Maine Gov. In Trouble Because Apparently Health Care Reform Isn't As Bad As The Holocaust Or Something

 
 Did you know that the Gestapo, in addition to hauling away political dissidents and Jews and Gypsies to die in camps,alsowere a law enforcement agency, that enforced the law, of Nazi Germany? That's all Maine Governor Paul LePage is saying, man. Don't get all worked up. He's just saying that, much like the Gestapo enforced the the laws in Nazi Germany that you weren't allowed to be Jewish, on penalty of death, so too the IRS will be enforcing the laws of America that you aren't allowed to not have health insurance on penalty of, like, a fine or something. That's all he meant when said that the IRS was just like the Gestapo. GOD. So whiny, all of you.

Your Comics Curmudgeon is going to use his Jewish Privilege to announce that he honestly doesn't get offended when people, even people he disagrees with, use Nazi Germany as a metaphor, because if you can't use Nazi Germany as a metaphor for a dictatorship that arose surprisingly quickly out of democratic institutions, what the hell good is it? Still, it's always fun to see some jerk repeatedly apologizing for some dumb overblown thing he's said, without actually apologizing :

The story began on July 7 when LePage -- a tea party-leaning Republican -- used his official weekly radio address to warn that the Supreme Court ruling upholding the health care law would turn the IRS into "the new Gestapo."

That prompted criticism from the Anti-Defamation League and an organization representing IRS employees.

Apparently caught off guard by the outrage, LePage offered his first apology to a Maine TV station on July 9.

"It was never intended to offend anyone," he said on camera. "And if someone's offended, then they ought to be goddamn mad at the federal government."

On July 12, LePage was asked again about the July 9 remarks by an alt-weekly. That's when he expressed regret at offending anyone -- but doubled down on the claim that the IRS will kill people like the Gestapo in Nazi Germany did.

"What I'm trying to say is that the Holocaust was a horrific crime against humanity and, frankly, I would never want to see that repeated," he said. "Maybe the IRS is not quite as bad. Yet."

You know when a politician is taking the bold stance that the Holocaust is bad and quite frankly it would be for the best if it never happened again, you are dealing with a real leader. Anyway, LePage finally apologized for real after being whisked away to answer to a cabal of Maine Jews (how many of these are there, exactly?). But if wants to court this powerful constituency, he needs to know what they really want, like Angela Merkel, leader of the home of the non-metaphorical Holocaust, does:

Aww, yeah, that's the stuff. See, governor:  Leadership. [ TPM ]