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Rep. Steve Cohen on Thursday stood by his remarks in which he compared Republican attacks on the health care overhaul to Nazi propaganda advanced by Joseph Goebbels.

The Tennessee Democrat, who is Jewish, said he regrets that anyone was offended and that his comments were used to "distract from the debate about health care." But in a detailed written statement, the congressman elaborated on and defended his analogy.

"Taken out of context, I can understand the confusion and concern," he said. "While I regret that anything I said has created an opportunity to distract from the debate about health care for 32 million Americans, I want to be clear that I never called Republicans Nazis. Instead, the reference I made was to the greatest propaganda master of all time."

Cohen had accused Republicans of spreading false propaganda about the health care law and tried to compare their tactics to those used by the Nazis in the lead-up to the Holocaust. "They don't like the truth so they summarily dismiss it," Cohen said. "They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like (Nazi propagandist Joseph) Goebbels."

Jewish groups swiftly criticized Cohen for making the comparison. The National Jewish Democratic Council issued a statement saying "invoking the Holocaust to make a political point is never acceptable."


what a heartfelt apology!

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Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
what a heartfelt apology!

Why are apologies only offered after someone WTFs someone's actions?

Political apologies have always meant so little to me :/

Seriously, aren't they merely strategical at best? And if so, then aren't they really nothing more than broadly insulting? So then why even bother offering an apology?

I'd be a self-conflicting prick,,, I'M SORRY, BUT I JUST WON'T APOLOGIZE!

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I regret to say that when I was in college, I was on the board of the "Young Democrats" and considered Steve Cohen to be a personal friend.

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Harry Reid on "dictator" and "compromise" To Harry, it's compromise if you agree with him.....

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Originally Posted by Jann Morrison Kostka:
Harry Reid on "dictator" and "compromise" To Harry, it's compromise if you agree with him.....

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I know I'm probably in the minority here on this and I mean no offense.  But all this media hype about who sez what, is just mere fluff.  Its a diversion.  It'll all blow over in a few days or weeks...just like the stuff about the flotilla, and the NYC Mosque and the debate over ANWAR and pat downs at airports.  Beck and O'Reilly and Hannity and Van Sustrain and all the pundits are wasting our time with this.

All of those issues were reported like the world was coming to an end if we didnt do something.  In the end...nothing was done and it went away.  Must have not been important after all.

When some lawmaker decides to introduce a bill that threatens to actually curtail our freedom of speech, then I'll pay attention.  Until then, I'm more concerned about the economy and the war.

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Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
I know I'm probably in the minority here on this and I mean no offense.  But all this media hype about who sez what, is just mere fluff.  Its a diversion.  It'll all blow over in a few days or weeks...just like the stuff about the flotilla, and the NYC Mosque and the debate over ANWAR and pat downs at airports.  Beck and O'Reilly and Hannity and Van Sustrain and all the pundits are wasting our time with this.

All of those issues were reported like the world was coming to an end if we didnt do something.  In the end...nothing was done and it went away.  Must have not been important after all.

When some lawmaker decides to introduce a bill that threatens to actually curtail our freedom of speech, then I'll pay attention.  Until then, I'm more concerned about the economy and the war.

well of course it is..... like The Repeal of the Job Killing Health Care Bill. Oh wait, we can't say job killing, that might incite someone to kill someone.

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yeah, but it's still fun highlighting hypocrisy. it's a shame nothing means anything anymore. part of me thinks instilling cynicism is a part of their plan. to just make everyone so fed up with the political process that the people just don't care anymore, or don't pay attention.

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I wonder how many happy-faced Wal Mart Employees will be shot as a result of this.

Where's the national outrage?  Why wasn't this on every major news station?

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and they put the developers name and address on the flyer.

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Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
I know I'm probably in the minority here on this and I mean no offense.  But all this media hype about who sez what, is just mere fluff.  Its a diversion.  It'll all blow over in a few days or weeks...just like the stuff about the flotilla, and the NYC Mosque and the debate over ANWAR and pat downs at airports.  Beck and O'Reilly and Hannity and Van Sustrain and all the pundits are wasting our time with this.

All of those issues were reported like the world was coming to an end if we didnt do something.  In the end...nothing was done and it went away.  Must have not been important after all.

