May 29, 2008

Using the Holocaust to Attack Obama

From the Huffington Post:
Using the Holocaust to Smear Obama
by-- Menachem Rosensaft

I never thought I'd see the day when the Holocaust would be used as a tool for "gotcha" politics. But over the last two days . . , John McCain's supporters . . . have diminished the experience of those who suffered and died at Buchenwald, and disrespected the service of the heroic American troops who liberated them.
^^^
RNC put out a statement slamming Obama for referring to Auschwitz as he related a family story on Memorial Day. . . . They went on to say that the story raised questions "about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief."

It turns out that Obama's great uncle—the brother of the grandmother who largely raised him—served in the 89th Infantry Division of the United States Army, which liberated Ohrdruf, part of Buchenwald. But astonishingly, that only served to fan the flames for those on the right who saw an attempt to use the heroic service of Obama's uncle against him.
^^^
This morning on the program Fox and Friends, one of the hosts said: "It wasn't Auschwitz. It was a labor camp called Buchenwald."
Meanwhile, a news "crawl" at the bottom of the screen reinforced, in bold letters, that this was "a work camp, rather than an extermination camp."
^^^
Rosensaft goes on to recount the horrific details concerning Buchenwald.
Click here to read those details. And try telling the survivors that it wasn't a death-camp—if you dare.

8 comments:

Distributorcap said...

this shows how low our nation has gotten ----

two crows said...

hi, distributorcap--
well, the rethugs anyway, who are almost wetting themselves in their excitement as they try to use one of the most vicious occurrences of the 20th century to attack a presidential candidate.

but the nation is finally wising up to their tactics. at least, I hope it is.

Anonymous said...

Everyone knows that Buchenwald was like Dress-down Fridays at work.

What a bunch of sleezoids.

Regards,

Tengrain

Minnesotablue said...

Nothing the repugs or fox news says surprises me any more. Lowest of the low is who they are.

jmsjoin said...

Yeah he got his concentration camps wrong. Buchenwald was as bad if not worse than Auschwitz. i am sick of these mindless games. Obama hasn't made near the mistakes McCain has. The biggest mistake would be falling for McCain's lying BS as many did and still do for Bush's. Hope your projects are going well!

two crows said...

hey, tengrain--
actually, I doubt if most people know that-- or even knew of Buchenwald's existence before this latest flap.

scholars know the different camps' names. to the rest, they're a blur. most even think they were all in Germany.

Auschwitz has been burned into our collective brain -- it's the generic brand name -- rather like kleenex rather than 'facial tissues.'

but, do those who believe everything the rethugs throw at them think about these distinctions? of course not.

two crows said...

right on, mnblue--
using the suffering of the political prisoners of Germany and the heroism of those who liberated them to smear a candidate----
you don't get lower than that.

two crows said...

hi, AAP--
and many are still falling for McCain's **ahem** 'straight talk' as well, believe it or not.

the projects move slowly forward. thanx.
today, after TWO MONTHS, I finally opened the box of my mother's effects. what a surprisingly hard chapter that was to close.