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The Latest Desperate Smear Of Occupy Wall Street Protests: The Nazis Like Them

October 18, 2011 1:49 am ET by Todd Gregory

The American Nazi Party put out a statement on Thursday that was supportive of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Rocky Suhayda, the party's chairman, said, "My heart is right there with these people."

The right-wing blogosphere saw an opportunity to associate the protests with Nazis, and the pile-on began. The Blaze quoted the statement, as did Fox Nation and Gateway Pundit blogger Jim Hoft.

On the Monday edition of Fox News' flagship "straight news" program Special Report, anchor Bret Baier also treated this endorsement as if it were significant:

Interesting fact about Suhayda: During the 2008 presidential campaign, he declared his preference for Barack Obama over John McCain.

In a June 2008 piece, Esquire magazine interviewed Suhayda along with three other white supremacists -- and three of the four preferred Obama. Esquire also interviewed a black nationalist who chose McCain.

Similarly, an Al Qaeda affiliate expressed its hope that George W. Bush would win re-election in 2004, and an Al Qaeda website offered its support for McCain in 2008.

So, does this mean that Obama is just like the Nazis, or that Bush shares Al Qaeda's goals, or that McCain is a black nationalist?

Of course not. These are all ridiculous associations to make. Fringe groups make provocative comments like this all the time, often in the interest of attracting publicity.

The right-wing media's promotion of Suhayda's statement reveals an agenda that is dead-set on delegitimizing the message of the protests, to the extent that they're willing to employ comically flimsy logic in an attempt to do so.

Reminder: If a Nazi says something nice about you, that doesn't make you a Nazi.

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    • Author by pete x tp (October 18, 2011 2:41 am ET)
      14  
      Was there a weird alignment, today, of planets that I didn't hear about? Or; is the OWS movement driving the Reichwhiners more around the bend. I can't recall a single day that saw so many completely outrageous bundles of (bleep!) comming from said Reichwhiners.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by News Corpse (October 18, 2011 5:14 am ET)
        15  
        The man Glenn Beck calls his mentor also endorsed OccupyWallStreet. Therefore Glenn Beck is a Nazi. And since Fox News carried Beck's program, Fox News is a Nazi network. Which makes Bret Baier a Nazi. That explains why he's promoting the Nazi Party's endorsements.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by mirreich (October 18, 2011 5:43 pm ET)
          1  
          80 years ago FOX did highly sophisticated propaganda for Hitler's election campaign. But when you search the internet for it you will only find that Spielberg fired Megan Fox because she said a producer behaved like a little Hitler. The history of Fox News is wiped from their memory.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by mari2jj (October 19, 2011 2:06 am ET)
          1  
          Actually, I have always heard that Rush has those Zeig Heil tendencies also. So he may also be one of those Nazis but who knows. Now how reliable does that sound? Pssst, I just made it up like someone did on this Nazi tag about the 'Occupy Wall Street' protesters. The Wall Street protesters all sound like conscientious Americans to me! I say, God Bless them!
          Report Abuse
      • Author by kamrom (October 18, 2011 9:37 am ET)
        7  
        Yeah, theyre going completely insane. Thats what happens when you build a party out of corn syrup, oil and imaginary money.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by galmud (October 18, 2011 2:45 am ET)
      11 2
      You know who else Nazis liked? Hitler
      Report Abuse
      • Author by somnambulist (October 18, 2011 3:07 am ET)
        5  
        Hitler was just the leader of a political party and went on to do very, very corrupt things by controlling the media. Haven't I heard this story recently?

        I'm not saying that FOX News is like the Nazi movement (I'm seriously not, because, well, it's not), I'm merely pointing out some similarities/coincidences. You know what Hitler liked? A massive propaganda ministry... one that, say, controlled media until it was the most powerful force and it slowly marginalized all other political views out of existence.

        Thus, per your logic, since Nazis liked Hitler, viewers of the most misleading news-- FOX viewers-- like Hitler.

