The souls and families of  thousands of Jews murdered in the Holocaust can rest a little easier.  John Demjanjuk  has gone from an accused to a convicted Nazi War Criminal.  Pending a certain appeal, the end to a saga that has lasted over twenty-five years has come full circle.

A saga that spanned the globe from the Gates of the Sobibor Concentration Camp in Poland,  to Cleveland, Ohio to Israel and finally back where it all started in Germany has finally ended with Demjanjuk’s conviction as an accessory to the murder of 28,000 Jews at the Sobibor Concentration camp.

There are those who will claim that Demjanjuk was simply a dupe and scapegoat to hold any possible person accountable for the Naz’s horrendous crimes against humanity.  There will those will claim that he is a wrongly accused old man, the victim of a government conspiracy.   There will those who will claim that regardless of his crimes, he is simply too old and close to death regardless, so we should leave him be.  If it makes that contingent feel any better, An appeals court may very well reverse his conviction. Demjanjuk will probably not do any time because of his age. It really does not matter.  The wheels of justice have finally turned.  The statement that has been made time and time again by those pursuing the perpetrators of genocide has been reaffirmed. You can not hide behind the passage of time.  The world has listened in to a the recounting of an event in time that within 5-10 years  there will be no one left to tell the story.  It will be relegated to history books that for the most part give relatively short shrift to this pivotal moment in human history.  John Demjanjuk’s role and conviction will be an official part of that history. The course of human history changed by the murdering of the future.

In the end,  John Demjanjuk will still have lived a the full life of family, friends and a full stomach that he helped deny to thousands of Jews. This is 2011, not 1945.  Lucky for him. 

The Koran is not being burned in Dearborn Michigan but the 1st Amendment has gone up in flames.

In what was a 1st amendment busting egregious display of prior restraint, Koran burning Pastor Terry Jones was prohibited from staging a protest in front of the Islamic Center Of America.  Jones was briefly  jailed when a jury found that he presented a danger of “breach of peach”. He was tried under a Michigan law dating back to 1846 requiring people judged to present a risk to public order to post a “peace bond.” He was released on 1 dollar bond and a promise that he would not go near the Mosque for three years.

Prior to trial, the city had demanded up to a 100k “peace bond” from Jones in order to hold the protest.  He refused to pay and hence the trial.

Let’s start with the fact that peace bonds themselves are an outdated and unconstitutional form of prior restraint.  The case brings back memories of the highly controversial plans of The Nazi,  National Socialist Party to  march on the predominantly Jewish community of Skokie Illinois. The community of Skokie attempted to pass various ordinances including one requiring the posting of a bond designed to specifically prevent the march. The city used arguments similar to the ones used by the Dearborn District Attorney to block the Mosque protest.  In Skokie,  the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the right of the National Socialist Party of America to march . The Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, validating the developing national policy that even the most unpopular of speech in the most unpopular of circumstances, merits First Amendment protection.  This is a privilege we take for granted and often willingly disregard when we are offended.  We can try to regulate violent actions but we simply can not universalize a moral compass where speech is concerned.

The verdict and bond requirement will certainly be overturned on appeal as it should be.  It is hard on the ears but necessary that the freedoms we enjoy include the rantings of The Westboro Baptist Church,  Koran burning, the vitriolic protests of  Pastor Jones and Nazi thugs.  If the 1st Amendment does not work for them, it does not work for anyone.

(CBN)The City of Pittsburgh, Pa, home of the Major League baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates is abuzz with shock and outrage over the discovery of secretly recorded meeting between between Pirates majority Owner  Robert Nutting and General Manager Neal Huntington .

The bizarre exchange occurred last year in Nutting’s office at the conclusion of the Pirates 3rd worst season in Club History finishing 57-105, leading to the firing of manager John Russell.  The outrage over their 18th consecutive losing season with no real hope for 2011 improvement prompted the recent front page headline, “WHO THE HELL ARE THESE GUYS” in the local Pittsburgh newspaper.

