In an interview with the Washington Post yesterday, former Ron Paul economic adviser Peter Schiff, who is now running as a Republican for Connecticut’s U.S. Senate seat, feigned modesty when asked about his candidacy, saying that he wasn’t “heroic” for running for office. However, he then compared himself to the heroes who fought in World War II against Nazi Germany.
The actual quote is too good to believe- “I’m interrupting my career. It’s not like I want my new career in politics. But I’m willing to interrupt it the same way that somebody interrupted their career and joined World War II and went off to fight the Nazis.”
Just plain awesome.
Englischlehrer
Does that make the Democrats or his constituents Nazis in this case?
jibeaux
Aren’t you excited to use the Hoekstroika tag? Yay!
If I can just go completely O/T for a moment, if you live anywhere near where U2 is going to be playing, it is definitely worth it to go to the show. Like sell-your-grandma-for-ticket-money good. But go early, it completely borks traffic. Over and out.
Bullsmith
His bravery knows no limits. Knows nothing else either.
asiangrrlMN
We are all Germans now, apparently.
Mudge
Re the English Teacher above, I suppose Schiff will also enter the fray armed.
ellaesther
Again, all I can really say is: You must read this Doonesbury
And and re: jibeaux? Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!
twiffer
as if i needed more reasons not to vote for him.
Hunter Gathers
If this guy gets the nod, Chris Dodd might actually have a shot at re-election.
WyldPiratd
C’mon, get with the game people!
Can’t you see that we are under the gravest threat our country has every faced? For FSM-sake, we are being lead to a future life of destitution as our Islamofascistni##ercommunist President kowtows to his masters in the Kremlin.
Mr. Schiff is a hero in my book. Wolverines! Also, too.
jibeaux
@ellaesther:
That’s funny, I clicked on the link (read it before, but enjoyed it again!) and at the bottom is a quote from Glenn Beck retracting his praise of Muse at their request, and so now my comment is on topic because Muse opened for U2. And I am not very cool and was not familiar with Muse, but knowing that Beck liked them and they asked him to take it back is enough to make me like them.
General Winfield Stuck
That’s awful white of him. Maybe Madame Fuhrer Pelosi could bludgeon his happy ass with a Blue Dog, and we can build a statue in honor of this selfless Martydom.
Anyone else notice trying to spoof this stuff is making less sense every day, or is it just me.? Maybe we are nearing Peak Wingnut in Tongues.
Napoleon
Too bad any of my uncles who fought in Europe in WWII, one of who carried with him the rest of his life shrapnel in a leg from a Stuka strafing, one of which witnessed 2 young French kids obliterated by a mine and the last of which had to count bodies at a concentration camp and participated in the arrest of Goering were here to tell this guy how much what he is doing was just like WWII.
geg6
@jibeaux:
Seriously. I felt the same way yesterday. Never heard of Muse. But loved the idea that they told Beck to stuff it so much that I went and found some of their stuff on the Toobz.
Faux News
Hunter Gathers: I grew up in CT and lived there for over 30 years. Dodd is quite vulnerable in 2010. However you are correct. If it’s Schiff then Dodd will EASILY be re-elected. Nothing like calling Democratic voters in a heavily blue state “Nazi’s”. That ought to demoralize the dems and keep them at home for 2010 election, right?
Ash Can
If he’s going to play this game, he should play it right.
ellaesther
@jibeaux: Hold on! I just looked into THAT VERY COMMENT, and it turns out that Beck was joking. Per ThinkProgress. (Which, I have to say, cracked me up. It’s really too bad that he is such a flaming mental case shilling for pseudo-conservative viewpoints and standard bearers, because otherwise, I think he’s probably pretty fun to hang out with).
In Chicago, Snow Patrol opened for U2, and that brings us back on-topic because the right wing is snowing the American public! See what I did there? See? I am so totally on-topic!
Warren Terra
@ Ellaesther, #6
Thanks. That was a great Doonesbury, and very relevant.
