February 19, 2009 05:29 PM UTC

"Swastika Guy" Fracas Enters Backpedal Phase

• 0 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Good stuff from Westword’s Melanie Asmar:

Malkin suggests to Rocky reporter David Montero that “Swastika Guy,” as he’s come to be known, may have been a “ringer” trying to discredit her by slipping into the mass of people waiting for a Malkin photo-op after the rally.

But if Swastika Guy was a left-leaning operative, he sure wasn’t a secret one. Instead of hiding in the crowd of 300 people, many of whom had strongly worded signs of their own, he stood right at the top of the steps during the protest. He was one of the first people I noticed as a reporter covering the event. Even from within the thick of the crowd, his swastika was plainly visible.

It would be tough to believe that rally organizers overlooked him, especially considering how close he was to the action…

The Rocky story also quotes Colorado Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, who criticized the swastika sign, saying it “badly crossed the line.” But he’s in the ProgressNow Colorado photo too, within finger-wagging distance of Swastika Guy and Hammer-and-Sickle Guy.

So why so surprised, Malkin and Penry?

Responding yesterday to criticism of a widely-circulated photo taken of her at the anti-stimulus rally held by Colorado Republicans at the state Capitol this week, syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin was not exactly what you’d call apologetic.

For eight years, we’ve heard “Bushitler” invoked endlessly…

Now, the tables have been turned. Some folks are invoking Nazi allusions against Barack Obama.

…The left-wing blogosphere is suddenly up  in arms over the sight of others mimicking their over-the-top rhetoric of the past eight years. A protester who attended the Denver Pig Roast today had such a sign and asked for a picture with me. The nutroots are having vapors about it.

Sometime between that writing and this morning, however, Malkin’s tune has changed rather dramatically–as the Rocky Mountain News reports:

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin said Wednesday she was “mobbed” by fans after a rally on Tuesday protesting President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan and didn’t realize a man she posed for a photo with was holding a sign with a swastika…

Malkin said she couldn’t see the part of the sign bearing the swastika and questioned whether the man was a “ringer” trying to discredit her.

“People stuffed themselves in front of me. They shoved in front trying to get pictures, and I obliged. And this is the reward for that,” Malkin said. “I don’t know who this person is. I would really like to know if he was some sort of ringer or he believed in his sign.”

Okie dokie then. So either turnabout is fair play and this is a non-story, which is what Malkin claimed yesterday, or the guy was a “ringer trying to discredit her,” like she says today. Anybody want to take a stab at, you know, which one it is?

True that, backpedaling is a messy business.

In related news, flacks for the Independence Institute are out in force trying to kill this embarrassing little story as well…not very effectively.

II blogger Ari Armstrong, unlike Malkin, isn’t upset with the still-anonymous “Swastika Guy.” For him, this is all about those pesky troublemaking liberals who crashed their rally and distributed the photo:

Ari Armstrong, editor of FreeColorado.com, said, “Huttner has brought ‘gotcha’ politics to a new low. The organizers of public rallies, whether on the right or the left, cannot possibly keep out strangers. Indeed, Huttner himself complained that his free-speech rights were threatened when someone suggested that he leave the rally.

“I personally witnessed Michelle Malkin being approached by numerous individuals seeking photos with her, as is common with well-known personalities. Would Huttner appreciate it if a random stranger worked a photo op with a well-known leftist using inappropriate imagery or language?

“For Huttner to drag Penry into the debate is absurd. He had nothing to do with it. But, as Jason Salzman, who attended the rally with Huttner, acknowledged to me, he anticipates that Penry will run for higher office. So Huttner is starting in early with the character assassination.

“Obviously, people from the left call George W. Bush and other Republicans fascists or Nazis practically on a daily basis. Why is it news when the right does it, but not when the left does it?

“As Huttner’s own web page demonstrates, the left commonly attacks Republicans and conservatives by likening them to fascists. Has Michael Huttner condemned each of those comments and apologized for them?”

We aren’t here to defend Progress Now, no doubt they can take care of themselves. But we will point out that the examples cited by Armstrong consist of a bunch of anonymous comments and community blog posts from the general public–nothing even written by a Progress Now employee, let alone anything that an elected official or nationally-known pundit would have control over. Certainly no smiley photos with big-name liberals and guys toting swastika signs. The distinction seems pretty easy to us, but for whatever reason this feeble “they do it too” argument–built around blog comments–is the one chagrined Republicans are rallying to. Good luck with that.

Bottom line? There’s a difference between a public blog where anybody can anonymously rant and a stage full of highly embarrassable public figures at an event you organize. And if that difference isn’t stone-cold obvious to you, for the sake of those same embarrassable public figures you should really consider getting the hell out of the event organizing business.