Writes Graeme Wood in The Atlantic.[O]ne can make out statues [Harlan] Crow has collected from countries ravaged by political violence: Nicolae Ceaușescu, the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party; Lenin and Stalin; Enver Hoxha of Albania; the Hungarian Communist Béla Kun. These authentic specimens were harvested from the wreckage of collapsed tyranny, and they are kept in the condition in which they were found....
Nearer to his office, away from the silent outer darkness, are statues of Margaret Thatcher and other political and cultural figures whom he honors rather than reviles. And inside, near the entrance to the Crow library, is the largest bust of Winston Churchill I have ever seen....
Down the hallway, I saw paintings by Dwight Eisenhower and George W. Bush. Bush is a friend of Crow’s, and one of his paintings depicts Crow in conversation with an elderly African man. It is labeled father to father. In the main hall, one of the most prominent paintings is a portrait of Clarence Thomas in his robes. Thomas is also visible in a few vacation photographs framed in Crow’s office.
The Hitler paintings were, I am told, in the library somewhere—but they occupied no exalted space, and the Crow collection consists mostly of items from American history, chiefly relics of those who advanced the cause of freedom. It includes signatures from all the signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the desk of Abraham Lincoln.... Somewhere in the Crow library, there’s a signed Mein Kampf...
It simply isn’t possible to be a Nazi, crypto or otherwise, and simultaneously be an Abe Lincoln and Liz Cheney fanboy—let alone to conceal from your dearest confidants, among them Black and Jewish people, your preference for the master race....
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63 comments:
He's already been defamed by the Left as a Nazi.
"A lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets out of bed." Will Rogers, pre-internet.
We have a huge Nazi banner that my father in law brought back from the war as a war trophy. It was signed by all the men in his unit. It is a display case along with his bronze stars. We are clearly not Nazis.
It's like a Confederate statue in the modern grammar of icons.
Now the author should look into the many Black people who collect slavery-era artifacts. It's amazing to me that this story needed to be written.
I see what they're doing. Put Clarence Thomas, Billionaire and Nazi in a headline. In 5 years, who will remember the content?
Althouse has spoken to her general feelings about the investigative reporting on Justice Thomas, and I have expressed my own agreement with her.
I think that the allegations that Harlan Crow is somehow some sort of crypto-Nazi or crypto-Communist because of his collection of statuary and other artifacts from 20th century authoritarian history is silly. I am certain that Althouse thinks those allegations are silly as well.
But there is a non-silly allegation; Althouse isn't speaking to it. The much more serious allegation is that Harlan Crow was a donor and leading Board Member of AEI, the conservative/free enterprise thinktank that often files Amicus briefs before the Supreme Court.
I am not suggesting that the AEI relation is one deserving of discipline or impeachment of Justice Thomas. I am suggesting that there is a serious question to be asked, and to be made a subject of future reformation of SCOTUS ethics rules.
The case that Justice Thomas "falsely stated that Harlan Crow did not have business before the Court" is made very directly and in great detail HERE.
So I frequent the English country auction houses looking for interesting vintage watches. There's the category of military watches which are quite collectible, mostly MoD issues from the Swiss or that Seiko in the movie or whatever. When you search the category it peters out towards the end and slowly moves to plain militaria, mostly WWII. All the Nazi stuff- amazing how much those things fetch. I want to think it's Britons with an interest in all things related to the war but something tells me its those Soros types who dream of if only...
I love how modern versions of Mein Kampf come with copious footnotes and annotations to ensure you come to the appropriate conclusions while reading it. Doesn't this strike bibliophiles as odd?
I read books to form my own opinions. Why would I ever purchase something where someone is taking up half of every page telling me what to think about what I'm reading?
So now how much "nazi" stuff you have is a matter of concern. Why would anyone have a signed copy of Mein Kamp or a German Battle flag. That's very suspicious Comrade. Are you a counter-revolutionary? A fascist? A...wait for it... a Hitlerite?
