Jewish Defense League calls on Obama to repudiate Will Smith's comments on Hitler

[maximusveritas]

http://www.tmz.com/2007/12/24/jews-not-jiggy-with-fresh-putz-of-bel-air/

Here's what Will said:

Remarkably, Will believes everyone is basically good.

"Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today'," said Will. "I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good'. Stuff like that just needs reprogramming.

"I wake up every day full of hope, positive that every day is going to be better than yesterday. And I'm looking to infect people with my positivity. I think I can start an epidemic."

Maybe a little naive, but nothing too offensive.
But the JDL was having none of it.

Smith's words, say the JDL, "spit on the memory of every person murdered by the Nazis. His disgusting words stick a knife in the backs of every veteran who fought (and sometimes died) to save the world from the intentions of Adolf Hitler."

And apparently Obama has to repudiate his statements because Will has said he supports Obama.

For those who don't know about the Jewish Defense League, know that the FBI called them "a known violent extremist Jewish Organization." The Southern Poverty Law Center added them to its list of hate groups.

TMZ is just an entertainment site, but I thought it was odd that they'd pretend the Jewish Defense League was "a leading Jewish group" and spoke for Jews.

[msongs]

1. not obama's problem nt

[baldguy]

2. Don't you know? Obama is responsible for everything every black man says at any time - forever!

[oasis]

34. Right now we'll limit Obama's responsibility to just famous celebs who endorse him.

But thanks for the idea.:thumbsup:

[silverweb]

56. No -- it's because they look alike!

According to _this_ compilation, anyway. (Just the ears, actually.)

I don't know what the JDL is so upset about. It's a fairly common idea that people who do evil do so because in a warped kind of way they perceive it as a "good" for themselves or their view of the world.

That's all Will was saying -- not that Hitler was some kind of good guy in disguise.

This is nuts and I'm sure Barack will have some wise and lucid way of saying so.

[jmm]

62. First he wasn't black enough, now he's the spokesman for

all black people. I keep on missing the memo stating who the new African American leader is.

[ClassWarrior]

3. ClassWarrior calls on JDL to repudiate Michael "Savage" Weiner's comments on anything.

:shrug:

Makes about as much sense.

NGU.

[Madam Mossfern]

4. Actually

I have often thought the same was a Will Smith. People don't see themselves as the 'bad guy, no matter how twisted they are.

I'm Jewish, I see nothing offensive in Smith's statements. Obama should not apologize for them.

[TheDonkey]

5. Interesting. TMZ filled with hillary boosters

;) JDL is extremist and I do not agree with Smith what he said was not anti-semitic or anything like that.

[cali]

14. Interesting. Trying to smear Clinton supporters

by the most tenuous and non-existent link to the JDL via TMZ. How does it feel to be such a slime slinger?

:eyes:

[TheDonkey]

24. Settle down!

Haha, it was just tongue-in-cheek hence the "wink" wow is sarcasm now banned at DU? Is it because the primary or 9/11.

[FreeState]

6. Unless it was spoken at Obama's event he does not need to apologize. n/t

[NYCGirl]

7. TMZ is spinning what he said. He never said Hitler was "basically good."

Hitler didn't think he was a bad guy. He really did think he was doing the right thing, which makes what he did all the more frightening, since something like that is in anyone.

BTW, I am a Jew who has family members who were killed in Auschwitz. I think the JDL is wrong on this.

[cali]

8. Who cares what they demand?

and who cares what's posted at a gossip site. Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with what Smith said. A bit awkward but surely true.

[MethuenProgressive]

9. waitaminnit.. perhaps the candidates are *not* responsible for everything every supporter says?

That's quite a stretch.

:sarcasm:

[CJCRANE]

10. Sorry Will

that's taking positive thinking too far.

Hitler was a megalomaniac. He tried to destroy the Jewish race and then proceeded to allow his own country to be destroyed.