The following  is a transcript of the secretly recorded conversation:

Nutting: Come on in Neal, have a seat.

Huntington: I’m glad you called me in. I’m still unclear on a couple things about our team direction for 2011.

Nutting: Oh, really  Like what?

Huntington: Over the last few years we have traded away practically every decent player we have. Our rookies are not producing.  This was the the one of the worst Pirates teams ever and that’s saying something after 18 consecutive losing seasons.  I think Russell is going to quit and start selling Goodyears.   Who will manage the Pirates moving forward if he does?

Nutting: I was thinking of the Dos Equis Man. He will fit in quite well with our team concept.

Huntingdon: The Dos Equis Man?  You’re joking right?

Nutting: Wrong, my name is Robert, get it right.

Huntington: What exactly is our team concept?

Nutting: That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to put together a team that will help us relocate to Cuba

Huntington: Cuba?  Your joking.

Nutting: I said my name is Robert.  I’m serious about this Neal.  It’s no secret I’ve never liked Pittsburgh much. The weathers lousy, the downtown is a pit, the stadium’s too small,we cant draw dick and no one is reading my crappy newspapers.  Another 2 years of this and I may need to start feeding  Ogden real dog food.

Huntington: You can’t just up and move a team on a whim!

Nutting: It’s hardly a whim.  Fidel has offered to build us a new stadium — 62,000   capacity, 45 V.I.P. boxes, and all rent to be subsided through sugar cane sales. No other franchise in baseball can match that deal.

Nutting: Whats more, Fidel has taken a liking to the Dos Equis Man.   Fidel personally told me he finds him incredibly interesting. Whats more, he looks like him.  He likes the commercials and thinks of him as the son he always wanted.  There is also a national Cuban Tequila brand rolling out that will provide some good marketing perks . I plan on offering Mr. Equis a long term contract to replace Russell.  Fidel will be the starting 1st baseman in Spring Training. The job’s his to lose.

Huntington: You cant be serious!  What about Clint Hurdle?  He is doing a good job for the Texas Rangers?

Nutting: I’m not serious, For the last time, my name is Robert, whats wrong with you.  Irregardless, it wont work, Hurdle looks nothing like Fidel.

Nutting: Whats more, we will be given the option of signing player development contracts with the parents of all promising Cuban prospects. We will have exclusive negotiating rights starting at 7 years old as well as their real birth certificates. We will corner the Cuban baseball talent market!

Huntington: Even so, the League and the City will never let us  leave Pittsburgh.  There is a lease and laws we have to deal with.

Nutting: I have that all figured out!  I have been pressing Bud Selig for an exhibition or regular season game in Cuba.  Bud is a Big fan of the Dos Equis guy.  Told me the other day how interesting he is.   While we are in Cuba, under my authority as owner and in the best interests of baseball, I will undertake a mass defection of the entire team.   The bottom line is that if we play bad enough no one will care if we defect and the players will love the sunny climate.

Huntington: You mean you want us to lose?

Nutting:  We’ve been losing.  I want us to finish dead last again and set an all time low attendance and loss record. I have been pouring over the numbers.  A 120+ losses is definitely within reach  this year. Speaking of which, I heard Mario Mendoza is making a comeback, offer him a 3 year deal and a free AARP membership.

Huntington: You are out of your mind!

Nutting: Well I still think print media is viable if that’s what you mean.

©2011 Brian Cuban

Republican Rep. Peter King prepares to hold hearings that will examine the threat posed by radical Islam in the United States.  I don’t think anyone disputes that radicalized Muslims or radicalized factions of any religion are dangerous.  Yes, the majority of terror attacks are carried out by radicalized Muslims.  We need hearings to tell us this?  What is the purpose other to inflame passions and fear monger across an entire religious base.  I am expecting Rep. King to open the hearings as follows:

While I can not take the time to name all of the Muslims who we suspect of being radicalized , I have here in my hand a list of names that are known to the Government  as being members of the Muslim faith and present an imminent danger to society and our way of life ”

Does this sound vaguely familiar?  The new McCarthyism is upon us. McCarthyism 2.0.

