Posted on 09/02/2009 2:07:05 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Aubrey O'Day really put her foot in her mouth this time.
The former Danity Kane member dug herself into a hole Monday night in a heated debate on Fox News' "The Sean Hannity Show" when the 25-year-old singer spewed out claims that both Adolf Hitler and Fidel Castro were "brilliant" men.
"As someone who has met [Castro]... I met him and worked with him while I was in Cuba. I'm not defending his behavior, but in many instances, but I do have to say, I will 100% agree, he's an incredibly brilliant man, he has outlived tons of our Presidents," O'Day said.
When Hannity gave the pop singer a second chance to clarify her point, O'Day reiterated, "I'm sure many murderers are brilliant people."
"Was Hitler a brilliant man?" Hannity asked.
"I don't condone Hitler one ounce, but yes, he was a brilliant man," she said. "He ran a country and convinced everyone of horrible things."
In response, Hannity shook his head and cut to Greta Van Susteren. In an effort to save what dignity she has left, O'Day issued a statement to TMZ.
"Murderers and dictators generally are some of the smartest people out there - they just use their brain power for evil purposes. I don't condone any of their evil behavior, but I was asked about their intellectual firepower... and in my opinion you can't have a low IQ and wreck [sic] that much havoc on the world," O'Day said. "What Hitler succeeded in doing, was deplorable... And I hope we never see such an abusive use of power again."
Still, despite such qualifiers, some members of the Jewish community find the singer's statements unforgivable.
Rabbi Chaim Cunin of Chabad House told TMZ, "When a woman like her uses public airwaves, with access to millions of wonderful citizens of America, and calls some of the most despicable, unspeakable hatemongers of history brilliant, then something is lacking with her intelligence. This is a constant reminder of how careful we need to be when we talk about hate, because hatred is always present."
He added, "We need to make sure we are careful and that hatred doesn't rear its ugly head. I'd like for her to think about some older Holocaust survivor having that comment beamed into their home while they are enjoying the freedom that this beautiful country provides and having to listen to her disgusting comments."
I guess many mistake the circumference of her boobs and her head for her IQ.
The woman was probably right: the Allies gave all the captured Nazi bigwigs IQ tests and Goering, who scored a respectable 143, thought Hitler was pretty bright.
But all I can make of this is that intelligence - and courage (Iron Cross First Class), and charisma - aren’t by themselves sufficient qualifiers for high office.
I hope Americans do not turn out to be as docile as the Cubans or Venezuelens when led to the slaughter.
Apparently anybody can get a recording contract....
I think the woman may be on to something here.
Now, what current American politician possesses these kinds of characteristics? If we aren't careful, future generations of Americans (if such would even exist) might put the Kenyan-American in the same class as the big "H" and the big "C"...
All of these people were political geniuses - except for Kim Jong Il. Kim inherited his position from his dad Kim Il Sung, who was the founding ruler of this particular dynasty.
not guilty.
Why are liberals so impressed with a dictator staying in power longer than term-limited, democratic presidents? Isn’t that a little like complimenting a pitcher’s rubber* for outlasting the pitcher?
(*That’s the marker a baseball player pitches from. Any appropriateness to the perceived homosexuality of certain liberal commentators is purely coincidental.)
The same reason Buchanan, Novack and Carlson have for being on liberals’ shows: to make the other side look stupid.
I caught that also...I must be the most brilliant, I have outlived every president since FDR died...
This may rub some people the wrong way, but I think Islam’s founding general - Muhammad - was also a brilliant man. He devised an ideology that created a huge empire in his lifetime and managed to organize armies that stayed loyal to him through conquests of great swathes of land. His less savory side includes pedophilia, rape, enslavement, mass murder and looting. But all of the empire he conquered in his lifetime remains Muslim today.
It’s good to see at least some folks are still capable of thinking.
It might also have to do with positive connotations in the word, “brilliant.” Smart or intelligent doesn’t have those connotations. “brilliant,” after all, refers to light.
I have to agree. This is really not anything to get all worked up about. They were very charismatic, they touched on issues that they knew were important to the people and used it to their advantage. What they did was deplorable, don’t get me wrong, I would never condone what they did, but technically, she is correct.
Precisely. Beware of brilliant and charismatic political entrepreneurs setting up cults of personality and promoting feel-good policies that take from somebody else to give to you. Apart from the intrinsic injustice of theft, even though it's legal if the government does it for you, the next one in line for expropriation might be you.
I don't see it. There are beautiful people who are also not great humanitarians - Che Guevara was a mass murderer, but is an icon, because he was good-looking. Einstein was brilliant. He was also borderline communist. The Rosenbergs were brilliant scientists. But they also handed over to the Soviets the recipe for the atomic bomb.
Thas afac jac! I tire of his little same word, same phrase rant and his incessan hosting of his liberal friends.
Wost of all I hate his love affair with RINO’s (Romney McClame ... Lieberman and Dick Morri (standard libtards) and of course the has beens that frittered any capital away like Gingrich ... and yet he wants you to belive he is the consummate conservative.
Makes me puke. Yes we all have liberal friends, but I’ll be damned if I promote them for office
“Of course these people were brilliant.”
In Hitler’s case, you appear to be right:
http://comicism.tripod.com/iq.html
Likewise, in Castro’s case:
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:ag5NuxG1pcoJ:www.cubatruth.com/updates/Meet%2520the%2520Press.htm+castro+iq&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
But of course, the fact that I found this stuff on the Internet in no way ensures its veracity, so people will just have to judge for themselves.
Ummmm, in a totalitarian state, leaders don't have to give up power. If dictators lose power the "up and coming thugs" kill and purge... gets ugly fast.
“I have to agree. This is really not anything to get all worked up about. They were very charismatic, they touched on issues that they knew were important to the people and used it to their advantage. What they did was deplorable, don’t get me wrong, I would never condone what they did, but technically, she is correct”
Hear, hear. The only thing I disagree with is the caveat you stuck on the end of your statement. We here on FreeRepublic are sane, humane, caring, honest people that don’t need to state the obvious just to be politically correct.
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