In Nazi Germany, the first to be exterminated were disabled Germans declared to be "unfit"

[whereisjustice]

History tells us that unchecked power will destroy those without the means to defend themselves. The weak become convenient political scapegoats against the horrific self-serving policies of a corrupt ruling class.

The obsession with "fitness" and "superiority", common talking points of conservatives, reveals conservatives as true cowards. Conservatives are unable to challenge the absurd notion of their own superiority (an ironic weakness, for sure). Nothing scares them more than the simple falsehood of their delusion. And they will stop at nothing to protect their perceived entitlements, no matter how undeserved.

Today, real-life extremists are roaming the halls of Congress, lending a false dignity to the twisted visions driving our legislative priorities. We need to be vigilant and on guard against the radical views of supremacy. There is nothing more dangerous than a nation ruled by cowardly, delusional extremists.

So what are the attributes of extremists? Easy. They'll be the ones promoting abstract benefits that come from giving up environmental protections, civil liberties and human rights.

- We have to solve the problems of global warming by drilling for more oil.

- We have to increase levels of poverty before we can eliminate poverty.

- We have to torture people until we have peace.

- We have to cut taxes on the wealthy to increase wages for the poor.

- We have to eliminate marriage rights to protect marriage rights.

- We have to eliminate safe and legal abortion to protect women's health.

- We have to spy on your family to protect them.

- We must not prosecute Wall Street banks so they can help families crushed by their fraud.

- We have to outsource millions of jobs to Asia so that the money saved can create jobs in the US.

- The free market should determine who should be allowed regular access to health care

- We have to cut pay and benefits of teachers in the most impoverished school districts to ensure student test scores match those districts with the wealthiest families. And India.

- We have to slaughter thousands of innocent people with drones and bombs because there may be a terrorist among them.

The common recurring theme from the extremists is the notion that that you must exploit and punish the majority in order to preserve the power of a corrupt, self-serving minority.

And these days, when you hear conservative extremists lash out at the notion of a "populist" movement, they are simply afraid that the power of the corrupt, self-serving minority is being challenged.

From the tea baggers to 3rd way corporate shills - it isn't a matter of lesser evil. It is the same basic evil wrapped up in abstract notions of patriotism on the one hand, and a "free market" on the other.

[jwirr]

1. I was priviledged to be in a science class at college where a visiting professor from Germany sat in

on the day. My professor had told him about my severely disabled child and for that reason he sat right behind me. We discussed the extermination of the disabled for most of the hour while he listened. At the end of the class he talked about the fact that the extermination had consequences. The needy had disappeared from the country and made it much harder to understand what compassion was really all about.

I have seen the results of bringing them home from the institutions where they were hidden from society in the USA. Our community in MN was the first county to bring all of the clients back into the local towns and it was amazing to watch the concern and love for them grow in those towns. People slowly got to see they were not dangerous. That they added something to the community. True compassion became a part of that community and still is today.

Now I will be the first to say that this was true only of the developmentally disabled. It did not happen for those with mental illness when they were released from the institutions and it should have but they did not have a lot of support in their efforts to integrate back into the communities.

I really fear the consequences of the cuts to SSDI.

[thucythucy]

10. Thank you for this.

This is a truly beautiful post.

[truedelphi]

13. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT PROFOUND EXPERIENCE. n/t

[project_bluebook]

16. Compassion should be a natural emotion for normal humans

and those without feeling for those less fortunate suffer from some form of mental illness. Insurance company CEO's and republicans are an example of this. I believe they have a a psychopathic personality.

[ND-Dem]

26. +100

[vlyons]

2. This is one of the best DU essays that I have ever read.

It very clearly shows the absurdity and hypocracy of RWer belief systems.

[I_stand_4_oranges]

3. conservatives, by and large are scumbags..

But don't think dems/libs are all nice and sweet, either (i.e. population control).

Quite frankly, liberals and conservatives aren't much different from each other. I say this with confidence, because some liberals on this board have called people on welfare 'moochers'.

Liberals, enjoy watching the poor suffer as much as conservatives do, trust me.

[truedelphi]

14. I know, I know.

Both affluent Democrats and Republicans have both chosen to run their own businesses by paying their workers as little as possible.

Both groups of affluent Americans are fine with the stock market, which let's face it, allows for success for only those companies with ties to Big Banking and Big Military and handles the corporate life by activities such as the oppressive outsourcing of jobs to third world nations etc.

All that separates the two parties at this point is that some Democrats will speak up for recently arrived immigrants, but a thinking person has to wonder if that is so they have a cheap source of labor, or because of their infinite love for their fellow human.

