Ingraham Evokes Nazis in Discussing Democrats' Health Reform Efforts

By: Amanda Sterling
Topics: Health Care

(lauraingraham.com)

Radio host Laura Ingraham spoke at a conservative rally today in Washington to protest Senate health care reform efforts. She closed her remarks by appropriating a poem that evokes a lack of resistance on the part of German intellectuals to the Nazis during their rise to power.

After comparing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to Grinches "who stole health care," Ingraham offered a spin on the poem "First They Came," attributed to German pastor Martin Niem?ller.

"First they came for the rich," Ingraham said. "And I did not speak out because I was not rich. Then they came for the property owners, and I did not speak out because I did not own property. Then they came for the right to bear arms, and I did not speak out because I was not armed. Then they came for me and denied me my medical care, and there was no one left to speak for me…"

Here's the poem in its original form:

"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me."

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by beautdogs December 23, 2009 10:23 PM EST: What a vile, hateful, and ignorant woman. Or perhaps she has gone off her meds.; Reply to this comment


by ExtraTerrestrial1 December 18, 2009 12:29 PM EST: I second dicerotops and lmclaughlin1216. The rich are not oppressed. Far from it, they're buying the government. www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/; Reply to this comment


by lmclaughlin1216 December 18, 2009 11:33 AM EST: What amuses me is that many of the persons supporting these people are those are are falling further behind economically.

The Ratio of CEO salary to average salary has gone up fivefold or more since the Republicans took over in the 1980s.

Some people just enjoy getting screwed.; Reply to this comment


by dicerotops December 17, 2009 12:31 AM EST: Whether you are for reform or against it, the altered poem she spoke of was DISGUSTING and OFFENSIVE. I am rarely offended, I think people are too PC. But to invoke images of the holocaust for a political taxation point is so overly offensive that I don't even have the words to describe it.

In the original poem - the people that the Nazi's came for were imprisoned or sent to death camps. That's why there was no one left! No one is arresting or slaughtering Republicans - her version of the poem doesn't even make sense. Yes, there are still people there to speak out because they are still alive and out of prison.

How dare she compare Republican issues to massive torture and genocide. Whether it is PETA, the Republicans, and yes, even the Democrats - no one should trivialize the Holocaust. That should NEVER be tolerated.; Reply to this comment


by VinceP1974 December 16, 2009 5:07 PM EST: Kudos for Ingraham for speaking her mind and defending the Constitution against the Jacobin Democrats.; Reply to this comment


by jeganjegan December 16, 2009 2:47 PM EST: Disgraceful.
I was never exactly a fan of Ms. Ingraham, but I usually didn't put her in the Limbaugh/Hannity/Beck/Coulter/O'Reilly loony bin/teabagger category. She more typically seemed to go right to the edge, but then take at least a quarter-step back from the brink of completely unhinged paranoia. But lately - I'm not so sure. She seems to have drunk a lot of the same Kool-Aid the others have. B. Hussein Obama is a commie/socialist/fascist/neo-Nazi/America-hating/Muslim/sub-human Destroyer of All Things Good and Decent, and I'll tell you what -- he weren't even born inna Yoonited States.
She's lost it.; Reply to this comment


by P0STING_AWAY December 15, 2009 6:43 PM EST: Is that Laura Ingraham in the photo above?
Dang.
She looks like she should be on the back pages of a tabloid rag with the modeling agencies and escort services....
====================================================================
She would look much better with less light .... ie TOTAL DARKNESS.; Reply to this comment


by kansas1946 December 15, 2009 6:34 PM EST: Yes, the Nazis were well known for their compassion and concern about the health and welfare of their citizens, especially the Jews. Laura Ingram is a brain-dead piece of fluff. I used to listen to her on the radio until she started having psycics and ghost whiperers, etc. There are millions of Americans suffering for lack of affordable health care and affordable insurance and all the whacko right can do is talk about Nazis. They are sick.; Reply to this comment


by karenbe111 December 15, 2009 6:16 PM EST: More disgusting twisted, manipulative lies from the mouth of another right-wing wacko Republican. They truly do speak with "forked tongues" like the snakes they are!; Reply to this comment


by lmartink December 15, 2009 5:38 PM EST: You got it wrong Laura, dead wrong. The Nazi's, Republicans, and Joe Lieberman's of the world, are all about killing people. Allee same same.

More people will continue wiating until it is too late, and Insurance Companies will continue playing their little profit motives against their customers lives, and an excessive number of Americans will pay a terrible price.; Reply to this comment