Harpootlian Sparks Outrage By Comparing Gov. Nikki Haley to Hitler's Mistress
SC Democratic chair made the comment during a delegate breakfast on Wednesday morning.
During any political convention, the rhetoric tends to get more inflammatory than usual—even by today’s standard. But on Wednesday morning at a delegate breakfast, South Carolina’s State Democratic Party Chair, Dick Harpootlian, turned the temperature up considerably.
Harpootlian compared Gov. Nikki Haley to Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress. According to The State, Harpootlian, who appeared to make the comment in jest, drew the analogy in response to Haley’s press conference on Tuesday in the basement of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, where she, along with Rep. Tim Scott and three others Republicans, criticized Pres. Obama’s performance on the economy.
Braun committed suicide by swallowing cyanide capsules when Russia’s Red Army was closing in and bringing about the end of World War II in the European Theater. Her death took place in an underground bunker in Berlin where she had barricaded herself alongside Hitler, who took his life by shooting himself in the head. It's not clear to which aspect of Braun's biography Harpootlian was referring.
State Sen. Joel Lourie (D - Richland), who represents District 22 and is the only Jewish member of the General Assembly, said, "(Harpootlian) has a long history of making off-the-cuff statements, but any comparison between an American politician and Nazi Germany is completely inappropriate and there is no place for it."
Another longtime Democrat, who asked not to be identified said, "Sometimes our Chairman gets carried away with himself when he is in the media spotlight and says things that he thinks are cute or funny, but often they are only funny to him.”
Rob Godfrey, Gov. Haley's spokesman, said, "Gov. Haley fights everyday to change the image of our state, but every time Dick Harpootlian -- an attention-starved, anti-business trial lawyer and video poker cheerleader -- opens his mouth, he embarrasses our state."
SC GOP Chair Chad Connelly also rebuked Harpootlian saying, "I am disgusted by Harpootlian's comparison. He should apologize immediately."
"I don't know what point (Harpootlian) was trying to make," Lourie said. "But this is a presidential campaign and we should be talking about real issues."
rb
4:19 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Nikki Haley might be a lot of things, but any comparison to Eva Braun is off base. That being said, I still wonder what South Carolinians were thinking when they elected her as Governor.
Rusty Inman
5:13 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Harpootlian typically walks on the edge of the verbal cliff, but his stuff is usually funny as well as pertinent to a particular issue. Unfortunately, in this instance, he walked off the edge of the cliff. It's not funny---indeed, it's offensive. And it's not pertinent to any real issue---it doesn't even go to the continuing narrative about how little time Haley spends in the state (though, given the way South Carolinians feel about her, she is, to be sure, more comfortable when she is out of the state and around people who don't know her).
Should he apologize? Not to Nikki Haley, who is far more offensive in her actions than Harpootlian could ever be in his words.
But he does need to shut up.
Of course, Rob Godfrey's response, given his role in Haley's often personal attacks on anyone who disagrees with her---John Rainey was called "a racist bigot," which he is, of course, not---was laughable. And, were I him, given his boss, I would stop talking about political officials who embarass our state (though he is paid awfully well to lie and spin and misrepresent for that boss).
Chad Connelly? He's a joke---who cares what he has to say?
Rusty Inman
5:17 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
@rb
Barely half of all South Carolinians voted for her---she won by the smallest percentage ever and by the smallest number of votes ever in a South Carolina gubernatorial vote.
Most of those who voted for her weren't thinking. They saw the (R) beside her name and just pulled that lever.
After two years of her, however, many of them are thinking that they will think about it more in 2014. Which means she hasn't got a chance of being re-elected. Which is why she is so frantically trying to find a space on the national stage.
silver
4:27 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Are we better off with Nikki Haley as governor. No. Unemployment is 9.6% while Nikki Haley is off while getting paid with taxpayer funds to campaign for Mitt Romney. We have more state employees hired at hirer salaries than any other governor, we have the largest executive budget in the history of SC. Nikki Haley has been charged with more ethics violations than any other governor.
No - I don't think we are better off with Nikki Haley as governor
Ambassador
5:25 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Harpootlian is a loudmouth stupid piece of garbage. The dems deserve him just like they deserve the piece of garbage in the whitehouse
stanley seigler
7:02 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
comparing haley to braum is as stupid as comparing BO to hitler...where do idiots come up w/ this crap...too bad we cant cure stupid...
haley and BO are good people serving the state and country...i wouldn't want their jobs...
disagree with...attack...their policies (with facts)...but dont attack the person...it's called the hi road.