        That's how clueless a stretch of an insult you're trying to make is.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by kamrom (October 18, 2011 9:40 am ET)
        5 1
        I can see how you thought it would be funny, but bear in mind: 90% of human communication is non verbal. When you write online, it is very very very easy to forget this: We cant hear the snarky tone a voice being sarcastic and jokey would have in real life. or dismissive facial mvoements or....

        I dont even know who you were trying to make a joke at, just wanted to explain why the reception can be suddenly negative. Its hard to tell if someones joking unless they use excessive emoticons.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by sandman67 (October 18, 2011 5:08 am ET)
      9  
      Ok lets play the same logic game:

      Before the start of WW2 the Nazi party, and the Facists led by Mussolini both signed recognition and co-operation treaties with the Roman Catholic Church. Both Hitler and Mussolini lauded these treaties as signs that their Facist politcal ideology was legtimate.

      After the end of WW2 the Catholic Church of Rome was implicated in facilitating the escape of Nazi war criminals to S America.

      QED ALL CATHOLICS ARE NAZIS!

      Oswald Moseley was a facist. He was, before WW2, the leader of a popular political movement in the UK.

      QED ALL BRITS ARE NAZIS!

      I love the autobahns in Germany. Great roads. The Nazis built the autobahns....

      I'M A NAZI! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Johaely (October 18, 2011 10:31 am ET)
        2  
        I love the autobahns in Germany. Great roads. The Nazis built the autobahns....


        Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn
        fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn
        Report Abuse
    • Author by wookie (October 18, 2011 8:39 am ET)
      10  
      I've noticed alot of this in wingnut circles. That banker is supposedly synonymous with Jew therefore not liking these wonderful wealth creators makes you a Nazi. Someone really should have explained that to Bernie Sanders and Eliot Spitzer.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by phlcstgan (October 18, 2011 10:00 am ET)
        7  
        It's crying bigotry in a way that only exposes their own prejudices. It's like all those white film critics who said the remake of "King Kong" was racist but were really just admitting they equate black guys with gorillas.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by Andy Kreiss (October 18, 2011 11:24 am ET)
          5  
          It's crying bigotry in a way that only exposes their own prejudices


          Exactly, but bigots are never able to see it. Like the birthers, and people who went along with every thug / Idiot / Muslim / Kenyan smear about the president, but were ready to cry " Race Card!" at the drop of a hat.

          Then, if somebody else offered a specific criticism of something Michael Steele said or did, they'd ask " Do I get to call you a racist now ?"

          Now they're pretending that these protests against very real problems with our screwed up banking institutions are the same as their Grandpa keeping money in his mattress , out of reach of the "money lenders".
          Report Abuse
        • Author by dlimo (October 18, 2011 12:51 pm ET)
             
