Monday, July 25, 2011
Arkansas Politics Republican State Rep. Nate Bell quotes Hitler
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 9:47 AM
You can get a look at his legislative history here.
PS — It's a bogus quote.
PPS — Nate Bell defends Hitler citation. He figures, see, that it is Hitlerian to want government to help children like liberals do because, well, somehow some rights will be lost in the process. He hasn't enumerated any just yet, however. He's from the Twilight Zone of the Republican Party, apparently (Mark Martin, prop.)
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Comments (58)
Showing 1-50 of 58
I think he's highlighting one of many reasons to be wary of our ever-expanding, increasingly-intruding, "we're here to help you" government.
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There's certainly some truth to the quote. Hitler may have been right about at the same frequency as a dead clock, but I see no problem with the content of his quote. I hope all of the ridiculous spending provides some token benefit for the "children", since we're also leaving them a huge pile debt as a second course.
THE TEA PARTY"S SOLE CONCERN IS THE CHILDREN OF THIS COUNTRY... THEY ARE WHY WE MUST BANKRUPT IT TO SAVE IT AND WHY WE CARRY CONCEALED WEAPONS... BUT I SEE LITTLE VALUE IN USING HITLER QUOTES TO GET OUR POINT ACROSS.
HE WAS AN EFFECTIVE ORGANIZER AND INSPIRING SPEAKER, AND MOST PEOPLE NOW KNOW ALL THAT HOLOCAUST STUFF WAS A MYTH CREATED BY MINORITIES TO SHAME GOOD WHITE PEOPLE, BUT I THOUGHT WE ALL AGREED IN THE LAST MEETING THAT PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF MEIN FUHRER WAS VERBOTEN.
I guarantee you this blockhead has no idea who Adolf Hitler was, He probably thinks he's quoting Goethe or some other German.
What a surprise that Drackman and Viper are the first two posters, and both are in support of Hitler and Bell. Hey, where's November, boys? And what a shame king is on vacation. Who else are we missing?
Viper, you need to read "Storm of War" to learn that Hitler was not even right as often as a broken clock.
Drackman- And what civil liberties have you had violated by the Government today? Did they take your guns? Tell you you couldn't go to church? Curtail your free speech? Violate your rights to due process? Order you to marry a person of the same sex or an animal of another species? Do tell......
Sound Policy, that you're just now rolling out of the fart sack is not my problem. And I wanted to ask you, "how does my post equal support for Hitler?" but then I have to remind my self that very few things liberals say here make any sense.
D burn, George Bush II did do more damage to our freedom by spying on our mail,our computer traffic, our phones, breaking into our homes without warrants, even what we check out of the library without warrants and without even having to have a reason. I never thought he was a Democrat. He did act a lot like certain Germans in history but that might have been due to the fact that he was the puppet and Cheney (Darth Vader) actually ran the presidency and we know that he could have been that person from German history.
The debt and the deficits can be solved by raising some taxes through a graduated surcharge but that takes guts and that hasn't been in Washington since Truman.
Max, do you think that Hitler was not capable of being right occasionally? I think that Bell was showing that Hitler was able to take over people's freedom through his lies by telling them the right kind of lies that appeal to certain aspects of their life that they would appreciate. Everyone has a desire to make the future better for their kids.
By the way, Hitler is recognized as one of the greatest orators of all time and in my speech class in college our professor took time to analyze Hitler's technical skills. I was sitting in the class thinking to myself "this is weird."
In case anyone visiting here is concerned that Bell supports or is an admirer of Hitler, he posted the following in response to the hoo-ha here:
"Apparantly there are some on the left who can't see the irony in the fact that their side agrees with Hitler. I feel sorry for those who are so blinded to reality that they somehow see posting this as supportive of Nazism. Just in case irony escapes you, Adolf Hitler was the lowest form of life and I abhor all that he stood for and against. I'd invite you to view the Nazi propaganda exhibit at the Holocaust Museum for further insight into the similarities between modern liberal extremists and Nazi fascists."
Max, when Rep. Cohen and Sen. Byrd quoted Goebbels (on exactly the same subject: the nature of effective propaganda) on Congress's House and Senate floors, did you post anything on your blog? I am pretty sure your outrage is synthetic.
So he's quoting Hitler to show that liberals (me) are similar to Nazis. Wow. That makes it so much better. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic.)
"Drackman- And what civil liberties have you had violated by the Government today? Did they take your guns? Tell you you couldn't go to church? Curtail your free speech? Violate your rights to due process? Order you to marry a person of the same sex or an animal of another species? Do tell......"
To quote a bumper sticker that was popular back in the dark days of 2008:
"If you aren't outraged, you haven't been paying attention."