[Peace Patriot]

43. If you don't think that megalomaniacs THINK they doing good, and indeed,

THINK they are always right, then you don't understand much about human psychology. Hitler thought he was creating a "pure race." HE thought that was good. The Inquisitors in the Middle Ages thought that they were SAVING THE SOULS of witches by torturing them and burning them at the stake . They thought they were doing God's work. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" isn't just some old saw. It is the truth. And we DO need to understand this, because so much evil comes cloaked in sheep's clothing.

[CJCRANE]

44. In terms of Hitler

you might be right. I don't know, I'm not informed enough on that era to argue it out.

But let's take a modern day example...yes, Shrub. I'm fairly convinced that he knows that his motivations are perverted and would be considered morally wrong by the majority of Americans (and human beings for that matter). Some people instinctively know that what they are doing is wrong (according to normal human standards) but they go ahead and do it anyway because they enjoy it. I put Shrub in this category and also pedophiles, serial killers etc.

[JackORoses]

85. why, if you admit you are not informed about the era, did you feel the need to comment on it?

[CJCRANE]

90. I was being modest...

I don't agree that megalomaniacs don't always know that they're doing wrong. I used B*sh as an example because I am more familiar with him. I have not totally conceded the fact that Hitler thought he was doing good. It isn't clear - however I was letting the poster have their point and use another example to illustrate mine.

On edit: Just because Hitler didn't announce "hey let's do some evil today" doesn't mean he thought of he was doing as morally "good". If dictators knew that they were doing good they wouldn't have to lie and use mass propaganda. They know that they are deceiving for their own ends which the majority might consider perverted (if they knew their true motives).

[Faygo Kid]

11. "Stuff that just needs reprogramming": Will has embraced Scientology

Doesn't seem much doubt anymore that Tom Cruise has got himself a convert. That's what's really offensive here - although using Hitler as an example of someone who "just needs reprogramming" is plain stupid.

Anyway, that language is the language of Scientology. Another one bites the dust.

[LaurenG]

21. No he hasn't, he studied with Tom Cruise and backed out.

Will Smith: Scientology Wasn't for Me
Monday December 3, 2007
Will Smith at the Los Angeles Premiere of "Lions For Lambs" on November 1, 2007 in Hollywood, California.
Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com

Will Smith may have studied Scientology with pal Tom Cruise, but he says his faith rests in his own spirituality.

"I don't necessarily believe in organized religion," Smith, 39, said when asked about Scientology Friday at a junket for his upcoming film I Am Legend.

"I love my God, my higher power, but it is mine and mine alone, and I create my connection, and I decide how my connection is going to be," he added.

Describing himself as a "student of world religions," Smith — who was raised a Baptist — said: "I believe that my connection to my higher power is separate from everybody's.

"I don’t believe that the Muslims have all the answers and all the beliefs. I don’t believe the Christians have all the answers and beliefs, or that the Jews have all the answers."

http://www.usmagazine.com/node/13674

[Faygo Kid]

27. I hope you're right. Time will tell.

Saying Hitler just needed "reprogramming" sure isn't a good sign, though. But, I take him at his word, and if he is a Scientologist, we'll know soon enough.

[LaurenG]

28. I know, I thought the same thing but something about the way he said some of

of it sounded Buddhist. I don't know enough about scientology to tell what "scientology speak" is though.

[Kucinich4America]

58. Well, I'm no Scientologist, but....

I'd have to guess that it takes a long process of "programming" to make someone as psychotic as a Hitler or a Bush. Maybe if someone had caught that and "deprogrammed" them in time, it would have averted some major tragedies. Now that doesn't mean the programming was done by Overlord Xenu or a band of rogue Thetans, or however the Hubbard cult spins it, of course.

[CJCRANE]

22. It's quite telling

that the German govt is trying to ban Scientology in their country.

[crikkett]

12. TMZ - isnt' that the celebrity stalking show?

I won't watch it.

[IndianaGreen]

13. JDL is a terrorist organization founded by the racist rabbi Kahane

Its Israeli political version is considered an outlawed criminal enterprise by Israel.

[THUNDER HANDS]

15. the JDL is a bunch of crazy people

I've dealt with them in the past. Not a nice bunch of people at all. And I'm Jewish.

