MY NEW HERO
Michael Ian Black
Of all the truly disturbing trends extant in America today (and there seems to be no lack), perhaps the one I find most offensive is that of conflating President Obama with Adolf Hitler. That the comparison is absurd on its face is self-evident and absurd in the extreme. Despite what you may think of the President, he’s killed six million fewer people than Hitler did. He hasn’t invaded a single country. He hasn’t sanctioned religious persecution, executed his enemies, or condoned scientific experiments on human beings. Despite these truths, there are more than a few misguided brain-dead sheeple willing to demonstrate their utter, unvarnished ignorance and lack of understanding of history. Adolf Hitler is not some abstract concept useful for smearing your ideological enemies. If you truly think that Barack Obama = Adolf Hitler, I think it’s long past time for your to renounce your right to vote.
Whether or not you’re a fan of Michael Ian Black (and I must confess to never having heard of him previously), I think it can safely be said that any decent, reasonable person should be applauding his outburst at a show in Columbus, OH. Perhaps he could have been more diplomatic. Perhaps he could have engaged the cretin in question in a something resembling a debate. Then again, I have to applaud someone who would so willingly and so eloquently lose his $#!& at a comedy show. At least he had the decency to recognize that his reaction, while honest and heartfelt, might have been more effective had he dialed down the emotion. Then again, when confronted by such sheer, unmedicated lunacy and ignorance, I might well lose my $#!&.
I do feel bad. Not because he didn’t deserve a response, but because he didn’t deserve the response he got, which was more or less an inarticulate string of profanities. It was easy and cheap, and I could have found a way to make the incident funnier instead of just upping the vitriol. To be fair to myself, after I screamed at him, I did ask him if there was anything he wanted to say to defend himself, but by that point he was gone. (I couldn’t see him because, as I said in my piece, he was shrouded in darkness.)…. My guilt has more to do with being an American. I’m the first person to bitch when people start screaming past each other over political/social/religious disagreements in this country, and yet what do I do when presented with an opportunity to lose my shit? I lose my shit. Not good. I definitely don’t want to come off sounding all high and mighty, but I don’t like what’s going on in my country, and I don’t want to make it worse.
To add some context to this discussion, it should be disclosed that Black is Jewish, and as such probably (and understandably) somewhat more sensitive about this sort of thing than most Gentiles. If six million of your co-religionists had been exterminated at the hands of an evil, genocidal madman like Adolf Hitler, you’d likely (and understandably) be somewhat sensitive. Anyone with even the barest shred of humanity should be incensed when someone conflates Hitler with Barack Obama. Black certainly had ample reason for going off on the cretin who shouted “Heil, Hitler!” Personally, I’m not certain I can think of a more offensive conflation, and it’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the idea that anyone could be so ignorant, insensitive, and clueless as to advocate such madness with a straight face.
Perhaps Black could have conducted himself in a more professional and less emotional manner. Then again, perhaps if more Americans stood up and confronted ignorance in a similar manner, perhaps we might be able to beat this beast back. Perhaps. Of course, there’s also the (very large) possibility that those guilty of such egregious and offensive silliness won’t recognize themselves as the rightful target of such forceful resistance.
I hope the cretin responsible for Black’s outburst is duly chastened. I hope he learned something. I hope that this episode has enlightened him and demonstrated to him just how truly ignorant and offensive his statements were. Then again, like most cockroaches, he probably just scurried back into cover of darkness. Jeebus, is it just me, or is this country turning into the set from Idiocracy??
