Republican congressional candidate speaks at Hitler rally.

KlavoHunter · Post by **KlavoHunter** » 2008-04-24 04:48am

Masami von Weizegger wrote:And besides, it's not like white power groups and black power groups have never agreed on anything or even sat together. So surely a Nazi would never have anything to do with African-Americans. Oh wait.

Actually, interestingly, there is some amount of crossover between white supremacist and Nation of Islam/Black Power movements, as they share a mutual hatred of Jews.

Vain · Post by **Vain** » 2008-04-24 05:51am

FSTargetDrone wrote:Why does that picture make me think of Henry Gibson and his Neo-Nazis in The Blues Brothers?

I hate Illinois Nazis.

Vaporous · Post by **Vaporous** » 2008-04-24 06:03am

The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he's not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure.

And then my brain exploded.

And he got 30% of the vote the last time he ran? 30% of people in his district actually voted for the racial separatist who pretends not to know who the Nazis were (and are)? What does that tell you?

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-04-24 06:16am

Vaporous wrote: And then my brain exploded.

And he got 30% of the vote the last time he ran? 30% of people in his district actually voted for the racial separatist who pretends not to know who the Nazis were (and are)? What does that tell you?

You have to love how he twists and turns and says "Well, they aren't really Nazis, they're NATIONAL SOCIALISTS."

It's a bit like Tom Cruise's character in "Collateral" saying he didn't kill the guy. He shot him, and the bullet and the fall killed him.

Tiriol · Post by **Tiriol** » 2008-04-24 07:07am

I have to echo others here: I initially thought that the thread title sarcastically referred to Ms. Clinton's campaign and that a Republican politician might have taken part in it.

In other news, it is simply impossible that he wouldn't know what kind of group this was once he saw the swastikas and the picture of Adolf Hitler. Even if he didn't know what National Socialist means in historical context, surely he would know what those flags and armbands would mean. Unless the US education system has failed even more badly than I had thought.

Darth Onasi · Post by **Darth Onasi** » 2008-04-24 08:32am

PeZook wrote:*looks at picture*

When asked if he was a Nazi or sympathized with Nazis or white supremacists, Zirkle replied he didn't know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it.
*blinks*

Okay...so you go to speak at a rally of some group which you don't know much about. Cool. You walk into the lecture hall and see...a portrait of Adolf fucking Hitler and a bunch of guys in swastika armbands!

It's pretty fucking obvious they worship goddamn Adolf Hitler there. What more do you need to condemn the group? See them murder Jews? Invade Poland?

I suppose it's possible he's one of those goddamn idiots who still subscribe to the "if only der fuhrer kneew" theory regarding Nazi atrocities, and thought this group believed the same.

Doesn't diminish the sheer stupidity of doing this, though. In a world where people still feel discomfort with the image of the swastika even when it's the pre-Nazi variant and some nations go as far as to ban it, this guy thinks it's okay to be buddy-buddy with assholes with Nazi swastikas on their armbands?

Darth Onasi · Post by **Darth Onasi** » 2008-04-24 08:35am

Ghetto edit: He also may be an outright holocaust denier for that matter.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-04-24 08:37am

Darth Onasi wrote: I suppose it's possible he's one of those goddamn idiots who still subscribe to the "if only der fuhrer kneew" theory regarding Nazi atrocities, and thought this group believed the same.

Yeah, well, he still set half the world on fire and caused untold misery and opression.

Ah, yeah, I forgot. Nazi assholes believe it was Poland who started the war, Germany was just defending itself. With over 100 divisions

Darth Onasi · Post by **Darth Onasi** » 2008-04-24 08:44am

PeZook wrote:
Darth Onasi wrote: I suppose it's possible he's one of those goddamn idiots who still subscribe to the "if only der fuhrer kneew" theory regarding Nazi atrocities, and thought this group believed the same.
Yeah, well, he still set half the world on fire and caused untold misery and opression.

Ah, yeah, I forgot. Nazi assholes believe it was Poland who started the war, Germany was just defending itself. With over 100 divisions

Germany needed liebensraum, to take back the lands rightfully owned by Germanic peoples you.. you.. bolshevik zionist!

