Is everyone a Nazi now?

                                                                                    

Nassau County Exective Bruce Blakeman (r) with Stuart Varney on Fox Business News today

For a long time, the favored slur against opponents was to call them racists.

Now it seems that the preferred smear is Nazi. Anytime anybody expresses an unpopular view or a makes a controversial proposal, they are labeled Nazi's.

Critics for years have called former President Donald Trump a Nazi. Some conservatives liken efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to censure social media posts during the covid pandemic to Adolph Hitler's totalitarian Nazi regime.

Nassau Legis. Arnold Drucker, a Plainview Democrat, joined the chorus yesterday at the county legislative meeting. He compared a proposal by Republican County Executive Bruce and supported by Nassau's Republican legislators that bars biological males from competing against woman or girls teams in county sports facilities to Nazi policies.

Arnold Drucker

"The laws that were promulgated in Nazi Germany in the 1930s overtly discriminated against Jews because of an purported overriding concern that Jews represented a  threat to the stability of the German government," said Drucker. "It was done over a manufactured fear and false narrative. Aren't you aren't you doing the same thing here? You're creating a false narrative and promulgated based on fear of a perceived advantage."

Both Drucker and Blakeman are Jewish.

Presiding Officer Howard Kopel, a Lawrence Republican who also is Jewish, chided Drucker. "Anytime you start using Nazi comparisons cheapens and denigrates the suffering of people at the hands of the Nazi's," he said.

Legis. John Ferretti, a Levittown Republican, was less restrained.

"Comparing an initiative by the first Jewish-American county executive to Nazism , that is a disgrace," Ferretti said. "Its a disgrace what you just did. You are the second legislator on your side of the aisle that owes him an apology. Let's stop the nonsense."

Ferretti was referring to a well-publicized quote from  Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, a
Glen Cove Democrat who said earlier this year that a constituent compared Blakeman's proposal for a provisional  special sheriff's deputy force of armed residents to Hitler's "brownshirts" militia.

Blakeman labeled the comment antisemitic and called on DeRiggi-Whitton to resign. She has not. Nor has she apologized.

Blakeman and Republicans say the new law is intended to protect women and girl athletes. It does not mention trangender women -- biological men who identify as women.  Some studies have found that after puberty, men are generally bigger, stronger and faster, despite years of female hormone treatments. Many say that gives transgender women an unfair advantage on the playing fields.

The law does not use the term transgender. But Democrats and advocates call it a transgender ban. All 12 Republicans voted in favor, all six Democrats present voted against it.  DeRiggi Whitton was absent.

A clip of Drucker's full quote yesterday, along with a response from Blakeman,  was featured on Fox Business News' Stuart Varney show this morning.

After airing Drucker's comment, Varney said, "That was over the top."

Blakeman said, "It was absolutely disgraceful. It was despicable.  I am a Jewish American. To call me a Nazi. The Republican majority leader, Howard Kopel is a Jewish American. he called him a Nazi. The non-Jewish members of the Republican majority who voted for this,  he called them Nazi's. Its disgraceful."

 Drucker explained his comment at the end of yesterday's meeting.

"My reference to Nazi Germany is my own personal feeling and concern especially with the rise of antisemitism in this country. We have to be hypervigilant." He added that he attends at least one pro-Israel event a week.

Kopel responded, "I respect you. I know you attend Jewish events." But comparing this bill "to the actions of Nazi and Klu Klux Klan responsible for perpetuating some of the worst crimes in human history is just a mistake."

Transgender advocates in the legislative audience chanted, "It started like this.”

Legis. John Giuffre, a Steward Manor Republican, noted that two federal courts in Tennessee and Louisiana this month found that the federal Title IX law blocks biological men from competing in women sports.

Drucker chortled that Louisiana also just called for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classsrooms but Kopel cut off his microphone.

Maybe Drucker would have gone on to note that the Nassau Supreme Court building in Mineola also has the Ten Commandment displayed on the wall of its lobby. But probably not.