Republican Candidate Calls Bush Administration “Nazis”

[RBA]

http://www.lincolntribune.com/module...p?storyid=1452
Politics : Republican Candidate Calls Bush Administration “Nazis”
Posted by Editor on 2005/6/23 10:37:44
Cary, NC - A candidate for North Carolina Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court has announced on her campaign's blog that she is leaving the Republican Party and denounced the Bush administration's policy on troop withdrawal from Iraq. Rachel Lea Hunter, a Republican and a candidate for Chief Justice, likens Bush’s administration to the “Nazis” and says that all who disagree with the administration are being branded as “traitors”.

Hunter is an attorney in Durham, NC with the firm of Browne, Flebotte, Wilson, Horn & Webb. Hunter’s web page says she offers pre-paid legal services. Hunter ran unsuccessfully in 2004 for the North Carolina Appeals Court. She recently announced her intent to run for the Supreme Court.


In her statement, Hunter expresses anger at former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot for unsubscribing to her campaign’s email list. Hunter, who is a former volunteer for Vinroot’s gubernatorial campaign, was angry that Vinroot asked to unsubscribe to her campaign’s email list after an announcement that she was recovering from a recent surgery.

Hunter continues her assault on other elected Republicans as well as party leaders. The letter launches criticisms at NCGOP Chairman, Ferrell Blount, for a lawsuit that was brought against the NC Republican party for an illegal contribution it received from a national group. The NC party agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and return the money. The GOP however never spent the money donated because of questions as to whether it was legal.

The statement also alludes to Hunter’s apparent departure from the Republican Party. She states that: “I will unsubscribe from the party. I do not want to be associated with such individuals as these any longer.”

The long tirade against Hunter’s political enemies even includes quotes attributed to her pet. While criticizing the Republicans throughout the state, Hunter says that: “Max the dog says, they will be reduced to four people meeting in a phone booth at this rate.”

The candidate also takes time to blame “COPAM” for past criticisms of Hunter. “COPAM” is an acronym passed along on Internet message boards for a number of Republican leaders and operatives in North Carolina. No such group officially exists but the myth of such an organization has been perpetuated by campaign operatives of Hunter’s organization.

Hunter does not allude to which party she may join when and if she leaves the Republican Party.

[pedro]

I wish people would stop comparing anyone to Nazi's

It does nothing to advance dialogue.

TMBS, I agree that the GOP's alienation of anyone who isn't 100% on-board with Bush's agenda is disturbing.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Originally Posted by pedro

I wish people would stop comparing anyone to Nazi's

It does nothing to advance dialogue.

Absolutely.

Are we trying to compare this person to Rep. Rangel or any of the other "BIG HITTERS" in D.C.? If so, straws are being grasped. What is this woman's job right now? Is she currently holding office. WHAT?!?! A lawyer from NC. That sounds all too familiar to me. And what is she attempting to run for in some election somewhere?

Oh, but wait... she is leaving the Repubs!! Hmmmmm. Perhaps a title change is in order? Ah... don't wanna be a party-pooper!

[Jaycint]

Originally Posted by pedro

I wish people would stop comparing anyone to Nazi's

100% agreed, it's ridiculous and makes the person saying it look pretty unintelligent. There are plenty of ways to say you disagree with someone or their policies without resorting to name calling, especially on the level of comparing someone to a Nazi.

[registerthis]

Seriously, the nazi comparisons have to stop. It's practically a nonchalant reference at this point to compare someone to Hitler, or the Nazis in general. All it does is alienate people who may otherwise be convinced by a constructive argument, and it serves to de-value the evils and atrocities committed by the Nazis.

That being said, i think she is exactly right when she says that the Bush Administration has been successful at labelling people who disagree with their policies as unpatriotic traitors. I get sick of that comparison, too.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by pedro

I wish people would stop comparing anyone to Nazi's

I only wish that people would stop comparing people who don't behave like Nazis to Nazis.

People who behave like Nazis should be called Nazis. Nazism isn't an exclusively historical (1936-1945) movement. You don't "stop" a political description. If the shoe fits....

What I want to stop is people saying you can't call hate-mongering, hyper-nationalistic, authoritarian regimes fascist or Nazi regimes. That would be the crime. That, because it represents some unspeakable evil, somehow the word itself prevents us from seeing the political form of Nazism in our contemporary lives. Nazism exists without ovens, Hitler, and Dachau.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

I only wish that people would stop comparing people who don't behave like Nazis to Nazis.

People who behave like Nazis should be called Nazis. Nazism isn't an exclusively historical (1936-1945) movement. You don't "stop" a political description. If the shoe fits....

What I want to stop is people saying you can't call hate-mongering, hyper-nationalistic, authoritarian regimes fascist or Nazi regimes. That would be the crime. That, because it represents some unspeakable evil, somehow the word itself prevents us from seeing the political form of Nazism in our contemporary lives. Nazism exists without ovens, Hitler, and Dachau.

