Thread by @kurteichenwald

1. I'm going to tell an important story to make some think. This comes from a fabulous 1985 history, Inside the Vicious Heart, about the liberations of nazi death camps.

There were Americans who slammed publicizing information about what happened in Nazi camps. They wrote...

2...about how terrible it was to show these things, to describe these atrocities, that they were probably lies, that no one should see it.

Were the nazis? Conservatives? Anti-semites?

No....they were progressives. Progressives who could not let go of their main issue even....

3...in the face of the Holocaust. What THEY were concerned about was that post-war terms on Germany were not too tough, because they considered that to be actions by war-mongers who wanted to slam the Germans unfairly. They did not drop that idea when the truth of the....

4...death camps came back. They doubled down. NOTHING was more important than not imposing severe reparations on Germany, and when these facts - these horrible, incredible facts - of the Holocaust came rolling in, they proclaimed "ignore that. It's just the war mongers trying...

5...to justify imposing strict reparations.James Agee, the prominent writer and progressive, wrote of the films showing the Nazi atrocities, that he had "not felt it necessary to see the films" bemoaning that "such propaganda" could only fuel demands for vengeance and...

6...focusing on Germans was the wrong thing, something the information about the Holocaust would make Americans forget. "Indeed, we are worse than they, and worse in some respects than the Nazis." And so he advised people to ignore the information from the death camps, saying...

7...it was propaganda to impose a hard peace. The Progressive magazine also attacked the films and information, with Milton Mayer writing "Vengeance will not raise the tortured dead." He went on to write that he was skeptical if this was true, and continually cast doubt on...

8...the evidence. There is example after example of progressives more concerned about their issue than about confronting the Holocaust. Soldiers who were there found that their stories - and snapshots - were dismissed as fabrications. Finally, the Holocaust films began to show..

9...in theaters, and as people tried to flee, soldiers blocked the doors, saying those who were not at the camps needed to confront what happened, so they could know why the war was fought.

Why am I telling this story? Because it shows how obsession over a single issue can....

10...lead people who claim to love humanity to ignore humanity. Some many of the progressives were so frightened that reality would undermine their calls for a soft peace that they began to call for willful ignorance.

Unfortunately, the lesson has not been learned. Today....

11...you hear progressives argue that they must attack democrats because the most important thing is going after the "corporate wing" of the party. Even though ANY democrat would address the most immoral issue of our time....

12....we spend time debating the meaning of "concentration camp" and moaning about what one democrat said that we don't like. Meanwhile, even as we speak, the horrors are unfolding....

13....progressives proclaim they may not vote for anyone who doesnt support medicare for all because they want everyone to be insured - forcing millions more to join the ones who have already lost insurance because of their 2016 votes....

14...so no, when you attack and attack other democrats for having different opinions - slightly different - I will condemn you. We all should.

Because you are so focused on your "most important issues" that you are ignoring the most important issue.

15...finally, I urge everyone to read Inside the Vicious Heart by Robert Abzug. One of the most powerful books I have ever read. It was out of print for awhile, but it seems to have come back. amazon.com/Inside-Vicious…