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January 15, 2013 10:48 AM UTC

Discussing debt ceiling, Gardner raises specter of Nazism in America. Time for GOP Reps to grow up?

  • 51 Comments
  • by: Jason Salzman

(Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies, folks. Don’t act so surprised – promoted by Colorado Pols)

You’d think the upcoming deadline to extend the U.S. debt ceiling offers the perfect moment for one, just one, congressional Republican from Colorado to pull on his big-boy pants and say something like, “Hey, we created stock market gyrations and induced the first-ever U.S.-credit downgrade when we held up the debt increase in 2011. We caused similar instability last year. Let’s get real, extend the ceiling, and debate budget cuts during the budget process.”

Which is what Democrats and Republicans have done over 100 times since 1940, with little opposition (until 2011). Reagan did it 18 times; G.W. Bush seven.

Instead, it looks like Coffman (here), Gardner (here, here) are readying themselves for a fight that could lead to an economic mini-tizzy if not a large one.

Or maybe not. Can a Colorado Republican step up and be reasonable? Any of them? That’s what editorial writers at The Denver Post and elsewhere should be asking.

In just the latest example of extreme craziness, Gardner used the debt-ceiling debate to raise the specter of the rise of Nazism in America. Here’s what he said on KFTM radio’s Big Morning Show Jan. 14:

Gardner: I think you’re going to see a whale of a fight over the next two months….

Host: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And really, how is this any different than what Germany went through in the 1930s when you had to literally have wheelbarrows full of German Marks in order to even buy a loaf of bread?

Gardner: Well a period of hyper-inflation, of course, we all know what that led to, the instability economically and what that led to. And we see quantitative easing taking place in the United States. We see devaluation of the dollar. We see inflationary pressures and threats and how that’s being dealt with. And yet there is no clear path to address those concerns. This nation faces the real possibility of a debt depression if we don’t get a hold of the financial situation right now.

Listen to Rep. Gardner on KFTM Radio 1-14-2012 raising specter of Nazism in America .

Coffman has more incentive than Gardner not to go Nazi. Yet he told Fox 31’s Eli Stokols in early January:

Coffman: “But the real big deal is what’s upon us and going past the debt limit. I have to see a way out of this, real spending cuts, before I vote to raise the debt limit.”

The Denver Post’s Curtis Hubbard wrote a column recently pointing out that normal people in Aurora expect normal behavior from Coffman. Hubbard wondered if they’ll get it.

Hubbard was right about the expectation that Coffman should change his behavior.

But the same could be said of any of the Colorado Republicans in Congress, if they want to raise their party’s standing in blue (?) Colorado.

On the debt limit, which CO Repubulican Congressman will break from their comrades and act like a grownup?

Comments

51 thoughts on “Discussing debt ceiling, Gardner raises specter of Nazism in America. Time for GOP Reps to grow up?

  1. There’s (almost) no inflation despite all the fiscal maneuverings of the last few years, and a little bit of inflation would actually help the debt situation.  I know little to nothing about economics besides what I read in the papers, but apparently that’s more than your typical R congressman.

      1. And he can’t be a Nazi and a socialist at the same time.  Even though the word “socialist” appears in the name of the Nazi Party, righties trying to turn that into Nazis being lefties is too lame to even discuss. It’s

        like saying all the former Soviet satellite states that called themselves Democratic People’s  Republics of Whatever were democracies.

        Actually the Nazi system did have a lot in common with the kind of socialism most favored by Wall Street: A complete golden socialist safety net for the corporate elite only.

        1. they aren’t crazy about much of anything outside of their own narrow world view.  They also represent a microscopic portion of Jews in general, the majority of whom in America are Democrats who voted for Obama,

          support a two state solution and are fine with Chuck Hagel for Defense. In Israel the  majority are entirely secular, the choice there being orthodox of some flavor or other or nothing with nothing being the majority choice. The numbers of religious have been raised a bit by American immigrants, the original Zionists mainly being socialist  and secular.  It’s still a socialist country but bad as for religious matters the proportional representation system gives the religious minority so much disproportionate power that a Jewish atheist has to go to Cyprus to marry a gentile atheist.  

          I haven’t heard anyone who would know anything about it, such as Jews old enough to remember the Holocaust or to have been brought up by WWII era parents who remembered and passed it on, compare Obama to Hitler or his administration to the Nazi regime. I’m sure examples could be found. Morons come in all ethnicities.

        2. Or do you just play one on Pols?

          That some Israeli Jews don’t like Obama’s policies is not in argument, or even on-topic to my point, which makes me wonder if you even understood it.