Max
I used to just disagree with republicans, but now I actually loathe them.
For whatever reason, I find the majority of the men that I end up dating are republicans, has to do with meeting them through the industry I am in. I used to be able to consider our political disagreements a type of flirting, but lately I’ve started having a visceral reaction to their views and find them, as a whole, less charming than just a few months ago.
SpotWeld
The thing is, I really don’t thing he sees his political opponents as “Nazis”. He just:
a) Venerates the military, especially those of the “good wars”
b) Sees himself as deserving the same adulation.
He’s in his own little bubble here, and he’s just not really thinking that anyone outside of it are real people anyway.
Evinfuilt
All these people here who don’t know Muse, for shame… They’ve been HUGE in Britain for years now, like Oasis big. Try these songs out, a few of my favorites.
Hysteria
Knights of Cydonia
Time is Running Out
Having them show up at MTV VMA’s really has given them a huge boost in the states, expect them to be overplayed this coming year, but grab their CDs now, some really great pop/rock music.
ellaesther
@jibeaux: Also: “That’s it! I’m going to give a speech!” Ahhhh! I love that.
Morbo
Oh Sweet Zombie Jesus, this guy is full of himself. From the article: “I’m not going to spend any of my time on [fundraising]. So I’ll be, like, 10 senators all by myself.” I remember his appearance on the Daily Show smacking of smarm, and he drips with it in this interview.
jibeaux
@ellaesther:
Ya know, if you can say that someone asked you to retract your endorsement of something they’re selling and that is MORE believable than having made a joke along those lines, you’re a freak, is all I’m sayin’.
Warren Terra
@ ellaesther, #16
Not really a very funny joke, imho. Beck basically told all his flying monkeys to go have a five-minute-hate on Muse, because Muse had allegedly demanded he retract his endorsement. Given that they hadn’t done so, and that god knows what Beck’s listeners might do, not very funny.
I mean, I hate (and, really, pity) Beck as much as the next guy, so I was perfectly delighted to hear that a band had asked not to be associated even with his approval, but there’s a big difference between a band deliberately stepping up to have Beck’s minions unleashed on them and having Beck do it to them for sport, apparently based on his paranoid hatred of all members of the entertainment industry.
AJ
He would have been about 28 when the Gulf War broke out. I don’t suppose he rushed to enlist, did he? Just another effing Chickenhawk.
jibeaux
“not spending any time on fundraising” in contention for U.S. Senate seat = losing
The Saff
@Max:
OK, so I’m not the only one. Met the rents for dinner last Saturday night – I hadn’t been in my seat for more than a minute when my dad says, “I’m glad Chicago didn’t get the Olympics.” They’re all just despicable, including my dad.
GReynoldsCT00
Cripes, it’s tough living in the Nutmeg state lately. What a bunch of tools.
The Republic of Stupidity
Along with the country and the GOP, guys like this are also busy trying to destroy the English language, definitions, satire, sarcasm, irony… the destruction goes on, unabated…
Where will it end? When no words are left meaningful?
jibeaux
@The Saff:
That’s hard, because while I have a similar reaction to wingers, I think it’s a shame to ruin family relationships over politics. An agreement to keep politics off the table in conversation may be a way to go, if you could get him to agree to it. Politely ignoring politics and religion can go a long way. You aren’t going to sway each other with your arguments, and I don’t think most people want to go to their parents’ funeral saying, “well, I didn’t talk to my dad for the last twenty-two years because he was glad Chicago didn’t get the Olympics…” I’m not trying to give you a hard time, because obviously if you’re eating dinner over there you don’t truly think they’re despicable, it’s just a thought.
The Grand Panjandrum
I wonder if Schiff is a charter member of the mighty RSSF? What do you think? Ormaybe he’s just one of these brave fellows? (This video really should be part of every thread where some dipshit compares a poltical campaign to actual combat.)
RSA
Adjusted to amp up the hubris.
