Sunday, October 10, 2010

Hey, you know who reminds me of a Nazi?


Rich Iott (third from left) reenacts the Battle of  Löwenbräu
 
At long last, an American political candidate has emerged for whom it makes perfectly good sense to refer to in a sentence containing the word Nazi - Rich Iott, Tea Party backed Republican candidate for Ohio's 9th district.

The Atlantic this weekend broke the story of Iott's proclivity for dressing up in a German Waffen SS uniform and wiling away the hours as part of a group reenacting the merry exploits of the Nazi's 5th SS Panzer Wiking Division. A patriot through and through, Iott said that he chose the Wiking division because they fought primarily on the Eastern Front against our evil allies, the Bolshevist Russians. Presumably this means that when Iott was playing war, he did not have to reenact the slaughter of any American troops. 
 
In what is perhaps the single worst defense of bad judgment in recent years, Iott claims that he joined the Nazi cross-dressers - I'm not making this up - "as a father-son bonding thing".
 
Pictures of Iott (who's middle name is not Id) have been removed from the Wiking website, but don't get the idea that this is just because he's running for Congress. Heil no. It's because he quit the group a couple of years after his son, apparently having reached the age of reason, lost interest in playing dress up with Dad. Apparently that father-son bonding thing isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
 
On 'FOX News Sunday', House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, representing the entire Jewish contingent of the congressional Republicans, became the first member of the GOP to distance himself from Iott. After being cornered by intimidating Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to repudiate Iott, the normally defiant Cantor bravely said "I'm doing it right here, Debbie". Given the state of the Republican Tea Party, it's a repudiation he'll soon be likely to regret.

6 comments:

  1. The SS sure had some cool uniforms though. When I was younger I thought about joining a re enactor group of the 9th SS Hohenstaufen because I am a history buff and thought it would be fun. Perhaps even get a chance to be in a movie. Never did though. Probably a good thing. Who needs a picture of oneself in Nazi garb floating around.

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  2. Youthful indiscretion, the best excuse ever. Iott, is only hours away from blaming his son's bad judgment.

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  3. What did his son dress up like? A Russian Jew, a Nazi collaborator or what?

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  4. My 1967 Air Force dress uniform made me look like a Greyhound Driver. Those suits are kewl. A reet pleat would put it over the top.

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  5. Cantor is already in hot water with the Teabaggers for telling the WSJ last week that he doesn't support shutting down the government. See, e.g.,

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/tea-party-leader-slams-cantor-for-taking-government-shutdown-off-the-table.php?ref=fpblg

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  6. You'd be surprised at how widespread the nazi fetish is, h-back (and not only...Repugs), and militia punks for that matter. I wager a Gingrich has a crisp Waffen SS uniform tucked away somewhere as well. Carly Fiorina probably practices her speeches in one of those Ilsa, She-wolf of the SS suits, with riding crop. Hopefully not a little 'stache ala Der Fuhrer.

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