Irrational Exuberance in Anti-Obama Hatred

David Streeter — November 20, 2009 – 3:17 pm | Abusive Holocaust Rhetoric | Barack Obama | Democrats | Republicans | Stop the Smears Comments (0) Add a comment

NJDC’s Press Secretary, Aaron Keyak, published a piece in The Huffington Post about the Republican Party’s failure to rein in Holocaust rhetoric and anti-Semitism. Keyak writes:

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) has been keeping track of the vile Holocaust/Nazi/fascist/treasonous/anti-Semitic/racist rhetorical comparisons leveled against President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders; I feel dirty just overseeing the collection of this data. While some in the Republican Party claim to have distanced themselves from this hate speech, it is incumbent on the party opposing the President to unequivocally disown this sort of rhetoric and completely abandon these ugly bedfellows.

Keyak continues and cites the Anti-Defamation League’s recent report Rage Grows in America: Anti-Government Conspiracies:

By comparing Obama to Hitler, a man widely perceived as the epitome of evil in the modern world, people who use such comparisons demonize Obama and make even the most extreme conspiracy theories about his ultimate intentions more plausible.

Keyak concludes:

Regardless of partisan affiliation, this sort of language and imagery is unacceptable - it is outside the mainstream of political discourse. This is not an issue where one can seriously “respectfully disagree.” It’s past time for the GOP to stop downplaying their own anti-Obama activists who insist on using this sort of hateful rhetoric when attacking the President. Simply put, the use of swastikas, photos of dead Holocaust victims, and anti-Semitic epithets should have no place in any event or venue sponsored or promoted on either side of the partisan divide.

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