• February 15, 2012

Oh my god, truly terrible publication The POLITICO has created a H/holocaust style guide. Like an actual collection of words published on politico.com that serve to outline when it is okay to invoke lower case-h holocaust and when it is okay to go all WWII insidery and just GO FOR IT and use the capital H. “When is a holocaust not the Holocaust?” is the actual lede of this non-specific genocide of an article.

Alan Grayson used the word “holocaust” the other day to describe a bunch of people dying from a lack of health care. BUT UM, isn’t this offensive to dead people who DIED in the famous Holocaust?? Maybe! Please everyone take out your POLITICO Guide to Genocide & Grammar and turn to Chapter 1: Proper Nouns Are Anti-Semitic (“Hitler” Is A Proper Noun):

The text of Grayson’s statement, e-mailed to reporters, showed the word beginning with a lower-case “h,” not as a proper noun referring to the systematic execution of Jews by Nazis.

For some Jewish lawmakers, there’s a big and appropriate distinction. For others, the word is so loaded that the generic term is as offensive as the specific one. There also appears to be a generational split, with older Jews more likely to cringe at the term.

Great thank you. Oh but can we quote some old Jewish guy, to corroborate this, for Authenticity?

Older Jews seem uncomfortable with any rhetorical use, arguing it is hard to make a distinction between a holocaust — total devastation, particularly by fire — and the Holocaust.

“To me, there’s only one Holocaust, and I think excessive use of that word has the effect of trivializing the Holocaust,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, 62, who represents the Bronx neighborhood where Grayson grew up. “I know that wasn’t Congressman Grayson’s intention at all. I wish he would not use that word.”

THE POLITICO IS TOTAL DEVASTATION, PARTICULARLY BY FIRE.

[POLITICO Guide to Genocide & Grammar]

{ 55 comments }

AbstinenceOnly Ed October 2, 2009 at 12:40 pm

Politico shoah is a shitty publication.

Lascauxcaveman October 2, 2009 at 12:42 pm

This is much the same discussion that took place a day or two ago in the comments section of Wonkette, for which it apparently WON THE AFTERNOON.

Suck it, Politico.

Smoke Filled Roommate October 2, 2009 at 12:43 pm

Why don’t they just substitute ‘Holocaustey’ and ‘Holocaustish’? There. Done.

Native of SL UT October 2, 2009 at 12:45 pm

Is this Politico’s Final Solution on the subject? Hmmm.. capitalizing that final solution kinda changed the context doesn’t it?

SayItWithWookies October 2, 2009 at 12:49 pm

Yeah, it would’ve been more appropriate if Grayson had said healthcare was a St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

shadowMark October 2, 2009 at 12:49 pm

I’ll admit I’m kind of nervous wondering what SkoalRebel will contribute to this thread.

hobospacejunkie October 2, 2009 at 12:50 pm

Shoah when you mean THE Holocaust. And holocaust when it’s just your garden-variety mass death by fire or government inaction. And Holodomor when it’s Ukrainians starved to death by Stalin, which totally didn’t happen if you are Russian.

HoboNutz October 2, 2009 at 12:51 pm

I FIND IT OFFENSIVE WHEN PEOPLE DON’T CAPITALIZE EVERY LETTER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION

slappypaddy October 2, 2009 at 12:52 pm

it is never okay to use the “h”-word, except among good friends, and when offering burnt sacrifices to a vengeful god.

Mahousu October 2, 2009 at 12:53 pm

Politico takes no delight in burnt offerings.

AbstinenceOnly Ed October 2, 2009 at 12:54 pm

Grayson added: “These erratic Republicans can’t focus on real reform for 5 seconds. We need to send these Adult ADD-sufferers to concentration camps!”

hobospacejunkie October 2, 2009 at 12:57 pm

David Irving has examined hospital emergency rooms and denies 45,000 people a year die due to lack of medical insurance. And the pope has unexcommunicated a priest who agrees.

Sharkey October 2, 2009 at 12:57 pm

So, there was a hOlOcAuSt in my hash pipe last night?

Cape Clod October 2, 2009 at 12:58 pm

I think we should get Mahmoud Ahmadinejad take on the issue. He uses that word all the time.

Extemporanus October 2, 2009 at 1:04 pm

If only Grayson had flashed the ol’ dick fingers when saying “holocaust”, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. His decision not to do so will undoubtedly “‘caust” him.

