(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Know-nothing defense is the GOP's last-ditch cover for when stupid is safer than wrong... [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-29 once again, bless her little heart Actor John Banner created one of the colorful characters on TV as Sgt. Schultz of the ‘60s comedy, Hogan’s Heroes (1965-71). “I know nothing… nothing!” has been etched in our comedic memory while Banner loses his continuing battle to hide his incompetence by failing to outfox the intrepid POW’s under his watch. Knowing nothing is far safer than admitting he has once again been duped. As hard as it was to create comedy from the horrific contributions to the annals of inhumanity perpetrated by the Nazi regime “Schultzie” was a creation of the television series that was inspired by the 1953 motion picture Stalag 17 which is itself based upon a Broadway production (1951) of the same name. What has been lost to many is that the original play recounted the real wartime experiences of the co-authors, Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski, who were imprisoned during the war in Austria. The original play and Billy Wilder’s film have darker themes mixed among the comedic pauses. The plot is initiated with the murder of two camp prisoners who were shot attempting to escape which suggests to the POWs that there is an informant in their midst. The dark comedy concludes with the outing of the real spy in their midst, who is then mistakenly killed by his own forces. The Nazi comparisons brought on by Donald Trump’s dalliance with Nazi tropes while denying any knowledge of Hitlerisms, Mein Kampf, and the historical record most middle schoolers could recite from their history lessons, remind us of the “nothingness” of Trump and his GOP compatriots. Does anyone believe that Nikki Haley doesn’t know that the fight over slavery ignited the Civil War— that the former president didn’t realize he was borrowing the antisemitic memes used by Hitler’s regime to justify the holocaust— or that the Christian nationalist aversion to brown and black immigrants and transporting them by air and bus to undisclosed towns and cities aren’t reminiscent of the inhumane stuffing of Jews in crowded railway cars to deliver them to their deaths? ‘Know-less’ Party Knowing nothing is a transparently poor defense in attempting to certify your innocence. In any case, the GOP’s ignorance is less an excuse than an indictment. The party and its candidates deny knowledge of the most blatant realities like the 2020 election results, the scientific determinations of the causes of climate change, the efficacy of wearing masks during the pandemic, and even an understanding of evolution. Ignorance is worn like a badge of honor among these fools as the denialisms consume their ability to reason: As of last month, 97 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives would not say publicly if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Asked if he was worried about the virus spreading or mutating, Cramer replied, “Nah. … You know me. I haven’t been worried about this since the beginning.” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said, “I’m talking to doctors who have, since day one, been concerned about vaccinating people who’ve already had COVID-19 because you die, not of COVID; you die of the immune system overreaction to COVID.” — The Hill, ”Republicans are the 21st-century Know-Nothing Party,” by Glenn C. Altschuler Ron Johnson, Dean of the Senate Know-Littles, serves up his difference without a distinction with a prideful slow-wittedness that accentuates his failure to recognize the unforced errors of his ways. He’s in good company. Altschuler goes on to note: Their eyes wide shut, fingers stuck in their ears, Congressional Republicans are certain all they need to know is which way the wind is blowing — and that they shouldn’t do anything about the pandemic, the economy, voting rights or immigration because it might help Democrats. “She coulda been a contenda...” This leads us back to Haley who is anything but stupid. Bright and accomplished, as she is the daughter of immigrants, a graduate of Clemson with a degree in finance, whose father after receiving his Ph.D., moved his family to South Carolina to be a professor of biology at Voorhees College, a historically black institution. Hard to imagine with her pedigree that she had doubts about what was the sine qua non of the Civil War. Hello! The party that for the most part favors the elites is locked in a construct of their own making which has them adopting the anti-intellectual bent of their red-state base. Most have wardrobes that exceed the annual income of their most ardent followers-- and who privately admit to one another (and anyone nearby who can eavesdrop) that they don’t believe what they are selling but continue to champion obvious falsehoods for fear of the ire of their pathologically ignorant cult leader. The “I know nothing” defense will soon be tested at the polls and in numerous courtrooms that will decide the fate of the prevaricator-in-chief. Trump and his now long list of indicted and unindicted co-conspirators will test a constitutional democracy that has for more than 2 centuries relied on the common sense wisdom of its citizenry whose job it has been to right the ship of state as it lists toward the more perfect union promised in our constitution’s preamble. The trust the founders lacked in their own ability to “get it all right” from the get-go is on trial in 2024. As, perhaps, it was during the run-up to the Civil War— you know, the war that was fought for reasons too obvious to mention, too incendiary, too dangerous to recall while running as the gob-smacked and newly incoherent candidate for president of the know-nothing party formerly known as the GOP. The rest of us would be mistaken to wonder whether Ms. Haley and the rest of her party had all lost their minds when it is evident that they had conveniently buried their conscience. Knowing nothing must seem far less painful than admitting you should have known better. 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