baltimoresun.com

« GOP Women's Group in Anne Arundel County Compares Obama to Hitler | Main | Maryland nearly flunks disclosure of state lawmaker finances »

June 25, 2009

Husband of blog post author comparing Obama to Hitler defends wife's views

The husband of an Anne Arundel County Republican woman who wrote a blog plosting comparing President Obama to Hitler said his wife's comments have been misunderstood, and that criticism is piling up.

Responding to a message for comment, Charles Thomann, the husband of Joyce Thomann, the president of the Anne Arundel County Republican Women's Club, said his wife was in Denver caring for her ailing 96-year-old mother and could not immediately comment.

A Republican member of the five-person Maryland State Board of Elections and an adjunct history professor at Anne Arundel Community College, Charles Thomann, speaking on behalf of his wife, defended the online letter comparing Obama and Hitler and said "It wasn't meant in the way people are taking it."

Thomann conceded that "maybe she wasn't as artful as she could have been," referring to his wife's comments, but said he and his wife view Obama's push of what they deem socialist programs similar to the way Adolf Hitler spread the Nazi ideals in Germany.

"The methods that [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [President] Obama are using to get the socialist view point across, is similar to what Hitlder did. And the German people regretted it. I just happen to be up on it. I happen to be a history teacher."

Thomann said his wife's email inbox is piled high with messages and he has been fielding angry calls from the public since news of the letter broke online. It has been linked from the Huffington Post and other outlets.

"We've gotten a lot of calls," Thomann said. "The liberal Democrats have really been pushing it. Most of it is very vitriolic. I think it's been completely misunderstood ... Once black woman, who said she was black, called and said, 'I really resent this because you're racist.' I told her we're not racist. We're delighted to have a black president. Heck, we'd like to see a woman president, too."

Kory Blake the chair of the Anne Arundel County Democratic party, said "That they would compare the president of the United States to the worst mass murderer in the history of the world, it's uncalled for and it's unncessary. It enforces, for me, the belief that the Republican party has been overtaken by an ideology of hate and they will do anything to try to discredit this president. Unfortunately, they carossed the line on this comparison. People all around the country are looking at Anne Arundel County and scratching their heads. It's appaling."

-- Nicole Fuller


Posted by David Nitkin at 6:00 AM | | Comments (4)
        

Comments

I disagree on the Hitler analogy completely. He is more like Il Duce. Benito Mussolini.
“Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners.”

“through domination of nominally private owners” Can you say GM, Chrysler, AIG, Fannie Mae,
Freddie Mac, etc. With the auto companies, the “nominally private owners” are the UAW union.

“Where socialism nationalized property explicitly, fascism did so implicitly, by requiring owners to use their property in the “national interest”—that is, as the autocratic authority conceived it.”

Proposed “green building codes”. Kelo! What cars we will be able to buy or afford.

“Where socialism abolished all market relations outright, fascism left the appearance of market relations while planning all economic activities.”
“Planning boards set product lines, production levels, prices, wages, working conditions, and the size of firms.”

Executive pay Czar. Bank Bailout Czar. Climate change Czar.
Controlling the auto union to run the factory the way the autocratic authority deems fit. Controlling the largest financial companies.

“State ministries, rather than consumers, determined what was produced and under what conditions.”

The new Council on Automotive Communities and Workers. The Salt and Trans Fat and Soda Police that are everywhere.

“Licensing was ubiquitous; no economic activity could be undertaken without government permission. Levels of consumption were dictated by the state, and “excess” incomes had to be surrendered as taxes or “loans.””

Self explanatory.

“To maintain high employment and minimize popular discontent, fascist governments also undertook massive public-works projects financed by steep taxes, borrowing, and fiat money creation. While many of these projects were domestic—roads, buildings, stadiums”

Again, self explanatory.

Hitler he is not!

The RRR's are getting more radical by the day.
It is getting pretty scary that the republicans are constatnly spewing such hate, anger and unrest within our country.
What is the definition of terrorism?
Does the GOP quality?

I wonder where Nicole Fuller was when people were comparing the last president of the United States to the "worst mass murderer in the history of the world." She probably thought it was an apt comparison then. Funny how perceptions change.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6481.htm

http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen01312003.html

http://semiskimmed.net/bushhitler.html#top

http://dissidentvoice.org/Articles3/Jayne_Hitler-Bush.htm

Sorry, I meant Kory Blake and not Nicole Fuller. My bad.

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Verification (needed to reduce spam):

About the bloggers
Annie Linskey covers the statehouse for The Baltimore Sun. Previously, as a City Hall reporter, she covered the corruption trial of Mayor Sheila Dixon and kept a close eye on city spending. Her reporting on the city’s economic development arm led to the termination of multiple improperly bid seven-figure public works contracts and her coverage of the death of a fire department cadet resulted in overhaul of that agency’s top brass. Before that, as a crime reporter, she interviewed Bloods gang members and the police detectives who pursue them.
Originally from Connecticut, Annie has lived and reported on war crimes tribunals and landmines from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She lives in Baltimore.

Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital.

Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.

-- ADVERTISEMENT --

Most Recent Comments
Headlines from The Baltimore Sun
Michael Steele
Coverage of RNC chairman Michael Steele
Photos: Through the years

Local politics news
Blog updates
Recent updates to baltimoresun.com news blogs
 Subscribe to this feed
Stay connected