FAFO: Republican Resigns from Library Board after Imitating Musk’s “Nazi” Salute
North Penn Supervisor Laura Smith has “resigned” from the Board of Trustees of the Public Library on Saturday morning after mimicking Elon Musk's Nazi salute.
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One of the reasons decent, freedom-loving people do not tolerate the Nazi salute is because to tolerate it in one is to see it grow. There is always some ignorant, dense, low-life person with no integrity and no common sense who gets off on cruelty, and we don’t want them forming a group. Or leading a political party. Or leading a country.
Oops.
Don’t Be Like Laura Smith
This takes us to the story of Republican North Penn Supervisor Laura Smith, who has “resigned” from the Board of Trustees of the Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library on Saturday morning after mimicking Elon Musk’s “Nazi” salute.
In a Tik Tok video posted on Thursday to the account @laurasmith6036, which has since been removed but was captured here, Smith can be seen hitting her chest three times and giving the palm down arm straight out in front of the camera salute.
Smith, who is also on the Towamencin PA board of supervisors, wasn’t expecting the reception she got, although she admitted to doing it to “stir the pot. Because I can.”
Yes, she can and yes she did. She also went viral doing the Nazi salute. She went viral internationally.
FAFO
Annnd it turns out, civilized people with any care for other human beings do not tolerate community leaders publicly joking about Nazis.
The Board of Trustees wrote that they accepted her resignation due to her conduct "that does not align with the library's values. The views expressed in the TikTok video are in direct conflict with the mission and principles upheld by the Montgomery County Public Library, its Board of Trustees, staff, and the community it serves. The library is a welcoming place of learning, dedicated to informing, educating, entertaining, and enriching the lives of all individuals.
“We reject hate in all its forms and remain committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and supportive environment for everyone,” the library board concluded, showing more decency than anyone in the current White House administration.
Yikes
Laura Smith seems to have the temperament of a 7-year-old child. Here is her initial reaction to the response she got, which can be summarized as “No I didn’t but if I did, he did it first and also, waaah!”:
Smith’s reaction evinces the Republican kink of feeling oppressed because they aren’t “allowed” to display their worst impulses in public. The amount of petulant rage expended on feeling canceled by people who are actually being held accountable, as if they were a functioning adult, has been exhausting to witness because it’s been excused and babied until they’ve become the snowflakes they have been screaming about for the last ten years.
Smith “Apologizes”
By Friday night, though, Smith had found a grown-up to pen a statement for her, perhaps not wanting to lose her job as a township supervisor (they have a meeting coming up on Monday, which should be interesting):
Smith, who is one of two other Republican majority members of the township Board of Supervisors, and whose term is up the end of this year, along with colleague and board Chairman Chuck Wilson, provided a statement to North Penn Now on Friday night:
“A video I posted recently to social media has been greatly mischaracterized. Not wishing to give offense, I removed the video from my accounts. I abhor racism, anti-Semitism, or discrimination in any fashion or form, and my record as a township supervisor attests to my commitment to treat all people with dignity and respect.
There is no actual apology in this apology, naturally. Like many middle schoolers, Smith is saying she’s sorry if you were offended by her failure to be a decent human being, but if you were, it’s your fault for “mischaracterizing” her.
You see, she gave the Nazi salute because she can and it’s so fun to trigger people, but how dare anyone hold her accountable for this. She wants you to know she is also committed to treating all people with dignity and respect while making light of the Holocaust.
As of this writing, no one has offered her a position in the Trump White House, but perhaps this was her audition tape. The more repugnant to actual citizens, the better qualified seems to be their motto.
Justifying Musk
The arguments made to defend Musk have been misinformed at best, and emblematic of the current administration’s Russian-steeped gaslighting approach to reality. But let’s go through them quickly for the sake of intellectual honesty.
Buuuuut Elon Musk did a “Roman salute” and not a Nazi salute!
Truth: A quick read up on history shows the “Roman salute” was adopted in 1922 by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, and this Roman saltue is the origin of the 1926 Nazi salute. I think it’s fair to expect someone on the board of a library to know this. But also, neither signal good intentions.
Buuuut he has autism!
Response: Doing the Nazi salute is not listed as a symptom of autism and most people with autism do not go around giving the Nazi salute.
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