A powerful Massachusetts state representative apologized yesterday for comparing a proposal requiring State House lobbyists to wear identification badges to the tattoos branded on Holocaust victims.
Representative John J. Binienda, a Worcester Democrat who has served in the Legislature since 1987, said he made an “inappropriate analogy’’ when he criticized the badge proposal.
MA Republicans - who I may remind you only comprise ~ 10% of MA state politicians - have submitted a bill that requires lobbyists to display ID. It's done in other states, it's good for that mythical "transparency" that Deval Patrick's idol Øbama talked so much about, it's a good idea for a state that has seen the past three Speakers of the House perp-walked out of the Hub capital building.
And according to Rep. Binienda, it's exactly the same as Jews being tattooed in Nazi Germany.
Yeah, I can see how those two are the same. I mean, they're both a form of ID. They're both... Um... Wait. The Jews didn't have a choice in the matter. Lobbyists who wish to curry favor in the MA State House have all kinds of choices. They can choose not to be lobbyists, for starters. They can choose to lobby only for good and noble ventures. It's pretty much right after "they're both forms of identification" that the analogy fails. So, in Rep. Binienda's eyes, my driver's license - or my LTC - are the same as being a Jew in Hitler's Germany...
Look, if you don't want lobbyists being identified, there's a much simpler way. It's a way championed by Hizzoner himself whenever there's something he doesn't like - ban them! Lobbyists can't be required to wear ID if they're not allowed in the State House, right? Protect them from themselves! Just like you and your cohorts protect law abiding gun owners from guns too unsafe to own - like the Glocks your police detail carries.
A MA politician with his foot in his mouth? Inconceivable!
That is all.
4 comments:
So, in Rep. Binienda's eyes, my driver's license - or my LTC - are the same as being a Jew in Hitler's Germany...
Careful, J. Comparing gun ownership in MA to being under the suppressive jackboot of an out of control government...
Oh, wait. Nevermind.
tweaker
Speaker beat me to it... and nevermind is right!
when you wrote "Inconceivable!" in my head I heard the actor with the lisp from 'The Princess Bride.'
I'm reminded of the argument they use in favor, not just of having gun registries, but of publishing them -- why not? What are you trying to hide?
Ditto for you, lobbyists. Are you afraid of being publicly identifiable as such? And does Rep. Binienda have reason to fear them being so identified?
Oh, and just to clarify the analogy further -- perhaps he meant to say that the IDs would be equivalent to the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany, and that would have been bad enough.
But he didn't say "star", he said "tattoo". Well, whom did the Nazis tattoo? Extermination-camp inmates (who were destined for immediate slaughter) and concentration-camp inmates (who were expected to be worked to death).
In other words, the Nazis tattooed people who were about to die. Comparing that to a job requirement to show ID is nothing short of disgusting.
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