Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Last night I spoke at my alma mater, a public high school in New Jersey, whence I was graduated in 1976. It was a nice group, and amazing to me how Asian the school had become. When I was there, there was one Asian family. Last night, out of 300 grads, there were 24 "Kims" alone. It was a nice evening; I spoke for only about 6 or 7 minutes; and I saw some old classmates, including one on the board of ed. Admin, teachers, students -- all were very nice and impressive.
This morning one former classmate (whom I did not see) mentioned it on our class page on Facebook. One of my other classmates (whom I don't really remember) responded by writing, "If you were in high school with Rudolf Hess in 1905, would you profess to be proud of his accomplishments?"
Most of us are used to name-calling. I do, however, continue to find it extraordinary how casually those on the left throw out Nazi allusions. And are willing to politicize what are non-political events at a drop of the hat. I'm sure most people out there have their own stories.
The good news: Had a great lunch with Diane Ellis today in NYC.
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Oct '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
If you/ve not already done so read 'Last Exit to Utopia' by Jean Francois Revel. He deals with this constant use of Nazi comparisons by the left extensively.
At least you did not go to the same High School as Chris Matthews and have to see/hear him paraded about as some sort of superior being.... It is most annoying but I keep my yapper shut. Unless I see him....
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Had a great time at lunch, Bill! And thanks to your thorough directions, I made it back to the West Village without getting on the wrong train.
Nov '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Sorry for the earlier blank post. I promise that I wrote things, but somehow they didn't register.
I did want to say that I am terribly sorry that you had this particular ugliness thrown at you. I admire all of you who stand publicly for your conservatism, knowing that it makes you vulnerable to this sort of thing.
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 4:15amJul '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
A friend of mine who is a journalism professor -- a breed about to vanish -- and about as left as it gets this side of wearing a cap with a red star sent me the article in the new Rolling Stone that attacks Bachmann basically for being a decent woman. To sum it up: she's crazy but probably doesn't know it. Take away the vitriol and the left pretty much has nothing to say. But who outside of Manhattan, West Hollywood, Cambridge, San Francisco and such places is listening anyhow?
Nov '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Thanks for the Revel citation, Mr. Monaghan; I'll read it.
Your classmate is a little loose with his facts, Mr. McGurn: Rudolph Hess would have been only eleven years old in 1905 and was living in Egypt then. His family did not return to Germany until about 1908.
Do you remember Jack Webb in The D. I.? When another sergeant punched him in in a bar, Webb grabbed the man's arm and told him that, if he were going to hit him, to at least to make it a good one. Perhaps that might be a satisfactory response.
Nov '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
I am absolutely convinced that a good deal of liberal belief and behaviour arises simply from an inability to acheive a sense of proportion in life. I have no idea whether that inability is learned or congenital (but it does explain most of modern art)
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
I'm sure there are boorish conservatives. However, my experience is that we do not regard life as essentially political. And therefore we bite our tongues out of respect for an occasion.
By contrast, those on the left say the things they do because they have no fear or rebuke. I believe Gov Christie was called a NAzi just the other day:
"Welcome to Nazi Germany," Christopher Shelton, a top official at the Communication Workers of America, told thousands of protesters today outside the Statehouse in Trenton. "The first thing that the Nazis and Adolf Hitler did was go after the unions."
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
The class of people who go in for the cheap Nazi comparisons would be perfectly happy if we had no freedom of speech and no contested elections in this country. They used to be very few in number. One of our deepest problems is that in the years that have passed since 1969 they have grown numerous, and they now have tremendous leverage within the Democratic Party.
Jun '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Remember Godwin's Law, my good Mr. McGurn. I enjoyed your piece in the Hillsdale Imprimis a couple months back, by the way.
Jun '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
The left uses Nazi allusions when they don't have a substantive argument to make. It's easy and requires no thought, let alone engagement on an issue.
Bill: I think I'd be offended on other grounds. If memory serves, Hess had the grandiose idea that he could fly a plane to England and broker a peace agreement, which he tried to do. He spent the rest of his life in prison. Word was that he was mentally disturbed. So, was it a Nazi allusion, or was your old classmate suggesting you're playing without a full deck? (In which case, you may want to look him up and bloody his nose). And besides that, as Nazi allusions go, this one is pretty weak: Hess was a third-rater on the evil scale.
May '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
The problem with inappropriate Nazi references is that their frequency has made all Nazi references seem inappropriate. Hitler has become He Who Must Not Be Named. Discussion of Hitler is tightly restricted.
How many students are taught not only the facts of history but its purpose? How many are taught that it is the arrangement of those facts into a cohesive schema and the relation of that story to the modern world which gives that knowledge meaning?
The History Channel can teach kids about WWII all day long, but it won't do them a bit of good if they are discouraged from relating that knowledge to their own time.
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
The plot thickens. I just Googled the fellow. He has no job. Apparently there's a reason. He worked for a cable company, was a disgruntled employee, and plead guilty in court to cutting a cable that cut off service to a whole community for a weekend, was sentenced to probation and $50K restitution.
Maninfestly he is writing from a superior moral plane.
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Bill McGurn: The plot thickens. I just Googled the fellow. He has no job. Apparently there's a reason. He worked for a cable company, was a disgruntled employee, and plead guilty in court to cutting a cable that cut off service to a whole community for a weekend, was sentenced to probation and $50K restitution.
Maninfestly he is writing from a superior moral plane. · Jun 23 at 4:15pm
Oh man. That's too perfect. And sad, actually.
Jun '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Bill McGurn: The plot thickens. I just Googled the fellow. He has no job. Apparently there's a reason. He worked for a cable company, was a disgruntled employee, and plead guilty in court to cutting a cable that cut off service to a whole community for a weekend, was sentenced to probation and $50K restitution.
Maninfestly he is writing from a superior moral plane. · Jun 23 at 4:15pm
I'm sure he thinks being honorably unemployed is vastly superior to working for that bastion of capitalist oppression, The Wall Street Journal.
And that community he cut off from cable for a weekend is probably better for it: parents and children talking to each other, books being read, reconnecting with nature. (This assumes, of course, that this was not done during the NFL season, in which case the man should be imprisoned for life).
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 2:37amRe: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
But Rudolph Hess is alive in Scotland!
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Bill McGurn: The plot thickens. I just Googled the fellow. He has no job. Apparently there's a reason. He worked for a cable company, was a disgruntled employee, and plead guilty in court to cutting a cable that cut off service to a whole community for a weekend, was sentenced to probation and $50K restitution.
Maninfestly he is writing from a superior moral plane. · Jun 23 at 4:15pm
Ah, that would make him Josef Goebbels, the minister for propaganda!
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
Hilarious. And it's about time we heard from you again, Mr. H.
May '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
You don't often get to see a discussion initiate itself with proof of Godwin's Law. This cable guy's good.
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 5:52amJan '11
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
I hate to say it, but it cuts both ways. In this case, Monkton was accurate with the use of the term "eco-fascist", but the swastika graphic and the references to Hitler were unnecessary and, as alluded to above, cheapen and degrade the argument (and allow it to be casually dismissed as an ad-hom, regardless of the weight of the rest of the content).
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 7:19amJun '10
Re: Rudolph Hess: Who Knew?
First of all, I am impressed that a NJ court ordered $50K restitution. That's encouraging.
Second, you do realize, Bill, that you have to pray for this sad & pathetic little man. He desperately needs it.