Lying & Dishonest: Needn't Call Anyone Names

Ann Althouse's Narrative of Untruth:

A (Republican) Senate candidate has been called a witch. A (Republican) gubernatorial candidate has been called a whore. And now... a — guess which party? — House candidate is tarred with Nazi.

No, Professor, the (Republican) Senate candidate called herself a witch. The (Republican) gubernatorial candidate was not called a whore, it was wondered if she (a blatant & obvious whore) should be labeled as such. And then it was decided the truth should be suppressed.

As far as "tarred with Nazi," was a gun held to candidate Iott's head to force him to put on Waffen-SS uniforms & pose for pictures? Not that Nazi is such a pejorative these days. After all, they fought Bolshevist Communism, as explained at The Atlantic, and isn't that what's important?

The website makes scant mention of the atrocities committed by the Waffen SS, and includes only a glancing reference to the "twisted" nature of Nazism. Instead, it emphasizes how the Wiking unit fought Bolshevist Communism:

Nazi Germany had no problem in recruiting the multitudes of volunteers willing to lay down their lives to ensure a "New and Free Europe", free of the threat of Communism. National Socialism was seen by many in Holland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and other eastern European and Balkan countries as the protector of personal freedom and their very way of life, despite the true underlying totalitarian (and quite twisted, in most cases) nature of the movement. Regardless, thousands upon thousands of valiant men died defending their respective countries in the name of a better tomorrow. We salute these idealists; no matter how unsavory the Nazi government was, the front-line soldiers of the Waffen-SS (in particular the foreign volunteers) gave their lives for their loved ones and a basic desire to be free.

Historians of Nazi Germany vehemently dispute this characterization. "These guys don't know their history," said Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., a retired history professor and author of "Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933-45," which chronicles an SS division. "They have a sanitized, romanticized view of what occurred."

Althouse's reaction?

A decent journalist would have ascertained how many war reenactments Iott has done and which roles Iott played in them. What is the proportion of Nazi roles he assumed compared to the number of times he played WW2 American infantrymen or paratroopers? Who decides, when war reenactments are done, which side somebody plays? Give me a realistic picture of what participation in war reenactments is really like so I can assess what Iott did.

We can advise the Prof. on which side somebody plays: The side for which they have the uniforms, weapons, accessories & so on. Which they have chosen/made/purchased all by themselves. Quite possibly w/ an eye to their ideologies. "I'm not a Nazi, but I play one on weekends, in proportion to my other fantasies."

Perhaps Professor Althouse could ask one of her students to show her where the U. of Wisc.'s English Dep't. is, & once there she could ask a T.A. for advice on dictionary usage, the commonly-understood meaning of words like "smear," &c. Then, one day, someone could have an actual discussion about reality w/ the Professor.

We'll be holding our breath awaiting some high dudgeon from Her Hypocritical Majesty concerning the idiotic but actual smears directed at President Obama. Makes us wonder if her real complaint is that what she's decrying as smears is the truth?

Available at a legitimate site as well.