AbstinenceOnly Ed October 2, 2009 at 1:07 pm

You’re all forgetting that, according to AIPAC:

A) Jews have a monopoly on suffering
+
B) Criticism of Israel is criticism of all Jews
=
C) Israel can do whatever it wants
=
D) Comparing anything non-Jewish to the Holocaust kills all 6 million Jews all over again, you fucking linguistic Hitler bastard!

The conflation of Jewishness with Zionism is AIPAC’s goal, despite the fact that many Jews actively oppose Israel’s actions and despise AIPAC and Israel’s government. Monopolizing victimhood and justifying Israel’s current atrocities through the Jewish peoples’ past suffering is how Zionism operates. The fact that Alan Grayson is Jewish does not matter to a Zionist. His language deviates from the message, and therefore is branded antisemitic and heretical, because it ostensibly belittles the suffering endured by the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

And of course, GOP wingnuts are manipulating the Zionists to their advantage yet again, even though they are virulently antisemitic, apart from Cantor, who is just embarrassing.

/End crazy rant.

user-of-owls October 2, 2009 at 1:08 pm

So ‘politico’ should be used when referring to the annihilation of journalistic principles in a non-specific way?

pampl October 2, 2009 at 1:09 pm

Follow-up question: when is it appropriate to write “lolocaust” over “LOLocaust”? Is it ever appropriate to use “ROFLocaust”?

proudgrampa October 2, 2009 at 1:10 pm

Where is William Safire when you need him??

Extemporanus October 2, 2009 at 1:13 pm

[re=425598]shadowMark[/re]: He thinks “holocaust” is the name of that virtual reality bondage closet that gay as hay-ell Captain Pickhard and his blind-ass space slave Georgie were always fuckin’ around in.

Shee-it.

AbstinenceOnly Ed October 2, 2009 at 1:23 pm

[re=425639]pampl[/re]: ROFLcaust is okay, but OMGWTFBBQ is preferable for its implied Holocaust reference, which is at once more diplomatic AND offensive.

Flanders October 2, 2009 at 1:24 pm

[re=425592]Smoke Filled Roommate[/re]: win!

Flanders October 2, 2009 at 1:25 pm

[re=425598]shadowMark[/re]: He hasn’t been here for a few days. I hope he is okay!

Sharkey October 2, 2009 at 1:26 pm

[re=425639]pampl[/re]: Just stay away from holocatz.

Mahousu October 2, 2009 at 1:31 pm

[re=425639]pampl[/re]: All of those are fine; it’s the Lolicaust you need to watch out for.

Well, at least if you are Roman Polanski.

V572625694 October 2, 2009 at 1:35 pm

[re=425636]AbstinenceOnly Ed[/re]: I totally concur, you raging anti-Semite. The only way to attone for the terrible sin you’ve committed in writing this is to send some more “foreign aid” to Israel, in its usual format — which is a $3B debit card they can use at Lockheed Martin, Boeing or Raytheon to buy more fighters to attack their neighbors and missiles to defend themselves against the response. In other words, “foreign aid” to Israel is….

A fuck it, everybody must know this by now, right?

Big Daddy Tom October 2, 2009 at 1:38 pm

I think it is important to reference holocaust at least 50 times a day for the most mundane topics — you get extra holocaust points for using holocaust more than once in a sentence or phrase. As in: David Letterman is a holocaust for using his position of authority to holocaust his PAs. This coffee tastes like holocaust, what did you do holocaust in it? Watching Fox News makes me want to holocaust in my holocaust.

See, it’s just that easy! 12 percent of the words in this holocausty comment is the word holocaust.

Also, Politico can suck my holocaust.

sezme October 2, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Why is white nigger Alan Grayson mouth-raping Trig with his inappropriately anti-Semitic lip/tongue combinations?

Dean Booth October 2, 2009 at 2:01 pm

The leak in my bathroom was so bad, I had to use Holocaulk, with a capital H!

AbstinenceOnly Ed October 2, 2009 at 2:12 pm

[re=425677]V572625694[/re]: Damn! I missed atonement by a week. Oh well, eternal damnation it is.

Suds McKenzie October 2, 2009 at 2:23 pm

So when will Wonkette release it’s “Tardageddon Compendium”

Dreadful Gate October 2, 2009 at 2:31 pm

Nobody owns words, not even the jooz

Jim89048 October 2, 2009 at 2:42 pm

That’s Holocaust©.
/fixed

LittlePig October 2, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Wow, half a million Gypsies get offed in the big H Holocaust, and they don’t even a mention out of the deal, much less be handed their own country. Good thing so many good Jewish boys became ad agents – it’s all in the PR.

hockeymom October 2, 2009 at 3:18 pm

Can we have a visit by the Ban Hammer fairy?

proudgrampa October 2, 2009 at 3:22 pm

Holocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaustholocaust.

claytor October 2, 2009 at 3:29 pm

So I have to change the name of my new book from “Me and my personal Holocaust” to “Me and my total devastation, particularly by fire”?