[Kucinich4America]

16. What the HELL does Obama have to do with this?

Does the JDL expect Barbara Streisand to refute every stupid thing Joe Lieberman says??

Will made a really DUMB analogy, but it was hardly hatespeech.

[asdjrocky]

17. Yeah, that's pretty nuts.

I've worked with, and I have known many members of JDL, and yes, these people can be more than a little nuts.

[annabanana]

18. So it's ok for the JDL to completely mischaracterize what Smith said..

get all huffed up in false outrage and make demands?

Whatever good they may have ever done, this group is clearly lunatic fringy

[cali]

20. They are worse than that.

As IG pointed out, they're outlawed in Israel. No one listens to them, and this stupid shit will be ignored.

[loveangelc]

19. how the hell is that Obama's problem?

[connecticut yankee]

23. The Jewish Defense League

is a bunch of warped, racist terrorists.

Obama is not responsible for what Will Smith says, and he (Obama) has nothing to apologize for.

[politicasista]

25. Why does Obama have to take responsibility? n/t

[rucky]

30. The JDL thinks they're all cousins. n/t

[bananas]

37. Isn't that racist? nt

[rocktivity]

42. If I may answer your question by quoting The Beatles

Yeah, yeah, yeah! :rofl:

But seriously, folks, if what Smith said was THAT horrible, the JDL should be calling on ALL the presidential candidates to repudiate it.

P.S. Nominating you for a DUzy, Rucky!

:spray:
rocknation

[rucky]

47. And ironic.

[BootinUp]

26. Hitlers "Minority Report"

seriously, I don't think Obama needs to say anything. But that doesn't mean the media wont ask him too.

[rucky]

29. I wonder what the ADL has to say.

I don't find what he said offensive. A bit naive, but not offensive.

[rocktivity]

31. Psychos and despots NEVER see themselves as morally wrong. That would require having a conscience

which psychos and despots DON'T have, which is what MAKES them psychos and despots.

They CAN'T believe that what they're doing is wrong because then they would have to STOP doing it, and they DON'T WANT TO stop doing it because it would nullify them. And if Smith IS wrong, shouldn't EVERY presidential candidate be called upon to repudiate him?

:headbang:
rocknation

[LeftishBrit]

32. They are not a leading Jewish group in the least...

they are extremist nutcases (Kahanists). They are classed as terrorists by the Israeli government.

Smith's remark sounds pretty stupid; but what does he have to do with Obama in any case?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

33. Complete Bullshit. Smith's comments are perfectly reasonable. and it's a joke to think

that Obama needs to repudiate supporter's comments.

So it's double bullshit.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

35. Wow...

Smith's words, say the JDL, "spit on the memory of every person murdered by the Nazis. His disgusting words stick a knife in the backs of every veteran who fought (and sometimes died) to save the world from the intentions of Adolf Hitler."

It is the JDL that spits on the memory of holocaust victims when it turn its attention to these innocuous remarks of Will Smith, when they could be publicly condemning the longstanding atrocity that is the Israeli occupation of Palestine. I would venture to guess that most members of the Jewish community would thank the JDL to focus on things of genuine importance that actually matter, rather than create silly bullshit distractions such as this.

[XemaSab]

36. Score another one for teh outrage police

:eyes:

[penguin7]

38. Is this the JDL or the ADL?

[maximusveritas]

40. It's the JDL

Maybe TMZ confused them and thought JDL was a legitimate organization.
But there have been numerous comments over there about it and they have yet to do an update and it's right up there at the top of their front page.

[Cha]

39. That's nice, Will, that you

were born so fortunate under such good stars that you're a positive kinda guy but not everybody gets to do that. There's real evil in the world and mentioning "hitler" in that context is not a good thing.

I would say right off the bat that it would be good for everybody if Will Smith rethought that statement about hitler.

That's the way I feel about bush and his gang of bushits..ya don't fucking enabling evil for 5 years, hillary.

[Onlooker]

41. JDL is still around?

I thought it ended when that crazy rabbi of theirs was murdered some years back. They should hook up with Fred Phelps.