See, I do equate Nazism with ovens, Hitler and Dachau.

If you want to call Bush a Fascist, now that's another story.......

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by pedro

See, I do equate Nazism with ovens, Hitler and Dachau.

If you want to call Bush a Fascist, now that's another story.......

I'm not comparing Bush (or anyone--well, I'd compare some people to Nazis, but I'm not naming any names) to a Nazi, btw. Let me make that abundantly clear. So as not to be dinged or threatened with a booting-off.

Not trying to be a jerk, but Nazism is largely ahistorical--it's a political, in addition to being a historical, descriptor.

[pedro]

Hey, if someone want to ding me for calling Bush a fascist have at it.

[M2]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

I only wish that people would stop comparing people who don't behave like Nazis to Nazis.

People who behave like Nazis should be called Nazis. Nazism isn't an exclusively historical (1936-1945) movement. You don't "stop" a political description. If the shoe fits....

What I want to stop is people saying you can't call hate-mongering, hyper-nationalistic, authoritarian regimes fascist or Nazi regimes. That would be the crime. That, because it represents some unspeakable evil, somehow the word itself prevents us from seeing the political form of Nazism in our contemporary lives. Nazism exists without ovens, Hitler, and Dachau.

Great post. Hypernationationalsim isn't pretty stuff. It can lead a nation to think it has the right to seize individual property or to elevate symbolism above individual liberties. It can cause leaders to suggest we the people need to sacrifice freedom for security. It make those leaders unaccountable for their actions, where all they have to do to explain themselves is to insist they're doing it for the greater good even if the rationale for their actions seems nonsensical. It can cause the majority to dump their wrath on smaller segments of society as immoral, impure and ruining the fabric of society itself.

Honestly, I'm shocked and amazed more people aren't up in arms about how far off the rails our government has gone (and I'm talking about both parties here). Democratic compliance is every bit as bad as Republican paternalism.

[Jaycint]

Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

That, because it represents some unspeakable evil, somehow the word itself prevents us from seeing the political form of Nazism in our contemporary lives.

See, when used in our political climate right now though the word Nazi is used to get a reaction and rise out of people which is inappropriate in my opinion. The people using it aren't using it to conjure up similarities between the political movements in 1930's Germany and current day America. They are using it to conjure images of concentration camp atrocities, Hitler, etc. etc. Anybody who thinks otherwise is letting their political partisanship blind them to the obvious.

[M2]

Originally Posted by Jaycint

They are using it to conjure images of concentration camp atrocities, Hitler, etc. etc. Anybody who thinks otherwise is letting their political partisanship blind them to the obvious.

To my reading, the NC judge mean it in exactly the way FCB was talking about. Her comments had everything to do paranoid autocracy and nothing to do with concentration camps and Hitler. IMO anyone taking this in the mass murder direction (though 100,000+ dead Iraqis might like to rise from the grave and argue that point) is doing that on their own initiative.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by Jaycint

See, when used in our political climate right now though the word Nazi is used to get a reaction and rise out of people which is inappropriate in my opinion. The people using it aren't using it to conjure up similarities between the political movements in 1930's Germany and current day America. They are using it to conjure images of concentration camp atrocities, Hitler, etc. etc. Anybody who thinks otherwise is letting their political partisanship blind them to the obvious.

I agree. I don't think any particular American politician fits the bill, but I sure as heck don't believe the word should be "off-limits."

If a person fits the bill, then he/she is a Nazi, plain and simple. And you don't have to run a concentration camp to be a Nazi--I can't stress that enough. Nazism grew out of some very simple political ideas, enumerated very nicely in M2's statement above; Nazism wasn't born the day the Nazis rolled through Poland--its seeds were planted much earlier, and its political "shape" was manifest, in many ways, in the seeds.

6 million dead Jews, Catholics, homosexuals, and mentally ill were the symptom, not the cause.

[registerthis]

Originally Posted by M2

To my reading, the NC judge mean it in exactly the way FCB was talking about. Her comments had everything to do paranoid autocracy and nothing to do with concentration camps and Hitler.

Well, perhaps in her well-thought out speach that was what was intended...but I don't think there's much doubt that the first images conjured up in people's minds when they hear "Nazi" is that of concentration camp horrors. The Judge has a valid point, I believe. The average person on the street, however, won't initially equate Naziism with the stifling of dissent--but with the murder of 12 million people.

[M2]

Originally Posted by registerthis

Well, perhaps in her well-thought out speach that was what was intended...but I don't think there's much doubt that the first images conjured up in people's minds when they hear "Nazi" is that of concentration camp horrors. The Judge has a valid point, I believe. The average person on the street, however, won't initially equate Naziism with the stifling of dissent--but with the murder of 12 million people.

I don't know. I think a large number of the people on the street understand more about the Nazi movement than you're giving them credit for. Clearly she wasn't talking about concentration camps, so hopefully those people who paid attention in high school will realize she's talking about the political mechanics of facism.