Cantor criticizes Rush for Hitler-Obama comparison

politico.com ^ | Nov. 6, 2009 | Glenn Thrush

[Free ThinkerNY]

GOP leaders have been loathe to criticize Rush Limbaugh -- but House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is taking issue with Limbaugh's claim that President Obama's push for health care was comparable to Hitler's stranglehold on Germany.

Cantor, the highest-ranking Jewish Republican elected official in the country, told Bloomberg News that his party needs to be more inclusive to regain power.

“The Republican Party in its roots is a party of inclusion and we ought to be promoting that and making sure that voices are heard,” Cantor, of Virginia, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing today.

Cantor praised Limbaugh as a voice of the conservative movement. But Cantor objected when asked about Limbaugh’s comments that Adolf Hitler “like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate" -- and about Rush's comparison of the Obama administration’s health-care logo to a swastika.

“Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?” Cantor said. “No, I don’t, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.”

A Cantor spokesman also said that signs at Thursday's Hill Tea Party showing murdered Jews at Dachau were "inappropriate."

[gimme1ibertee]

Okay.....add Cantor to the list....
Wow. It just keeps growing.

[Nat Turner]

Those that forget the past are doomed to elect RINOS and demoncrats...

[DavidAccord]

lol

[mbarker12474]

Open your eyes Cantor.

And listen to what Rush actually said, while you are at it.

[tennmountainman]

Cantor’s idea of inclusion is DEDE.

He gave his support to that backstabber.

Remove him from his leadership post.

[A CA Guy]

Surprisingly, many Jews are more liberal despite continuous betrayals of Israel by Democrats.

Sounds like this guy bought into the big tent at any cost strategy.

Yep, work to remove him imo.

[alice_in_bubbaland]

Cantor STFU or go join the democrats!

Leave ElRushbo alone.

and

We are ticked off so get out of way!

[Navy Patriot]

Cantor will make a good Kapo.

[grobdriver]

The Republican Party in its roots is a party of inclusion and we ought to be promoting that and making sure that voices are heard

Bssstt!!
Wrong Answer!

[libh8er]

I hope Cantor’s apology letter is on Rush’s desk by the time Rush gets to work Monday morning.

[frogjerk]

Absolutely. GOP is the party of inclusion? What plank is that other than the imaginary one placed there by RINOs?

[stevem]

I suspect any Republican this stupid is also far too dense to explain Rush’s context.

[1776 Reborn]

I understand what Rush is saying when he invokes the memory of Hitler, but I think the point could be made in a more palatable way without it. It really doesn't help us win over more converts to our cause.

[cynwoody]

I hadn't realized Obamacare had a logo. Thanks, Congressman Cantor, for making me aware.

[pnh102]

Ugh. And these idiots really think they can win in 2010 by attacking conservatives. Did Cantor not see what happened in NY 23?

[Melchior]

Cantor has the Republican foot in mouth disease. He must have studied under Newt G.

[08bil98z24]

TODAY -— This just in: Certain Freepers turn on Eric Cantor.

COMING TOMORROW: Certain Freepers turn on [insert Republican’s name here].

IN THE NEXT 5 TO 10 MINUTES: Cantor will be called a RINO shortly by the ever “perfect conservatives” of FR.

Sigh.

[chimera]

“The Republican Party in its roots is a party of inclusion and we ought to be promoting that and making sure that voices are heard,” ...

That's what Limbaugh is doing, providing a voice to be heard that otherwise would not. Those voices, Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilley, Hannity, those attending tea parties and town halls, need to be heard. By and large, up to now, they haven't been heard. We need to hear those voices, not just the voices of Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Hoyer, Rangle, Sharpton, Jackson, Goldberg, Couric, Rather, Olbermann, Blitzer, and all the others which is all we'd hear otherwise.

[iceskater]

Richmond ping.

I am so over Cantor. He sold his soul to the devil of political power and expediency.

[Rational Thought]

At this point, I don’t question Cantor. I do question the authenticity of the piece.