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-04-24 08:51am

Darth Onasi wrote: Germany needed liebensraum, to take back the lands rightfully owned by Germanic peoples you.. you.. bolshevik zionist!

Yeah! You're right, how could I be so blind!

And France needed a good spanking for Versailles! And Denmark to protect it from Jews, and Norway had to be secured because that's where most of the Aryans are and Czechoslovakia had some bitchin' industries and the British were just too uppity for their own good and had to be smacked around good, too!

Yeah, the Nazis are so cool, word!

Heh. You know that people (okay, arrogant American neo-nazis) did call me bolshevik before?

Apparently, you can either be pro-nazi or a Bolshevik. It's not like Poland was a separate entity with the USSR before 1939, after all.

Darth Onasi · Post by **Darth Onasi** » 2008-04-24 08:57am

In my experience a Nazi or white-supremacist in general (who totally do not worship Hitler, they just agree with everything he did!) will either regard you as a Bolshevik or a mindless servant of the Elders of Zion. Other fun names I've been called include "nigger lover".

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-04-24 09:41am

Vaporous wrote:
The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he's not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure.
And then my brain exploded.

And he got 30% of the vote the last time he ran? 30% of people in his district actually voted for the racial separatist who pretends not to know who the Nazis were (and are)? What does that tell you?

What are you implying? That these people are not wonderful? It can't be! It's "The Heartland"! Don't you know the people there are good and genuine and better than all of those liberal elites in the big coastal cities?

Kanastrous · Post by **Kanastrous** » 2008-04-24 10:08am

Because Blues Brothers is awesome.

I've always loved you..."

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2008-04-24 10:12am

Seriously, stop spamming Kanastrous. This is somewhere around the fifth or sixth post that you've made is pretty much "Hur hur...look half assed comment."

Post by **Coyote** » 2008-04-24 10:26am

I thought it was "Hitlery rally" as in, the play on Hillary's name.

It's just lose-lose either for the guy-- either he knew darn good and well what the Nazis are, and is a sympathizer; or he is utterly ignorant of one of the most significant eras of history in humanity. A Nazi or a 'tard.

Time to fold up th etent and go home. Or, he knows more about his likely voters than we'd previously suspected...

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2008-04-24 10:35am

Coyote wrote:I thought it was "Hitlery rally" as in, the play on Hillary's name.

Same here, I'm so used to seeing and typing Hillary as "Hitlery" that it didn't really register till I got to the picture.

I can't say I'm all that surprised though, I mean the Republicans had a KKK Grand Wizard in their ranks so it's not exactly a stretch for one of their members to attend a Nazi rally.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2008-04-24 12:20pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Vaporous wrote:
The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he's not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure.
And then my brain exploded.

And he got 30% of the vote the last time he ran? 30% of people in his district actually voted for the racial separatist who pretends not to know who the Nazis were (and are)? What does that tell you?
What are you implying? That these people are not wonderful? It can't be! It's "The Heartland"! Don't you know the people there are good and genuine and better than all of those liberal elites in the big coastal cities?

It's nice to see you finally admit it.

Going by the article it appears this guy is some kind of fundie Christian nutjob whose hobbyhorse is pornography (he shredded an original first issue of Playboy to 'make a statement'), so I'm not surprised he drew 30% of Republican primary voters in a conservative 'heartland' district.

IMHO, the Nazi imagery will turn off a lot of those same voters this time around as most of that crowd also considers themselves to be patriots.
Currently that district is represented by Joe Donnelly, who is a 'Blue Dog' Democrat.

Most political observers here think the real fight will be between Donnelly and the Republican he defeated in 2006; Chris Chocola.

As an aside every time I see Chris's name, I think 'Count Chocula'.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-04-24 12:29pm

People need to start shipping multiple copies of DVDs like "Big Black Dicks in Little White Chicks", "My Daughter is Fucking Blackzilla" or the "Mandingo" series to his home and/or campaign office.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2008-04-24 12:41pm

Darth Wong wrote:People need to start shipping multiple copies of DVDs like "Big Black Dicks in Little White Chicks", "My Daughter is Fucking Blackzilla" or the "Mandingo" series to his home and/or campaign office.

