Richard Iott, the Nazi that got away

This is part 1 of an indefinite series pointing out what I think is ridiculous in this 2010 election.


Also on my list:

Tom Emmer, Art Robinson, Sharon Angle, Carl Palladino, Rand Paul, and every Alaskan candidate (who seem to think they invented the phrase "Alaska for Alaskans").  If you can think of anyone else I should talk about, let me know!


And of course, Christine O'Donnell.  Who is not a witch.  She is you.  Which means she's a shape shifter.  Which I'm pretty sure is witchcraft.


First up, Richard Iott.  Ready?  Here we go!

Richard Iott used to wear a Nazi uniform fairly regularly and completely voluntarily, and then apparently went out drinking in it.  He claims to be a war re-enactor and a history buff.  It should be noted, however, the picture is of him in an SS uniform.  The SS is not the German army, though it sometimes fought side-by-side with it.  But once a nation was occupied, the SS were those who rounded up the Jews and the Gypsies and the gays and all the other 'subhumans,'  forced them onto cattle cars, guarded the gates of labor camps and extermination camps, and pulled the levers to murder those within.  Yeah.  He's dressing up as one of those guys.

And just in case you want to give him the benefit of the doubt (though anyone who is a war re-enactor should be expected to know the details), Iott specifically is part of the Waffen-SS, which were in the campaigns against the east.  He does this because he doesn't want to be involved in reenactments against Americans.  However, most of the holocaust occurred in eastern Europe, and the Waffen-SS were in fact put in charge of the administration of the camps (so much so that anyone who worked at the camps became a member of the Waffen-SS, even if s/he would not be a soldier in it).  So Iott refuses to represent Germans fighting Americans on the battlefield, but he's fine representing those who were responsible for murdering over 12 million unarmed civilians.


And CNN runs the story with the subtitle "Does this hurt the GOP?"  Really?  This is a question?  People are legitimately pausing to consider whether Iott can still win his election (he is running for a seat to represent Ohio's 9th district in the House).  They aren't just saying "He used to dress up as a Nazi, specifically the ones that ran the concentration camps in East Europe," and be done with it.  This is fucking unacceptable.  And in case it might be acceptable, Iott's has listed these reasons why we shouldn't care he dresses up as an SS officer:

Father-Son bonding They began in 2002.  They stopped doing it in 2007, when his son's interest apparently waned.  I can only imagine how that dinner conversation went.  "Dad, I'm sick of you making me dress up like a NAZI."

Because he's a history buff. Then he should know the Waffen-SS is not the German army.

"You couldn't do the Civil War Re-enactmenting if somebody didn't play the role of the Confederates."  Dressing up as a Confederate soldier is different than dressing up as a plantation owner, or someone who pursued escaped slaves.  Again, you are not dressing up as a German soldier, but as a NAZI SS officer whose division was charged with administration of labor and extermination camps.  There is a difference.  I cannot stress this enough.

"[This] is definitely something way in the past."  No it isn't.  There are still veterans of the war still alive, and still holocaust survivors.  It is not "way in the past."  You're a fucking prick.

He also said some of his best friends were Jewish.  Guess what.  They aren't your best friends any more.  Or I hope not.

I don't really know what else to say.  I'm appalled this news story is still going on.  The guy dressed up as a NAZI killer.  This makes him either a very stupid history buff, or a very insensitive one.  Neither of these are particularly good qualities.  If you claim to be a history buff but don't know the difference between the warriors and the murderers, I'm not going to believe anything else you claim to know.  And if you know the difference but don't care, I don't expect you to care about more subtle sensitivities.  And if you're that stupid or that insensitive, I really don't think you belong in the House of Representatives.


I guess we'll find out on November 2nd whether Ohio is full of idiots like this guy or not.  Damn, I hope not.

James Thomas' case is probably finished, and Colorado's beef isn't my concern for the moment.  So:

Richard Iott dressed up as an SS officer.  Specifically, the kind that ran the labor and extermination camps.  He did this of his own free will, and doesn't see this as a problem.