MSNBC's Chris Matthews doesn't get war re-enactments...

Matthews on Nazi Re-enactment: Is This Some ‘Homoerotic Thing?’ | The Blaze

Chris Matthews is trying to figure out why an Ohio GOP candidate would dress up as a Nazi officer for a WWII re-enactment. Unable to make sense of it, he throws out a reason: “homoerotic.”

What planet does he live on? Homo-erotic? Matthews is turned on by Nazi uniforms? Gay people dress up as Nazis? What is he saying?

Mellie said:

Matthews on Nazi Re-enactment: Is This Some ‘Homoerotic Thing?’ | The Blaze

Chris Matthews is trying to figure out why an Ohio GOP candidate would dress up as a Nazi officer for a WWII re-enactment. Unable to make sense of it, he throws out a reason: “homoerotic.”

What planet does he live on? Homo-erotic? Matthews is turned on by Nazi uniforms? Gay people dress up as Nazis? What is he saying?

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If Rush Limbaugh said something like that, his quotes would live on for years as proof he was a homophobe, or a secret gay turned on by men in nazi uniforms.

It was a stupid comment, and Stewart rightly had fun with it. But like Limbaugh, why spend time worrying about political entertainers? True, Matthew's isn't as wild as Beck, but he's of the same poison.

Also, the Nazi think isn't exactly WWII reacting. The candidate hs stated he was honoring the Nazis. The good Nazi, the average Nazi solider. So, while I wouldn't go too far down gotcha lane here, I'm not sure thie particular group he belong to was exactly WWII reenactors.

Boo Radley said:

It was a stupid comment, and Stewart rightly had fun with it. But like Limbaugh, why spend time worrying about political entertainers? True, Matthew's isn't as wild as Beck, but he's of the same poison.

Also, the Nazi think isn't exactly WWII reacting. The candidate hs stated he was honoring the Nazis. The good Nazi, the average Nazi solider. So, while I wouldn't go too far down gotcha lane here, I'm not sure thie particular group he belong to was exactly WWII reenactors.

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wait, WHAT? he said he was honoring the nazis? WTF?

liblady said:

wait, WHAT? he said he was honoring the nazis? WTF?

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Honoring nazis is pretty effed up.

Boo Radley said:

It was a stupid comment, and Stewart rightly had fun with it. But like Limbaugh, why spend time worrying about political entertainers? True, Matthew's isn't as wild as Beck, but he's of the same poison.

Also, the Nazi think isn't exactly WWII reacting. The candidate hs stated he was honoring the Nazis. The good Nazi, the average Nazi solider. So, while I wouldn't go too far down gotcha lane here, I'm not sure thie particular group he belong to was exactly WWII reenactors.

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Before everyone deteriorates into "OMG, he HONORED the Nazis" hysterics can you link credible proof, please?

However, Matthews may not have realized what he was saying and merely used the word 'homoerotic' because it sends a "thrill" up his leg when he says it. :2razz:

theangryamerican said:

Before everyone deteriorates into "OMG, he HONORED the Nazis" hysterics can you link credible proof, please?

However, Matthews may not have realized what he was saying and merely used the word 'homoerotic' because it sends a "thrill" up his leg when he says it. :2razz:

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I'll look for a link to the original Atlantic article later, but this shouold be a start;

That's a striking departure from what he told the Atlantic last week about his respect -- "from a purely historical military point of view" -- for the Nazi army's accomplishments:


I've always been fascinated by the fact that here was a relatively small country that from a strictly military point of view accomplished incredible things. I mean, they took over most of Europe and Russia, and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them. From a purely historical military point of view, that's incredible.

GOPer: I dressed up like Nazi so we "never forget" - War Room - Salon.com

Boo Radley said:

It was a stupid comment, and Stewart rightly had fun with it. But like Limbaugh, why spend time worrying about political entertainers? True, Matthew's isn't as wild as Beck, but he's of the same poison.