WHenever I think the press in country in the USA can't get anymore Stalinist or more stupid, they prove me wrong.
In a contest of "who was more evil?" between: Stalin, Mao, or Hitler, I'd judge it a three-way tie. The body count of murdered victims probably goes to Mao, with Stalin a close second. But for some reason, known only to Boobus Americanus, one can't have a 80 y/o copy of Mein Kamp without being labeled a 21st century Nazi-lover. But you can actually CELEBRATE Stalin and Mao with zero blow back.
It reminds me of my college professor's saying: One percent think, 10 percent think they think, and rest don't think at all.
BTW, look for everyone in the thread to start off with "No one hates Nazis more than me" as if anyone doesn't in 21st century USA. That you need to say that, says something.
Media!
"The Hitler paintings were, I am told, in the library somewhere—but they occupied no exalted space,"
"I am told" = hearsay. Not proper journalism.
"...billionaire friend..."
That's what struck me most. So are we delineated into a financial caste system, and deviation outside our caste is a 'crime'? Hunting for skeletons of said friends or associates reflects on us as individuals?
I've seen Triumph of the Will, twice. The second time was with my at the time middle school kids.
I've also tried to read, without success, Mein Kampf
I have read other contemporary National Socialist writers trying to understand socialism.
Does that make me a National Socialist?
I've also read Mussolini, Lenin, Marx and other socialists.
John Henry
My father served in the U.S. Army Infantry during World War II. He was stationed in Europe and saw limited combat. Before he died he gave me some of his original Nazi paraphernalia (medals and armbands and such) that he had collected while serving in Germany. He did it because he knew I had an interest in military history. I hope this doesn't make me a Nazi sympathizer. This whole thing is just another ridiculous hatchet job against Justice Thomas.
My father served in the U.S. Army Infantry during World War II. He was stationed in Europe and saw limited combat. Before he died he gave me some of his original Nazi paraphernalia (medals and armbands and such) that he had collected while serving in Germany. He did it because he knew I had an interest in military history. I hope this doesn't make me a Nazi sympathizer. This whole thing is just another ridiculous hatchet job against Justice Thomas.
Go Green with DIEversity of Nazis, Democrasses, Decepticons, and a surrogate womb in a class-disordered society.
That said, the audacity of having a signed copy of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War."
I see what they're doing. Put Clarence Thomas, Billionaire and Nazi in a headline.
The art and science of steered sentience through handmade tales, JournoLism is the Fourth Leg of a Fascist State.
Harrison Ford received a Grail diary autographed by Adolf Hitler during the Last Crusade adventure.
So now according to the Stalinist left, Harrison Ford is a Nazi now, right?
"Clarence Thomas’s Billionaire Friend Is No Nazi/He has a signed copy of Mein Kampf."
He probably has a name, too. I'm guessing there's a reason it wasn't used in the article title.
I wonder what he paid for Hitler stuff.
So the same people who want to remove books from libraries are now arguing that reading Mein Kampf is no big deal.
Reminds me of when these non-racists targeted the two black Representatives to remove while ignoring the white lady ... you can claim what you want but to the masses it looks like something else.
In the great TV series "Justified," there is an episode in which a somewhat creepy art appraiser keeps insisting that the marshals need to view his collection of Hitler's paintings. They think he is a creep and humor him, but at the end he shows them the collection, which is a bunch of jars full of ashes.
He explains that he is Jewish and that his father (I think) was a victim of the Holocaust, and that he buys any Hitler he can find and burns it.
Also of note is that the "creepy" art appraiser is the same guy who Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on SNL called HR about for trying to talk to them, while allowing Tom Brady to grab their hooters while walking around in his underwear. (Another classic)
"But you can actually CELEBRATE Stalin and Mao with zero blow back."
But who does celebrate them?
"I have read other contemporary National Socialist writers trying to understand socialism."
Neither Hitler nor the Nationalist Socialists (after Hitler took over the party for his own purposes) were socialists, of course.
We should all be so lucky that our biggest crime is who we go on vacay with.