My personal favorite is the administration's declaration that it is perfectly legal to specifically target and blow up American citizens abroad without trial.
Think about what we're doing to the grandchildren with all that debt. Key word is grandchildren -- as long as you use grandchildren as a reference, you aren't agreeing with Hitler and therefore it is perfectly acceptable manipulation.
Only despicable Hiltler-loving liberals use children.
I think Bell is using the qoute as a reason not to have a big government. Not that I agree with it though.
I certainly do not want to leave my kids with a large debt, but I certainly don't want them left with a society that has no compassion or assistance for those in society that need it.
I fear that all the worthy social assistance programs will be cut and that will be the unfortunate state our society will degrade to when my kids become tax paying citizens.
Relying soley on volunteers or donations from the wealthy (when they feel like it) to "poor houses" is not the basis for a consistent welfare system or safety net. worthy programs such as these require a minimum consistent revenue stream supplemented with the cost savings of volunteers and contributions.
I'm not sure why this comparison to Hitler and the Tea Party fascists comes as any surprise. Their actions and rhetoric are much like the Nazis, or even closer to home the KKK. This is a scary bunch. The really scary thing is they don't even recognize how closely they are aligned with one of the most infamous figures in history. Hell, they're even quoting him on Facebook.
This young pasty white man who sponsors more "general improvement appropriations" than anything else needs to realize we quit using children to usurp liberty long ago.
Let a pro tell you how we did it 60 years ago and are still doing it today:
"It is part of general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificually induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear."
—General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, May 15, 1951
Regardless of the Nazi's claim of using children they actually used the same technique bosses of this nation are using, telling the people they are about to be attacked, instilling great insecurities so that MIC will continually prosper and deficits will grow huge.
Too, if Bell thought his qoute was appropriate then why did he take it down?
Notice that all these little boys (Johnson, Harris, Martin, Darr, Bell, etc.)are white, overweight, hypocritical, and ignorant?
Cookie-cutter legislators fresh from the ovens of ALEC!
Careful HolyGuano, you are tempting me to start looking up the glowing adorations and comparisons between FDR and Hitler that the American left made prior to September 1939.
Gylippus: "My personal favorite is the administration's declaration that it is perfectly legal to specifically target and blow up American citizens abroad without trial."
Yes it IS outrageous that Obama continued this policy from his predecessor. And that proves that WIC and food stamps and Medicaid are the road to Nazism. Yep, makes sense. We would be so much better off if all of our income tax money went to the military, as Republicans would have it, instead of only 60% or so as it is right now.
Who would have thought it. The timeless wisdom of Adolf Hitler - and his "oratorical skills" (ever watched one of those speeches in historical documentaries, let alone Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator) - newly appreciated by our current crop of right-wing extremists. Well nobody who's paying attention should be surprised at all. Not since Paul Greenberg in the ADG had Nazi propaganda posters reproduced in order to smear labor unions, the very people who were the first to me murdered by the Nazis. Our modern day right-wingers are eager students of Goebbels. His method wasn't just to lie, but to provide his followers with an alternative framework of reality within which inconvenient facts (e. g. Germany losing the war) could be turned around into an argument for supporting Nazism even more, and blaming all the suffering on their opponents. There's only a tiny problem with that approach: it doesn't make reality go away. In the end, it didn't matter how successful Goebbels was at brainwashing a whole people - he died in a hole while his country went to ruin.
Surprise surprise. The gem of Hitlerian wisdom unearthed by an obscure Arkansas Republican is a fake (http://sydwalker.info/blog/2008/12/08/havi…). But hey do you think that matters? Do you think that anybody who is ready to believe that caring for children leads to despotism cares about mere facts?
Even the Devil can speak the truth.If it furthers his agenda,it's his greatest weapon.
I do ,however,still fail to see how removing food from the mouths of babes,and medical care from the aged,puts one on the side of "truth,justice,and the American way".And yes,I just quoted an illegal alien.Superman.
AMW: That's actually a policy that originated from the Obama administration. Doesn't really matter, though. The fact that it happens and is tolerated is enough.
How many poor foreigners are you willing to sacrifice to keep your social programs?
For the record, Bell has not taken it down, in fact he goes on to add in the comments several more interesting points which actually do more damage:
Nathan Bell: "Comparing Dems to Nazis is wayyyy to easy. Let's start with banning cell phone use while parked in a school zone. After all, it's for the children. How about banning soccer goals in the entire state? Banning texting while walking? Banning private ownership of monkeys? The state determining how long my hamburger MUST be cooked? Banning wearing headphones while jogging? These were all Democrat bills introduced this session. Dems use children to pass bad legislation regularly."
