Politics and Policy Coincidence? (Posted August 31, 2006) * 1. August 31, 1939 (65 Years Ago Today) - Operation Himmler: "So that Germany did not officially seem the aggressor (which it was), Hitler needed an excuse for entering/attacking Poland. It was Heinrich Himmler who came up with the idea; thus the plan was code named Operation Himmler. On the night of August 31, 1939, Nazis took an unknown prisoner from one of their concentration camps, dressed him in a Polish uniform, took him to the town of Gleiwitz (on the border of Poland and Germany), and then shot him. The staged scene with the dead prisoner dressed in a Polish uniform was supposed to appear as a Polish attack against a German radio station. Hitler used the staged attack as the excuse to invade Poland." Source: http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/aa090399.htm 2. August 31, 2006: "Five men allegedly assault guardsman Parkland, Pierce County Investigators with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department are looking for five young men who allegedly assaulted a uniformed National Guardsman on Tuesday morning. The guardsman was walking down 138th Street South at 8:30 a.m. when the driver of a large black SUV pulled up alongside him and asked if he was in the military, according to the Sheriff's Department. The driver then got out of the vehicle, displayed a gun and shouted insults at the victim, according to department spokesman Ed Troyer. Four passengers got out of the car, knocked the guardsman down and kicked and punched him, police said. The driver was described as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 1 inch tall, heavy build, short blond hair, wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, and armed with a handgun. The passengers, some of whom were wearing red shirts and red baseball hats, were described as white males, 20 to 25 years old, police said." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003237133_dige31m.html Comment: Coincidence? Maybe, but probably more ironic. The latter story (of the assault on the guardsman) is already being pushed on the political blogs as evidence of "the left's hatred of the American serviceman". I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't on Fox news by nightfall, with Bill O'Reilly being "outraged" at this offence by the "anti-war" folks against our honored servicemen. But it is wildly improbable that a group of armed white "peacenicks", in their early 20's with short hair and wearing similar sweatshirts and baseball caps, and driving a large SUV, cruised the streets of Parkland until they found a soldier and beat him up while displaying weapons and voicing anti-military epitats from the 1960's. In fact, the conservatives have spent quite a bit of time trying to tell everyone how dispicable the American left is, and how much they hate the military, but they have been unable to provide any evidence to support that assertion. Indeed, the left has largly been very careful to thank America's servicemen and servicewomen for their service to their country, which is a seperate issue from the political decisions which place them in harm's way. Now is it part of a plot to discredit the left, similar to "Operation Himmler"? If you asked me that five years ago, I would have scoffed at the notion. Now, knowing what I now know about Karl Rove and his students within the right wing of the Republican Party, I would have consider that a real possiblity. Karl Rove has made a career out of demonizing the opposition, using rather reprehensible tactics including lies, rumor, and inuendo to bring down the opposing candidate. In one judicial race in Alabama where the Democratic candidate had a long history as an active supporter of a youth agency, Rove started a rumor campaign alleging that the opposing candidate was a pedophile. For this story, and others, see: Karl Rove in a Corner Other possible explanations are (a) a hate attack by neo-Nazis on the guardsman because of his race (but I don't know his race from the news stories); or (b) an independent, unsanctioned attack by right-wing crackpots for the purpose of demonizing the anti-war movement; or (c) a wild excuse made up by the guardsman to explain his injuries in a fight which originated from circumstances he cared not to reveal. So I'm very interested in how this plays out. Is the Lakewood Police Dept. going to really investigate, other than posting a reward for information on five white guys in a Suburban? If the real story is revealed, is the right going to publish the results as eagerly as they will attempt to publish this wild story? My guess is that by then they will be on to other wild stories, and ignore the results of this one. (Posted by RHP6033)   Sponsors        Copyright 2006-2007 - Brookridge Associates Inc. All rights reserved.