GReynoldsCT00
@jibeaux:
I like Muse, like them even more now. More like this please.
The Saff
@jibeaux: Oh, it’s fine. The only thing I can ever think to say when he makes stupid comments like that is “you need to stop watching Fox News.” (I wish I was better at the snark like the fabulous Balloon Juice crew!)
I still have a relationship with him even though we are on opposite sides of the political spectrum.
liberal
@Max:
Sorry to hear that. :-/
Dan Savage wrote something about dating right-wingers in some column, saying there’s always “hate f*cking.” I left that copy of his column (in The Onion) lying around. My extremely conservative Catholic father-in-law found the beginning of that column amusing; thankfully the FSM allowed me to take it from him before he got to the hate f’ing line.
liberal
@The Saff:
I’m lucky enough to have a dad who’s said (starting decades ago), “A good Republican is a dead Republican.”
jrg
If Schiff wants to make a bold statement like this, he should be required to wear a helmet and parachute into his press conferences.
But then the grown-ups would laugh at him. Which would make him just like… Peter Pan!
liberal
I was pretty sure that Schiff is, in terms of political economy, an “Austrian,” and Wikipedia seems to confirm that.
As Libertarians, Austrians are full of it. And in claiming we must have inflation because the Fed is printing dollars, they don’t seem to understand how fractional reserve banking works. But at least they’re outraged by the housing bubble.
The Saff
@liberal: Excellent! I’m lucky to be married to a fellow liberal so it balances out.
kth
Perhaps Hoekstroika-related: survivalist manual now ranked #8 at Amazon. What kind of an asshole would think the world is about to end just because a black guy got elected President?
Balconesfault
Woman at rally: “If none of them are, how do they plan to support this war on terrorism by enlisting in our U.S. military?”
Romney: “one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected.”
If a Dem had ever made a statement like that, his chance of ever being considered Presidential material would be dead, dead, dead.
Max
@liberal: So funny. I will have to google the article.
Morbo
@Balconesfault: And yet I don’t recall anyone ever accusing Romney of being
uppityarrogant.asiangrrlMN
@The Saff: Just a little offering of hope. My bro and I got into a huge argument right after W. was elected in 2004. My brother voted for him because of the moral issues. My brother disagreed with W. about the war, about education, about corporations, and about everything that W. had done. What morals, then, did my brother think W. espoused? Christian values, pro-life, and anti-gay marriages.
Fast-forward four years. Same brother. Same values. He voted for Obama because he didn’t want more of the same. When the right made such a fuss over schools showing Obama’s speech, my brother couldn’t believe how insane the right was. He kept saying, “Why do they want to censor the president?” I patiently explained to him how batshitcrazy the right was, and he actually agreed.
So, change can happen. It just takes patience, time, and a whole lotta spendin’ money.
If you think your dad is unreachable, though, then just keep doing what you’re doing in order to keep your sanity.
BDeevDad
Repeating what I said last night. Yup, same fucking thing.
Peter Schiff moves his family to Washington to sit at a desk and debate policy.
WWII soldiers leave their homes and families to go to Iwo Jima and Omaha Beach.
Comrade Dread
I’m pretty convinced that the downfall of America will come when the continent sinks under the weight of its citizen’s gigantic egos.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
“I’m interrupting my career. It’s not like I want my new career in politics. But I’m willing to interrupt it the same way that somebody interrupted their career and joined World War II and went off to fight the Nazis.”
Gosh, that sounds rather dangerous. I hope he doesn’t end up like the guy in this book for kids from the 1970s.
Valdivia
Muse rocks. They actually began to get a lot of play here in the US because one of their songs–supermassive black hole–was inthe Twilight soundtrack. But don’t let that discourage you cool peeps. Muse is fabtastic.
The Saff
@asiangrrlMN: Right. My dad is 81 years old and a racist (but he does go to church every weekend, so there’s that). He won’t change. I love him because he’s my dad but that’s all. And I’m OK because sometimes it’s fun just to piss him off!
