Oakland County Official Criticized For Blog's Nazi Imagery
A Jewish civil rights group says it's "deeply disappointed'' that Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson made a Nazi reference in a blog entry he wrote about Michigan's 9th District congressional race.
Anti-Defamation League regional director Betsy Kellman said Wednesday the Holocaust analogy used by Patterson does "not contribute to legitimate debate'' about the race between Democratic Rep. Gary Peters and Republican challenger Rocky Raczkowski.
In the blog entry posted Tuesday, Patterson accuses the Peters campaign of lying in a TV ad, mentions Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels and refers to the incumbent as "Herr Peters.''
Patterson said the blog entry "should offend no one," and tells WWJ Newsradio 950 he will not apologize for the analogy.
"Absolutely not. I think the blog speaks for itself and I stand behind it," Patterson said.
"What I said in my blog is that Gary Peters' ad is a lie. And, I cited Goebbels, who was the administer of propaganda in the Nazi regime who said 'Tell a lie, tell it big and tell it often' -- that's the only reference and I'm trying to point out that Peters has adopted that mantra," he said.
The Peters ad focuses on a lawsuit filed against Raczkowski by a Texas-based concert promoter, accusing him of fraud and theft.
(Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
