Rich Iott, second from the right...
No, really
-Headline of the Day-
"Rich Iott Defends Nazis He Dresses Up As: 'They Were Doing What They Thought Was Right'."
File this one under "Political Advice So Obvious No One Should Ever Need it": if you have even a vague idea that you'll run for public office, don't ever in your adult life dress up like a Nazi.
I guess you can also file it under "Advice That Would Only Be Given After It's Too Late To Help," as Ohio congressional candidate Rich Iott is currently busy proving. According to the report, Iott has a "rather unusual hobby of dressing up as a member of the 5th SS Wiking Panzer Division, a unit in the German army during World War II." Then he goes out and engages in historical reenactments of WWII battles.
Up to this point, the story is just strange. The guy has a weird hobby, but it's not a lot different from people dressing up as confederates in civil war reenactments or British soldiers in Revolutionary War reenactments. A little geeky, a little quirky, a little embarrassing to be shown in photos, but explainable and perhaps forgivable, if not clearly understandable.
But it was here that Iott broke out his entrenching tool and proceeded to try to dig himself out of a hole. Not only wasn't there anything wrong with playing Nazi in an adult game of "let's pretend," but the Nazi he was playing should be admired. At least, that was Iott's assessment.
According to the report, "Iott called what happened in Germany during the second World War one of 'the low points in human history,' but defended the Wiking Division when [CNN's Anderson] Cooper referred to them as collaborators: 'I don't know that I would put that label on them. They were doing what they thought was right for their country. And they were going out and fighting what they thought was a bigger, you know, a bigger evil.'"
He went on to say that "this particular unit was one that was never charged with war crimes." But, Cooper pointed out that the Wiking Division has been charged with the murder of 58 Jews. So Rich dug in deeper.
"The war on the eastern front was extremely brutal on both sides," he said. "Nobody was lily-white, that's for sure. Horrible things that happened on both sides."
"I think that they thought they were fighting for their homeland," Iott went on. "I don't think we can sit here and judge that today. We weren't there the time they made those decisions."
We can't sit here and judge Nazis today? Really? I think we already have and the consensus is that they were bad.
The GOP has dropped Iott like a hot potato. I guess we've finally figured out how crazy-assed a thing you have to say to get you kicked out of the Republican club.
Talk about setting the bar low. (Talking Points Memo, with video)
-Cartoon Time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you ever worry about bad people? Well then, you need to meet...
Click for animation
Look at it this way; Santa knows everything you do and you trust him, right? (MarkFiore.com)
-Bonus HotD-
"Ron Johnson Calls On Chamber Of Commerce To Disclose Funding Of Attack Ads."
Why would Wisconsin GOP senatorial candidate Ron Johnson, a beneficiary of the Chambers attack ads, do that? Here's why:
RUSS!! (Think Progress)