Nathan Bell: "Apparantly there are some on the left who can't see the irony in the fact that their side agrees with Hitler. I feel sorry for those who are so blinded to reality that they somehow see posting this as supportive of Nazism. Just in case irony escapes you, Adolf Hitler was the lowest form of life and I abhor all that he stood for and against. I'd invite you to view the Nazi propaganda exhibit at the Holocaust Museum for further insight into the similarities between modern liberal extremists and Nazi fascists."
Can't own a monkey? Damn, I wanted a certain white faced plump House member
Maybe we pass laws because some people, LIKE MR BELL, are too DUMB to be allowed out in public. We see them every day running red lights while talking on the phone. I think car manufacturers should install one of those blockers in every car.
If you don't have common sense, you have to do something to protect people from themselves but then again, I am willing to see if one of these Tea Pot Brains can qualify for a Darwin Award.
What small minds we elect to office in this state that is trying to get rid of its #49 ranking by DROPPING down to #50 and we certainly have enough of oner party in offioce to achuieve a new low in everything.
And to think that they even have the guts to call themselves "christians" (small "c" intended)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It may be instructive to talk a bit more about Nazi propaganda. They certainly a variety of propaganda themes and tricks but some of their most important, if not the most important, were these:
1) National Security and terrorism. Nazis maintained their aggressive military buildup was a purely defensive response to national security threats, as well as the to mistreatment of Germans in foreign countries. Likewise, the repression of political opponents was justified by an imagined threat of terrorism especially after the Reichstagsbrand.
2) Racial fears. I hope I don't have to explain that one. Notable is that the Jewish "threat" was identified in religious as well as in racial terms.
3) Family values. Nazis successfully portrayed themselves as defenders of traditional marriage, family, and motherhood, which were imagined as being threatened by modernist/decadent/Jewish/homosexual elements who tried to weaken the German nation by destroying its age-old family values.
Now guess what happened if somebody on the left put up one of Hitler's quotes about the sanctity of the German family. Right-wingers would go nuts over it.
There's a decent article on wikipedia on that topic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Naz…). Note that the "benefit of children" isn't a major Nazi propaganda topic although one might find examples if one looked.
Gylippus you are a troll but I would engage in an argument with you if you laid one down. When you explain to us, based on verifiable facts, that Bush started those wars, and Obama continues them, in order for us "to keep our social programs", and when you demonstrate that defending SS and Medicare is causally correlated to blowing up foreigners, I will respond. Otherwise, you have exhausted your resident troll peanut ration.
SonOfConway, that's a great quote. I hope you have a screenshot. I hope Max puts this up along with the fact that the quote is entirely made up.
This is an entertaining as well as instructive method of political Harakiri. Thanks, Mr. Bell.
I don't have a screenshot, but Nathan Bell promises that he will not delete any of his facebook comments. Visit his page to find more mind-boggling discussions going on: https://www.facebook.com/NateBell4Arkansas
AMW:
Barring the entry of a anti-war Democrat primary challenger, the only anti-war presidential candidate is Ron Paul a, Republican. I am guessing very few of the left-leaning commenters, including yourself, will vote for him due to his opposition to your favored social programs, and will instead line up behind Obama again, thereby tolerating the continued killing of large numbers of people by the US government. How many deaths will it take for you to say enough is enough, and to vote for a real anti-war candidate?
You were complaining earlier that I wasn't anti-war enough. I'm trying to fix that.
Oh, no. We can't have big government! Big government is the root of all evil!
But the Republicans have the perfect solution. They all want a government so small it can fit snugly inside my uterus.
I asked Gylippus to make an argument and he didn't. What really concerns me is that he might be actually deranged, rather than just pretending. Maybe he really thinks that Somalia is a better place for freedom-loving individualism to thrive than Switzerland because Switzerland takes care of its children (and doing a much better job at that than the US) and Somalia does not (but at least they don't blow up foreigners, which the Swiss do all the time, how else could they keep all their social programs? - oh never mind).
Maybe he really thinks that the best way to end foreign wars and fight government intrusions such as the Patriot Act is to deny food to American children and turn the country over to the superrich because he really thinks that freedom thrives in highly unequal societies (China, Brazil, Nigeria) whereas egalitarian countries (Sweden, France) are notorious for their concentration camps. The degree of absurdity in the arguments we hear day in day out from the extreme right is so depressing not because these people lie (their leaders do, however) but on the contrary because most of them sincerely believe what they say. They truly live in that parallel universe that has no relation with observable reality and where not just the laws of nature but also the rules of logic have no power. We know from history what happens when large parts of whole nations reject reality. They always end in disaster since denying reality doesn't make it go away. Maybe it's time to get out of here before it's too late.