When some lawmaker decides to introduce a bill that threatens to actually curtail our freedom of speech, then I'll pay attention.  Until then, I'm more concerned about the economy and the war.

I'm not so sure that some of those topics aren't pretty important but I understand pretty much agree with the thought.

Except that your list of pundits is waaaaaaay one-sided and short.

Where's Krugman ... Olbermann ... Matthews ... Arianna ... Mitchell ... Maddow ... (and others)?

And I most definitely agree about the economy.  Add the exploding debt ... and the momentous economic train wreck called "Affordable Health Care".

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Originally Posted by Scott Terry:

I wonder how many happy-faced Wal Mart Employees will be shot as a result of this.

Where's the national outrage?  Why wasn't this on every major news station?

pffft/

Ban crosshairs. Even at the shooting range!

And gosh, we need to push Wal-Mart. The Queen of Wal-Mart just made a deal with them. They're gonna make us healthy.

And I have to disagree with the job thing. I don't see many people losing their jobs becuase a Wal-Mart goes up in the neighborhood. Wal-Mart does not seem to put specialty stores out of business. They don't seem to be hurting "high end" stores.

And Wal-Mart is very smart. If you don't let them build in city limits they build right outside city limits. And then the cit loses tax revenue. Of course then the city annexes the land that Wal-Mart built on.....

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Originally Posted by Jann Morrison Kostka:
Ban crosshairs. Even at the shooting range!

And gosh, we need to push Wal-Mart. The Queen of Wal-Mart just made a deal with them. They're gonna make us healthy.

And I have to disagree with the job thing. I don't see many people losing their jobs becuase a Wal-Mart goes up in the neighborhood. Wal-Mart does not seem to put specialty stores out of business. They don't seem to be hurting "high end" stores.

And Wal-Mart is very smart. If you don't let them build in city limits they build right outside city limits. And then the cit loses tax revenue. Of course then the city annexes the land that Wal-Mart built on.....

I like the idea of Walmart offering healthier foods optionally. But I'd be peeved if they, for example, took away my occasional box of NuttyBuddies.

Regarding Walmart forcing other places out of business; I can't say exactly why it happened, but once Walmart came here, K-mart quickly pulled out, and a LOT of Mom'n Pop shops quickly went out of business all over the area. That's merely facts.

Have you seen the video titled Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)??? They show how some higher-ups drive around some smaller towns and as they're passing by each business, they jokingly say things like "This one, 2 months, that one, 6 months tops",,, suggesting how long before they go out of business after Walmart comes in. So in that regard, I think Walmart's overall effect on competitor business continuity is relative to the size of the area they're building new stores in. Around here, small-town business don't seem to absorb Walmart's impact very well.

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Originally Posted by Shawn Ishness:

Originally Posted by Jann Morrison Kostka:
Ban crosshairs. Even at the shooting range!

And gosh, we need to push Wal-Mart. The Queen of Wal-Mart just made a deal with them. They're gonna make us healthy.

And I have to disagree with the job thing. I don't see many people losing their jobs becuase a Wal-Mart goes up in the neighborhood. Wal-Mart does not seem to put specialty stores out of business. They don't seem to be hurting "high end" stores.

And Wal-Mart is very smart. If you don't let them build in city limits they build right outside city limits. And then the cit loses tax revenue. Of course then the city annexes the land that Wal-Mart built on.....

I like the idea of Walmart offering healthier foods optionally. But I'd be peeved if they, for example, took away my occasional box of NuttyBuddies.

Regarding Walmart forcing other places out of business; I can't say exactly why it happened, but once Walmart came here, K-mart quickly pulled out, and a LOT of Mom'n Pop shops quickly went out of business all over the area. That's merely facts.

Have you seen the video titled Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)??? They show how some higher-ups drive around some smaller towns and as they're passing by each business, they jokingly say things like "This one, 2 months, that one, 6 months tops",,, suggesting how long before they go out of business after Walmart comes in. So in that regard, I think Walmart's overall effect on competitor business continuity is relative to the size of the area they're building new stores in. Around here, small-town business don't seem to absorb Walmart's impact very well.

I think it depends on the nature of the business.

And I don't think all the blame should got to Wal-Mart. We used to have a local pharmacy. Then the grocery store started a pharmacy. Bye bye local pharmacy. We used to have a book store. Enter Border Books. Bye bye book store. Etc, etc, etc......