MBNYC at Daily Kos brings us a post on Obama's visit to Berlin this week. Apparently he's speaking before the Siegessaule (Victory Column), which is ostensibly a monument to Germany's European conquests of the 1800's, but was also a prime symbol of the Nazis and was relocated and enlarged by Albert Speer.

Of course, this brings to mind Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign kickoff in Philadelphia, Mississippi, site of the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers. Many have charged, apparently with good reason, that Reagan chose that spot in order to drive home the real, hidden meaning of "states' rights" (his catchphrase in the speech) -- that power to the states meant the evisceration of civil rights for African-Americans. MBNYC is concerned that conservatives will charge Obama with sending similar signals via his Siegessaule speech.

What's the difference between the two cases? Motive, of course. Reagan's veiled threat against African-Americans stood to gain him a whole heck of a lot of Southern conservatives who had previously voted for Carter. Who exactly would Obama be attracting by sending a subtle signal that he supports the Nazis? Maybe Bill White, I guess. After he finishes calling Obama "one of those smarty-art n*****s."

Any conservative who makes this kind of charge against Obama is an absolute idiot. And I don't think any will.

Labels: Jeremy Young