Tommmcatt October 2, 2009 at 4:16 pm

[re=425906]proudgrampa[/re]:

GASP! What html wizardry allowed you to do THAT? I want to color outside the lines too!

Tommmcatt October 2, 2009 at 4:18 pm

[re=425639]pampl[/re]:

Hehehe. Nobody saw you win but me. But you did win the thread with that, sir.

Mr Blifil October 2, 2009 at 5:09 pm

Who the fuck asked the “old jews” their opinion? As far as I can tell “old Jews” still really haven’t made the case that they serve much use. Perhaps the time has come to develop some sort of solution as to what is to be done with them. Something that’ll really help prevent this shit from happenin anymore. Like, ever…

Guppy06 October 2, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Grayson’s just apologized to the Anti-Defamation League. Republicans apparently can still suck it, though.

lochnessmonster October 2, 2009 at 6:05 pm

I don’t care what that rag says…I love the guy for it. We need more people in congress who will say it like it is.

proudgrampa October 2, 2009 at 6:56 pm

[re=425963]Tommmcatt[/re]: Hey, Cat — I have no clue how that happened, except that I was pasting a substring: without a c/r, it just kept goin’!!

PoetryMan October 2, 2009 at 7:10 pm

Open Question to Wonkett Editors: How much will you pay (this being a recession and all) for a copy of Politico’s editorial calendar? Think of how much you could do with a day’s, week’s, month’s foresight!

LowerdPeninsula October 3, 2009 at 2:03 am

[re=425677]V572625694[/re]: “I totally concur, you raging anti-Semite. The only way to attone for the terrible sin you’ve committed in writing this is to send some more “foreign aid” to Israel, in its usual format — which is a $3B debit card they can use at Lockheed Martin, Boeing or Raytheon to buy more fighters to attack their neighbors and missiles to defend themselves against the response. In other words, “foreign aid” to Israel is….

A fuck it, everybody must know this by now, right?”

That’s quite possibly the best description I’ve ever seen of our foreign aid to them. An annual, $3 billion debit car they can use at Lockheed and the rest is exactly what it ultimately amounts to. Meanwhile, the other guys get ‘humanitarian’ aid. Cause, everyone knows that Palestinian bottle-rockets deserve a hell-fire response, like trying to kill an ant with a sledgehammer.

LittlePig October 3, 2009 at 11:17 am

[re=426286]LowerdPeninsula[/re]: Indeed. It’s as if the life of a single Jewish person equates to many Palestinian lives. I believe there’s a word for that…Gracist? No. Maceist? Nah…

1ofUS October 3, 2009 at 11:42 am

We are the holocaust
We are insurance’s cost
Leaning on you
Codpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried corpses, when
Piled together
Are quite meaningless
As wind from Boehner’s ass
Or Newts’ gravitas
Now there’s a hysterical feller

desertwind October 3, 2009 at 2:46 pm

Uhm. Not to be all nerdy, but, in what way is “total devastation, particularly by fire” a “holocaust?”

Shouldn’t that be “conflagration” or some other word like “wildfire?”

cashaholic October 4, 2009 at 12:30 am

“I think excessive use of that word has the effect of trivializing the Holocaust.” Oy vey.

asier October 4, 2009 at 1:40 am

I’m writing a rap song called Holla Caustin’ .

youlie October 4, 2009 at 5:02 am

“…and the holocaust was complete.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby”

“English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?” -Quentin Tarantino, “Pulp Fiction”

Long Form Def Certificate October 4, 2009 at 8:17 pm

Matan Vilnai sees no problem with these invocations of the Holocaust &/or holocaust.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8274

Jerome Nickerson October 5, 2009 at 12:08 am

Hey,
Great post. I kinda stumbled upon your blog and now I’ve added it to my bookmarks. Interesting stuff.

Best,
Jerome Nickerson

Online Marketing

tiger October 5, 2009 at 2:31 pm

You’re kidding? I’ll say anyfuckingthing I want.

tiger October 5, 2009 at 2:32 pm

Israel, Palestine, Holocaust, holocaust…don’t EEEVEN get me started.

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