Also, the Nazi think isn't exactly WWII reacting. The candidate hs stated he was honoring the Nazis. The good Nazi, the average Nazi solider. So, while I wouldn't go too far down gotcha lane here, I'm not sure thie particular group he belong to was exactly WWII reenactors.

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Here's the issue. Rich Iott, the candidate who dressed up for re-enactments, didn't dress up as an average Nazi soldier. He dressed up as a member of the Waffen-SS. There's a very clear difference.

The average Nazi soldier was a member of the Wehrmacht, the name for the German military. It consists of the Heer, or army, the Kriegsmarine, or navy, and the Luftwaffe, or air force. The "average Nazi soldier" would likely belong to one of these branches, and most likely to the Heer.

Rich Iott dressed up as a member of the Waffen-SS. Originally, the Waffen-SS was not a formal part of the German military. Rather, the Waffen-SS was a paramilitary branch of the Nazi Party. That means that prior to the outbreak of World War II, the Waffen-SS enforced the rulings of the Nazi Party and was separate from military command.

This also means that the Waffen-SS were the ones who administrated the concentration camps and had a direct role instituting the Holocaust.

So Rich Iott isn't re-enacting any average anything. He is re-enacting as a member of an organization that was committing a genocide.

While the Waffen-SS did a lot of hard core acts of military tactics and strategy as a paramilitary force fighting alongside the Wehrmacht, they also separated Jewish families, slept with Jewish women prisoners by promising to "look out for them," shot them, gassed them, buried them in mass graves, and incinerated them, but not before pulling out the gold in their teeth fillings.

There's a clear difference between those two things, and either he doesn't know the history that he is re-enacting as well as he should, or... Well, the alternative leads to rather unfortunate implications for him.

Boo Radley said:

I'll look for a link to the original Atlantic article later, but this shouold be a start;

That's a striking departure from what he told the Atlantic last week about his respect -- "from a purely historical military point of view" -- for the Nazi army's accomplishments:


I've always been fascinated by the fact that here was a relatively small country that from a strictly military point of view accomplished incredible things. I mean, they took over most of Europe and Russia, and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them. From a purely historical military point of view, that's incredible.

GOPer: I dressed up like Nazi so we "never forget" - War Room - Salon.com

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I'm going to be honest, strictly going by what he said I don't see him saying he admires anything about the Nazi ideology.

I've always been fascinated by the fact that here was a relatively small country that from a strictly military point of view accomplished incredible things. I mean, they took over most of Europe and Russia, and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them. From a purely historical military point of view, that's incredible.

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He has a point. Militarily, the achievements of Nazi Germany are incredible. For the country to have gone from the defeated armies of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the massive, technically advanced war machine of the Third Reich in roughly 30 years is no small step. Strategically, Germany had some of the best generals of the war and it did take the combined might of the Allies to actually turn the tide.

I think that it's an important thing to do because we need to constantly educate people and remind people about the tragedy that happened 70-some years ago," Iott said, adding: "A lot of time is spent talking to the public, setting up exhibits. It's a way to keep the public aware of what happened and keep it in their minds so that we don't forget.

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You can’t have re-enactments without all the parties involved and it’s not unusual for people to pick a certain unit and consistently re-enact as one of those soldiers. That doesn’t mean that a person re-enacting a Nazi believes in the extermination of all Jews any more than it means that everyone re-enacting a Confederate soldier believes in slavery.

I’m not saying that I’m certain Iott doesn’t have Nazi leanings; just that what’s been presented so far isn’t evidence against him. I don’t actually know much about the guy. Seems to me, the media chose to pick on something they don’t understand because the pictures and headlines would sell news.

Btw, looking at the pictures, physically, he never would’ve made it into the real Waffen SS.

theangryamerican said:

You can’t have re-enactments without all the parties involved and it’s not unusual for people to pick a certain unit and consistently re-enact as one of those soldiers. That doesn’t mean that a person re-enacting a Nazi believes in the extermination of all Jews any more than it means that everyone re-enacting a Confederate soldier believes in slavery.