[bigdarryl]

45. Why is it Obama's responsibility to denounce what Will Smith says

[Cha]

46. Because Will Endorsed

Obama?

[rocktivity]

48. But shouldn't it matter to the JDL that EVERYBODY ELSE might agree with Smith?

For all they know, their silence could equal complicity--wouldn't the JDL be better off being sure?

:crazy:
rocknation

[Cha]

49. Will was being a little

naive, imo, but you're right..the JDL should ask Will Smith to think more about what he said. They're some bad dudes out there and bushit is one of 'em.

[Nailzberg]

50. Garbage. Complete garbage.

The JDL is just as bad as any other hate group out there, and they don't deserve the bandwidth TMZ just wasted on them.

Further I found nothing anti-Semitic about Mr. Smith's statement, and I see no reason why Barack Obama is even mentioned in this non-scandal.

[leaninglib]

51. Why not call on Will Smith to repudiate Will Smith's comments?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

52. The Jewish Defense League was responsible for bombings in the 1970s

Most famously, they bombed the offices of the Sol Hurok Agency, which brought Soviet performers to the U.S., because they thought Hurok was facilitating the persecution of Soviet Jews. Tragically and ironically, the only person killed in that bombing was a secretary who happened to be Jewish.

Most Jews I've known over the years think the JDL are a bunch of loons.

[ladjf]

53. I just attended Will's movie today. In my opinion there was nothing

in the entire movie that was profound enough to offend anyone. Basically, it was a run of the mill horror movie.

[OhioChick]

54. I Don't Have a Problem With What Smith Said.

It's so easy for the media to misconscrew a few sentences into sounding awful.
As far as Obama......there is nothing for him to repudiate.

[spooky3]

55. Obama and Smith should ignore this criticism.

It is completely misplaced and a ridiculous misreading of what Smith said.

[sk8rrobert2]

57. What does Will Smith's Opinion Have to do Wtih Obama?

I fail to see any connection here

[Kucinich4America]

59. You know, he "matches the description"

Just like all the threads posted here last week which implied that Oprah only supported Obama because he's black.

[Fried Bread]

60. Not sure there's anything wrong with what Smith says here.

The outcry is ridiculous.

[TeamJordan23]

61. Funny how JDL goes after Smith/Obama rather than Hollywood studios (many of which are Jewish-owned)

[Zynx]

75. Hollywood studios are all publicly owned.

They are subsidiaries of large publicly traded companies and thus owned by shareholders.

[TeamJordan23]

78. Who really runs Hollywood though? All the heads, producers, directors, etc. are Jewish. nm

[Solon]

84. Uhm, WHAT?!?!

You do realize how stupid your statement is, right?

[TeamJordan23]

86. My point is why are they going after Obama when they should go after people more assoc. with Smith.

[Solon]

87. You just claimed that ALL studio heads and owners are Jewish...

That's not only dumb, but factually incorrect.

[TeamJordan23]

88. I'm sorry, I should have said that 'most' are.

And I don't have a problem with that or anything or with the Jewish religion. I just found it ironic that the JDL did not go after the studios and instead went at Obama.

[Solon]

89. And that is also incorrect...

Sony owns a major studio, Columbia, that makes it Japanese owned and run.

News Corp owns 20th Century Fox.

Disney owns Buena Vista

Viacom owns Paramount

Time Warner owns Warner Bros.

GE owns Universal

These are the "Big Six" which account for about 90% of movies made and distributed in the United States, all companies, even Sony's American division, are publicly traded, so by sheer demographics, they are mostly owned by and run by Christians. Almost all other studios operate underneath these big six studios.

[TeamJordan23]

91. Regardless

Regardless, of who own the studios (shareholders, most of Hollywood is influenced by Jews in my opinion - and I have grown up in LA most of my life. You might not agree, but this is my opinion and I can try to back it up with facts but its pointless.

My whole point was why is the JDL not targeting any of the movie studios or parent companys and going straight after Obama.

[ruggerson]

92. You do realize this is what anti semites do?

They talk about Hollywood and the "Banks" all being run by Jews.