Sorry I place priority on not killing people. Keep voting for the people who fight wars. Maybe it will work out for you.
>>I asked Gylippus to make an argument and he didn't.
No surprises there.
Ron Paul was an original Texas secessionist back when I reading his stuff in late 70s.
I've always wondered what motivated him to run for President?
Two things:
I don't think there's really an issue with that quote. It's similar to the Mao quote about political power coming from the barrel of a gun. It's meant to lay bare the means by which someone intends to achieve some goal and, by drawing parallels to the aims or methodology of some current opponent, draw a parallel between the opponent and the iconic figure that was quoted.
But the quote is also misattributed: it's not in Mein Kampf, but is often either misattributed as being from Mein Kampf, or it's attributed correctly to Rabbi Daniel Lapin, but used in conjunction with an actual quote from Mein Kampf:
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people." Adolf Hitler
"As long as government is perceived as working for the benefit of children, the people happily will endure almost any curtailment of liberty." Rabbi Daniel Lapin
The first thought that came to me while reading the quote was that he was addressing the TPs. It's the TPs who claim to be worried about our children, about how they are going to have to pay the debt that was created under the Cheney/Bush regime. But they're using this "concern" to push the corporate agenda.
Thought about in this way, the quote makes sense. The TPs are trying their best to use the government to control people's private lives (defining marriage, abolishing abortion, abolishing contraception, establishing criteria for everything from textbooks to games, restricting voting to only the "right" people, destroying public education, Pell Grants, social security and Medicare and giving the money to the insurance companies and Wall St., and so on.) despite their protestations of being against big government and only interested in protecting our children (as they privatize public education, move higher education out of reach of all but the wealthy, attack Pell, SCHIP and WIC, programs developed to help children.)
There is more than just a grain of truth behind the observation that these people are only concerned about children from conception to birth. After that, heck with 'em, not our problem. Put 'em to work picking beans and tomatoes.
To me it's not the quote so much as his willingness to use it and then defend its use by comparing Liberal leftists to Nazi's.
I note Mr. Bell's youth, and his enthusiasm for the philosophies of the failed Third Reich. One of the key principles that Mr. Bell and his fellow Republicans seem to be trying to get across to us is the slogan, "Arbeit macht frei." I saw that sign in wrought iron on the gates of a couple places in the former Reich. In my younger days I enjoyed reading William Shirer's WW2 histories, and shows like "Hogan's Heroes" and some of the Indiana Jones movies portray the Nazis as a jolly, if misguided & ill-fated bunch. Then I grew up a little more and spent 6 years watching across one of Hitler's legacies, the Iron Curtain. I got to meet a lot of folks who grew up in the Reich, and were actually members on the Hitlerjugend and the Arbeitsdienst when they were growing up, and so on into the Wehrmacht. So I got a good bit of my knowledge from those who were there. In a little place in Bavaria called Dachau, I got to look into the ovens where the Third Reich disposed of its elderly, disabled, ne'er-do-wells, as well those they considered to be the less desirable members of their society. I got to stand on the Obersalzberg, and pee in the holes in the ground that used to be Hitler's and Goering's basements. I got to stand at the crossroads near Malmedy where SS troops machine-gunned American prisoners during the Battle of the Bulge.
I'm not one of the Greatest Generation that carried out the Great Crusade in Europe, but I know full well why they had to do it, and do my best to honor their sacrifices. I hope one day that Mr. Bell realizes just what they found Over There.
"I don't think there's really an issue with that quote... But the quote is also misattributed"
Well it IS a quote, if not from Hitler then maybe from Rabbi soandso, who cares? ;-)
Anyway, put up my own writeup at http://arkansasmediawatch.wordpress.com/20…. I hope somebody has taken screenshots from all the quotes and deletions. This needs to be documented.
I don't think Bell is necessarily a Hitler admirer. I think he is just a dumb shit, who has no idea of political propriety. So many of these kinds of Tea Party Republicans were elected to the state legislature in 2010, not because they had any idea of what was good for the state, but simply because they ran against that "black president." The idea that a candidate for state representative or state senator would run for office against the president of the United States is the ultimate absurdity, but that is what happened in a lot of races in our fair state last election. What does that say about the intelligence of our voters?
Lil Nate is just another example of Arkansas voters pulling the lever for an Republicanoid simply to spite the "boy" in Washington.
Hell, Reid pops the Republicanidiots in their ass with what they want in the deficit discussion and they still say no.
When will the talking heads and voters understand, this is about race. It's not about spending.
And no, tax cuts for rich people do not create jobs. WE create jobs when WE spend money for services and goods.
But, sacrificing liberty in the name of security....that's OK. Pathetic ReichPublican TeaBaggers and their corporate whore-masters.
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