Troubling Quote
A friend and I were in Southern California and, as usual, found the Los Angeles Times to be an excellent source of news and information. Two events on March 3, however, were extremely troubling to us, even in the context of increasingly disturbing news stories.
One story reported that Jews were the major target of hate-motivated incidents in Orange County in 1994.
A second, a lead story about layoffs in Orange County resulting from the county’s bankruptcy, quotes Bill Fogarty, executive secretary treasurer of the Orange County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO: “The morale (among employees) would probably be better if they were told Adolf Hitler was taking over the country tomorrow. . . . I think they’d feel there was more hope.”
The connection between hate-motivated incidents against Jews and public servants suggesting Adolf Hitler could provide hope could not be more clear.
Of course, drawing analogies to historical parallel is always problematic. Nevertheless, if economic hard times in Orange County suggest to some that fascism is acceptable in deeds or in words, those who do not want to repeat history had better confront and eradicate Orange County fascism while there is still time to do it.
ARTHUR T. HIMMELMAN
Minneapolis
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