The only good reason to own a piece of Nazi memorabilia is if you took it from a dead Nazi's hand.
I for one would like to own an old Nazi typewriter* (I sort of collect typewriters), but it's actually quite contentious whenever the subject comes up online. Some want every single one destroyed, others see just a historic artifact. I find the idea as something of a slap in the face to Nazis, using one of their objects to write nice letters to people, sort of a swords-to-ploughshares kinda thing.
* They're standard typewriters for the most part, with the addition of an "SS" symbol key.
This is all about the coming USSC decision on affirmative action. Preparation of battle space. I fully expect the decision to be leaked before announced.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/justice-clarence-thomas-deserves-our-praise
I see what they're doing. Put Clarence Thomas, Billionaire and Nazi in a headline. In 5 years, who will remember the content?
In the modern media world, that is the content!
My Dad --- departed now these two years --- was an avid stamp collector in his youth and later.
I have an entire album of Nazi-era stamps, including first day covers and stamps issued from occupied Poland.
Guess I'm a Nazi, too.
BTW, look for everyone in the thread to start off with "No one hates Nazis more than me"
Especially Illinois Nazis
It doesn't matter what he thinks he is, or isn't
What matters is what we say he is - or isn't.
Half at least of the stuff sold as Authentic Nazi is counterfeit, and reflects a widespread popular interest that is--love historical ironies--reflective of Hitler's transpolitical appeal to the German masses.
Masses that included all classes. Classes, regions, professions, and religious confessions.
As a student of history, I'd list Kershaw's biography. Weber's "Hitler's First War," and "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers" by Brian Rigg as the most enlightening recent works. I haven't read the Ulrich (?) bio.
My father didn't bring any enemy booty home, but my father in law had a stash of mostly Nazi Party regalia he had liberated. The obligatory stahlhelm sans liner. A handy size Mein Kampf, issued in 1942, on very fine paper (780 pages of small print). I'm going through some of it now, from the stout wooden "Patronenkasten 900" ammo box he sent it home in.
I enjoyed looking at the Egyptian artifacts in The British Museum because I hope for a day when we will all be pressed into service building monuments for Pharaoh. So let it be written--so let it be done!
I was going to give Crow a pass until I found out he's friends with Cheney and Bush.
Cancel him...
FDR worked closely with Stalin.
That could be a problem.
In my school library I once opened century old copy of Immanuel Kant printed in Gothic script
- possibly it was Kritik der reinen Vernunft
took a few minutes to refocus vision to see around in the stacks
One of my regrets is I did not get the "American Opinion" bookstore metallic 3-D sign over the John Birch Headquarters, located across the street from the public library I used most in high school, when the bookstore closed.
It'd look awesome backlit over a home bar.
""But you can actually CELEBRATE Stalin and Mao with zero blow back."
Robert Cooke: But who does celebrate them? }}}}
Off the top of my head: There was a portrait of Mao on a Christmas tree ornament in the Obama White House (so so profane). There are innumerable academics who identify openly and proudly as Marxists teaching our youth.
Freeman Hunt wryly observed: "I enjoyed looking at the Egyptian artifacts in The British Museum because I hope for a day when we will all be pressed into service building monuments for Pharaoh. So let it be written--so let it be done!"
Or as my husband and I sometimes say in a mock-stern voice, "So let it be written---so let it be did!"
I am interested in the British Union of Fascists and own one of their badges. I have books by Oswald Mosley. I am not a fascist. A fascist would be a leader by fiat compelling car makers to have more than half of their production in electric vehicles. That, comrades, is the very model of fascism.
Well, as we've learned in the last few years, you certainly can't leave important historical artifacts, books and documents in the hands of libraries, or universities, or government archives. Or with statues, on government property subject to government boards. They will be easily disappeared when they don't serve the Leftist narrative.
So, Robert, was Mao a socialist? Why, or why not?
