RUSH: In the meantime, Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen Tuesday night went to the floor of the House of Representatives to denounce Republicans and compare them to Nazis, and the media marvels at his courage for not backing down; just as they marvel at Sheriff Dipstick’s courage for not backing down from his inane comments. Here from Tuesday night on Capitol Hill, Steve Cohen (Democrat-Tennessee).
COHEN: (banging on podium) They don’t like the truth so they summarily dismiss it. They say it’s a government takeover of healthcare. A big lie just like Goebbels. You say it enough and you repeat the lie, repeat the lie, repeat the lie until eventually people believe it. Like blood libel, that’s the same kind of thing. The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it, and you have the Holocaust. You tell a lie over and over again.
RUSH: Last night, Anderson Cooper 15, he interviewed Steve Cohen (Democrat-Tennessee). Anderson Cooper said, ‘Representative Cohen, how can you think that it’s appropriate for a member of Congress on the floor of the House to compare the statements made by Republicans about health care to lies about Jews told by Joseph Goebbels and other Nazis? How is that appropriate?’
COHEN: I don’t think Republicans are Nazis. But they use the same means that Goebbels used, which was to have a short, concise idea and repeat it over and over and over again.
COOPER: But you’re essentially comparing them to Nazis.
COHEN: No, I don’t think I was. Goebbels was the master of political propaganda, and as evil a man as he was, he was the master of this, and when people use it — and use lies over and over and over again — whether it’s killing Grandma, whether it’s government takeover of health care, or — or any of those things, somebody has to stand up and stay, ‘Hey, wait a minute.’
RUSH: It’s parallel universe, alternative universe time. (sigh) We could point out countless Democrats who have perfected Goebbels. Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton could probably teach a course. Harry Reid. By the way, Representative Cohen, I would like you to go back and look at a recent cover story in Newsweek written by Evan Thomas entitled, ‘The Case for Killing Granny.’ We have raised fears that this is what Obamacare will do. You have a media maven who has written in defense of the concept. It’s at Newsweek magazine, Congressman Cohen: ‘The Case for Killing Granny,’ in support of Obamacare. Congressman, you are standing in quicksand when you try to defend your party and your president on this.
The vast majority of the American people do not want Obamacare precisely because it is a government takeover of one-sixth of the US economy. It is, by design, intended to eliminate the private sector health insurance industry, not just a couple of companies — and your own media, with story after story after story defending every aspect of Obamacare, all the way to include a Newsweek story: ‘The Case for Killing Granny.’ You should look it up, Congressman, before you trudge back to the floor of the House to double down on it and to get more praise for sticking to your guns by a corrupt media with no moral compass whatsoever. Now, Anderson Cooper 15 CNN last night said to Steve Cohen, ‘You wrote, and I quote, ‘Reckless and hateful speech often has a terrible human cost. If the horrific events in Arizona are not enough to modulate our public discourse, it is likely there will be more violence and more deaths.’ Do you really think your comments advance civility in the public discourse, Congressman Cohen?’
COHEN: I think telling lies is uncivil, and I think s-somebody needs to stand up to the lies that are being told. And the fact is, they were similar to what Goebbels said: ‘Keep it short, keep it simple, keep it over and over, and people will believe it,’ and that’s what they’ve done.
RUSH: You know, Congressman, it’s really pathetic. The American people are not the victims of propaganda on the right here. The American people who oppose this know it. They know what’s in it. They’ve either read Obamacare, or they have talked to people who have read Obamacare. They’re not a bunch of mind-numbed robots that have been given propaganda talking points. It is not conservative media where you will hear identical words and phrases repeated by hundreds of different people, as we will hear on the left. If there were propaganda talking points in American media, it’s to be found on your side of the aisle, Congressman.
Again, you know, I can defend my side of the aisle all I want. We’re rooted in truth, and we are rooted in principle. A majority of the American people are not wrong, and they are not of their opinion because they have been propagandized. In fact, Congressman Cohen, the American people have resisted the Democrat Party propaganda on Obamacare and have seen the truth. They have read it! We didn’t wait for the bill to be passed to find out what’s in it. We knew what was in it before it was voted on. That is why, Congressman, a majority, vast majority of the American people oppose it.