Ambassador
7:00 am on Thursday, September 6, 2012
Hi Mr. Seigler: So "it's called the hi road". There is nothing "hi road" about the piece of garbage in the whitehouse. He is a narcissistic, moslem, communist who, with his wife, spends our money like a drunken sailor. I do not know how old you are but I can tell you that as far as I am concerned, another 4 years will leave this country a paltry 3rd world pile of yada yada with a debt that will consume literally our entire economy. I do not have a "hi road" when it comes to this piece of yada, yada and would not have a "hi road" with you if we should ever meet and you tell me how much respect you have for this unamerican terrorist wrapped in a presidential robe. He is truly a king with no clothes and he is NOT and NEVER will be my president.
stanley seigler
10:08 am on Thursday, September 6, 2012
whatever. hi-lo road yo choice...but doubt your choice, lo road vitriol, impresses anyone...well maybe the KKK and nazi skin heads...butbutt;
you really should get facts to back your vitriol...or; perhaps are just busting my whatever...
Jonathan Allen
6:24 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
@Ambassador: easy there internet toughguy, you're skating mighty close to violating our terms of service with that thinly veiled implied threat toward another Patch user.
martin, bob
10:14 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Harpootlian is a no class loser. Straight forward enough for everybody.
The Black Knight
10:31 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Dick (an absolutely spot on name for this jerk) Harpootlian is little more than an overmouthed, underbrained shyster whose penchant for publicly demonstrating his lack of upbringing, manners and common sense has elevated him to the top echelons of that political dung heap known as the DIMocratic party. And judging by his recent remarks concerning the governor, he is singularly well qualified to be the spokesman for this organization of crybabies, crooks, cheats and charlatans. His main problem with Governor Haley, and in fact, all conservatives, is that he KNOWS that in South Carolina, he is a loser, always has been a loser and always will be a loser. Mr. Harpootlian would do well just to accept the fact he and his party will always be second-best here and try to live by the adage that it is far better to remain silent and just be thought a jackass than to start braying all around the barnyard and remove all doubt from anyone's mind.
Rusty Inman
12:20 am on Thursday, September 6, 2012
The real shame of the conversation and choice of words found in the posts of the, uh, Ambassador and the, uh, Black Knight (interesting that the most offensive posts came from those whose identities are cloaked in anonymity) is that their hyperbolic offensiveness and petty---as well as projective---name-calling distracts us from the offensiveness of Harpootlian's crude analogue (an analogue very poorly drawn, by the way) and turns our attention instead to them.
It has, to me, always seemed self-defeating to offensively criticize someone else for being offensive. Hence, Ambassador and The Black Knight---I am still laughing as I type that rather grandiosely-chosen moniker---are the real losers in this discussion, beaten either by their inability to control their own darker impulses or the unrestrained glee they experience at letting those darker impulses just run free across the landscape. Either of which seems to be a problem for a lot of Republicans these days.
stanley seigler
1:08 am on Thursday, September 6, 2012
@ Rusty Inman
DITTO what you said...WOW
re: ...a problem for a lot of Republicans these days.
the problem is they (rush-ilk) give true GOPs a bad name...and sadly good GOPs pander to the darker side.
america needs a strong responsible GOP...where are the doles and simpsons when the GOP needs them...
Mimi
5:25 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
I don't think it was necessary to make such a comparison of Nimrata, HOWEVER it is with her and the Republican party that so much hatred and division has been bestowed on the American people without any concern for the country. Nimrata is nothing but a mouth piece for the radical right. She has missed her opportunity to stand for the people of SC instead she choose the path of nonsense and self financial enrichment. Nimrata may not be Hitlers mistress, but she is useless as a governor. USELESS
Bobby Singh
1:20 am on Saturday, September 8, 2012
I am a moderate conservative, believe in pro life, less government, and lower taxes. With this said, if a conservative is elected, it will be gratifying because he shares my values, but in the long haul he is not going to feed me. I like to advise all my dear brothers and sisters, democrats and republicans, the future is in your hands, hard work and dedication is the key to success. Of course, good policies will help. Not as much as your hard work and dedication. God makese everything possible even for those who don't believe in Him. In the long run, what matters to me the most is putting food on the table, and no politician will invite to his/her house to feed me.