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ADL, Jewish Dems take issue with Patterson's reference to Goebbels.
Don Cohen
E
Special to the Jewish News
fight Jewish Democratic elected
officials from Oakland County
signed a letter to the Detroit Jewish
News on Oct. 18 calling on Republican
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks
Patterson to apologize for what they
termed a "Nazi slur" against first-term
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gary Peters of
Bloomfield Township.
Peters is in a tight race against
Republican challenger Rocky Raczkowski
of Farmington Hills, a former state
representative, to represent the 9th
Congressional District, which covers
much of southeast Oakland County.
The letter signers also called on
Raczkowski, to "distance himself" and
"unequivocally condemn" Patterson's
remarks.
In an Oct. 12 posting on Brooks' Blog
on the Detroit News website, Patterson
writes about a Peters TV ad, called
"Trust:' that Patterson says misrepre-
sents a pending $6 million civil lawsuit
against Raczkowski and five other defen-
dants following a 2008 concert in South
Dakota. Raczkowski was chairman and
CEO of Star Tickets at the time. Peters' ad
says Raczkowski was sued by "his busi-
ness partners:'
Writes Patterson: "Peters knows that is
a lie. But as we learned during the Nazi
era under the tutelage of the Minister of
Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, `Tell a lie,
tell it big, and tell it often, and people
will begin to believe it So let's take a
closer look at Herr Peters' campaign ad."
Patterson concludes his post with: "Herr
Peters knows his history"
Patterson, serving his fifth four-
year term as county executive, heads
Raczkowski's "Gary Peters Truth Squad;'
formed to counter Peters' charges.
Raczkowski has filed a defamation lawsuit
against Peters and Michigan Democratic
Party Chairman Mark Brewer in Oakland
County Circuit Court over the TV ad.
Last Sunday, the ad was a point of con-
tention between Peters and Raczkowski
at an election forum organized by local
Jewish organizations and co-sponsored
by the JN at Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills. Raczkowski stood
behind his lawsuit against Peters; and
Peters said, "I stand behind these ads."
22
October 28 • 2010
The Michigan Truth Squad, a project of
the Ann Arbor-based, nonpartisan Center
for Michigan, did not address the ques-
tion of whether the ad was correct to say
Raczkowski was being sued by his busi-
ness partners, but calls "no foul because
the ad is an accurate recital of the claims
made in the lawsuit against Raczkowski."
ADL Steps In
The day after Patterson's post, Betsy
Kellman, Michigan regional director of
the Anti-Defamation League, posted an
ADL statement in the Comments sec-
tion of Brooks' Blog, stating, in part,
"we were deeply disappointed to read
Patterson's recent blog post equating one
of Congressman Gary Peters' campaign
advertisements to Joseph Goebbels'
extensive propaganda campaign to dehu-
manize Jews ... In no way is Congressman
Peters' comment about his opponent's
business relationships similar to
Goebbels' work. Suggesting that they are
the same undermines the historical accu-
racy of the Holocaust and demeans the
memory of the millions who perished at
the hands of the Nazis:'
Patterson dismissed the ADL's con-
cerns, telling the Associated Press that
the blog "should offend no one." On Oct.
14, he told WJR-AM talk show host Frank
Beckmann that he wouldn't take back the
comparison, saying to Beckmann's radio
audience, "Hell no; I'm pouring it on."
Then in a blog post the next day titled
"Will the Real Betsy Kellman Please
Stand Up?" Patterson argued that invok-
ing Goebbels to make a point had noth-
ing to do with the Holocaust, which
Patterson called a "despicable chapter
in history:' Patterson also asserted that
Kellman's criticism was suspect because
she had twice financially contributed to
Democrats during the past 15 years.
"I will present a $50,000 certified check
to the ADL today if you, as a fair reader,
can find ANY statement in my blog that
references the Holocaust. $50,000! Check
out my blog," he wrote.
Following Patterson's second blog
post, Kellman told the JN and other
news media that she considered the case
closed and would not make any further
statements. The ADL has been outspo-
ken about the use of Nazi analogies in
American politics. Just last June, it took
California Democratic gubernatorial can-
L. Brooks
Patterson
Rocky Raczkowski Betsy Kellman
didate Jerry Brown to task for comparing
Republican Meg Whitman to Goebbels for
lying. Brown apologized the next day.
made about them.
The Democratic response letter also
called on Raczkowski to "unequivo-
cally condemn" Patterson's remarks and
charged that "Mr. Patterson and the
Raczkowski campaign seem to have no
sense of the permanent scar carried by
those whose families were affected by
Nazi atrocities:'
The Letter At Issue
This was all too much for the eight
Jewish Democrats who signed the let-
ter responding to Patterson's blog: State
Sen. Gilda Jacobs of Huntington Woods,
State Reps. Vicki Barnett of Farmington
Hills, Lisa Brown of West Bloomfield and
Ellen Cogen Lipton of Huntington Woods,
Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner
of Ferndale and County Commissioners
Marcia Gershenson of Beverly Hills, Steve
Schwartz of Farmington Hills and Helaine
Zack of Huntington Woods.
They wrote they "could not agree more"
with ADL's statement, criticized Patterson
for questioning Kellman's professionalism
and defended Peters' ad about the lawsuit
against Raczkowski.
"Patterson has enjoyed strong support
from the Oakland County Jewish com-
munity," the letter says, "and the fact that
he is not sensitive to the concerns of the
Jewish community in regards to this issue
is troublesome
The letter concludes, "While we under-
stand that everyone makes mistakes, Mr.
Patterson's refusal to apologize for the
comments shows a lack of sensitivity to all
communities who suffered from Nazi cru-
elty. Under no circumstances should any-
one compare an opponent to a Nazi simply
because there are political differences. Our
discourse would be better off without this
kind of extreme rhetoric:'
Contacted through the Oakland County
Media and Communications Office by
phone and e-mail, Patterson was asked
by the JN to explain his remarks to the
Jewish community. The response was to
"let your readers decide" after they read
the blogs and other statements he has
Candidate Responses
Raczkowski told the JN he has no
intention of distancing himself from
Patterson's remarks.
"I'm not here to answer for Mr.
Patterson. Mr. Patterson can respond for
himself. I'm proud to have his support,"
he said last Friday.
"The best known liar in the world is
Goebbels about the greatest atrocity of
humankind. Mr. Peters has lied about
my record. In that blog, Patterson spoke
about liars:'
Calling the letter from the Democrats
"obviously a partisan attack:' Raczkowski
repeatedly said it was "deeply offensive"
that they would question his understand-
ing and sensitivity to what Nazi Germany
did during the Holocaust and how people
remain scarred by the atrocities.
"My mother was in a Nazi concentra-
tion camp and my father was in a Nazi
labor camp:' Raczkowski said. "I know
what the Nazis did:'
For his part, Rep. Peters issued a short
statement to the JN last Friday defend-
ing his ad and concluding in regard to
Patterson's blog: "[W]hat is clearly out of
bounds is using Nazi imagery to attack a
political opponent after millions of people
suffered and were murdered at the hands
of the Nazis:'
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