The concept behind McCarthyism 2.o was around long before this hearing or when Fox’s Glenn Beck labeled the 2010 head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House, Cass Sunstein “the most dangerous man in America” but it has been taken to a new level by cable media and internet pundits to be heard above the screaming.

With regard to Senator McCarthy and his infamous Wheeling, West Virginia “I have a list” speech, we know that no such list existed. The piece of paper Senator McCarthy held in his hand had nothing to do with spies or Communists. He might as well have held up a restaurant menu. Was that piece of paper all he held in his hand?  He held so much more in intangibles that won the day to justify fear of our neighbor. He held the trust of an elected official. He played the specter of “I know something you don’t know,” which is a statement that even when simply implied but left unstated, captivates the human desire to know.  His outrageous statements had the sheen of credibility because no one in his position would say such a thing unless it was true.  In other words, coming from a demagogue like McCarthy, his statements had the credibility of the unbelievable. The desire to want to believe those we are supposed to trust overwhelms the logical senses, and we say “there must be something to it”

How many times have we listened to a claim and said “That has to be true, no one would say it if it wasn’t.”  Such a reaction is not confined to the days of the Red Scare simply because it is a natural and normal human response.  How many readers believed Glenn Beck when he said he had evidence that President Barrack Obama was “ building “concentration camps”?  Beck claimed  he had conducted “research on” the so-called concentration camps being built by the Obama White House as part of a conspiracy to establish totalitarian rule in America. He claimed that he could not “debunk them.” He stated, “If you have any fear that we might be heading toward a totalitarian state, look out.  There is something happening in our country and it ain’t good.”

How different is the above from simply stating, “I have here in my hand a list of 200 Muslims I suspect of engaging in terrorism.”  What sort of reaction would that trigger today?  Would anyone in the mainstream media be so irresponsible as Senator McCarthy to make such a statement if no such list existed or the list had not been value checked?  Make the comparison. Beck holds a trusted position as a news commentator.  When Fox News pundit Glenn Beck makes an outrageous claim, we think that outrageous claim must have some truth to it, or why else would someone trusted make it?  How does this differentiate King’s or Beck’s tactics from the tactics of Joseph McCarthy?  Like the fraud of McCarthy’s list, it turned out that Beck completely lacked evidence or common sense to support his claims.  That did not stop his allegations from being picked up by bloggers and tweeters spreading the news with an air of conspiracy credibility until Beck was forced to retract as the ridiculous nature of the statement became clear.

When Beck called Sunstein the most dangerous man in the world, he went on to further employ “McCarthyesque” tactics and also sounding eerily like hate radio priest Charles Coughlin when he implored viewers who were ‘watching the capitol” to tune into his program because he had done his homework and they had not, further alleging that Sunstein represented history that we did not want to repeat.  Another instance of a symbolic red baiting claim that Beck “had a list” and information that only Beck was privy to so he should be trusted to the exclusion of those without the information.  Beck went even further with Sunstein by incorporating Nazi Germany imagery when he compared Sunstein’s office to the Reichstag and referring to his beliefs “awfully Nazi.”

The final quote from McCarthy’s speech has become a microcosm of the battles fought in the media and fought between left and right wing loyalties in the 21^st Century:

“Today we are engaged in an all out battle between Communistic atheism and Christianity.  The modern champions of Communism have selected this as the time, and ladies and gentlemen the chips are down, they truly are”

Change Communism to Islam and the song remains the same.

The big difference today?  Today, Joseph McCarthy would have simply tweeted his allegations.  Passions of hatred are inflamed, lives are easily ruined and conspiracies are born in 140 characters or less.