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In the days following Tucson, lawmakers and the press monitored each modicum of political speech to see if a moment of intemperate rhetoric would signal a break in a “new era of civility” ushered in by the tragic shooting.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Looks like: Yup.
In a little-noticed floor speech last night (flagged today by ABC News), Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee invoked Nazis, the Holocaust, Germany’s infamous Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, and – yes – blood libel in describing how Republicans have characterized the health care law as a “government takeover.”
“They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing, blood libel. That's the same kind of thing.”
Referencing “blood libel” – the anti-Semitic false accusation about which Americans received a history lesson last week – Cohen added: “The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it -- believed it and you have the Holocaust.”
(Cohen's remarks didn't get picked up until today because they were delivered to a nearly empty House gallery. Members of Congress can give speeches on almost any topic after legislative business is finished for the day. Many members use it as their way to “revise and extend” their remarks with the hope that it will get picked up by their local stations or newspapers. These speeches tend to be given to not only empty press galleries, but empty seats on the floor as well.)
The last time a Democratic politician invoked Goebbels to describe a GOP rival (when California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown drew a parallel between the notorious Nazi politician and Republican Meg Whitman), First Read coined its own theory of what bringing up the Nazi party does to political discourse. Here’s what we wrote then:
You’ve heard of Godwin’s Law -- in an online argument, the person who brings up the Nazis or a Nazi comparison automatically effectively ends (and loses) the arguments. Well, here’s First Read’s Law -- bringing up the Nazis in American politics never does anyone any good. And guess what: The first one to bring it up always sees it boomerang.
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I already know that progressive statists are liars and that they will say or do almost anything to advance their agenda. This is just par for the course. They don't really care about civility or lowering the tone of the rhetoric in politics. They are just using that as a tactic to stifle debate and to cast their opponents in a negative light with the electorate. They certainly will never hold themselves to any kind of a standard if their are political points to score. All you have to do is look at any thread on the vine relating to Sarah Palin, and look at the vile, contemptible comments that lefties will make about her, almost none of which have anything at all to do with her political positions, and you will know what they are capable of.
Any why did MSNBC so quickly stuff this story down below visibility on their front page? It was gone in a very short time and I had to perform a search to find it. The story about Beck was up for many hours yesterday, and he's just a talk show host. This guy is a U.S. Representative spouting off on the house floor, and it's on page six in about a half hour. Ridiculous bias.
everyone should know that by now that the propaganda machine was alive and well during started in 09 with the corporate backed teaparty and the repubs talking points spewed on the airwaves. where's the death panels? where's the government takeover? you teapartiers were pawns to be worked up to disrupt the dems' townhalls to squash any reasonable discussion of health care. and you played right in their hands with your marches and hateful signs. how many of you hollers got your $250 medicare checks? who shall you thank for that? well it was not your republican congress person cause he/she voted against the HCR bill and is now trying to repeal it. give the credit to the President and the dems. now can the bill be improved? yes. so tell your repubs to do that why don't you.