My father served in the U.S. Army Infantry during World War II. He was stationed in Europe and saw limited combat. Before he died he gave me some of his original Nazi paraphernalia (medals and armbands and such) that he had collected while serving in Germany. He did it because he knew I had an interest in military history. I hope this doesn't make me a Nazi sympathizer. This whole thing is just another ridiculous hatchet job against Justice Thomas.
"Neither Hitler nor the Nationalist Socialists (after Hitler took over the party for his own purposes) were socialists, of course."
This is known as a "fine point".
The Nazis believed in state control of industry, but let the companies keep their names. The proletariat enthusiastically agreed. "The Future Belongs To Me".
Is state control of industry socialism? Absolutely, that is what USSR, CCCP, NORK, lives by. What other socialism is there, outside of theory? Should we mask it by saying that the state is only the proletariat? Spare me your class struggle.
Nazism was a work in progress, and never was developed outside of war, so we can't make valid conclusions about what it would be in a civilian environment.
Robert Cook said...
Neither Hitler nor the Nationalist Socialists (after Hitler took over the party for his own purposes) were socialists, of course.
You keep saying that. Perhaps you are hopeful that if you say it often enough it will become true.
You never tell us any reasons you believe that, of course. How do you define socialism so as to Exclude Hitlerian National Socialism and Mussolini's Fascism?
Some people try to do this by saying that they believed in private ownership. True, they did permit private ownership and "True Socialism(tm)" Doesn't permit private ownership, they think.
What they miss is that ownership is always legal fiction or convenience. One can have ownership without control of control without ownership.
Socialism is not about the workers (via govt acting for their own good) owning the means of production. Though they often do.
Socialism is about controlling the means of production.
"Private property" as conceived under the liberalistic economic order was a reversal of the true concept of property. This "private property" represented the right of the individual to manage and to speculate with inherited or acquired property as he pleased, without regard for the general interests ... German socialism had to overcome this "private," that is, unrestrained and irresponsible view of property. All property is common property. The owner is bound by the people and the Reich to the responsible management of his goods. His legal position is only justified when he satisfies this responsibility to the community.
Ernst Rudolf Huber, Constitutional Law of the Greater German Reich (Verfassungsrecht des grossdeutschen Reiches), Hamburg 1939
John Henry
Blogger Butkus51 said...
FDR worked closely with Stalin.
Some will say that was because of the war.
But ask them to explain all the kind things that FDR said about Stalin in the 20s and 30s. He thought the Soviets were building a new and better society.
Anita Dunn was vocal in her praise of Mao (40-60mm murders) to the point that she got fired by Obama. She is now in the WH working for Biden.
She was also a campaign adviser to Saint Hilary
John Henry
It should come as no surprise that leftists see no difference between an adult reading "Mein Kampf" and having books with graphic sexual content in school libraries for children.
Ok so Thomas "friend" is not a Nazi. Now let's get back to the issue at hand: what do we do about the fact that a Justice of the Supreme Court has been accepting - and not reporting - lavish gifts from a billionaire GOP mega-donor?
Regarding my previous post. Don't accuse me of being a nazi. You can do that if you want, but you would be very wrong.
Is it not funny that you have to say "No, I am not evil" in advance to protect your reputation?
I have a copy. I use it for research. It doesn't mean I' m a Nazi. Also have The Little Red Book. But I'm anti-fascist.
I want to know my enemies. Completely normal.
The Nazis operated in a secular society that favored redistributive change (i.e. profits at their pleasure), they exercised liberal license to indulge diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgment, class-based bigotry, politically congruent constructs), they subscribed to the Pro-Choice ethical religion (e.g. wicked solution... final solution), they had dreams of Mengele's personal affirmation in clinics unobstructed, they were environmentalist zealots, they engaged in lust and abortion without borders (e.g. Semite Spring, Slovak Spring, etc.).
Mutaman said...
"Ok so Thomas "friend" is not a Nazi. Now let's get back to the issue at hand: what do we do about the fact that a Justice of the Supreme Court has been accepting - and not reporting - lavish gifts from a billionaire GOP mega-donor?"
But pedophilia is fine?
Blogger Mutaman said...