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That would be the case if he dressed up as a Wehrmacht soldier. He didn't. Rather, he dressed up as a member of the Waffen-SS. That's more like dressing up in Civil War re-enactments as a bounty hunter who captured runaway slaves.

Mellie said:

Matthews on Nazi Re-enactment: Is This Some ‘Homoerotic Thing?’ | The Blaze

Chris Matthews is trying to figure out why an Ohio GOP candidate would dress up as a Nazi officer for a WWII re-enactment. Unable to make sense of it, he throws out a reason: “homoerotic.”

What planet does he live on? Homo-erotic? Matthews is turned on by Nazi uniforms? Gay people dress up as Nazis? What is he saying?

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Who the hell cares? Chris Matthews can some stupid things at times.

samsmart said:

That would be the case if he dressed up as a Wehrmacht soldier. He didn't. Rather, he dressed up as a member of the Waffen-SS. That's more like dressing up in Civil War re-enactments as a bounty hunter who captured runaway slaves.

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The Waffen SS performed in many other capacities other than as police and guards. Like I said, you can't have a re-enactment without all the proper parties... and someone has to play them.

theangryamerican said:

I'm going to be honest, strictly going by what he said I don't see him saying he admires anything about the Nazi ideology.

You can't have re-enactments without all the parties involved and it's not unusual for people to pick a certain unit and consistently re-enact as one of those soldiers. That doesn't mean that a person re-enacting a Nazi believes in the extermination of all Jews any more than it means that everyone re-enacting a Confederate soldier believes in slavery

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I agree that I don't see him saying he admires anything about Nazi ideology. But as I said in another thread:

Mustachio said:

...what really pissed me off was this, from their own website:

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

It seems like they're saying that the Nazis possessed multiple traits that were valiant, like their quest to destroy communism and give their lives to the movement at any cost. In fact, to go further, it seems like they're saying that the Nazis were fighting for a just cause and they were great individuals whose historical reputation has been unfairly soiled by the evils of their totalitarian government. If Rich Iott spent years in this group, it feels safe to say that he agreed with these sentiments. Coupled with his own statements, I have to say that the obvious headline of "GOP nominee dresses as a Nazi for fun" is pretty inaccurate and distracts from real issues. But at the same time, looking into the issue and learning about this guy makes me question him and think that this is the kind of person who really shouldn't be in politics.

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That quote is from the group's website, not Rich Iott's website. So he hasn't said anything that indicates an admiration for Nazis, but it's not much of a stretch to say he probably does hold some admiration for them. This issue is unquestionably being used to make personal attacks on Iott and distract from real issues, but I still really dislike this guy based largely on this subject.

Mustachio said:

I agree that I don't see him saying he admires anything about Nazi ideology. But as I said in another thread:


That quote is from the group's website, not Rich Iott's website. So he hasn't said anything that indicates an admiration for Nazis, but it's not much of a stretch to say he probably does hold some admiration for them. This issue is unquestionably being used to make personal attacks on Iott and distract from real issues, but I still really dislike this guy based largely on this subject.

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That statement I wouldn't necessarily disagree with. Like I said earlier, I don't know much about the guy and I wasn't posting in this thread to defend his character, I was just pointing out what I saw as a knee-jerk reaction from a hack like Matthews and the rest of the MSM who over-sensationalize for the sake of political partisanship.

theangryamerican said:

That statement I wouldn't necessarily disagree with. Like I said earlier, I don't know much about the guy and I wasn't posting in this thread to defend his character, I was just pointing out what I saw as a knee-jerk reaction from a hack like Matthews and the rest of the MSM who over-sensationalize for the sake of political partisanship.

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I totally agree with all of that. Matthews is a total hack.

samsmart said:

That would be the case if he dressed up as a Wehrmacht soldier. He didn't. Rather, he dressed up as a member of the Waffen-SS. That's more like dressing up in Civil War re-enactments as a bounty hunter who captured runaway slaves.