‘I think telling lies is uncivil, and I think somebody needs to stand up to the lies that are being told.’ That’s exactly what we are doing. I’m not gonna compare you to Goebbels, propaganda is propaganda, but I do think that you need to go back and take a look Newsweek, ‘The Case for Killing Granny.’ You need to look at how many Democrats voted for the repeal in the House. It was three. And lest we forgot, Congressman Cohen, not one Democrat ran for reelection on Obamacare. Congressman, who has been more demonized in America recently than the Tea Party and the Tea Party’s leaders?
If you’re gonna make a comparison with Nazi Germany, isn’t it clear who the new Jews are? It sure as hell isn’t the Democrats. Who are the new Jews, Congressman Cohen? It’s not the Democrats. It’s the Tea Party. Tea Party. By the way, Congressman, is it okay to use ‘Holocaust’ in this context, in this debate? Blood libel? It’s a fascinating thing. This issue is causing these people to make abject fools of themselves. Which I happen to love. There’s one more Steven Cohen sound bite. Anderson Cooper said, ‘It’s actually not the first time you’ve used this kind of rhetoric. In April of last year, during a radio interview, you kind of likened the Tea Party to the KKK. Isn’t that another example of kind of reckless speech, Congressman Cohen?’
COHEN: The Tea Party did arise kind of like the Klan did after the Civil War. There were people who were out of power, they wanted their power back. The Klan after the Civil War was upset that African-Americans had been given the right to vote, and many of them were in office and they didn’t like it and they wanted to form — get back their own government. They wanted to take back their government. I was among the Tea Party people up here on the health care debate. I walked among ’em. I saw ’em. I saw a very angry crowd. I saw pictures of President Obama as Hitler, and I found that reprehensible.
RUSH: Yeah, those signs are created by people like you. Those ‘Obama Hitler’ pictures were created by leftists who infiltrated the Tea Party to try to create reactions among ignorant people like Congressman Cohen. Yeah, Tea Party is kind of like the Klan. Again, Congressman, the Klan was a bunch of Democrats. The Klan was a bunch of racist pig Democrats, Congressman. Well, I’m just gonna say it. You know, we’re being told we need to be civil with this kind of guy. Did this guy not get President Obama’s Tucson memo? Notice even with Anderson Cooper sort of the kid-glove treatment. What Anderson Cooper facilitates here is for Cohen to keep saying this stuff. There’s no condemnation. There’s just a curiosity from Anderson Cooper.
‘Are you saying…? Are you sure…? Do you really mean…?’
‘Yes, I do. I’m doubling down on it.’
The KKK was the terrorist arm of the Democrat Party back in its day. Somebody want to try to tell me that Robert Byrd was a Republican ever? This guy is totally ignorant of his history. Totally ignorant! Now, let’s move on to F. Chuck Todd. This morning on NBC they had a discussion there about Congressman Cohen and his remarks that you just heard, and here’s what F. Chuck Todd said…
TODD: The only way these House guys think they can get attention is to do these things, and that’s why it’s all the House noticed. All the ‘civility’ comments are coming from the senators. He’s got a history of throwing rhetorical bombs.
RUSH: Oh, ‘he’s got a history of throwing rhetorical bombs,’ so we’re gonna tolerate this. Wasn’t this all predictable, folks? We knew damn well the ‘incendiary rhetoric’ and the ‘uncivil talk’ was not gonna stop on the left, and we also know the media was going to explain it and justify it and say, ‘Well, you know, the only way they can get noticed is this kind of rhetoric. They’re losers! The only way they can get noticed is to throw these rhetorical bombs.’ Not one word of condemnation from F. Chuck Todd. Nope! Only a demand that we put it in context and understand it. What a corrupt business journalism has become. No moral compass whatsoever.