Eric Cantor Helps Smear Another Republican

Eric Cantor needs to go. The supposed wunderkind Congressman from Virginia simply doesn’t have what it takes to lead a political party, especially one that can’t rely on a collaborating media. I’ve criticized him twice before, once for his pathetic condemnation of fantasy Tea Party “vitriol that could lead to assassinations” which Pelosi claimed to have heard, and once for his participation in the pathetic and cowardly Republican Pledge. Now he’s shown a lack of leadership again, this time in relation to a smear against a Republican candidate.

This Democrat-generated scandal arose when Ohio Democratic incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur attacked her challenger, Rick Iott, for “wearing a Nazi uniform.” That sounds kind of bad, until you realize it was part of a World War II historical re-enactment.

For those who don’t know, our country is awash in historical re-enactors. All over the country, people re-enact everything from the Revolution to the Civil War to colonial living. Recreationists study the history of a particular period or event, typically a military battle (but not always), then they collect clothing, uniforms and equipment from the period. Every so often, they venture into the field to reenact the event to the enjoyment of the assembled crowds -- if you’ve ever seen the movie Gettysburg, then it might interest you to know that all those civil war soldiers were not actors or CGI, they were re-enactors. And when they aren’t out re-enacting a battle or village life or Indian dances or famous American speeches or even Renaissance faires, many of these people visit schools to provide history lessons.

Republican candidate Rick Iott is a re-enactor. He has played the role of American soldiers in World War I, World War II, both sides in the Civil War, and. . . to the media’s ignorant horror, a German soldier in World War II. He apparently has been doing this for 30 years along with his son, both of whom are history buffs. He says that he participated as a Nazi soldier for about three years in total, and when he did, he would visit local schools to discuss the war:

"We talked about the atrocities that were committed and it was a horrible, horrible part of history. But we can't forget about it or, you know, sweep it under the rug. Because those who forget about history are destined to repeat it."

But looking for anything to exploit, Kaptur tried to portray this as Iott “wearing a Nazi uniform,” thereby suggesting that he was a secret Nazi. Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida cited this as an example of GOP candidates with extreme views when she recently appeared on Fox, again clearly meaning to imply that Iott has an affinity for the Nazis. Of course, other leftists have piled on, including Elan Steinberg, the vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors, who called Iott’s “actions” “a profoundly disgraceful expression of anti-American values.”

This is utter nonsense. Are we seriously to believe that re-enactors should re-enact only one side of a conflict lest they be considered sympathetic to the other side? And if that’s the case, then what are we to make of ultra-liberal Hollywood? Hollywood loves the Nazis. Every actor in Hollywood is craving to put on a Nazi uniform, because they think they will look cool. And usually these films entirely lack even a hint of historical merit; they certainly have less than the re-enactors. So should we conclude that Hollywood is crawling with secret Nazi sympathizers? What about Steven Spielberg, who has made at least four films that were awash in Nazis? Should we consider Spielberg’s films “a profoundly disgraceful expression of anti-American values”?

This is misleading mudslinging. This is as bad as false allegations of affairs or lies about anonymous sources claiming all kinds of perversions or hidden crimes. This is McCarthyism with his secret list of communists. What’s worse, this is exploitation of a horrific event, WWII, to score cheap political points. This is using Hitler as an advertisement. These people should be ashamed of themselves. They are a disgrace.

And that brings me to Eric Cantor. Cantor was asked about this on Fox News, right after Schultz blathered on about this. Was his response to point out the ludicrousness of tarring millions of Americans and exploiting one of history’s greatest crimes to try to save a failing candidate? No. His response was what his responses have always been: he repudiated Iott. After saying that he would not support someone who would dress in Nazi attire, he said, “You know good and well that I don’t support anything like that.”

Here’s the thing Eric. This is a Democratic smear. They’ve taken a valid and much-participated-in hobby, which is intended to honor the history of our country, and they’ve twisted it into something that it is not, so they can scare their base. And you fell for it Eric.

If you didn’t know the facts of this situation, then you should have made that clear and you should have begged off on condemning anyone until you knew the truth. . . because you know the Democrats lie and distort for political gains. Your instinct to throw a member of your own party under the bus on the distorted word of a Democrat is shameful and tells me that you are incapable of leading conservatives.

And I'm glad to say that Iott called you out on this: "What Cantor did is exactly the illustration of why people are disgusted with politicians. He made comments and took a position that was good for him at the time, regardless of whether it was good for anyone else or good for the voters."

What’s more, if you did know the truth Eric, and you still chose not to stand up for Iott and the millions of others out there who have participated in this hobby, then you’re an elitist a~shole who doesn’t understand anything about the history of our country or the respect that these people have for it, and again, you are not capable of leading a party that represents average Americans.

I also question why you couldn’t get yourself to make the obvious connection that what these people do has much more historical merit and purpose than Hollywood dusting off their Nazis uniforms because they think they look cool. Why do you instinctively condemn your own side, yet ignore the same thing you condemn when it’s done by the other side?

In any event, Mr. Cantor, you are tool and you should step down.