          The outline of Gardner’s tenuous point is that Obama’s policies will lead to hyper-inflation, which inevitably leads to World War and the genocide of half the world’s Jewish population.

          What with your Stanford and Northwestern educations, certainly you’ve once or twice heard the phrase “correlation does not equal causation.”  There are any number of societies that have experienced hyperinflation without resorting to genocide. Not all men with mustaches are bent on world domination.

          Gardner going along with this analogy is essentially saying that by supporting Obama and his inflationary policies, liberal Jews are supporting genocidal policies. Are you so stupid that you don’t see how this is offensive?

          The Holocaust was unique in human experience, and should only be compared to actual genocide.  Domestic politics is not an apt comparison.  It trivializes what happened to the Jewish people.

          Maybe you’re not stupid, just ignorant.  Hope this helps.

          1. this narrative plays well with Gardners peeps.  From Lamar to New Raymer I’d dare you to find a coffee shop out east who wouldn’t high five the Congressman for making these comments.

          2. If you want somebody to read through what you are writing and not summarily ignore it, it is best not start to off with personal insults.  

            You’d do well to remember that.

              1. I think its a good principle to set out to clean things up: anything that starts with a personal insult can be duly ignored.

                If DaftPunk wants to repost his question in a polite tone I’ll consider reviewing it.  

                  1. I’ve heard from many people of all political persuasions that this site has too many personal attacks.  I’ve seen it myself.  As a result, I’m just going to reserve right to disregard any comment in part or full that sounds not in substance but in terms of the tone of being a jerk.  

                    If Daft has a serious desire for me to respond to any of his substance, he is welcome to redraft his comment in a civil manner and I will seek to remember to check back in.  

                    1. Being thin skinned is a huge disadvantage here as some of our most astute participants can be pretty grumpy, sarcastic and snide, mainly out of an inability to suffer fools, or what they consider to be foolish commentary, gladly. But some really are just plain ornery. And such language! Dear, dear, dear!

                      Personally, I find it kind of endearing.  Grumpines me of my favorite uncle. And you should hear some of the things I’ve been called here! My attitude has always been… go ahead and bring it. I can take it and give as good as I get.  Perhaps you should try that.  It’s very freeing, darlin’.

                    2. Its how I met PCG.  I get called all sort of names too.  But at some point the name calling gets in the way of the discussion as people try to out insult each other.  I find that is going on here, I don’t find it productive to a good discussion, and I don’t want to further encourage it.

                      So again, if Daft wants to repost, I’ll consider addressing a substantive argument that is drafted in a respectful manner.  I’m not going to get into a pissing contest though with him as to who can dream up the bigger insult as to be blunt I have better things to do with my time.  

                    3. but, you haven’t been confronted that much. You’re pretty sensitive. You also tend to be provocative because you are rooted in an ideology and theoretical discussion. I personally find that tedious, needlessly so. Most, at least here, are personally involved. That means we are used to being in some fight over right and wrong. We are trying, most of us, to make things better for people and hang the theory.

                      I did mean to thank you the other day, Friday I believe, when you posted that you had been personally involved in correcting a deportation that was underway in AZ. So, thanks for that.

                    4. Like I said, I have a highly active FB page as PCG can contest to which is about the exact opposite of an echo chamber.  I don’t mind confrontation.

                      What I do mind is simply pissing matches which have almost no substance.  Daft’s post sounds in that and if she doesn’t want to repost it to take out the crude insults, I see no real need to dignify it with a substantive response.  

                1. Reason I ask, lb’s deal was to be a victim, to take the “poor me” tactic when popped over an idiotic remark.

                  Daft Punk hit it square with recoiling over gardner’s nazi comparison and you glossing it. The whole nazi thing that’s all the rage in pinkoville is a shout out from gardner to 3 redleg CD4 constituent groups, the nra goons, the religious squirrels, and the baggers.

                  Everybody knows that, some merely feign ignorance.

                  Don’t be a schmuck.

                  Also, you haven’t come clean on you grift concerning the dreamer thread.

                    1. Pretty sure nobody, least of all Daft, cares under what conditions you are willing to do her the great favor of blessing her with the precious gift of second chance to meet your standards.  Get over it.  

                    2. I’m not a fan of the extra insults. Some people throw them around in ways that make me think they’re not really interested in a dialog. IMHO they reflect no better on people I otherwise agree with than do the idle (or not so idle) threats of right wingers. Of course, some of the time the level of vitriol is because some things in politics affect people personally.

                      The time-honored solution on the Internet to these kinds of posts is: grow a thicker skin. Really – it’s an official recommendation.

                      And if you don’t want to respond to something that starts off with an insult, that’s fine, too. At least you’ve posted and we know where you stand.