That question will be answered when Corporate America swings into the year 2015, and whether or not the following happens:

Robo divisions of companies like Amazon replace their real live workers with robots, and their delivery people with drones.

In other more humane countries, like Germany, there are guidelines that the elected officials put into law, so that huge divisions of people are not sent to a life of poverty and unemployment.

[BlueJazz]

15. I disagree with just about everything you posted.

1. Population control will be needed at some point. (Not having too many children)
2. Liberals and Conservative are very different.
3. Liberals certainly do not enjoy or even want to tolerate, watching the poor suffer.

[smirkymonkey]

20. +1000

[ND-Dem]

27. Liberals ARE tolerating watching the poor suffer.

[BeanMusical]

36. Can you prove that?

Just because you 're saying it doesn't make it true.

[ND-Dem]

39. the poor are suffering right now and liberals are tolerating it. where's the organization to fight

it? where's the movement?

it's too obvious. inequality is at levels similar to those before the great depression, and there's no movement to speak of to fight it. Labor is going down and jobs are being offshored and the 'recovery' is a joke.

[7962]

43. What? There are PLENTY of organizations that exist solely to help the poor.

What are you talking about? Where I live, you can get free meals several places, and get bags of groceries many different times a week. There are clothing giveaways several times a year. Free health checkups several times a year (a friend, only 42, just happened to find out he needed to be checked for prostate cancer because of one of them. It saved his life) There are free work training programs several times a yr. All designed to help the poor. Some of them may not stop you from BEING poor, but help you to survive while you ARE.

[L0oniX]

47. There are never enough organizations to help the poor, hungry, homeless and sick.

[whereisjustice]

18. you may be referring to neo-liberals... classic liberals don't enjoy suffering of others and

work within the spirit and intent of Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and historical precedent to make sure those facing hardship are not being deliberately kept oppressed and exploited by a self-serving oligarchy.

Neo-liberals, on the other hand, believe we should surrender our rights as citizens to a "benevolent" policy board composed of wealthy bankers, military contractors and CEOs who, by virtue of their wealth and success in the free market, are qualified to decide what is best for public policy. This leads to the ridiculous paradox of assertions that I listed in my original post, all of which have been uttered by conservatives in both parties.

[lark]

46. Don't agree with your moral equivalence

Yes, there are some corpordems who are really repugs in sheeps clothing, but the Repug mantra is take from the poor to give to the rich, and we have no responsibility to help anyone who is not rich, even the disabled take from the rich, which can't be allowed. Dems, as a whole, do support taking care of those less fortunate, health care for all, take care of the environment.

You seem to be hanging with the wrong only so-called liberal crowd.

[ananda]

4. Sighing sadly

This is a sobering thought in light of the SSDI cuts on the part of our sociopathic and all too nazi-like Congress. Sad days.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Germany followed this country's lead in maiming the "disabled".

Buck v. Bell. The Supreme Court, headed by Oliver Wendall Holmes, decided that the State had and still has the right to sterilize anyone the State deemed "feeble-minded" which often included single mothers and the poor as well as those with mental and physical challenges.

Germany first adopted the sterilization and moved on to extermination. Henry Ford advocated for this program and this impressed Hitler a great deal.

[MisterP]

7. here's the overall principle (way before Hitler was sent by the secret police to infiltrate some

little party called the NSDAP)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_unworthy_of_life

[ND-Dem]

28. "had and still has" = no, the state doesn't still have that right.

[no_hypocrisy]

33. Here's the technicality

Until that Supreme Court case is overturned, it can still happen.

The State are allowed to but don't exercise their option.

Unfortunately, it's a legal reality to this day.

[Stephen Retired]

6. This should be in Greatest Threads

DURec!

[Snarkoleptic]

8. Well written!

This fits right in with the current Republiclown refusal to fund the Social Security Disability account.
The current effort is to hold Social Security Disability recipients hostage in order to get cuts to SS.
No matter how you slice it, they're bashing the elderly and disabled in furtherance of their fascist ideology.

[whereisjustice]

17. yes, thank you for recognizing this, eom

[Ferd Berfel]

9. K&R

[BlancheSplanchnik]

11. SUPERB analysis. Nazi comparisons are absolutely warranted.

This IS Right Wing extremism, right here, taking root in this country.

When there are too many people demanding too few resources, fascism will always gain appeal....the unspoken motivation is to cull the weak from the herd.

Very evolutionary of them. They want to decide what is weakness, too.

