Dem
51
GOP
49
It is a sign of how very much the country has become acclimated to the extremes of the Donald Trump-led Republican Party that a bunch of Nazis showed up to this weekend's CPAC conference, and it barely got any attention.
Nobody who was present this weekend could possibly have been unaware of the Nazi presence. They showed up at panel discussions to share their views on "race science" and how Jews are secretly behind everything. They goose-stepped around in the lobby of the hotel where the conference was held, greeting each other with "Sieg Heil." They made very liberal (conservative?) use of the n-word. Unless there is a revival of The Producers that we are not aware of, these folks were dyed-in-the-wool Hitler fans.
Meanwhile, it is not like the conference was only attended by fringy elements of the GOP. Donald Trump spoke there, as did a whole bunch of wannabe running mates, along with Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), and a host of other high-profile Republicans. Not one of them raised a word of objection to the Nazis in their midst, as far as we can discover. CPAC organizers denied yesterday that any Nazis were present, but... there's video.
We wish we had something useful or insightful to say, but we really don't. It's absolutely reprehensible that these folks were not tossed out by the scruff of their necks, and anyone who participated in the conference this weekend should be ashamed of themselves for not denouncing the Nazis' presence. Of course, it's not like this is the first time the folks listed above have enabled this sort of behavior. (Z)