN Williamsburg and other historical plantations in the south when dressed in clothes of that era are they honoring slavery? Your argument doesn't hold water.

I agree. I saw in the post today that he does Civil War reenactments (with photo published) plus WW1 reenactments.

I think this is much ado about nothing. I went to see a reenactment of the Battle of Hastings, and I was interested in the instruments and tactics of warfare, and had no interest in the Normans or English per se.