The party of stupid, a.k.a. Teabaggers a.k.a. Republicans a.k.a. The Million Moran March has been attracting significant international attention, which is normal because people like to laugh at American stupidities (and this is just). But I thought you'd like to see this snippet from today's BBC:
The Iott controversy comes amid growing concern in the Republican party about the views of some candidates for the mid-term elections in November, our correspondent says.
He adds that the growth of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement has left them with one would-be senator who has questioned the civil rights legislation in the 1960s, while another confessed to dabbling in witchcraft and suggested scientists were implanting full human brains into mice.
And now just a little comment for those of you who call yourselves "Fiscally conservative but [bla bla bla fill in some excuse for being a Republican, anything other than the truth, which would make you look like the selfish bastard that you actually are bla bla bla ]" ... This is what you made for us. Shame on you. Now, if you don't mind, could you please fix it?
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The story happens to be the lead piece in today's foreign section of DER SPIEGEL as well (unfortunately, no English translation as of yet) - which also notices that Rep. Eric Cantor (R) has already called on Iott to resign:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,722336,00.html
and with the grauniads increased US coverage we get to laugh at all sorts of funny americans, and be a little scared that they seem to have some significant support.
Of course we have our own nutters here in the UK, but we try to keep them away from any real power (and sharp objects!)
Too bad. Finally they find a Republican candidate to whom pride in the flag and the uniform is not just empty talk, and then it turns out to be the swastika flag and the SS uniform. Did somebody not check their guy's flag lapel pin closely enough?
I have read that Hitler used homosexual men in his most brutal and ruthless units.
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/05/hitler_loved_gay_soldiers_th…
Whether that is true or not doesn't matter, so long as Iott believes it to be true and is using that to motivate him to reenact membership in that particular group.
Presumably he chose that particular uniform because he likes the way it makes him feel when he wears it, and presumably some of those feelings hold over after he takes the uniform off ;) ;) if you know what I mean. ;)
I am all for people having the freedom to do what ever they want, but since the GOP position is pretty homophobic, and against gays in the military, I think it is quite hypocritical for Iott to do this and be a Republican.
From a Brit perspective, it is at least entertaining to read about the Palins and so forth. But it is weird - when I was a lad Gerald Ford was considered funny because he was a bit dim and kept having pratfalls. Today he'd look like an intellectual in the GOP.
Well ... taking the "military re-enactment" line rather than the "OMG Nazis!" line, there's still plenty to dislike. Cant find the link, but someone wrote that the American military fell in love with prussian military doctrine and basically has not won a war since against anyone capable of shooting back.
Sure, the Nazis conquered most of western europe. But ... well, western europe ain't all that big. And it's full of people that understand and have internalised the european conventions of war - the idea that you surrender and the attackers become the government, but as far as the peasants are concerned it's "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
Euprean-style militarism just hasn't worked out as well elsewhere. Vietnam, anyone?
Having said that, american-style militarism is even worse. It seems to have this nutty idea that war is about killing the enemy. It isn't. Sure: in order to accomplish most military objectives you have to kill people, but killing people is not a military objective in itself.
Unless you are attempting a genocide.
Genocide is the crudest, most primitive kind of military objective. It is so crude and primitive that the invention of slavery back in the bronze age was a moral step up. Instead of killing man, woman and child, they would be spared and forced to work.
How far we have come. Well - society as a whole. But not significant chunks of it - who think that body counts are what it's about.
davelong -
Yes, who'd of thunk that in relative terms, Dan Quayle would look like an intellectual giant compared to the current GOP. He made more than his share of rather amusing little gaffes. but when compared to Palin. Bachman, Bush Junior and many other GOP intellectual elites, he is a fucking supergenius.*
* Though it should be noted that he is not actually as stupid as he appeared on tee vee. While his politics are repugnant, it would appear that his most significant deficit was dealing with cameras.