I am not a Barack Obama who can be demanded by a turd like Donald Trump to show his birth certificate or college transcripts. If I make a claim that is not obvious and well established, I certainly owe my readers a reference. But I don’t need one for that statement, and I certainly don’t owe any to you.

The connections of German institutions to the Nazis are very well documented, I am not making them up. They are so commonly accepted they are even referred to obliquely in popular culture, as in the film clip I linked to. Although it might be a bit difficult to find records of actual recruiting rosters or pay vouchers, the Nazis did not get to power by taking on the Reds single-handed. They did so with support of many German conservatives and reactionaries, including the Junkers, the Church, the Army and many vigilante and paramilitary groups, like the Freikorps. And of course, the industrialists. As always, the business community can tolerate any tyranny that doesn’t help organize the workers. If the Nazis were not paid to do the street fighting, they were certainly paid for having done the street fighting.

Just google “who supported Nazi thugs” and take a stroll down memory lane. Here’s just a few brief excerpts from what I turned up. You can follow them up if you like, because I will not play any of your high school debating games with you. My time is too valuable to spend it proving the obvious to you.

http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/etc/20/FC134

In late 1932, rich German industrialists, prompted by fear of a Communist takeover, pressured the government to make Hitler chancellor (prime minister), hoping they could control him while he contained the Communists.

http://teacherweb.ftl.pinecrest.edu/snyderd/MWH/Webquests/9-Dep&Tot/9-NaziRule.htm

In June 1934 the German army openly declared its loyalty to Hitler, requiring him to choose between the army and nearly 2 million Brownshirts, the thugs and foot soldiers who had followed Hitler from the early 1920s.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-hitlerdemo.htm

Hindenburg was exhausted by all the intrigue and crisis, and the prospect of civil war had moved the steely field marshal to tears. As much as he hated to do so, he seemed resigned to offering Hitler a high government position. Many people were urging him to do so: the industrialists who were financing Hitler, the military whose connections Hitler had cultivated, even Hindenburg’s son, whom some historians believe the Nazis had blackmailed.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-hitlerdemo.htm

The German Weimar Republic was doomed from the start. (1) Germany had no democratic tradition, and in fact many parties were deeply opposed to the creation of a democracy. These included old monarchists, the Army, the industrialists, the Nationalists and several other conservative parties. Many, like the Nazis to come, were not so much members of the Republic as they were conspirators to overthrow it. When it came time to create the Republic, the conservative parties took no part in the process.

http://books.google.com/books?id=gIymIi4UvFcC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=who+did+nazistreet+thugs+fight+for&source=bl&ots=MtGbx3AFZv&sig=t7RHk5jjhrMkpBYze1udmcjXpxE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KeHDUKWyB4-C8QTy1IH4CA&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=who%20did%20nazistreet%20thugs%20fight%20for&f=false

The Communist Party under Ernst Thalmann gained strength, but wealthy industrialists began to support the Nazis and police turned a blind eye to Nazi street thugs.

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED299607&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED299607

For the generation of Americans who witnessed and perhaps even fought against the Hitler regime, the consequences of his political manipulation had a significant and tangible impact on their lives. For younger generations it is necessary to work to understand how Hitler constructed his appeals to the German people. While a great deal of his persuasiveness came from physical violence against political opposition, the persuasive power of his rhetoric should not be underestimated. To analyze Hitler’s class appeals to the German people it is important to demonstrate how he adapted the basic tenets of fascist ideology to the Prussian heritage epitomized in the medieval Holy Roman Empire, the First Reich, and the Second Reich established by Bismarck in 1871. An examination of Hitler’s appeals to the Prussian aristocracy known as the Junkers (powerful forces in the Prussian army as well as in civil government) shows that through his rhetoric, Hitler managed to intertwine the tenets of fascist ideology with Prussian ideals in such a way that National Socialism appeared to be the party of the aristocracy rather than the party of the worker. The primary tenets of the fascist ideology can be seen in Hitler’s organic conceptualization of the state and the ordering of relations within it. Even today, the greatest danger for the citizen lies in the failure to recognize basic tenets of fascist ideology.

Man, does THAT sound familiar.

The German industrialists, elements in the Army and land-holding aristocracy enlisted a gang of fascist street thugs to fight pitched battles with the Communists so they could prevent the rise of a left wing government.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard this anywhere else. Got a source?

Of course, I am only pointing out a historical coincidence. I would never imply that the current struggle between the GOP establishment and their populist branch, the Tea Party, has any resemblance at all to these historical events.

This is a scene from “Cabaret” in which this very issue is addressed. Note Michael York’s (a British vistor) comment to Helmut Griem (a German millionaire) as they leave the beer garden. “Do you still think you can control them?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNMVMNmrqJE

They’ve created a monster.

Vermont

MSNBC’s John Mclaughlin (!) (by the way, Buchanan is kind of an idiot, too.)

Washington Times article

There’s probably more, of course. Heck, we did the whole “Jesusland” thing right here. There just wasn’t a handy “build your own petition” site back then to get idiots all worked up.

ACORN dead?

ACORN is doing just fine, thank you. They disbanded their groups, and immediately created new ones. If anyone is interested in the details, there’s a spreadsheet link there with the information.

They didn’t even work that hard at it. Some of these groups have the same addresses they had before, the same people working there, and sometimes even the same tax ID number.

Someone pointed this out when Kevin Drum was laughing about those silly Republicans who don’t think ACORN is dead. The response from a commenter: “But I don’t see anything about them stealing the election from Romney, do you?” The goal posts? Out in the parking lot. Go look.

But now, the base is involved in a struggle for supremacy with the leadership, the “establishment” can no longer control their “street fightin’ men”.

There is historical precedent for this, it has happened before. It could get ugly.