[quote name=\'Millionaire81\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 08:09 PM\']Man, I guess I never realized what a Gestapo and defenders of the forum we have here. I guess I should've thought twice before making such a stupid statement of opinion. I now understand any free thought will be quashed swiftly unless approved by a majority of the board.
Thank you all for showing me light and the error of my ways. I have been healed!
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I give Scarecrow awards to those who post without thinking (along the lines of the Scarecrow in
The Wizard of Oz , who wanted a brain, for those who are new here). This post cited above is undoubtedly one of the most thoughtless I've ever seen. I don't argue with the poster's right to think that the mods don't allow a lot of debate in here. I happen to thoroughly disagree with that opinion, but that's not the reason for this particular Scarecrow.
My problem is comparing members of this forum, mods or not, to the Gestapo, the most brutal supporters of one of the most brutal regimes in the history of human civilization. Let's not forget that the Gestapo were
DIRECTLY resposible for the deaths of over 6,000,000 people, at least two thirds of whom were Jewish. One of our mods is -- pay attention, class -- Jewish. The Gestapo didn't herd people into concentration camps and the gas chambers simply for dissenting against Hitler's regime. Some were, as history records, but the vast majority of those murdered in the Holocaust died simply because of their ancestry and/or their religious beliefs. The 'threat' they posed was one conjured only in the twisted minds of Hitler and his cronies. The members of this forum are hardly genocidal over the opinion of one game show forum poster. This is not even CLOSE -- lightyears away, in fact, from being significant compared to the incomparable crimes that the Nazi regime committed against the human race.
Calling ANYONE a member of the Gestapo shows (1) a total ignorance of history, or (2) a total disregard for who these monsters were. Number one, I can forgive to a point -- but it also bears remembering that it's better to stay quiet and look like a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Number two is inexcusable, and I call upon Millionaire81 to apologize to the group in general for his insensitivity and to the mods and their supporters in particular for an inexcusable, inappropriate, and frankly, inaccurate labeling.
I've given Scarecrows in the past to give the rest of us a laugh at the expense of those who should have thought before they posted. This Scarecrow Award is not meant to draw even a smirk. Millionaire81, you can consider this a well-earned badge of shame, because I think it's safe to say that the rest of us who do know who the Gestapo were consider your poor choice of words shameful in your particular case.
Jeff Wm. (J.W.) Justice, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science
