After receiving a 30-day suspension for wearing a Nazi armband, a cabbie has decided to speak out about his suspension and profess his belief in national socialism. In the interview with WCBS, Gabriel Diaz claims that Hitler’s record is distorted, that Nazism is not a racist ideology, that he is not an anti-Semite and denies the Holocaust, among other things.
Motley Moose – Archive
Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics
bigotry
Three Dead in Pre-Passover Shooting at Jewish Community Center
Three people are reported dead after a shooting at a Jewish Community Center and the Village Shalom retirement village in Overland Park, Kansas. It is reported that police took a man into custody who was screaming “Heil Hitler” at reporters. The Forward reports that the gunman “reportedly shouted Nazi slogans.”
This shooting occurred a day before Passover begins tomorrow night at sundown. If the reports from The Forward are correct, then this represents an anti-Semitic murder as preparations for that upcoming holiday are well underway.
In the News: Two Americas.
Found on the Internets …
Facing Overwhelming Opposition, Arizona Governor Vetoes Anti-Gay Bill
After a week of national backlash, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has vetoed SB 1062, which would have allowed religious beliefs to be used to justify discrimination against LGBT people and others. Explaining her veto, Brewer said, “I call them like I see them despite the cheers or boos from the crowd.” She added that the bill does not address a specific concern and that she knows of no examples of how religious liberty has been under attack.
Opposition to the bill came from individuals and companies across the country, including the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, Apple, and Mitt Romney. Many other states have introduced similar bills, some specifying that businesses could refuse services to marrying same-sex couples, but most have stalled or died, particularly those introduced this week during the backlash against Arizona.
Media Matters: Fox News Has A Nasty Anti-Gay Hangover
What explains Fox’s sudden cold feet now that several states are acting to deal with the manufactured threat to religious liberty that Fox News helped create?
To hear people like Fox’s Kelly and Tantaros explain it, laws like Arizona’s SB 1062 simply went a little too far. These laws would be acceptable if they only affected businesses directly involved in the marriage and wedding industry, but giving all business owners a license to discriminate against gay customers too closely resembles Jim Crow legislation.[…]
The distinction between marriage-related services and general services used by gay couples is convenient, but it doesn’t stand up under closer scrutiny.
For one, Fox News has aggressively promoted the idea that requiring equal treatment of gay people in non-marital contexts also infringes on businesses’ religious liberty. […]
… many of the network’s personalities are waking up to the harsh reality that their words have consequences. They’re in the uncomfortable position of to decide between disowning the right-wing talking points they helped promote or siding with measures that even they admit look a lot like pro-segregation laws.
More …
I’m Proud That Obama’s Campaign Never Attacked Romney’s Faith
By: inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/
There is one thing that I’m very proud that the Obama campaign did – or rather, that it didn’t do. Obama’s campaign never attacked Mitt Romney’s faith.
More below.
A Good American
It never ceases to frustrate me how ignorant so many of my fellow Americans are about the Muslim faith (or, really, about any faith beyond Christianity). There are over a BILLION Muslims on this silly planet of ours, and merely a fraction of a fraction of them are ‘terrorists’. Yet, the entire faith gets slapped with the broad brush whenever a follower of Muhammad wreaks havoc. Did the atrocities committed in Bosnia by Christians against Muslims (genocide!) represent all Christians? Does the attempt by Christian leaders in Uganda (with the possible backing of Christian leaders here in the States) to make being HIV positive and homosexual punishable by death represent all Christians? IMO, no single group of followers throughout history have been more ‘terrorizing’ than Christians; yet, for some reason, seldom do you hear Americans lashing out at the followers of Christ for the evils committed by a tiny fraction of their brethren. In both cases the blame is misplaced. It is evidence of ignorance and fear of the unknown and unfamiliar…of the need to blame ‘other’ and ‘different’ for the evils and ills of the world. And it has been used to manipulate the majority against the minority in countless ways since the beginning of time. It is such fear and hatred and ignorance that are to blame for terrorism, not any particular faith (or its followers).
I have noticed several conversations and comments about Muslims in recent threads on the Moose. While visiting family for Thanksgiving, something I read here reminded me of an email exchange from a few years back. A friend received a hateful forward in a mass email blast, and she asked me to help her pen a response to ‘reply to all’…. You will find the result below the fold.