Holocaust Memorial Day

I'm not going to try to say anything about the Holocaust directly. What could I possibly have to add?

However, something semi-related came up, and I thought I'd share. Last night, as if the universe was practicing foreshadowing on me, I learned about FORCES*. It is a pro-smoking propaganda group. What does this have to do with the Holocaust? You see, what I learned from my (wasted) time on the FOCUS website (hell no I'm not linking) is that the Nazis were big on anti-smoking. Who knew? You see where this is going? Because the Nazis created the anti-smoking movement (I don't know if this is really even true, just bear with me), smokers in American are just like Jews in Nazi Germany. Oh sure, the Nazis didn't actually round up smokers. But they used the canard of "public health" to issue a lot of Nazi-like decrees against smoking. Even thought they issued cigarettes to the military.

Therefore, the American "public health" conspiracy, which consists of doctors, public officials, the pharmaceutical industry, and the Teachers' Unions (OK, I made that last one up) are trying, in their best Nazi impersonation, the deprive smokers of their "right" to smoke. No shit Chet, no shit. The oceans of research telling us that smoking is a health risk: unreliable. The efforts by elected public officials to ban smoking in public : Gestapo-esque intrusions into "liberty."  The Founders: intended us to have the right to smoke. Milk: It does a body good (wait, no. Sorry.)

And so on. I'm relaying all this on HMD because I am so fucking tired of everything people don't like being called "Nazi." I know about Godwin's law and all that. But for fuck's sake, why is everything that the losers in our political game dislike suddenly the work of modern day Hitlers and Goebbelses? Especially when the "victims" of the "Nazis" are people who engage in voluntary behavior?!?!? Sure, valid analogies can be made to the crimes of the Nazis. But Obama isn't a Nazi. Bush, for all of his fascist tendencies, wasn't a Nazi.

And people who want to prevent other people from making public spaces unpleasant with their noxious habit are certainly not Nazis. If smokers start disappearing into camps, call me. Otherwise, chill the fuck out, light one up (in your own home), and quit it with the Nazi crap.

And now, a puppy:

And yes, it is a German Shepherd.


* I don't want to recount how I learned about FORCES, except to say that my advice to you is never make social network friends with anyone you don't know.