You sure you want to go down this road on this particular discussion board?

[oasis]

79. The studio execs didn't make the comment, Smith did. How's that "funny"?

:shrug:

[TeamJordan23]

82. Well, I meant its funny how they are going after Obama but not studio execs. nm

[Forkboy]

63. Idiots.

[HuffleClaw]

64. WTF? how does this have the slightest thing to do with obama ?

meep.

looks like they want some free publicity and they know the corporate media will happily provide it. what a crock.

[VarnettaTuckpocket]

65. It's a lot naive, and definitely offensive

But it doesn't have anything to do with Obama.

[incapsulated]

66. Huh??

Will Smith isn't Obama's son last I heard, and nothing Smith said was really offensive, just tactless. (Unless people think that Hitler didn't actually believe in the insanity he espoused and just did it for kicks.)

[Behind the Aegis]

67. Tempest in a teapot.

UPDATE: Will Smith's rep sent TMZ the following statement from him, which reads: "It is an awful and disgusting lie. It speaks to the dangerous power of an ignorant person with a pen. I am incensed and infuriated to have to respond to such ludicrous misinterpretation. Adolph Hitler was a vile, heinous, vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet."

Of course, TMZ is a "tabloid" show, and that is quite obvious when they refer to the JDL as "a leading Jewish group." The JDL relies on terrorism and in no way representative of even a small amount of Jews. The ADL recognizes this organization as the bigoted group it is (JDL). Actually, IMO, the most offensive thing is the author of the TMZ "piece" using Yiddish and even that is not anything to get bent out of shape over.

[Beacool]

68. I like Will Smith, but his comments at best were insensitive.

I suggest that Will visit a concentration camp or at least the Holocaust museum in Washington. Also, he might want to read a few history books on Hitler, his rise to power and the final solution. I'll doubt that he'll then think that Hitler thought of himself as good. Goodness was not something that entered into the equation.

[Solon]

69. So wait, Hitler thought of himself as evil?

If he did, then why did he do the things he did?

There is no debating that WE know he was evil, but the fact is, that from his own writings, he thought the "Final Solution" along with the war he started were the right things to do. The fact is that if you ignore that, then another demagogue can appear to repeat those actions, and indeed has, at least a few times in our recent History. Whether it was Stalin, Pol Pot, Chairman Mao, all these men thought they were doing the right thing, they were wrong, but the state of mind needed to create such monsters needs to be examined, otherwise we may not recognize it in others. Even truths that are uncomfortable are still truths, and they need to be examined in that light.

[Beacool]

72. I don't think that he thought of himself as good or evil.

Those qualifiers were probably not in his realm of interest and irrelevant to him. He did think though, that he was correct and that his quest for European domination was for the glory of Germany. My father was a diplomat and one of his friends was a retired Argentine diplomat who served in Berlin during WWII (Argentina was neutral and continued diplomatic relations with the Axis during the war). This man would regale us with many anecdotes about Hitler, such as, how he would insist on windows being open even in the coldest days. Therefore, women would sew wool linings to their evening gowns to tolerate the cold ballrooms.

[hyphenate]

93. There is already an absolutely excellent

museum in Los Angeles that Elie Wiesel helped found, and which has Steven Spielberg on its board. (Museum of Tolerance) Considering how good friends Will Smith is with Spielberg, it's likely that Will is already well aware of how evil and despicable Hitler was.

But being a student of German history, I can tell you that the main officers under Hitler's command were often worse than Hitler--Himmler, Goering, Goebbels, Eichmann, Mengele. There are two mindsets here--was Hitler evil because he was mentally disturbed (psychotic) or because he was simply a sociopath? One doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, and the other does, but doesn't care. If someone doesn't know the difference, how can they be subjectively evil? They can't. If, on the other hand, they know and don't give a fuck, then it's a different matter entirely.

And is one's upbringing a factor in their choices later in life? Can we forgive someone who kills their parents who tied them up every night and whipped the crap out of them? Or blame a woman for becoming a prostitute because her father molested her? Or somehow is a person's entire nature within them at birth, and they are therefore doomed to be a criminal?

