When Neville, a Jefferson County businessman, was sworn in back in November, he said he would focus on reducing regulations on businesses and limiting the size of government. He didn't mention researching Nazi Germany. But in preparation for his comments Monday, he did some investigation and came up with this (thanks to ColoradoPols for the video):
In case you missed some of the incredibly subtle nuances, here's a transcript of Neville's shmucky comments:
In 1941 America again faced the threat of Adolph Hitler and national socialism while attempting to step out its citizens' right of consciousness and pushing a populist, anti-big business, anti-capitalist theme, along with its attacks on established religious institutions. The world experienced the horror of this resulting loss of right of conscience and the slaughter of innocents.All Americans understand the importance of protecting our god-given right of conscience. It is the basis of a free society and must be defended even if it involves great personal sacrifice. So today we find ourselves gathered here squarely, at odds with an administration with a very different view from our Constitutional framers.
And these weren't just tossed off. Jason Salzman tracked down Neville's interview with Grassroots Radio Colorado, where he described how he'd come up with that comparison:
I was doing some research last night, and I was putting my notes together, and of course you pull things apart. You don't like this. You don't like that. And you know I was looking at the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany and the parallels I was seeing were pretty scary.
Neville's right about one thing: We don't like that.
Neville was chosen by a vacancy committee to fill the seat left empty when Republican Senate Leader Mike Kopp resigned to spend more time with his children after the death of his wife. That was a stand-up move; too bad his successor doesn't know when to shut up.
Find more shmucks in our Shmuck of the Week archive.
