Thin, thin gruel

The other day, I mentioned the silence of the GOP leaders as they surveyed the so-called "Tea Party" protesters who showed up in opposition to the health care reform bill. Among the Republican lawmakers who attended was Minority Whip Eric Cantor, the party's only Jewish member of Congress. I found it particularly remarkable that he was willing (dare I say enthusiastic?) to attend a rally at which a sign linking the President to the Rothschilds was brandished.

Now, before I get to the main substance of my post today, let me touch upon a point raised by John, our Official Gadfly here at Bleakonomy. He mentioned Cynthia McKinney as a Democrat who egged on the protesters when they did such things as compare Bush to Hitler. I am perfectly willing to concede that she might have done so. I am, indeed, perfectly happy to see the Democrats rid of her, as I'm sure they are themselves. However, it should be noted that McKinney was a fringe character who never had a position of significant leadership within the party. In fact, when she returned to Congress following a defeat between terms, the party failed to reinstate her seniority. Contrast that with the presence at the protest of the GOP Minority Leader and Whip. Unless I am gravely mistaken (and do let me know if I am), the Democrats never offered legitimacy of this kind to the inflammatory rhetoric used against President Bush. (GJ, you mention Dennis Kucinich tossing brickbats as well, which I can imagine, but I strongly doubt Hillary Clinton would have thrown in her lot with a similar crowd. Feel free to disabuse me.)

Anyhoodle, moving along to today's point. I read this in TPM yesterday:

At yesterday's tea party rally on Capitol Hill, at least one protester brandished a large graphic photograph of the victims of the Dachau Nazi concentration camp, comparing health care reform to Nazi policies. Today, Rep. Eric Cantor's (R-VA) spokesman called the photograph "inappropriate."

[snip]

Cantor, in an interview today with Bloomberg, also offered some criticism of radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh's comparison of President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

"Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?" said Cantor, who is the only Jewish Republican in Congress. "No, I don't, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful."

"Inappropriate"? "Not very helpful"? Woooooooh! Way to take a strong stand there, Rep. Cantor! What next? Calling Michelle Malkin not very nice? Saying Glenn Beck is a big meany?

How about "flagrantly offensive"? What say you note the utter and complete disconnect between a health care reform bill and an attempt by the Nazis to exterminate your people? Maybe you could decry in terms that are a wee bit stronger the nauseous rhetoric that links the current President with the worst kinds of anti-Semitism, and that misappropriates the memory of the Holocaust for the basest and most vile kind of political attack?

I know that the GOP falls all over itself to stay in Limbaugh's good graces, apparently indifferent to the bloated obscenity that he has become. Perhaps I should be grateful that a prominent Republican is crossing him at all, in the gentlest of rebukes? Bah. The cravenness of this display sickens me.