Racist Rush & Nazi-Collector Beck

I'm calling it. The great, big intellect of conservative thought said on this radio show today that President Obama's policy on Syria is not "shock and awe," but "shuck and jive" This is from Politico, a right of center source (although they are clearly mainstream Republican right, so they are not inclined to be big fans of Rush).

Rush is a racist - no question about it. If you think what he said is funny or you don't understand how it could possibly be racist*, then you are a racist too. Just because you are a racist doesn't mean that you are all bad. And you can always repent, change, learn, and grow.

I will blog on Syria later. For now, this is enough to get me back in the arena. (Besides, both the Church History and Family History Libraries close early tonight).

Oh, but don't let me forget Beck!

The New York Times recently interviewed Glenn Beck. The issue of Beck's use of a handkerchief supposedly stained with Hitler's blood came up. Let me be absolutely clear. I am not calling Beck a Nazi. I am calling him a collector of Nazi memorabilia. Just the facts, Ma'm.

Beck's new theme, according to the interview is to question why we can't all just get along. I couldn't sum up Beck's problem better than one of the people who commented on the NY Times article:

Equating progressives to Nazis is why we can't get along. As long as people are fed these sorts of hateful comparisons, hate will be the result.

But I'm sure you already knew that, Mr. Beck.

Thank you, Eli Ofenstein of Austin, Texas!

So why does Beck collect Nazi memorabilia? I don't know, but let's try to figure this out. My fist response is to say he is either fascinated with Nazism, possibly a sympathizer, or he is mentally disturbed - the two not mutually exclusive. I understand his claimed reason is to demonstrate the evils of Nazism, or large government in general, and how "true American values" overcame them (forgetting how our ally, the Red Army, actually captured Berlin). And I'm not sure how waiving Hitler's blood establishes this point anyway.

A friend suggested a couple of other possible reasons. One could have Nazi memorabilia as a trophy of war, or even passed down from a father or grandfather who obtained it that way. I can understand that. And if that were the case in my family (my dad's uncle having earned a Bronze Star for single-handedly taking out a German machine gun in the Battle of the Bulge), and had I inherited such, I would revere it as a memento of my fore-bearer's military service and heroism, but keep it safe and hidden from public view so as not to offend.

Glenn didn't get his stuff that way. As I understand from the reports of his recent display in Salt Lake City, he purchased, at some significant cost, the blood-stained handkerchief, Nuremberg banner, signed copy of Mein Kampf, and the love letters of Herman Goering (the last guy I would want to think about on Valentine's Day).

There is one other reason my friend offered which might explain Limbaugh's provocative racism as well. That is, the attention-getting mechanism for making a buck. Yep, every man prospering according to his own genius is a traditional, American value. And there are none better at it than Rush and Glenn. I just hope Glenn didn't learn that in Sunday School.

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*To be fair, there are innocents who do not know that this is a pejorative way to refer to or mimic African-Americans. According to Wikipedia, these "innocents" include Andrew Cuomo, Justin Timberlake, Sarah Palin, and . . . the Osmonds.