          The story of King Kong aligns with the history of slavery in the USA. I don't think that makes it racist (the remake being no more racist than the original). As Frank Zappa once introduced his piece, titled King Kong, he said the following (I doubt I am hitting the quote perfectly); It's the story of a Big Gorilla that was doing well in the jungle, until some Americans brought him to America and made lots of money off of the gorilla. Then they killed him.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by epkklk851 (October 18, 2011 9:18 am ET)
      9  
      I was in New York from last Friday until yesterday evening. I visited the folks at Zucotti Park every day. When I saw this thread hit Teh Blahz, I went over to their press table and told them. Their response was that they refuse to acknowledge such trash because it only encourages it. I also witnessed how the group dealt with an anti-Semite. This guy comes every day, apparently and holds up a sign that says "Google Jewish Millionaires". The crowd announced that they didn't agree with him or endorsed his views. They sang "Hey, hey, good-bye" and when he didn't leave, they wrote signs of their own and placed them in front of his sign. They even did something of a Conga line when he walked around the edge of the planter he had been standing on. One of the signs said "Censored". After a while, he left, undoubtedly, he came back the next day to do it all again. Also, Beckie decried the anti-Semitism of the group based on one young man named Daniel. I spoke to Daniel myself. He isn't anti-Semitic, he's half Jewish, but he is against Orthodox orthodoxy. He doesn't like the rules and the constraints the rules put on people. He was very offended when a very young Orthodox student wouldn't let me shake the Lulev on Sunday because I am not Jewish (It was Sukkot, the Feast of Booths). I understood where the boy was coming from and wasn't insulted, but Daniel took offense on my behalf when I told him the I was Catholic but my husband was Jewish and the young man rolled his eyes. I suppose I should have been insulted, but what's the point. My husband did shake the Lulev and say the prayers. Hag Sameach!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Boswell (October 18, 2011 10:19 am ET)
      4  
      of course Al Qaeda loved them some Bushie. He rolled over for them and gave them everything they wanted.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by WilliamP (October 18, 2011 11:00 am ET)
      6  
      You know what else Nazis like? Marginalizing religious minorities and public book burnings. And I don't think that I have to remind anyone that the Tea Party has made themselves known for those two things over the past two years.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by takemycountryback (October 18, 2011 12:22 pm ET)
      2 9
      Guys, I am sorry but this is bad. If the Tea Party was liked by these same people we would all be screaming about how the Tea Party and Nazi's are alike. C'mon. No matter how you slice it, this is a bad association that cannot just be brushed aside. I know I will get negative thumbs down for this but I have to call it like I see it. It becomes a double standards if we just ignore things that would definitely be called out on the other side. It makes what we stand for seem less important and just the same as what the Right does. I hate that these protesters are seen as anarchists and seen as "hippies". If it were me I would not be playing bongos or doing what the Right expects the left to do. In fact, I would ask that all protesters show up in suits and ties and just sit quietly. That would freak everyone out and really show that we are not just the opposite extreme of a Tea Bagger in a pointy hat. Honestly, what we should be doing is maybe playing their own game. Show up looking like tea partiers, with our guns and pointy hats and leotards. Then what could they say? Face it, the left is giving them ammunition and it defeats the cause.

      Ok, give me thumbs down now. I am ready.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by mjlilgui (October 18, 2011 1:26 pm ET)
        2  
        Naw, I am with you on this. People often make hay of KKK endorsements of Republicans, as well they should. The Nazi endorsement here is puzzling, though, as I can't actually see anything in their platform that would be accomplished by OWS.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by HughG (October 18, 2011 1:27 pm ET)
        6  
        Okay, you get your thumbs-down from me. And here's why:

        If the Nazis said they agreed with the TeaBaggers, I wouldn't blame the Baggers for that. I'd blame the Baggers for their apparent acceptance of racist signs at their rallies (read above: with peer pressure, a crowd can make such signs disappear), and especially for their inviting racists to speak at some of their events. If OWS invited Nazis (or, worse, Yankees fans) to speak at their rallies, I'd want nothing to do with the group.

