Keith Ellison, In The Nutball Box
Our new Congressman from MN-05, Keith Ellison, has performed about as well as could be predicted before his election -- he has become a 9/11 Truther. Gary Gross of Let Freedom Ring has kept track of Ellison after the election, and notes a Star Tribune article that shows Ellison not quite having the courage to jump all the way into the paranoia:
On comparing Sept. 11 to the burning of the Reichstag building in Nazi Germany: "It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country [Hitler] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. The fact is that I'm not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box -- dismiss you."
I'd say that this puts Ellison squarely in the nutball box. It shows a depressing lack of education about the Nazis and the Reichstag fire itself, let alone the rather obvious point that Osama bin Laden has gladly taken credit for the 9/11 attacks and that all of the evidence shows he and al-Qaeda did it. The Reichstag fire was a political stunt immediately prior to a national election that not only allowed Hitler to ban a political party but also to pack the assembly with fellow Nazis -- in order to pass an Enabling Act similar to what Hugo Chavez just pushed through Venezuela's parliament.
It did not, as Ellison presumes, give Hitler total power, at least not directly. The elections did not deliver the two-thirds necessary for the Nazis, a disappointment for Hitler. It took more street violence and locking up all the Communists to convince the other political parties to give Hitler the dictatorial power he sought -- which is, not coincidentally, how he came to be Chancellor in the first place. The fire helped the Nazis, but in the end they had to use violence and extort the Reichstag vote for the Enabling Act, which is how Hitler took away civil liberties in Germany.
(Has Ellison made the connection between that Act and the Chavez regime's similar action? What has Ellison said about Venezuela? According to Google -- nothing.)
Ellison knows that the 9/11 attacks were carried about by al-Qaeda and 19 radical Muslims. He just can't bring himself to admit it, and instead likes to flirt with paranoid conspiracy theorists who believe that the entire attack was a BushCo plot to grab power in the US. Well, if so, where is the power grab? We've held elections on schedule ever since 9/11; the only one to be delayed was the New York City municipal elections, for obvious reasons, and then only for a few weeks. Democrats took control of Congress in 2006, and might have won the Presidency in 2004 had they not nominated a total stiff to run against George Bush.
Where's the power grab? Where are all of the political groups that have been banned, all of the people disappeared under a Nacht und Nebel program, the cancelled elections? Where?
In January 2009, George Bush and Dick Cheney will step down from their offices on schedule, just as their predecessors have done, in compliance with the Constitution. At that point, a lot of people are going to have to account for their paranoia. I'd like to hope that Mn-05 will force Ellison to account for his flirtation with the paranoids, but I thought his association with CAIR would have been enough to keep him from getting elected in the first place.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on July 9, 2007 5:08 AM | Comments (16) | TrackBacks (2)
Comments (16)
Posted by docjim505 | July 9, 2007 5:58 AM
Cap'n Ed wrote:
Where's the power grab? Where are all of the political groups that have been banned, all of the people disappeared under a Nacht und Nebel program, the cancelled elections? Where?
This is part 'n' parcel to how a liberal's mind works (note that I don't use the word "think" as it doesn't apply). Ellison and his fellow libs can somehow take 9-11 and twist it into a plot by the Bush Cabal to gain political power just as that idiot judge, Diggs-Taylor, could twist the terrorist suveillance program into a plot by the Bush Cabal to stifle free speech. Julian Bond can take Katrina and overtopped levees and twist it into a plot by the Bush Cabal to deny black people property rights. Our resident libs can take Scooter Libby's perjury (or faulty memory) and twist it into a plot by the Bush Cabal to get revenge on Joe Wilson for lying about Niger. There doesn't have to be direct evidence of any of this. There don't have to be any visible effects of the plots. As Rush often says, it's not the nature of the evidence, it's the seriousness of the charge.
I don't know which is more frightening: that Ellison compared 9-11 to the Reichstag fire... or that he actually believes what he says.
Posted by Harry | July 9, 2007 6:09 AM
The only election delayed was the NYC primary, not the municipal election. It had to be delayed, because there were these minor travel restrictions in NYC that day, Sept 11. It probably gave Mike Bloomberg the election in November
Posted by Qwinn | July 9, 2007 6:22 AM
ZOMG! Michael Bloomberg orchestrated 9/11 in order to get elected! -He- blew up WTC 7!
It all makes sense now!
Posted by NoDonkey | July 9, 2007 7:43 AM
I don't know when the Democrats got a reputation for being the brainy party, but it was long ago and far away, when they were so much less loony than they are today.
There's not a single Democrat with more than a few kilowatts of brain power. Stupid people frequently lie and everything that comes out of the mouth of a Democrat is either a lie or a first cousin to one.
If the Democrats had a semi-bright member of the party, maybe they wouldn't be offering unaccomplished, unqualified, irresponsible nitwits as Presidential candidates (i.e. Ms. Rodham, Borat O'Maddrass and Shyster Fop).
And the few who can string a few coherent sentences together on occasion (Levin, Schumer, Biden), routinely go off on irrelevant tangents of stark raving paranoia themselves.
Is the chronic consumption of hard drugs a requirement for Democrats? Sure seems to be. There are dog pounds out there with more brain power than that eminating from the absolutely worthless Democrat Party.
Posted by Artie | July 9, 2007 8:22 AM
Ellison is a typical liberal socialist-democrat who has absolutely no clue who Hitler was or what he stood for, or even what he did. I doubt he's even heard of the Reichstag. Notice they never compare Bush to their heroes, Stalin or Mao? Hitler was a third rate hooligan compared to them.
