Dennis Prager: Wrong on Holocaust Rhetoric Usage

David Streeter — May 5, 2010 – 10:04 am | Abusive Holocaust Rhetoric | GOP Hypocrisies Comments (0) Add a comment

Right-wing pundit Dennis Prager published an op-ed on Townhall that claims abusive Holocaust rhetoric predominantly and consistently emanates from liberal Jews. That is not the case at all. Non-Jewish right-wingers continually use the Holocaust to make their political points, whether they are talk show hosts, grassroots leaders, or elected officials. Below is a sampling of instances in which Republican and conservative officials have used either Holocaust-related or anti-Semitic rhetoric to advance their political arguments:

 

• Tea Party Chairman Mark Williams claimed members of Congress are “brushing up on Mein Kampf” 

• OH Senate Candidate Rob Portman (R-OH) raised money for a group that called Congress “Nazis” 

• Former OH Secretary of State Ken Blackwell accused Obama and liberals of perpetrating “anti-Christian pogroms”

• NRCC tweeted a video comparing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Hitler

• CT Republican Senate Candidate Peter Schiff (R-CT) compared Congress to Nazis

• Matt Shea (R-WA) Compared Obama to Hitler and Stalin on the radio

• Candidate Curtis Coleman (R-AR) compared abortion to the Holocaust and refused to apologize

• Irvine, CA City Councilmember Daniel Choi (R-CA) wore a shirt with a Stalinized Pelosi on it

• Texas Republican Party Chair Cathie Adams has a history of Holocaust Rhetoric

• Eerie County executive Chris Collins (R-NY) called State Representative Shelly Silver (D-NY) the anti-Christ

• Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) called Pelosi an “enemy of the constitution” 

• Rep. John Linder (R-GA) compared Obama to Hitler and Mussolini in a Politico op-ed

• VA Delegate Steve Landes (R-VA) compared Obama to Hitler 

• RNC Chairman Michael Steele compared abortion to the Holocaust in 2006

 

 

Additionally, House Republican Leaders John Boehner (R-OH), Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Mike Pence (R-IN) (among others) appeared at the infamous Tea Party rally in November 2009 during which signs comparing health care reform to the atrocities at Dachau were visible from the podium. None of them had the courage to say anything about the signs, until groups like the Anti-Defamation League and NJDC called them out.

 

Prager and others should view the NJDC blog section entitled “Abusive Holocaust Rhetoric.” In it they will find an even longer list of instances from Republican politicians and conservative pundits. Further, they would even find that NJDC has called out Democrats and liberals on the few occasions when they have used Holocaust rhetoric.

 

Sadly this is not a problem affecting only one side of our political spectrum. But it is a trend that is overwhelmingly displayed by the right-wing to deafening silence from its leaders.

 

If Prager and his fans want to pontificate on Holocaust rhetoric in political discourse, they should probably start by looking at their side first. And above all, they should drop their “masses are asses” critique of Jewish liberalism. It’s gotten old, and it does not appear to be increasing the numbers of Jewish conservatives. 

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