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I find this interesting because the SS did in fact serve alongside Wehrmacht soldiers though Hitler himself stated that he wanted them to remain as essentially a military arm to the Nazi party. They were more like the KGB than bounty hunters though I do see your point. I honestly don't care. I doubt the GOP Candidate himself though a war reenactor knows the intended role of the SS within Nazi politics. He's probably like many Civil War reenactors I've met. They know the "basic issues" but won't dare go in depth because they're self taught.

theangryamerican said:

That statement I wouldn't necessarily disagree with. Like I said earlier, I don't know much about the guy and I wasn't posting in this thread to defend his character, I was just pointing out what I saw as a knee-jerk reaction from a hack like Matthews and the rest of the MSM who over-sensationalize for the sake of political partisanship.

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I hate to break it to ya, but theirs isn't the only side to do that.

samsmart said:

I hate to break it to ya, but theirs isn't the only side to do that.

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I did not specify a side, sir, I mentioned the main stream media as a whole.

To be fair, most things confuse Chris Matthews.

It's such a shame that someone with that kind of political experience can make an ass of themselves that often.

His group recreates the 5th SS Panzer, a unit that was indeed a part of Jewish exterminations in both Hungry and the Ukraine. You might also note this is the unit that famed war criminal Dr. Joseph "Angel of Death" Mengele served in.

I have seen historical recreations, there is no0thing on earth that would get me to don an SS uniform. No excuse is good enough. If they wished to do this, why choose an SS unit? There are many more Wehrmacht units to choose from..

theangryamerican said:

I'm going to be honest, strictly going by what he said I don't see him saying he admires anything about the Nazi ideology.




He has a point. Militarily, the achievements of Nazi Germany are incredible. For the country to have gone from the defeated armies of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the massive, technically advanced war machine of the Third Reich in roughly 30 years is no small step. Strategically, Germany had some of the best generals of the war and it did take the combined might of the Allies to actually turn the tide.



You can’t have re-enactments without all the parties involved and it’s not unusual for people to pick a certain unit and consistently re-enact as one of those soldiers. That doesn’t mean that a person re-enacting a Nazi believes in the extermination of all Jews any more than it means that everyone re-enacting a Confederate soldier believes in slavery.

I’m not saying that I’m certain Iott doesn’t have Nazi leanings; just that what’s been presented so far isn’t evidence against him. I don’t actually know much about the guy. Seems to me, the media chose to pick on something they don’t understand because the pictures and headlines would sell news.

Btw, looking at the pictures, physically, he never would’ve made it into the real Waffen SS.

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I said I'd come bac to this:

Why is This GOP House Candidate Dressed as a Nazi? - Joshua Green - Politics - The Atlantic

Videos Posted by Bill Maher: Rich Iott (R)- Playing Nazi [HQ] | Facebook

This is real mature..:-( I can't believe the people who are making a big deal of this.I saw an Al Franken documentary one night. He was dressed as Saddam Hussein and was entertaining our troops. He was just playing a part just like Iott was.

Spray-painted swastikas have defaced campaign signs of an Ohio congressional candidate who dressed in a Nazi uniform during World War II re-enactments. ...
Swastikas sprayed on signs of Ohio candidate who dressed as Nazi | The Columbus Dispatch - Topix

Barbbtx said:

This is real mature..:-( I can't believe the people who are making a big deal of this.I saw an Al Franken documentary one night. He was dressed as Saddam Hussein and was entertaining our troops. He was just playing a part just like Iott was.

Spray-painted swastikas have defaced campaign signs of an Ohio congressional candidate who dressed in a Nazi uniform during World War II re-enactments. ...
Swastikas sprayed on signs of Ohio candidate who dressed as Nazi | The Columbus Dispatch - Topix

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I'm personally not making a big deal of it. But I would find anyone making a hobby out of dressing up as an SS officer odd. Of course, I find reenactors odd. Just me.

Barbbtx said:

I can't believe the people who are making a big deal of this.

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Sorta like the big deal people make out of which church President Obama attended, innit?