Liberals like to make Bush the most stupid man in history, but another Hitler. This stupid man arranged for the hijacking of US aircraft, arranged financing for the murderers, orchastrated a massive cover up, the destruction of three buildings in NY and one in DC, over 3000 people killed. He ordered the explosives set in public buildings and nobody was aware or had a clue what was going on. But he's not smart enough to run the country or win a war, in fact Bush is just plain stupid.
It's the liberals who are stupid and Ellison is at the top of the list.
When are the American people going to wise up?
Posted by LarryD | July 9, 2007 8:25 AM
It's called denial. Ellison himself is only pandering, but those he's pandering to will not, can not, accept that al-Qaeda wants to kill us. Some of them have to resort to Conspiracy Theories to explain away inconvenient facts, like the destroyed twin towers of the WTC.
For a more thorough analysis, by a professional, go to Dr. Sanity's site.
Posted by Lew | July 9, 2007 8:29 AM
Artie,
Makes you wonder what kind of education they've been getting lately, doesn't it?
Posted by Dustyvet | July 9, 2007 9:06 AM
Perhaps it's time for the good people of Minnesota and Ellison's district to consider a recall.
Posted by Gaius Livius | July 9, 2007 11:41 AM
"In January 2009, George Bush and Dick Cheney will step down from their offices on schedule, just as their predecessors have done, in compliance with the Constitution. At that point, a lot of people are going to have to account for their paranoia."
Beggin yer pardon, Cap'n but that's wishful thinking. The essence of liberal argumentation is its quality of arrested adolescence: they feel qualified to mouth off about everything, but won't take responsbility for anything.
No doubt Ellison and his apologists will expect this outburst to go down the memory-hole, aided by a compliant media's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to donkey gaffes; and as he comes from a Congressional district so heavily in thrall to the donkey party that they could nominate a canned ham and get it elected, I wouldn't hold my breath expecting him to pay an electoral price for his malignant, willful ignorance.
Posted by Lightwave | July 9, 2007 12:56 PM
When another GOP candidate wins the Presidency in 2008, the paranoia will simply be transferred to him. We've already seen Romney Derangement Syndrome, Thompson Derangement Syndrome, etc.
Bush and Cheney will be blamed for "rigging the election again" even though A) no evidence of wrongdoing will be found and B) there WILL be evidence found of Democrats crossing the line when it comes to voter fraud yet again, especially in minority/inner city districts.
You clearly don't understand, Ed. Bush/Cheney will empower a generation of moonbats for decades.
Posted by Jazz | July 9, 2007 1:45 PM
I'm afraid this one will need a bit more clarification. Is there either an audio or video tape of this available by chance that would clarify what's being said? Because I'm reading this, and it's got a partial quote saying, "I'm not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box "
The key point seems to be "I'm *NOT* saying..."
And the usually lucid Capt. is saying, "...shows Ellison not quite having the courage to jump all the way into the paranoia"
Also, the use of the square brackets in a quote indicates that something was left out and/or paraphrased in the article, rather than a direct quote, which always makes me question how something is being spun.
Perhaps I'm just not getting it. I can see where it *might* be as portrayed, and certainly how somebody could construct it that way if they really wanted to put some spin on it, but are we really now trashing Ellison for *NOT* saying that that the 9/11 attacks were a US orchestrated conspiracy? Wouldn't it be more "newsy" if he actually said they *were* such?
I know there are still a lot of people steaming under the collar that a Muslim got elected to Congress, but couldn't we stick to prosecuting him for things he actually does say or do, rather than for things he refuses to day or do, no matter how much you wish he would?
Posted by Brainster | July 9, 2007 2:03 PM
The Reichstag Fire was not a political stunt; most historians agree that the man accused, a communist arsonist named Marinus van der Lubbe, was in fact guilty, although The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich argued otherwise.
Posted by Patrick | July 9, 2007 3:37 PM
I agree with Captain, although I would like to note that the Reichstag fire wasn't a political stunt. It really [i]was[/i] burned by a deranged Polish Communist. He may have been Jewish. Regardless, the arsonist was a nutball who needed serious mental care, not a threat to national security.
The fire was used for PR , but its place in actually getting Hitler power was probably limited. Had it not happened, a few specifics might have changed, but the outcome probably would have remained the same.
Posted by Fight4TheRight | July 9, 2007 6:15 PM
I'll be blunt. Keith Ellison is the least qualified member of the House of Representatives. Last place.
I haven't been so embarassed of being a Minnesotan since we traded a hundred gazillion draft picks for Herschel Walker.
Speaking of that, if anyone out there is interested, we'll trade you Keith Ellison's 5th District House Seat for .....well.......it's hot today...how about a nice cold glass of lemonade?
Posted by NoDonkey | July 9, 2007 7:32 PM
How 'bout I send you all of my reps: Jim Moran, Jim Webb and John Warner for Keith Ellison?
Or better yet, I'll send you Virginia's version of Moe, Larry and Curly, you can keep Ellison and I'll send YOU a glass of lemonade.
Oh, and I'll kick in for the plane fare too. Northwest flies out of Dulles. I think there's a red-eye that goes out in an hour or so.
Take them. Please?
Posted by burt | July 9, 2007 8:37 PM
I live in Moran's district as well. I think we would throw in a couple cases of beer of your choosing to quench your Minnesota thirst in addition to No Donkey's proposal.