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I've shaken my head over the so-called "Tea Party" protesters before, but generally considered them to be the outspoken fringe of the far right. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Wild conspiracy theories, over-the-top language, and little to no grasp of the actual issues at hand.
When I heard about one of them holding up a sign comparing health care reform to the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, I nearly said something. If there's anything out there that deserves the full sting of the word "FAIL" (and the rampant overuse of that word is another matter), it's that sign. Abject ignorance. And, speaking as the grandson of Holocaust survivors (and the grandnephew of a whole lot more who didn't survive), it demeans what is arguably the greatest human tragedy of the 20th century.
But you don't have to take my word for that. Elie Wiesel is Holocaust survivor whose books on the subject earned him a Nobel prize. His reaction was brief enough to tweet: "This kind of political hatred is indecent and disgusting."
That comment was posted on Politico. Cue the reaction.
Americablog has a roundup of some of the worst. (Pointed out to be my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
orangebeaver.)
Like I said, I nearly said something when I heard about the sign. But I realized that those few of you out there reading what I write are about the last people who need to be told how and why it's wrong.
That was when it was just one nutjob getting perhaps more attention that he deserves (it's a two-edged sword). But the numbers are multiplying, and the ignorance and fail are multiplying along with them.
(Of course, that roundup has about a dozen or so comments out of... currently 182. And some of the people from the left are less than polite in response. The gradual extinction of civil political discourse in this country is a whole other matter that's been troubling me, and it's even worse on the faceless 'net. But there is absolutely no excuse for comments like, "This hollowcost thing is totally overblown by the jewish.")
When I heard about one of them holding up a sign comparing health care reform to the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, I nearly said something. If there's anything out there that deserves the full sting of the word "FAIL" (and the rampant overuse of that word is another matter), it's that sign. Abject ignorance. And, speaking as the grandson of Holocaust survivors (and the grandnephew of a whole lot more who didn't survive), it demeans what is arguably the greatest human tragedy of the 20th century.
But you don't have to take my word for that. Elie Wiesel is Holocaust survivor whose books on the subject earned him a Nobel prize. His reaction was brief enough to tweet: "This kind of political hatred is indecent and disgusting."
That comment was posted on Politico. Cue the reaction.
Americablog has a roundup of some of the worst. (Pointed out to be my
orangebeaver.)Like I said, I nearly said something when I heard about the sign. But I realized that those few of you out there reading what I write are about the last people who need to be told how and why it's wrong.
That was when it was just one nutjob getting perhaps more attention that he deserves (it's a two-edged sword). But the numbers are multiplying, and the ignorance and fail are multiplying along with them.
(Of course, that roundup has about a dozen or so comments out of... currently 182. And some of the people from the left are less than polite in response. The gradual extinction of civil political discourse in this country is a whole other matter that's been troubling me, and it's even worse on the faceless 'net. But there is absolutely no excuse for comments like, "This hollowcost thing is totally overblown by the jewish.")