…the Bush years?

Nancy Pelosi is shocked by the presence of some swastikas at protests against Obamacare. Who ever heard of such a thing? Well, any mildly alert American old enough to remember the anti-war protests of 2003-2007. Images of George Bush with a Hitler mustache and a Nazi uniform was everywhere at swastika-choked marches and rallies. “Stop the Fourth Reich-Visualize Nuremburg,” said one sign at a Hollywood march. “The Fuhrer already in his bunker,” said another. Lots of Nazi regalia appeared at protests in Pelosi’s San Francisco as well.

On far-left Internet sites, where basic Bush-Is-Hitler commentary became too familiar to attract attention, Bush aides were quickly assigned Nazi roles; Tom Ridge was the new Himmler and Colin Powell became Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop; Ari Fleisher, Karen Hughes and Karl Rove were all Josef Goebbels figures. Some thought Vice President Cheney was the most important Hitler figure – he commands “storm-trooper legions,” said famous crackpot Lyndon LaRouche.

One fevered lefty connected Bush to Nero as well as Hitler, saying “Nero burned Rome, Hitler burned the Reichstag and Bush burned the World Trade Center.”

But that’s all right, because…you know…it was BUSH!!!!

Remembering when dissent was patriotic:

On March 16, USA Today reported that Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum “was among dozens of members of Congress who ran gantlets of demonstrators and shouted over hecklers at Social Security events last month. Many who showed up to protest were alerted by e-mails and bused in by anti-Bush organizations such as MoveOn.org and USAction, a liberal advocacy group. They came with prepared questions and instructions on how to confront lawmakers.”

This was just good, boisterous politics: “Robust, wide-open debate.” But when it happens to Democrats, it’s something different: A threat to democracy, a sign of incipient fascism, and an opportunity to set up a (possibly illegal) White House “snitch line” where people are encouraged to report “fishy” statements to the authorities.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls the “Tea Party” protesters Nazis, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman –forgetting the events above — claims that left-leaning groups never engaged in disruptive tactics against Social Security reform, and various other administration-supporting pundits are trying to spin the whole thing as a deadly move toward “mob rule” and – somewhat contradictorily — as a phony “astroturf” movement.

Remember: When lefties do it, it’s called “community organizing.” When conservatives and libertarians do it, it’s “astroturf.”

But some people are noticing the truth. As Mickey Kaus notes, “If an ‘astroturfing’ campaign gets real people to show up at events stating their real views, isn’t it … community organizing?” Why yes, yes it is.

As someone who’s been following the Tea Party campaign since the beginning, it seems to me to be the most genuine outbreak of grassroots popular involvement in my lifetime. People have been turning out, in the tens of thousands at times, because they feel that Obama pulled a bait-and-switch and is moving the country much farther to the left than he promised during the campaign.

I don’t know whether Paul Krugman (and some of my commenters) suffers from amnesia and false memories, or is simply lying for his political cause. And I’m not sure which is worse.

[Update a couple minutes later]

The community grows restless.

…is the new dissent.

[Late morning update]

Thoughts on an artist’s duty to dissent.

I don’t know whether or not an artist has a “duty to dissent,” but if so, it seems a duty that only applies when Republicans are in power.

…that black people would get beaten up by racist thugs in the streets. And they were right:

Last night in St. Louis, Missouri, a local conservative found out firsthand about the “Chicago way.” Kenneth Gladney, a black conservative from the city, was handing out “Don’t Tread On Me” flags after a Russ Carnahan town hall meeting on health care in Mehlville. This didn’t go over well with the Obama supporters and union thugs who attended the meeting. They punched him in the face, kicked him in the head, and stomped on him on the pavement. So much for hope and change.

Well, the change is that they probably won’t be prosecuted for it, as they probably would have been under a Bush Justice Department.

[Update a while later]

This is a pretty incredible story. I mean, violence from union members? Who’s ever heard of such a thing? Anyway, I expect that at his next news conference, the president will point out that the man handing out the signs was behaving stupidly.

[Update late afternoon (Pacific)]

Mary Katherine Ham has an interview. I heard one with him on Cavuto in the car at lunchtime as well. It will be interesting to hear if the ACLU or NAACP has anything to say about it. Or if the latter lives down to its name of the association of “liberal” colored people.

[Update a few minutes later]

And as usual, what does a Democrat do when confronted with wrongdoing by his supporters? Blame it on Republicans.

[Another update]

I’m on the left coast, so I missed this episode with my own (worthless, or actually of negative worth) Florida Congressman (soon to be be my ex-Congressman, since we’re almost certainly moving somewhere, and probably back here to LA):

Though only a handful of constituents typically show up at the Lighthouse Point public library once a month with questions for U.S. Rep. Ron Klein’s staffers — often questions about Social Security checks or passport applications — this time about 100 people packed the room for two hours.

The group was rowdy, rude and fired up about healthcare.

“Where the hell is Klein?” demanded Republican activist Ana Gomez-Mallada, even though the congressman was not scheduled to be there. Others branded him a “coward” and a “communist.”

The natives are definitely (and justifiably) growing restless.