[iceskater]

He is my congresscritter and I am done with him. I was done with Cantor when he voted to tax the AIG bonuses. The letter he wrote to me explaining his vote basically said “two wrongs make a right.”

I turned on him ages ago. This is just confirmation that Eric is as corrupt as the rest of the slime that lives in DC.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Sigh.

I agree.

There are a goodly number of FReepers on here who need to take a baseball bat with the words "Godwin's Law" written on it upside the head.

[William Tell 2]

One day these Republican leaders are going to be as clever as the journalists who are setting them up.

Here’s how it works. The journalist knows in advance that he/she wants to get Cantor to criticize Limbaugh. Why? Because most journalists lean Democrat - and even those who don’t want to be accepted by the media power structure - which does lean left.

(Fox News’ Shephard Smith is a good example of this. Now these Republican politicians should know this. They have been warned that the media are not their friends since at least 1994 when Limbaugh told the Republican Congressional freshman.)

Now to set up the Republican the journalist finds something controversial/outrageous that Limbaugh said, which is easy enough to do. The journalist then quotes Limbaugh and asks the Republican to respond.

The appropriate response should be something like “I did not hear it so I am not going to comment on it. By the way what do you as a journalist think of Alan Grayson’s comments that Republicans want to murder innocent people?”

Just turn it back around at them. No, instead the Republican’s knee jerk reaction is to try to distance him/herself from controversy.

Also, Republicans are totally unprepared to take on the media because they are ill informed. I saw this first hand when I was at the press conference given at McCain’s Philadelphia HQ last Election Day. They subject was the New Black Panthers and the McCain lawyer did not have the slightest clue about the group’s history. Meanwhile my colleagues from Philadelphia’s liberal mainstream media ( I was working for The Bulletin then) were hammering the McCain lawyer.

It was only after I informed the McCain lawyer and the assembled media, that the NBPP were considered a hate group by the liberal SPLC did the reporters shut up.

It is not that they are RINO’s they are just oblivious to what the environment is.

[TornadoAlley3]

Oh God, now he will be a regular on Hannity, all the RINOs on his shows.

[08bil98z24]

NY 23 was not some GREAT VICTORY.

The seat went DEMOCRATIC in a supposedly solid conservative district.

And conservatives CAN NOT WIN without the REPUBLICANS.

[Ptarmigan]

Hmmmmm, you’re onto something.

[pallis]

Weenies can criticize Rush all they want, but that doesn’t alter the truth that Obamao is a Hitleresque thinker and idol, perhaps not as smart as Adolf, more nauseating then mesmerizing, but every bit as dangerous, even more destructive to American than Hitler could ever have been.

[Mamzelle]

Stupid, stupid.

Hitler wasn't just about Jews. Hitler was the response to the breakdown of the German Republic.

Embarrassing. Why does Cantor address himself to this at all?

[libbylu]

He could freaking listen to what Rush says without rushing to judgment.

[SkyDancer]

So it was Ok for Hillary to call Bush Hitler and the Republican party Nazi's on the floor of the Senate but not Ok to compare Barack Insane Obama's health care with Hitler's???

[Mamzelle]

What we should do is to refuse to make ourselves responsible for some sign that appears at a Tea Party. We cannot in any way control it. So we should not address any question asked us in that regard...say only, "I only speak for myself."

If we allow ourselves to be thrown on the defensive, what next? The left will pay a few agents provocateurs to join us with ever more obnoxious signs.

It's this defensiveness that makes us WEAK.

Show me one time that a Democrat had to answer for the excesses of a fellow Democrat. Show me the apology Nanzi issued for Grayson.

[FourPeas]

Ugh, more “inclusive” garbage. One more pol that just doesn’t get it.

[08bil98z24]

It is not that they are RINO’s

According to people here, everybody and anybody is a RINO.

sigh.

I'm with you, the MSM IS the problem! I've been saying that for a long time now.

