This weekend was the state’s GOP convention, and from my casual observation, there were three matters of note that took place which were, in declining order of significance:
1. Dark horse candidate for the state Treasurer nomination Kelly Mitchell won on the third ballot. She defeated Marion mayor Wayne Seybold (the “establishment” candidate) and Don Bates (the “Tea Party” candidate). The first ballot had all of them taking roughly 1/3 of the vote. When it became clear that Bates would not win, most of his delegates jumped to the Mitchell camp. Mitchell is an employee at the Treasurer’s office. Normally, I’d say that’s a good thing for a position like this — Treasurer isn’t a position you want making headlines — it’s just one where you want the job done competently and quietly. And, maybe her experience is a good thing. My only reservation is that Richard Mourdock has been running that office for the last 8 years. I’ve had a decidedly dim view of his judgment since his self-aggrandizing nonsense with the Chrysler bankruptcy.
2. The party adopted a platform plank stating: “We believe that strong families, based on marriage between a man and a woman, are the foundation of society.” By implication, strong families based on other arrangements – same sex marriages, single parent households, widows and widowers, extended families – are second class. My thought is that strong families are to be valued no matter how they are composed. So, the culture wars will continue on that front until further notice, I suppose.
3. Not content with being known for venturing a public statement presuming to know the mind of God and his intent that a rape result in pregnancy, state Treasurer Mourdock decided to go the full Godwin in his farewell speech:
The people of Germany in a free election selected the Nazi Party because they made great promises that appealed to them because they were desperate and destitute. And why is that? Because Germany was bankrupt. . . . The truth is, 70 years later, we are drifting on the tides toward another beachhead and it is the bankruptcy of the United States of America.
. . .
Over the next several years, every time a program began to fall apart, Mr. Hitler’s party was very, very good at dividing Germany by pointing to this group or that group,” he said. “First they went after their political opponents. Then they went after the aristocrats. Then they went after the trade unionists. And ultimately of course they went after the Jews. They deprived them of their property, their rights, their citizenship, and for millions their humanity. Because they were bankrupt!”
(See also – here for quote.)
His grasp on history is clearly tenuous if he sees strong parallels between the current U.S. and 1920s and 30s Germany – reeling as it was from the horrors of World War I and the burdens of Allied reparations. But, really, you don’t have to be a scholar to avoid these sorts of missteps. If you’re a public official and you are thinking of saying something about rape and Nazis other than to observe they are evil. Just don’t. Come up with a non-rape, non-Nazi way to make your point. (Pro-tip: slavery too.)
Also from the article:
I’ll give him credit – he IS influencing people. Just not in the intended manner.
It’s a nice experience to get confirmation that one of the guys the people voted for was the right one.
His comments are being widely reported (and ridiculed or condemned). What is being far less widely reported is the fact that, apparently, his comments were met with a standing ovation by those in attendance.
So State Republicans will continue on the extreme route…
Why wouldn[‘t they. Hoosiers continue to elect them, the Indy media is cool with them, and between the Voter ID law, the inherent corruption in the political system, and the gerrymandered Indiana Senate, Hoosiers get what they pay for, i.e. crappy governance, a Third World economy, and no health insurance
“The party adopted a platform plank stating: “We believe that strong families, based on marriage between a man and a woman, are the foundation of society.” ”
No. They merely renewed a plank stating that. You know, the long-held understanding of how such arrangements benefit couples and community.
That they didn’t choose to adopt today’s fad does not mean a novel position was accepted.
I thought the platform omitted that plank in 2012. In any event, I think strong families are beneficial to the community regardless of their composition. This plank singles out a particular type of strong family for praise.
if you disagree with Mourdock, so state. Smirking behind an Internet contrivance to shield Nazis from criticism is not a rebuttal.
I said:
I suppose I could have gone on at greater length, but yes I disagree. The parallels between Germany then and the U.S. now are not strong, if they exist at all. And Godwin’s Law wasn’t designed to “shield Nazis from criticism,” it was an observation about how common the tendency was in online discourse to falsely equate things with the Nazis.
“The parallels between Germany then and the U.S. now are not strong, if they exist at all. ”
You’re kidding.
No-knock military-style home invasions by police occur daily. Anything but full and immediate submission to a cop can get you pepper-sprayed, tasered or killed, and nothing will happen to the cop. The military is given fawning adulation everywhere they go, and they’re now told to wear battle uniforms (fatigues) in public, when just a few years ago, fatigues were forbidden off base. The people are now fully aware that they are subordinate to government power.
If you write here that judge so-and-so is a blankety-blank incompetent, results-oriented hack, you’ll be quickly tossed from your business, and told to use that First Amendment and a buck to get yourself a cup of coffee.
Over 50% of occupations are licensed. There is no occupation or market into which the government is forbidden from intruding.
You’d have a shorter list noting material differences. I don’t know why the Left is running from Mourdock’s argument. National Socialism was a leftist program.
The whole thing was insane (except the first argument re: the warrants), but the full Goldberg cherry on the end was hysterical!
As always, “freedom,” you are hilarious
Richard Mourdock is the white-people freakout writ large. Actually, the straight white male freakout. You know — freaking out that there’s a black (Muslim Kenyan usurper) president, that demographically white people are in decline, that gays get to be treated as if they’re normal, everyday humans, that you have the option to press dos por espanol, that salsa outsells ketchup, etc. It’s easy to dismiss these kooks as dinosaurs, because they are. But their freakout is real, and it brings a lot of people to the polls, and you end up with legislatures like the one Indiana has as a result. Straight white male as the base of “normal” is heading to extinction, and the people who benefit from this know it, which is why they’re doubling down, freaking out and trying to pull everything backward. Regarding Mourdock’s speech, more disturbing that he made it is that the crowd ate it up.
Why more Hoosiers aren’t disgusted by his lawsuit to destroy Kokomo is one of the more amazing things.
Liberals always sound like the kids who were the first to get killed in Dodgeball.
Says the man smirking from behind his Internet contrivance.
I was usually one of the last ones standing in dodgeball. I didn’t throw all that hard, but I was small and had good reflexes.
No, we always won. Because of Nazis.
The State Treasurer position should be an appointed one.
We don’t always need to check with the people.
A simple personnel office could have done better.
Murdock’s degree is in geology.
Yeah, sure his degree is in Geology, but what’s his diagnosis?