Psssssst. Hey you--NRA member! Yeah, you---with the ketchup stains on your AK-47 t-shirt that's two sizes too small.
Hey, didja hear about the latest NRA candidate for Congress? No, not the one who's a witch who believes they've cloned mice with human brains. Nahh...not the weirdo from Alaska who wants to repeal most of the Constitution because that's what the Founders intended.
There's this teabaggin' GOPer in Ohio who...well...see for yourself:
An election year already notable for its menagerie of extreme and unusual candidates can add another one: Rich Iott, the Republican nominee for Congress from Ohio's 9th District, and a Tea Party favorite, who for years donned a German Waffen SS uniform and participated in Nazi re-enactments.
This is what the NRA spends your dues on.
I have issues with knocking someone for being a reenactor without a bit more info. The question I would ask is why did he pick the unit he did? There ar enon-political reasons someone choose to be the "enemy". One reason I've heard is that fewer people want to be the "bad guy". On advantage to an SS unit is that the soldiers could be older than ordinary Heer units: 50 year old gefreiters can strain credulity.
ReplyDeleteThen again, some reenactors can strain credulity anyway.
Kind of hard to have re-enactments if only one side shows up.
ReplyDeletePrecisely. Somebody has to be the bad guy.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but the whole reenactment thing is just bananas. BTW, if you ever get a chance read Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic.
ReplyDeleteTo a large extent, and as the article I cited notes, many reenactors claim to be learning more about history. But the opposite is usually true--many reenactor are revising and, in some cases, glorifying that history into something it wasn't.
OK, this is an interesting piece on re-enacting:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Re-enactment
I have a love-hate relationship with reenactors in that some can truly strive for accuracy. While it's a way for others to play with their toys. That's a nice idea if you have the stuff lying about and want to display it in something that is somewhat educational.
I find living history to be pretty cool (and not just military), but you have to be as accurate as possible such as this place:
http://www.blistshill.org/
On the other hand, there are people who play fast and loose with history, such as any US RenFaire.
BTW, I watched the vid and the Wiking were a bit much, as was the bloke in the RAF "uniform" with kilt.
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ReplyDeleteBTW, the "RAF" dude is wearing blackwatch tartan. Not to mention that the hose and shoes are just plain WRONG
ReplyDelete--give me a break!
I am watching The History of Britain which is a History Channel presentation narrated by and based on the books by Simon Shama.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many such documentaries could be as well made without the use of reenactors no matter the period of history being examined.
I find the whole re-enactment business kinda foolish. I can appreciate the academic professor type who spends his entire life in dusty libraries and is obsessively dedicated to his subject, but when he decides to dress up, and role play, count me out.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who does something I don't like should be stopped. And the state should stop them.
ReplyDeletePretty much sums up your side of the argument, doesn't MikeB?
By the by, how is it that I knew this was a Jadegold post as soon as I saw the Nazi picture? Guy can't even start a post without losing to Godwin's law.
"Kind of hard to have re-enactments if only one side shows up."
ReplyDeleteThere is a joke about the French in there somewhere.
I think you mean Italians, AztecRed.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the same page as FWM here, although I do admit some of these characters can be a laugh (RAF Dude for example).
As Ben Franklin pointed out: the Only difference between the men and the boys is the cost of their toys.
And if this lot wants to REALLY play war.
On the other hand, I do find their reenacting D-Day in Northern Ohio a stretch. After all, there are all these old, unused WWII bunkers on the East Coast they could use for their playtime. Although, if you think dressing up as an SS soldier is in bad taste--think of having a platoon of German reenactors standing around an old bunker in Cape May.
Mr. Vanderboegh, as always, says it much better than I ever could (excerpt):
ReplyDeleteBut I mean really. Its a reenactment. Reenactments need troops of both sides as it takes both sides to achieve the desired result of recreating history for the crowd. When I was a CW reenactor, I wore both coats. This said nothing about my opinions of either slavery or Lincoln's destruction of the Founders' Constitution.
Jadefool's Biggest (Only?) Cheerleader provides a good laugh:
I find the whole re-enactment business kinda foolish. I can appreciate the academic professor type who spends his entire life in dusty libraries and is obsessively dedicated to his subject, but when he decides to dress up, and role play, count me out.
Participation in historical re-enactments is one of many hobbies that holds little interest for me, but unlike JB(O?)C, I simply decline partaking in such hobbies, rather than cast aspersions on those who do.
One of the (thankfully) many, (thankfully) vast differences between me and JB(O?)C.
By the way, speaking of Mr. Vanderboegh, it seems the statists are in an even bigger tizzy than usual about him:
ReplyDeleteI have just been forwarded a pdf copy of a report by the Kansas City Regional Terrorism Early Warning Group. I suppose I should be interested in it for its subject is, well, me.
They're comparing his upcoming novella, Absolved, to the Turner Diaries (despite the utter absence of any "race war" elements.
The stupid fucks probably don't even realize they're providing superb advertising for him.
David Codrea has more.
"Statist"?
ReplyDeleteHey, I've got some great places where you can move to Zorro and the rest of you eejots. They are real gun culture and not nasty government.
Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and NW Pakistan.
I can't wait until the USA is a failed state as well. The big question is will it be big business or the PRC that'll end up running the show?
Laci,
ReplyDeleteBeen there. Have no desire to live under Sharia law.
But Sharia Law is just another form of statism.
Laci the Ambulance-Chasing Dog:
ReplyDeleteHey, I've got some great places where you can move to Zorro . . .
Think I'll stay here in the States, thanks. I know I'm right at the center of my personal quarter square mile Zone of Liberty, everywhere I go with a rifle, by virtue of the fact that I am proficient to (and beyond) Appleseed Project standards, meaning that I can consistently hit a man-sized target at 500 yards with open sights.
You, on the other hand, would probably be much happier in a statist paradise like North Korea or Myanmar, with no nasty (civilian) gun culture, and plenty of government.
Zorro, I can't believe the way you speak about Vanderboegh. His writing cannot compare to yours. And on video he's even worse.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, is there any truth to the internet rumors that Mike V. accepts government disability checks? And is it true that he's responded to this by claiming to be taking resources from the enemy, a worthy exercise?
Please say it ain't so. Tell me your hero isn't that kind of hypocrite and double talker
I can't wait until the USA is a failed state as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised to hear this from a proponent of gun control. Anything to further your agenda.
Jadefool's Biggest (Only?) Cheerleader:
ReplyDeleteZorro, I can't believe the way you speak about Vanderboegh. His writing cannot compare to yours. And on video he's even worse.
If Mr. Vanderboegh were a tattoo artist, he'd compose tramp stamps with more insight and wit than the best writing I'll ever manage. As for being "even 'worse'" on video--I assure you that compared to me, he's an oratorial prodigy.
By the way, is there any truth to the internet rumors that Mike V. accepts government disability checks? And is it true that he's responded to this by claiming to be taking resources from the enemy, a worthy exercise?
Not being his accountant, how the fuck should I know whether or not that's true? As for the justification you apparently claim to have seen attributed to him, it makes sense to me--didn't Sun Tzu make a similar point? Besides, I imagine he paid into the Social Security system for decades--how would it make him a "hypocrite" to get some return on that investment?