[tennmountainman]

“Did Cantor not see what happened in NY 23?”

See?

The entire GOP leadership, with the exception of Pence,rubber stamped DeDe. HE WAS PART OF THE PROBLEM.

[08bil98z24]

even more destructive to American than Hitler could ever have been

That's got to be the stupidest thing I have read today.

[TurtleUp]

Cantor criticizes Rush for Hitler-Obama comparison

Harsh as that comparison might seem, I don't think it's out of line ... Hitler was evil enough to be compared with Dear Leader Obama.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Oh, give me a break.

[fr_freak]

There are a goodly number of FReepers on here who need to take a baseball bat with the words "Godwin's Law" written on it upside the head.

Don't be ridiculous. It is one thing to recognize that pulling Hitler's name out every time someone disagrees with you in internet discussions is silly, but it is an entirely different situation when governmental policies being put in place are fascistic in nature and represent a real threat to the American principles of government, and a radio host whose job it is to notice these things points it out. You would have that radio host hold his tongue because of some ridiculous internet rule? By your reasoning, neither Hitler nor Nazis should ever be mentioned again in any context because it would be breaking some imaginary rule that was most likely made up by pimply college kids arguing on a message board about whether Cindy Crawford or Brooke Shields was hotter. History should be wiped clean of all Nazi references so that we can avoid looking uncool? Please.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Cantor is a reliable conservative.

I can’t fault a Jewish guy about being sensitive to Nazi comparisons.

[08bil98z24]

Oh God, now he will be a regular on Hannity, all the RINOs on his shows.

Hannity only has RINO's on his shows now huh?

What's next? Hannity a RINO now too?

[TheThirdRuffian]

Brooke Shields.

[Corin Stormhands]

Cantor is a reliable conservative.

While I would agree with you about his being sensitive to the issue, he's still a squish.

[marron]

I agree with Cantor.

The better comparison would be Mussolini.

Or Capone.

[The Comedian]

“Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?” Cantor said. “No, I don’t, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.”

Too bad, idiot. We find it very helpful to discuss historic parallels, especially when they are manifestly obvious to anyone not blinded with the CS spray of "bipartisanship".

Go join Senator Sphyncter with the rest of goats/Democrats.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[a fool in paradise]

Meanwhile the Democrats are saying that the Republicans want HALF of America to die by denying them Obamacare and the President himself said that his critics were LYING (prompting Joe Wilson to declare YOU Lie) and now that we are seeing the final language of the bill, it is clear that things Obama DENIED were in it (like public funding of abortions) are there.

[08bil98z24]

By your reasoning, neither Hitler nor Nazis should ever be mentioned again in any context because it would be breaking some imaginary rule that was most likely made up by pimply college kids arguing on a message board about whether Cindy Crawford or Brooke Shields was hotter.

Honestly? Are you serious? Your joking right?

[TornadoAlley3]

I did not say only RINOs, all the RINOs, his favorite is Newt, oh and not a RINO but he loves Al Sharpton. Cantor is
not very bright to comment about Rush with the base as mad as they are. Rush has explained his comparison many times, Cantor obviously does not listen to his show. Hannity liked Rudy so maybe he is a RINO.

[fr_freak]

NY 23 was not some GREAT VICTORY.

The seat went DEMOCRATIC in a supposedly solid conservative district.

And conservatives CAN NOT WIN without the REPUBLICANS.

Wrong again, buddy. It was not a great win, but it was a win, because the leftist posing as a Republican got booted, essentially from the GOP. Had she run, a lot of good conservatives would have been suckered into voting for her. Instead, she is unemployed and will never run again as a Republican. The only thing worse than a Democrat winning is a Democrat winning as a Republican so that Republicans have to take the blame for all the ridiculous crap they do.

Also, it is my understanding that the district in question routinely elects Democrats, so referring to it as some kind of conservative stronghold is blatantly incorrect.

[ken5050]

Memo to Cantor...Engage brain BEFORE moving mouth..