[The Wizard]

12. You gotta have war

if you want to have peace.
Thus spaketh George W. Bush.
It's a mental disorder called cognitive dissonance.

[amb123]

19. Add one more to the list

- We must destroy America in order to save it.

[GoneFishin]

21. K&R. RWers are generally wrong about everything more complex than the time of day.

They can't process nuance and they don't regard facts as important things.

First they decide what is their goal, then they make up some fictional narrative to advance that goal.

[raccoon]

23. You got it, brother/sister. nt

[Voice for Peace]

22. I'm afraid this is what Mitt has in mind when he talks about getting rid of the scourge of poverty.

ie, get rid of the poor.

problem solved.

[demigoddess]

24. you hit the nail on the head!!

what I've been feeling lately

[blkmusclmachine]

25. But we've got the US Constitution to protect us. Oh, wait a minute...

Patriot Act


Patriot Act II


Homeland Security Act of 2002


Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007


etc.



Thanks, 9/11

[BeanMusical]

37. +1

[Iliyah]

29. THIS

also, health coverage for the least of us. A strong middle class frightens the 1-2 %ers.

[DeSwiss]

30. Fuck a Nazi!

- Unfit my ass.

K&R

[airplaneman]

31. Great OP - well written K&R.

May I add a couple more:

-We have to defund the safety net to give people opportunity.

-Government assistance prevents people form pursuing the American Dream.

Airplane

[tclambert]

32. The wealthy often fall into the "self attribution fallacy."

That's what it means when you say, "Conservatives are unable to challenge the absurd notion of their own superiority." No matter how rich their parents and grandparents were, wealthy people often convince themselves they are "self-made" and their success comes from moral virtue, hard work, and high intelligence, not luck. The meanest, laziest, stupidest rich people will make that claim. Some Mitt Romney will come along, hear about a poor person working three jobs to make ends meet and say, "You should try starting your own business, even if you have to borrow twenty grand from your parents."

J. Paul Getty once advised people how to get rich: "First, buy an oilfield . . . "

Then they will claim it is unfair that they have to pay more in taxes than minimum wage workers who need food stamps to keep from starving.

[whereisjustice]

34. +1, well said

[NBachers]

35. In a prior Obama-bashing thread tonight, I asked, "Why do I even bother coming here any more?"

And you, whereisjustice, have answered my question.

[BeanMusical]

38. Kick and R.

[proverbialwisdom]

40. RECOMMENDED: 'Good' is a fictional film based on the stage play of the same name by CP Taylor.

http://www.goodfilmsltd.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_(film)

Good is a film based on the stage play of the same name by C. P. Taylor and starring Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs and Jodie Whittaker. It was directed by Vicente Amorim and was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2008.

<>

Production
Producer Miriam Segal had wanted to turn C. P. Taylor's play into a film ever since she saw it 1981. Good premiered in London in September 1981, with Alan Howard as John Halder, and transferred to Broadway in 1982. “I was simply overwhelmed by the play, and knew immediately I would do whatever was necessary to produce the film adaptation”, Segal has stated.

In 2003, 22 years after the play's premiere, she finally secured the rights. Her former classmate, Jason Isaacs, signed on to be one of the film’s executive producers, and Viggo Mortensen, who had been very impressed by the play when visiting London as a young actor in 1981, agreed to play the lead. The film was shot entirely on location in Budapest in 2007.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008786-good/

GOOD (2008)

John Halder explores his personal circumstances in a novel advocating compassionate euthanasia. When the book is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda, Halder finds his career rising in an optimistic current of nationalism and prosperity. Yet, with Halder's change in fortune, his seemingly inconsequential decisions potentially jeopardize the people in his life with devastating effects.

Jason Isaacs and Viggo Mortensen in 'GOOD'
Uploaded on Oct 13, 2007

Good Exclusive: Viggo Mortensen Interview
Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010

Good - Movie Trailer
Uploaded on Nov 29, 2008

[Scuba]

41. Excellent OP, thanks whereisjustice.

[heaven05]

42. thank you

we are in deep trouble, I think. The retired, disabled, POC, GBLT community, women. DEEP TROUBLE. The sad part is americans voted in these monsters into those halls of power. Hell even romney has been emboldened to run again, maybe. And no matter how many may pooh pah that notion, he could win given the extremist RW turn the voters have taken in this country. And that with the help of dixiecrats and others. What does that make the people who voted them in Nov 14, 2014? Horribly deluded, I would say.

[annabanana]

44. k&r . . .n/t

[nashville_brook]

45. Dystopia level: Snowpiercer

that's where we're at.