Axe Diesel Palin
How wacky is Schiff? I’ve seen lots of youtube clips where he “predicted” the mortgage crisis and stock market crash. But his name keeps coming up from a 911 Truther who posts tons of stuff online. Is Schiff just a libertarian who got lucky when all things financial blew up? or is he a big on conspiracies and One World Government fears too?
jerry 101
So, does this mean he’s a communist? Most of the people who fought and died to stop Nazi Germany were Communists.
So, is he going to quit the Republican Party and join the Communist Party, seeing as how he sees the Communists as great heroes.
liberal
@Axe Diesel Palin:
My recollection is that folks like him predicted bad things because they thought Greenspan lowered rates too far.
The Austrians kind of got that point right. But their overall understanding of the economy is completely wrong.
liberal
@jerry 101:
The fact that roughly 5/6 of German casualties were inflicted on the eastern front is pretty unknown here in the west, where the main emphasis is on the western front.
Anne Laurie
@liberal:
Great, now I’m hearing Don Rickles. “Where were the Austrians during WWII? Every single Austrian claims he was a ski instructor then! An entire nation of ski instructors!”
Redwood Rhiadra
@jibeaux: Also, take public transit if possible. My friends went to the Boston show, and it was over three HOURS before they could even get out of their parking space afterwards.
Raincitygirl
Golly. I’ll be sure to mention Schiff’s service to my great-aunt who drove a truck for the Wrens in North Africa and nearly got taken prisoner by Rommel. Also my one grandfather who spent most of the war working at Woolwich fucking Arsenal making bombs (with the factory getting bombs dropped on it on a reasonably regular basis). And my other grandfather who worked in a factory during the day and then did firewatching at night for six fucking years (okay, fine, not EVERY night, but he was still expected to show up for work in the morning when he’d been up all night on a rooftop). And my grandmother who was on an RAF base getting bombed during the Battle of Britain. And my great-uncle who went all the way from the BEF to Dunkirk to Normandy to the Bulge and barely saw his kids for years. Oh, and my great-uncle who went nuts from “combat fatigue” and ended up lobotomized. Admittedly the Nazis aren’t the ones who cut out a chunk of his brain, but I’d call him a war casualty all the same. Schiff is a frakking frakhead.
Sorry. It’s just that I have multiple relatives who spent six damn years busting their asses, sometimes with major consequences. And Britain had it fairly easy, compared with any of the occupied countries (especially in the East). It’s a whole different league from my Dutch Jewish godmother whose extended family mostly got wiped out in the camps. Her uncle (a tubby, mild-mannered pharmacist and member of the Dutch Resistance) got sold out to the Gestapo by his neighbour and tortured to death in 1942. People DIED doing what Schiff glibly apes. There’s a Turkish restaurant minutes’ walk from my godmother’s house in Amsterdam that has a plaque outside. It commemorates the restaurant owner and staff (yeah, it was already a restaurant then) who were lined up outside the building and shot in February 1941. One of the waiters was in the Resistance, they found out, and they didn’t just kill him, they killed everybody he worked with in his day job just to “send a message.”
Don’t even get me started on the insanely massive frakking body count in the East (tons of brutal house-to-house fighting and tons of civilian casualties). If Schiff really thinks he’s doing the equivalent of fighting the Nazis, he’s clearly never read any history books nor ever talked to anybody who was alive during WWII. Grandiose a**hole watched “Saving Private Ryan” one time and decided him running for Congress was Just. So. Courageous.
michael
If you even cared to read the entire wash post interview with peter schiff. He was clearly simply making an analogy between people who interrupted their careers during world war II to go off and fight for something in which they belived and himself. He was in no way comparing himself to a combat soldier or calling anyone or implying that anyone in connecticut was a nazi.
He’s the only person remotely near politics with the exception of Ron Paul that even a remote clue about why our nation and economy is in such a mess.
He predicted the financial crises and he will work to retore the US economy.