Funny you should mention his home, as he doesn't have one.
According to news reports he either gets a hotel room, sleeps in his law office, or occasionally stays with his ex-wife.

And for your edification, here's a pic of him shredding that Playboy

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2008-04-24 12:54pm

How old is this guy? He doesn't look that much older than I am and I couldn't possibly think of a single person that wouldn't know that in Western civilization 'Swastika=bad' that wasn't a Neo-Nazi jackass. And that includes outright racists and anti-Semites.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2008-04-24 01:05pm

The Spartan wrote:How old is this guy? He doesn't look that much older than I am and I couldn't possibly think of a single person that wouldn't know that in Western civilization 'Swastika=bad' that wasn't a Neo-Nazi jackass. And that includes outright racists and anti-Semites.

I think these quotes from the article are telling:

"This is just a great opportunity for me to witness," he said, referring to his message and his Christian belief.

When asked if he was a Nazi or sympathized with Nazis or white supremacists, Zirkle replied he didn't know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it.

If I had to guess, I'd say that he didn't put the 'Nationalist Socialist=Nazi' together until he arrived and saw the swastikas and Hitler pictures and is trying to maintain plausible deniability and he thought he might as well go ahead and preach...er witness to them seeing as they're against many of the same things he is.

Correction: in my previous posts I stated that former Congressman Chris Chocola is running in the primary. He is not.

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2008-04-24 01:24pm

Glocksman wrote:I think these quotes from the article are telling:
"This is just a great opportunity for me to witness," he said, referring to his message and his Christian belief.

When asked if he was a Nazi or sympathized with Nazis or white supremacists, Zirkle replied he didn't know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it.

Yeah, I saw those but there was still a disconnect in my head between 'Swastika=bad' and 'politician speaking'.

If I had to guess, I'd say that he didn't put the 'Nationalist Socialist=Nazi' together until he arrived and saw the swastikas and Hitler pictures and is trying to maintain plausible deniability and he thought he might as well go ahead and preach...er witness to them seeing as they're against many of the same things he is.

That's kind of what I'm starting to think. That he didn't connect Nationalist Socialist to Nazi, I would wager most people wouldn't make that connection, and found himself in a bad situation that he didn't know how to get out of and now's he's furiously spinning things into "Christian witnessing" rather than "dumbass politician chats up Neo-Nazis."

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2008-04-24 01:26pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Vaporous wrote:
The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he's not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure.
And then my brain exploded.

And he got 30% of the vote the last time he ran? 30% of people in his district actually voted for the racial separatist who pretends not to know who the Nazis were (and are)? What does that tell you?
What are you implying? That these people are not wonderful? It can't be! It's "The Heartland"! Don't you know the people there are good and genuine and better than all of those liberal elites in the big coastal cities?

Indiana was the heartland of the 1920's KKK revival, I know that much.

One of the most horrifying images of a lynching I've ever seen comes from Marion, in 1930, where they burned a man to death on the courthouse steps.
Some of those who killed him could still be alive...and a lot of living people would have grown up under that generation's influence.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2008-04-24 01:45pm

Glocksman wrote:If I had to guess, I'd say that he didn't put the 'Nationalist Socialist=Nazi' together until he arrived and saw the swastikas and Hitler pictures and is trying to maintain plausible deniability and he thought he might as well go ahead and preach...er witness to them seeing as they're against many of the same things he is.

Correction: in my previous posts I stated that former Congressman Chris Chocola is running in the primary. He is not.

While it's possible that he didn't know that Nazi actually has "National Socialist" baked into the German, I find it hard to believe that any Christian Right Republican would go to a rally with "Socialist" in the title unless they already knew what it is.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2008-04-24 02:05pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Vaporous wrote:
The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he's not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure.
And then my brain exploded.

And he got 30% of the vote the last time he ran? 30% of people in his district actually voted for the racial separatist who pretends not to know who the Nazis were (and are)? What does that tell you?
What are you implying? That these people are not wonderful? It can't be! It's "The Heartland"! Don't you know the people there are good and genuine and better than all of those liberal elites in the big coastal cities?

Well, it isn't that bad; he was defeated in the primaries, which means only 30% of republicans voted for him.