Sunday, August 29, 2010



PA: High school yearbook under fire for Hitler quote

We read:
"A Pennsylvania high school is under fire after a quote from Adolf Hitler appeared in its 2010 student yearbook, The Express-Times reported Thursday.

Easton Area High School in Easton, Pa., reportedly unveiled its new student yearbook this month featuring a quote from the Nazi dictator that appeared prominently alongside the words of other famous leaders and authors. The quote, which reads, ‘And in the last analysis, success is what matters,’ drew fierce criticism from parents and administrators who questioned how the words ever got published next to pictures of smiling students on Page 190 of the yearbook, the newspaper reported.”

Source

Something of a storm in a teacup, it seems to me. It is a perfectly normal motivational quote and nobody would have thought anything of it if Hitler had not been given as the author.

Interestingly, the yearbook was called "Rechauffe", which means something made up from old material; a rehash. So the Hitler quote did rather fit in there.

11 comments:

Bobby said...

Gee, why not put Arbeit Macht Frei or Work Frees You which was the slogan at the gates of Auschwitz. Seriously, quotes from Hitler aren't very motivating if you ask me.

Besides, this is America, why aren't we using quotes from Jefferson, Jackson, Washington, Franklin, etc? Why do we need foreign quotes?

Whatever, the kids probably picked Hitler because they think it would be cool.

Use the Name, Luke said...

Maybe they didn't know who Hitler was.

They wouldn't be the only ones.

Bobby said...

Thanks for the link, you're right, some people are completely clueless.

Anonymous said...

"Gee, why not put Arbeit Macht Frei or Work Frees You which was the slogan at the gates of Auschwitz"

Which shows Bobby's ignorance of history.
Neither quote is attributed to either Hitler or the Nazis in general.
The slogan was created during the Weimar republic and used on the gates of concentration camps where minor and political criminals were imprisoned when the prisons were overflowing in the 1920s.
The Nazis greatly expanded on those camps, and kept the slogan.

Anonymous said...

Let's get Glenn Beck in on the case.

You know "The Beckmeister"!

bogsidebunny

Bobby said...

"Neither quote is attributed to either Hitler or the Nazis in general."

----Neither quote? Are you saying Hitler didn't write: "And in the last analysis, success is what matters."

If you want to defend students who want to quote Hitler or other monsters from history in their yearbook, do so.

But I won't defend that, anymore than I would defend using "God is dead" from Nietzsche or "In order to know virtue, we must first acquaint ourselves with vice" by the Marquis de Sade or any quote from Che Guevara, Fidel Castro or Pol Pot.

The fact that American kids quoted Hitler only shows you their ignorance not only about the atrocities of the fuhrer but of the sacrifices the greatest generation made fighting Hitler.

American people (and others) died to free the world from a global tyrant, yet some stupid kid had the bright idea of quoting Hitler.

You know, I can understand stupid kids playing a sick joke, but I thought yearbooks had at least one adult adviser to make sure everything's proper. This is not an issue of free speech, the yearbook isn't owned by one person, it's totally disgusting to quote Hitler in it.

Anonymous said...

Willy says: "The end justifies the means." Would probably have been applauded.

Anonymous said...

Wow Bobby you're losing it. They're words. Period. It's the kids' yearbook. As long as they are not violating laws, what's the big deal?

Oh yeah, I forgot. You lefties get "offended" easily.

The artist formerly known as 5:15, now I prefer:
(\ /)
(o o)
(")(")

Bobby said...

"Wow Bobby you're losing it. They're words. Period. It's the kids' yearbook. As long as they are not violating laws, what's the big deal?"

---The big deal is they quoted Hitler, the big deal is very few people want a yearbook with Hitler quotes. Ok?


"Oh yeah, I forgot. You lefties get "offended" easily."

---Shut up, you're the type of person who freaks out if you see two men holding hands. So don't you dare lecture me about tolerance and getting offended easily. I'm a libertarian, government censorship offends me, I am not offended by people bitching about the yearbook and trying to change it.

Does the yearbook belong to just one person? No. Can you publish anything you want in the yearbook? No. Is the yearbook a place for controversy? No.

Once again your arguing for the sake of arguing.

Anonymous said...

"---The big deal is they quoted Hitler, the big deal is very few people want a yearbook with Hitler quotes. Ok?"

Quoting Hitler is a big deal? To believe that because someone was a tyrant they never had a thought, or spoke a phrase that was thoughtful and insightful is about as stupid as everything else you usually say.


"---Shut up, you're the type of person who freaks out if you see two men holding hands. So don't you dare lecture me about tolerance and getting offended easily. I'm a libertarian, government censorship offends me..."

1. You have no idea what type of person I am. Once again you are speaking with absolutely no knowledge of your topic. You are a dumbass.

2. Dude, nine words is not a lecture.

3. Government censorship offends you, but all other forms are OK, huh?

4. (my personal favorite) "Shut up" the typical leftist reply when they cannot reason through an argument.

For the record I think you are epic fail, but please, do not shut up. Reading your assinine comments is more entertaining that watching tv nowadays.

The artist back to be known as 5:15 because the symbol was too hard to make repeatedly.

Bobby said...

"Quoting Hitler is a big deal? To believe that because someone was a tyrant they never had a thought, or spoke a phrase that was thoughtful and insightful is about as stupid as everything else you usually say."

---Do you think his quotes belong in the yearbook of an American school? What about quotes from Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Stalin? Will you also defend placing those quotes there? Oh, and if we're allowing Hitler, why not David Duke?


"1. You have no idea what type of person I am. Once again you are speaking with absolutely no knowledge of your topic. You are a dumbass."

---Well, you also have no idea of the person I am, yet you have no problem calling me a liberal everytime you disagree with me.


"2. Dude, nine words is not a lecture."

---Nine words from Hitler is a big deal. But since you're such a Hitler fan, why not place the famous 18 words from Hitler? The ones about preserving the world for white people?


"3. Government censorship offends you, but all other forms are OK, huh?"

---They usually are, if The New York Times won't publish my letter to the editor I can always write to The New York Post. If a family member doesn't let me carry my gun when I visit him, I can always visit another family member. If my employer wants me to work 12 hours but pay me for 8, as a salary employee I can either put up with it or quit. That's the way it is in America.


"4. (my personal favorite) "Shut up" the typical leftist reply when they cannot reason through an argument."

---Ha! I told you to shut up because you were being an asshole, it wasn't a leftist reply.


"For the record I think you are epic fail, but please, do not shut up. Reading your assinine comments is more entertaining that watching tv nowadays."

---What the hell is epic fail? Whatever, I'm a conservative libertarian, I'm a fascinating man filled with fascinating ideas, a teacher of mine used to call me an enigma because he could never figure out what the hell I was.

The artist back to be known as 5:15 because the symbol was too hard to make repeatedly.