Ok so Thomas "friend" is not a Nazi. Now let's get back to the issue at hand: what do we do about the fact that a Justice of the Supreme Court has been accepting - and not reporting - lavish gifts from a billionaire GOP mega-donor?
Now do Biden. This is battle space prep for the affirmative action decision.
The Know Nothings defense of the idiot Thomas comes down to:
1. "It's racism!!!"
2. "What about ....."
what do we do about the fact that a Justice of the Supreme Court has been accepting - and not reporting - lavish gifts from a billionaire GOP mega-donor?
Has he done anything that's surprised you?
No? Then what is your evidence for the undue influence of this "billionaire GOP mega-donor"?
From my side of the aisle, I 100% expect the progressive justices to rule in favor of abortion without limits, immigration without controls, government power without checks, racial and sexual preferences without justification - and to do so without any recourse to solid constitutional or legal reasoning. Justice Thomas can always explain his rulings on these grounds.
Always.
Mutaman said...
The Know Nothings defense of the idiot Thomas comes down to:
1. "It's racism!!!"
2. "What about ....."
See if you can follow this reasoning.
Mutaman want's us to be outraged that a conservative Supreme Court Justice is receiving favors from his wealthy friend.
Mutaman does not want us to be outraged at the outright corruption and possibly treasonous activity of our county's president and that presidents family.
Mutaman does not want us to be outraged at the child grooming and pedophilia that is being promoted by the left.
Of all the things to be outraged about Mutaman wants us to be outraged about Clarence Thomas. He wants to show us up for the hypocrites we are. Thereby believing he gains a moral advantage because no one is above the ethical rules of politics. Except his friends on the left. Who can and have gotten rich selling their influence to the highest bidder.
You voted for Biden. You moron. You have no standing to accuse anybody of anything.
There are innumerable academics who identify openly and proudly as Marxists teaching our youth.
There's one on my US History team, and several more in the History and Language Arts department. There are many more who won't admit it.
"Clarence Thomas’s Billionaire Friend Is No Nazi/He has a signed copy of Mein Kampf. That doesn’t mean he admires Hitler."
Wow.
That's 10 pounds of passive-aggressive in a 5 pound sack.
When Madison Cawthorn was running for office he was smeared as a Nazi for being proud of staying in Eagle's Nest, a vacation retreat of Hitler's made famous in the HBO show Band of Brothers (Easy Company spent time there).
The same TrueConservatives who leapt to defend Crow were mostly silent at the time; one headline after his victory was something like "GOP Candidate Who Vacationed at Hitler's Resort Wins Election."
Accusations of Nazi sympathy are just another rhetorical device that can be dismissed as bullshit, now.
"'Robert Cooke: But who does celebrate them?'
"Off the top of my head: There was a portrait of Mao on a Christmas tree ornament in the Obama White House (so so profane). There are innumerable academics who identify openly and proudly as Marxists teaching our youth."
A White House Xmas tree ornament displaying Mao's portrait? From what I read, it was one of hundreds of tree ornaments decorated by others outside the White House. Do we know if the Obamas knew of or ever saw the ornament? Obama certainly did not govern in any way that could be identified as influenced by Mao (or Marx).
How many "innumerable academics who identify openly and proudly as Marxists teaching our youth" are there? Can you name them? Even a gaggle of them? I never heard a single professor espouse Marxism or even refer to Marx when I was in college...back in the mid-70s when the counter-culture was waning but still had a greater lingering presence than in recent decades. Richard Wolff, an economist and self-professed Marxist says he never encountered any discussion of Marx's analysis of capitalism throughout his undergraduate or post-graduate education (at Harvard, Stanford, and Yale).
"Robert Cook said...
'Neither Hitler nor the Nationalist Socialists (after Hitler took over the party for his own purposes) were socialists, of course.'
"You keep saying that. Perhaps you are hopeful that if you say it often enough it will become true."
I keep saying it because it is true.
"Socialism is about controlling the means of production."
Under this definition, capitalists are socialists.
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