There was a video of Hitler strutting his stuff to Merv
Griffin’s “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” on you tube which I was hoping
to re-post, but it has been removed due to copyright issues. It’s too bad,
because it was really well done. I was thinking about the video while watching
the news and the latest rumblings from North Korea. Don’t take me wrong, the
situation is not a good one, and whenever things get too far down on the scale
of life I always turn to humor as a source of relief. And that’s what brought
that video to mind.
I did find, in its stead, this little gem of Hitler set to
music; in this case “Movin’ on Up” from the sitcom “The Jeffersons.” Now, before
you object too strenuously, let me tell you why I find these types of videos to
be so funny. You see, they take the demagogue and show him up for what he
really is; a buffoon. Not a larger than life dictator, but a fool. Just as in
Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator”, or the Three Stooges in “You Natsy Spy”,
these films help to undercut the fear engendered by such fanatics. No one is powerful enough
to stop laughter.
The best example I can give of this line of reasoning comes
from a concentration camp survivor named Robert Clary, who played Corporal Le Beau
on “Hogan’s Heroes”, and was a prisoner from 1942 in Ottmuth and then
transferred to Buchenwald where he was freed on April 11, 1945 at the age of 19.
The other 12 members of his family all perished there. He was asked if he
thought there was something wrong with his participation in a show that made
the Nazi’s look like fools. His reply was that in the camps there was only laughter
to sustain one’s strength. To lose that spirit would have meant giving up, and
then dying. That explanation, from someone who was there, and lost so much, has
always held weight with me.
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Tommy Tucker - Fascist on the Rise
“I am the Senator. You are the citizen. You need to be
quiet.”
Senator Tommy Tucker (Waxhaw)
This is the face; and those are the words; of Fascism. The
man looks quite ordinary, and that’s where the danger lies. Think about Charles
Manson; he looked nuts, so he didn't scare me. But his “disciples”, who all
looked like ordinary people were the ones who carried out his orders; hence
they are the scarier of the two groups.
North Carolina is in the midst of a sea change in politics.
With a Republican held state government anything is possible. Just 2 weeks ago
the State Legislature tried to fast track a resolution which would have
established a State Religion. Naturally, I was not included in that group,
which would have marginalized my rights as a citizen to worship as I please
without fear. It did not even make it to a vote because people, like me and
you, stood up against it.
This week we see the emergence of State Senator Tommy Tucker
of Waxhaw pushing a bill on a fast track which will allow the state government,
and small towns, to act in what amounts to secrecy in changing things like
zoning laws and the placements of waste-water treatment facilities without the
requisite placement of Public Notice in the local newspapers which are read
almost 60 times as much as the notices posted on government websites, which is
where the notices will go if the Senate Bill 287 passes today.
I called Mr. Tucker’s office at 919-733-7659 this morning
and was treated with the utmost rudeness by a man who would not give his name,
did not know that the Senator had said the words quoted above, and had never
heard of the bill. When I tried to explain the meaning of the bill to him he
became agitated and rude, talking over anything I had to say. Then, to cap it
off, he claimed to know about the bill but refused to discuss it. Such
arrogance has never come my way before.
Tommy Tucker works for the people. He is an employee. When
he tells a reporter to shut up, he is talking to you. As his employer, we call
upon the people of Waxhaw to fire this misguided would be dictator in the next
election. And then, tell him to be quiet.
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