What is it about public officials and Nazi uniforms these days. We just saw a Portland police officer accused wearing a Nazi uniform and building a memorial to fallen German soldiers including a SS officer and a war criminal. Now, Rich Iott, Ohio Republican nominee for Ohio’s Ninth District (second from the right) has been shown in his World War II German uniform.
Iott a wealth businessman running against Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D). He likes to hang out with other World War II reenactors as a faux member of the 5th SS Wiking Panzer Division. The Atlantic article below has some incredible quotes from the website of the group about how the real soldiers were “idealists” who fought to protect the motherland. However, the site says:
“This page or anyone involved in its creation, or members of reenactment groups listed here, are in no way affiliated with real, radical political organizations (i.e., KKK, Aryan Nation, American Nazi Party, etc.) and do not embrace the philosophies and actions of the original NSDAP (Nazi party), and wholeheartedly condemn the atrocities which made them infamous.”
Iott insists that he is not a Nazi — he essentially just plays one at these events.
Parts of the 5th SS Wiking Panzer Division were accused of war crimes against Jews in the Ukraine.
Of course, this allows Iott to release his new slogan: “Vote for Iott: Because It Is Better To Be A Little Reich Than A Lot Wrong.”
Source: The Atlantic.
Buddha,
Thanks for the update.
Thanks for the info., Buddah. That’s one nazi we won’t have to worry about.
Update:
Rich Iott (R) lost to Marcy Kaptur (D).
Byron
If you read the civil rights act it is unlawful to discriminate based on race.
From the way I understand it, you can form a private club based on mutual interests like tennis or bowling or bird watching and not accept members that don’t agree to follow your rules. You just can’t not accept them because of their race, which is what Mr. Paul states private clubs can do. But I’m not a lawyer so don’t take that as a certainty.
And, yes, Mr. Paul has said he’d probably have been among the marchers and I believe he would.
Buckeye:
He is trying to say something that is very hard to articulate without sounding bad. But he is trying to protect individual rights. I know it doesn’t sound like it. He probably would have marched in the 60’s.
Let’s turn this around and say that racism is practiced in the US, would you want the government telling you you had to discriminate against a certain class of people?
I am adamantly opposed to abortion, in my mind you are killing human life. But I don’t believe a law should be passed preventing women from having one. If the government can prevent you from having one it can also force you to have one. They are either thinking about forcing women or they are in China. So what the states gives, the state can take away. The state should be controlled and restricted, otherwise it can trample our rights.