In the other room, I've got the preseason game between the Cardinals and Steelers on the tube, and the trailer for the new Tarantino film, "Ingluorious Basterds," just came on. Earlier today I read Andrew O'Hehir's take. Basically, he's not sure what to make of the WWII-set film that depicts European Jews, led by an American soldier (Brad Pitt), who go medieval on some Nazi ass. His general feeling is that Tarantino's not trying to make some grand statement about the war or anti-Semitism; he's just using the Holocaust as a backdrop for his signature ultra-violence.
Which I find a little troubling. Coupled with the recent rash of pundits calling anyone who disagrees with them a Nazi and people drawing swastikas at the offices of U.S. Congresspeople, it seems like a lot of people are - how do I say this? - getting a little too comfortable with the idea of Nazis. Not that I think people are going to run out and join up or anything. Far from it. Lately we're treating Nazis as if they were merely bogeymen, or maybe just really bad people.
I think it's dangerous to dumb down the Nazis. Their idealogy was amongst the most truly evil ideas to ever exist in our world. They weren't just totalitarian, the frakking murdered several million people in an unprecendentedly methodical way. They used IBM-designed technology to identify and categorize Jews and other objectionable populations, and then set about systematically removing them from society - first by herding them into ghettoes, and then finally into camps. And we know about this because they kept detailed records, which to me suggests that they didn't feel that anything they were doing was wrong.
One of the most meaningful experiences of my young life was taking part in my local community theatre's productions of "The Diary of Anne Frank," which happened to coincide with the release of "Schindler's List" and various WWII anniversaries, and the attendent books and documentaries. As a teen myself, I identified with Anne's relationships with her family and fellow attic-captives, but fortunately didn't really grasp the horror of what happened to her (another member of our cast had nightmares).
When I think about what it must have been like for one's government to literally hunt you down, enslave and murder you and everyone you knew, I just want to walk into the nearest anti-tax tea party and start slapping people. Aw, you have to pay taxes! Go f*ck yourselves. When President Obama starts inking number tats on your arms, then we'll talk. In the meantime, get some frakking perspective.
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