If we can't figure out the roots of these things, we have no right to judge or condemn anyone until we can say for certain how they became what they are.

And it swings in the other direct as well--how is a person's goodness attained? Are they angelic at birth and stay that way, or do their choices, consciences and experiences account for their good work and contribute to their lives?

Too many times old sayings become cliched over time, but I definitely believe that until we can actually be "in someone's shoes," we cannot and never will be able to say with utter certainty whether they are a product of their environment, are completely cognizant of what they are doing or evil just because they are born that way.

[western mass]

70. JDL, followers of the right-wing racist Meir Kahane

The Jewish equivalent of skinheads.

The fact that anybody pays attention to what the JDL has to say makes me want to vomit.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

71. Okay, I really don't see what is wrong with what Smith said

I also don't think Hitler woke up every morning saying "I'm going to do evil today!" I think that certain people crave recognition, and want to aggrandize themselves at the expense of others. This necessitates them convincing themselves, and others, that certain other people are "unworthy". Hitler didn't invent anti-Semitism, he used it to promote his worldview, and himself.

[VarnettaTuckpocket]

73. Well Smith sees something wrong with the quote, he's issued a denial

UPDATE: Will Smith's rep sent TMZ the following statement from him, which reads: "It is an awful and disgusting lie. It speaks to the dangerous power of an ignorant person with a pen. I am incensed and infuriated to have to respond to such ludicrous misinterpretation. Adolph Hitler was a vile, heinous, vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet."

http://www.tmz.com/2007/12/24/jews-not-jiggy-with-fresh-putz-of-bel-air/

[rocktivity]

74. It sounds more to me like Wil saw something wrong with the JDL's quote

Unless it's TMZ he's accusing of being ignorant, dangerous, ludicrous, deliberately misinterpreting liars. This statement doesn't deny a thing.

:headbang:
rocknation

[NYCGirl]

77. That's not a denial. That's a statement that TMZ misinterpreted what he said. NT

[joeybee12]

76. Pretty naive comment if you ask me...

...not a call for an apology though just because he's stupid.

BTW Will believes the US government started AIDS.

[Vinca]

80. So every candidate has to repudiate everything a supporter of theirs says?

That's idiotic. If he'd said, "Barrack said Hitler . . . blah, blah, blah" it might be different. You can't possibly hold candidates to this kind of standard. Why aren't you emailing Will?

[CyberPieHole]

81. Will Smith needs to have everything professionally written for him...

otherwise, he ends up with foot~in~mouth disease. This is the problem of having a "celeb" publicly support you~~~you own all the crap they say that could embarrass you. Obama and Will were meant for each other.

[ClarkUSA]

83. Yeah, kinda like Bill "I opposed the Iraq war from the beginning" Clinton

What an embarrassing lie from a unmatched BS artist. He and Hillary were meant for each other.

[sampsonblk]

94. I support Will Smith. Obama should too

What have we come to when we can't voice a reasonable opinion?

[MrSlayer]

95. Please. Obama has nothing to apologize for and neither does Smith.

The JDL is acting completely ridiculous over this.

[nealmhughes]

96. Since Hitler didn't view Jews, Roma, Africans, or homosexuals as people,

and Slavs only good for a labor force, and he thought of himself as an "Anti-Bolshevik" exterminator and the Savior of Aryan Europe, I guess Hitler did not view himself as evil.

But Pope Leo thought he was doing God's Will when he launched the 1st Crusade, and the Roman, Portuguese and Spanish Inquisitions thought they were saving Europe from heresy and damnation.

David Horowitz thinks that he is an important person doing what Plato left unfinished.

Stalin thought. . . well, who knows what Stalin thought.

Ayn "Rhymes with Swine and Mine" Rand thought she was a great author and philosopher and doing "good," although she would reject your collectivist mentality by corrupting her teaching with such a base term as "good" or "bad."

I find nothing Smith said odd or offensive at all. Some in DC think they are doing good by going to work -- are they?