        See how this works? It's like logic. "If A, then B" does not mean "If B, then A."
        Report Abuse
        • Author by takemycountryback (October 18, 2011 1:36 pm ET)
          3 2
          You make a good point. I just hate to see how easy we make it for the Right to make fun and use every stereotype for the left. We make it so easy for them. No clue why Nazi groups would be siding with OWS. Maybe it's a Republican ploy. Maybe Nazi groups are in fact looking for publicity. Maybe they are trying to egg on anarchy. Sure OWS is not inviting these people to speak, and I am sure not going to invite them to protest with swastikas. However, to just say it is a non issue makes it look like we can just ignore things like this in our side while making hay of it if the Right had the same endorsement. Instead of blowing it off we need to be more vehemently against this publicly. Has that happened yet? If not, it should. If so, great! I have not seen it yet though. That would at least show that the left is not just the mirror image of the right.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by Johaely (October 18, 2011 3:59 pm ET)
            1 1
            I think the reason for why Nazi groups would side with the OWS is just more of their inane, simple bigotry. It's easily assumed that the Nazis are anti-semites who believe that every bank/large corporation/wall street is controlled by the Jews. In short, the only reason they would protest wall street is because of their anti-semitism fueled grievances. Remember that the Nazis/Neo Nazis also allied themselves with the Tea Party (although i have a feeling they would have felt far more welcome there, that is without all of those "leftists" and multiculturalists).
            Report Abuse
          • Author by Johaely (October 18, 2011 4:03 pm ET)
            1  
            The Nazis/Neo Nazis are like that really annoying guy everyone hates but does not stop hanging around with you because he thinks you are his pal.
            Report Abuse
          • Author by HughG (October 18, 2011 9:34 pm ET)
            1 1
            I'm afraid I don't think you're looking at this the right way.
            Instead of addressing "things like this in our side," we should safely ignore them--because we liberals have no control over what nutcase racists like Nazis do.
            Instead of saying that we should somehow give the Nazis some credence, it would be reasonable to say that we should not demonize the Right over the "support" that some groups, which they clearly disavow, offer them. That kind of illogical guilt-by-association game is unworthy of us, and we should set an example for our logic-challenged opponents.
            Report Abuse
    • Author by opopop (October 18, 2011 1:03 pm ET)
      1  
      so if we play Foxs six degrees of fcukin ridicoolous joournalism can anyone go from Nazi's to George Washington or any other major American hero/patriot in six steps?

      Im trying to think of what would be the hardest link to do but I don't know my American History sorry.

      Maybe Nazi's to Jesus in six steps altogether?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by NotSure8 (October 19, 2011 10:37 am ET)
           
        I don't think you'd need that many steps using Fox "logic". Plus their audience doesn't have a big enough attention span to follow through that many steps.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by HughG (October 18, 2011 1:28 pm ET)
      1  
      Adolph Hitler loved Uncle Tom's Cabin. By Faux logic, then, Uncle Tom's Cabin is a Nazi book.
      QED.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by draftedin68 (October 18, 2011 1:49 pm ET)
      1  

      I'd love to see an interview with Bret, BO or some other big name at FOX NEWS where they are confronted with a list of 50 or so golden oldie idiocies like this and ask them how they manage to sleep at night knowing they are participating in the hateful propaganda machine that was designed, built and maintained by Roger Ailes.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by John Puma (October 18, 2011 2:03 pm ET)
      2  
      So the question is:

      How much did Rove and Murderdoch pay for the Nazi statement?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Martinking68 (October 18, 2011 2:12 pm ET)
      2  
      This is nothing new. "Pickings from the political grapevine" is and has always has been pickings from the rightwing blogosphere. This "news" show started in 1998. Do you remember why? To report on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. That was the motivation - to bring Clinton's oral sex with Lewinsky front center and keep it there for their right-wing audience. They were able to do so up through the 2000 election.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by mptwain (October 18, 2011 2:35 pm ET)
      2  
      There seems to be no end to the desperate whining from the wingnuts, many who are witnessing a TRUE grassroots movement grow and grow, as opposed to their own astroturfing Tea Party movement, which was bankrolled by Freedom Works and the likes of the Koch Brothers. Is this any surprise coming from a network like Fox News? They will cry foul whenever guilt by association is hurled in their direction, and yet turn right around and dish it back as they count on their idiot viewers with a 10 second memory to propagate their BS.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by 4teepee (October 18, 2011 3:30 pm ET)
      2  
      Not all Nazis like occupy Wall Street. Take Fox News for example.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Vesus (October 18, 2011 3:49 pm ET)
      3  
      And the LRA hates muslims...and the unabomber hated liberals...do conservatives really want to go down this road?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by heehee..santorum (October 18, 2011 7:22 pm ET)
      1  
      The All American Full Release Public Masturbation Party.......who cares what group endorses a protest?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by donwelty (October 18, 2011 7:53 pm ET)
      1  
      MMFA says: "So, does this mean that Obama is just like the Nazis, or that Bush shares Al Qaeda's goals, or that McCain is a black nationalist?"

      Fox: Yes, it is obvious that all three of these are indications, but only the first one must be true because that one follows our prejudices.

      Report Abuse

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