It Took Ye Praising Hitler Before the House Judiciary GOP Took Down Its Infamous Tweet

The previous post is related to this piece by Abigail Weinberg in Mother Jones:

On October 3, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West (now Ye) attended Paris fashion week wearing a shirt that said “White Lives Matter.”

Three days later, the Twitter account associated with the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee (ranking member: Jim Jordan) tweeted, “Kanye. Elon. Trump.”

When Ye tweeted on October 8 that he wanted to go “death con 3 on THE JEWISH PEOPLE,” the House Judiciary GOP’s tweet stayed up.

Throughout October, as Ye claimed that a Jewish doctor had misdiagnosed his mental illness; repeated stereotypes about Jews controlling finance and the media; and refused to apologize for his remarks or disavow anti-Semitism, the tweet remained.

Today, after West explicitly praised Hitler on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars podcast, the tweet came down.

“I see good things about Hitler also,” Ye said. “This guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good, and I’m done with that. I’m done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”

Within about an hour . . .

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There’s an old saying, “If ten people are sitting at a dinner table with a Nazi, there are eleven Nazis at the table.” One who supports a Nazi is a Nazi. The GOP (and Elon Musk) are now supportive of white supremacists and Nazis are the next stop.

It’s strange that nowadays we must talk about Nazis, but note who brought them into the conversation, and who has supported white supremacists (“very fine people”).

Who Goes Nazi?

Dorothy M. Thompson wrote in Harper’s Magazine In August 1941:

It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi. By now, I think I know. I have gone through the experience many times—in Germany, in Austria, and in France. I have come to know the types: the born Nazis, the Nazis whom democracy itself has created, the certain-to-be fellow-travelers. And I also know those who never, under any conceivable circumstances, would become Nazis.

It is preposterous to think that they are divided by any racial characteristics. Germans may be more susceptible to Nazism than most people, but I doubt it. Jews are barred out, but it is an arbitrary ruling. I know lots of Jews who are born Nazis and many others who would heil Hitler tomorrow morning if given a chance. There are Jews who have repudiated their own ancestors in order to become “Honorary Aryans and Nazis”; there are full-blooded Jews who have enthusiastically entered Hitler’s secret service. Nazism has nothing to do with race and nationality. It appeals to a certain type of mind.

It is also, to an immense extent, the disease of a generation—the generation which was either young or unborn at the end of the last war. This is as true of Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Americans as of Germans. It is the disease of the so-called “lost generation.”

Sometimes I think there are direct biological factors at work—a type of education, feeding, and physical training which has produced a new kind of human being with an imbalance in his nature. He has been fed vitamins and filled with energies that are beyond the capacity of his intellect to discipline. He has been treated to forms of education which have released him from inhibitions. His body is vigorous. His mind is childish. His soul has been almost completely neglected.

At any rate, let us look round the room.

The gentleman standing beside the fireplace with an almost untouched glass of whiskey beside him on the mantelpiece is Mr. A, a descendant of one of the great American families. There has never been an American Blue Book without several persons of his surname in it. He is poor and earns his living as an editor. He has had a classical education, has a sound and cultivated taste in literature, painting, and music; has not a touch of snobbery in him; is full of humor, courtesy, and wit. He was a lieutenant in the World War, is a Republican in politics, but voted twice for Roosevelt, last time for Willkie. He is modest, not particularly brilliant, a staunch friend, and a man who greatly enjoys the company of pretty and witty women. His wife, whom he adored, is dead, and he will never remarry.

He has never attracted any attention because of outstanding bravery. But I will put my hand in the fire that nothing on earth could ever make him a Nazi. He would greatly dislike fighting them, but they could never convert him. . . . Why not?

Beside him stands Mr. B, a man of his own class, graduate of the same preparatory school and university, rich, a sportsman, owner of a famous racing stable, vice-president of a bank, married to a well-known society belle. He is a good fellow and extremely popular. But if America were going Nazi he would certainly join up, and early. Why? . . . Why the one and not the other?

Mr. A has a life that is established according to a certain form of personal behavior. Although he has no money, his unostentatious distinction and education have always assured him a position. He has never been engaged in sharp competition. He is a free man. I doubt whether ever in his life he . . .

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Animating the Mercator projection to correct size and shape

Fascinating animation that takes countries enlarged by the Mercator projection and shrinks them down to their actual relative size. The lighter a country’s color, the more its size has been enlarged by the Mercator projection (so the more it shrinks in the animation to get down to its correct relative size).

Bee-Witched by an iKon open comb

Today I’m using my goat- and horse-hair shaving brush. It’s basically a novelty brush, and I don’t particularly recommend it. After the knot has been wet for a while, it loses resilience — this is definitely not a brush you want to soak before use. And today I noticed the lather was absent by the third pass — something that is indeed noticeable — so I had to reload for the final pass (at which point the knot had become floppy). I imagine the lather-death is just because the knot is still not fully broken in, and that with continued use that problem will fade. But the knot’s vulnerability to soaking will remain.

Still, I did get a good lather on each loading, and I do love the honey fragrance of Bee-Witched. I’m surprised honey-fragranced shaving soaps are not more common. It’s a great fragrance.

My iKon stainless-steel open-comb razor is extraordinarily comfortable and efficient. It is now sold with a B1 coating, but it’s the same head. Worth hinting for as a gift — or just buying.

A splash of Diplomat aftershave, which has an interesting spice fragrance, to finish the job, and we are enjoying a spot of sun (not the same as a sunspot).

The tea this morning is Murchie’s Library Blend: “This blend of Ceylon, Jasmine, Keemun, and Gunpowder teas has a rich, full base with the sparkle of aromatic Jasmine.”