    1. Also, when referencing the testicularly challenged little cory, it’s important to remember that when asked via satelite interview by a national network anchor, on the night he defeated Betsy Markey for his seat, if he would support the proposed redleg strategy of blocking the raising of the debt ceiling, his answer was stunning.

      Paraphrasing here, the 38 year old smartass know nothing literally told the NBC anchor “I won’t support any legislation that allows this President to behave like a drunk sailor”.

      When pressed, with it more than obvious that this hack, quack, phony and fraud didn’t even know what the debt ceiling is or what it does, and prompted to cut the whole thing off by a staffer, gardner then pretended he couldn’t hear the questioner. He ended the sattelite interview.

      His hijinks on his partying with other pinko 1st termers in Florida at a “conference” are also great research tools into his lack of character and honesty.

      Marilyn Musgrave, and now this skidmark? Do the voters in CD4 have access to radio, papers, any outside news?

          1. It is a round-the-clock saturation of Rush, Fox, Hannity, Coulter and Beck – throw in a little Mike Huckabee over lunch.  It’s a Dudley Brown wet dream…

  2. at least as quoted above, Gardner does not use the words that I think are necessary to really invoke Godwin, “Nazi” or “Hitler”. But, it sure is another dog whistle

  3. At what point did Gardner talk about Nazism? He was presented with a question about German hyperinflation during the 1930s and responded with an answer about German hyperinflation during the 1930s.

    If anything, we should criticize Gardner for his errant understanding of the Obama administration’s response to perceived inflationary pressures, and we should perhaps criticize the show’s host for choosing an obviously emotionally-charged example of hyperinflation (there are better and more dramatic examples from Latin America during the 1980s, for example). But the allegations of Godwin’s Law are off-base.

      1. He says that “economic instability” leads to… things. Right-wing political elements? Sure, those are things. You know, like the Tea Party.

        Again, he wasn’t presented with a question about hyperinflation. He was presented with a question about German hyperinflation in the 1930s. It’s difficult to answer that question: if you say, “I don’t think America is headed for Nazism,” then you imply that the host is invoking Godwin’s Law, which is rather discourteous of you as a guest. If you say anything else, you generate criticism like what’s presented in the OP.

        1. Why did the host even bring up hyper-inflation in 1930’s Germany? I agree with you that Gardner didn’t bring it up.

          Gardner just played along with the underlying premise, pointing out that that “leads to things” as you say. It’s all nice and safe. No-one has to say anything specific. But everyone listening having a couple of functioning brain cells knows what it means.

          1. I guess I’m just not as sensitive to that sort of thing. To me, it didn’t seem mean-spirited on first glance and doesn’t after several rereads. Either way, the bulk of the criticism should fall on the host for choosing a sensationalist example rather than on Gardner – and, in this thread, he’s getting tagged as a “skidmark” and a “douche.”

            1. If that’s how you read my comment, re-read. The whole thing is avoiding invoking Godwin by name and instead skirting him by reference. Both the host bringing up the question and Gardner responding know to what situation they’re referring. They’re just being polite enough not to call Obama a Socialist Nazi outright. IMHO.

        1. It’s related to a current pro-gun campaign (guns save lives). A few of my radically pro-gun FB friends have been posting daily examples of how “guns save lives” and how even in countries with gun bans, guns still kill people.

      2. Weimar style hyper inflation and geo political instability.

        Kill the money, the death of culture will follow, ultimately the death of mankind.

        This is not rocket science.

        Upon close inspection, socialism is a philosophy of death. The ultimate death philosophy.

        1. Now there’s something we can all agree on about pretty much everything you say. No need at all to fear anyone confusing you with a rocket scientist.

  4. Unemployment,stagnant wages and other factors say prices should be dropping.

    These facts point towards significant inflation.

    Additionally, prices have risen. Oil, healthcare and numerous other goods and services have recognized price increases.

    CPI or more aptly, CPLIE does nothing to reflect real prices. CPLIE is a total scam. What a joke.  Who cares if a bag of chips is now 12 ounces instead of 16, price is the same, therefore no inflation, lol.

    Obama and Bernanke have expanded the money base 100 fold, this is the very definition of inflation.  Up or down prices are a result.  Prices have remained constant or increased when they should be falling.

    Inflation deniers remind me of holocaust deniers.

    1. I don’t think you understand basic economics. Since the Great Recession, neither wages nor prices are going up. In fact we are closer to deflation than inflation.

      Inflation can’t happen when we have high unemployment and  a demand deficit situation.

      Hopefully, employment will improve, demand will go up, and we’ll increase inflation to a more normal 3 or 4%. This will help wash out some of the consumer debt, in particular home loans.

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