The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Arizona über alles!

Posted on | April 27, 2010 | 8 Comments

The “Fourth Reich” meme has caught on, as predicted, with a Colorado Democrat invoking the Nazi specter:

“It is absolutely reminiscent of second class status of Jews in Germany prior to World War II when they had to have their papers with them at all times and were subject to routine inspections at the suspicion of being Jewish,” Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo), who is Jewish, told POLITICO. . . .
“I think it’s a very fair comparison and I hope that we’re not headed on the same trajectory that Nazi Germany was,” Polis said. “But this was a very recent experience for Jewish Americans and Jews worldwide and it’s something that when we see similarities we start ringing alarm bells.”

You’ve got to love that “reminiscent,” as if Arizona had enacted some kind of latter-day Nuremberg Laws rather than merely authorizing cops to ascertain legal residency in cases of “reasonable suspicion” that someone was in the country illegally. (Hat-tip: Ace of Spades.)

Despite predictably misleading portrayals of the Arizona law as an Hispanic Kristallnacht — before the law has even taken effect, and before any example of actual harassment could be cited — it is discovered that 60% of voters agree with the Arizona law. And note this:

At the same time, however, 58% of all voters are at least somewhat concerned that “efforts to identify and deport illegal immigrants will also end up violating the civil rights of some U.S. citizens.”

Have a majority of Americans suddenly become Brownshirts, or does the Arizona law reflect the kind of common-sense policy that most Americans have always supported? This poll seems to indicate to me that, as with the regretable hassle of undergoing security screenings at airports, Americans are willing to tolerate some infringement of “civil rights” in the interest of public safety. Abstract libertarian theory yields to practical considerations in the face of a dangerous reality.

Speaking of dangerous reality, how about those peaceful, law-abiding liberals? Dissent is suddenly patriotic again . . .

Via Memeorandum. More at Hot Air, Cassy Fiano, Gateway Pundit, Jammie Wearing Fool and Da Tech Guy. And of course, nobody plays the Nazi card like Rachel Maddow:

Where did Rachel get her guilt-by-association smear? Three guesses and the first two don’t count.

UPDATE: Even before Maddow’s Nazi smear, Ed Driscoll notes that the “obligatory MSNBC Godwin’s Law violation of the day” came from Contessa Brewer, invoking the specter of “neighbors are turning in neighbors or families turning against families” — sort of an Anne Frank scenario, you see — complete with the same “Papers, Please” chyron featured in the Maddow segment.

Category: Arizona, Crime, Immigration

Comments

8 Responses to “Arizona über alles!”

  1. Do you know a good tomato from a bad one? « DaTechguy's Blog
    April 27th, 2010 @ 10:49 am

    […] why I and others don’t take people who are willing to call Arizona a police state seriously. They […]

  2. Chance
    April 28th, 2010 @ 5:32 am

    The nerve of those Arizonans…makeing it a crime to commit an illegal act…who do they think they are?

  3. Chance
    April 28th, 2010 @ 12:32 am

    The nerve of those Arizonans…makeing it a crime to commit an illegal act…who do they think they are?

  4. Hypothetical Hitlers, the Arizona Gestapo and Other Irrational Liberal Fears : The Other McCain
    April 28th, 2010 @ 7:18 am

    […] Jimmie Bise calls the “Arizona Gestapo” meme of cops as fascist monsters.The “Fourth Reich” portrayals of this law (e.g., “Saturday Night Live“) as laying the groundwork […]

  5. Dave C
    April 28th, 2010 @ 2:40 pm

    Have you linked here.

  6. Dave C
    April 28th, 2010 @ 9:40 am

    Have you linked here.

  7. timbo
    May 13th, 2010 @ 5:07 am

    I wonder where they will build there first gas chamber?

  8. timbo
    May 13th, 2010 @ 12:07 am

    I wonder where they will build there first gas chamber?