(dlerick/Getty Images)
Do you know what is generally considered a bad idea by most thinking persons in the United States? Citing Adolf Hitler as your “favorite person in history.” Don’t do it! NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!!
Yes, we’ve heard he was an excellent painter, and the Volkswagen bug is a fine automobile. Nevertheless, you don’t just go around calling Adolf Hitler your “favorite person in history” – especially in the school yearbook.
Sadly, a nice fella named Jeff Acor, a new history teacher at Whitesville Central School in New York, did indeed make such a grotesque statement in print.
On a yearbook page under the header, “Meet the new guy on the block,” Acor praised the man responsible for the deaths of over 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
Yes, “meet the new guy,” and wish him well in all his future endeavors.
Here’s the exact quote from the soon-to-be unemployed Jeff Acor when asked to name his favorite person in history:
“Adolf Hitler, who did many great things for Germany, and their youth, before the infamous Holocaust. Adolph was ousted and faced many hardships early in life, which a lot of people can relate to. Adolf is arguably the greatest public speaker in the history of the world. Adolf made many great strides to make Germany a world super power.”
So according to Acor, that Hitler guy was swell fella aside from the whole genocide thing. I mean, nobody is perfect, right? What, you’ve never had a bad day and inadvertently killed six million innocent men, women and children?
According to local media reports, the New York school district intends to hand out “improved” versions of the yearbook – “improved” meaning “free of praise for Adolf Hitler.”
Nigel:
“Yeah, probably shouldn’t be saying anything nice about Adolf Hitler – even if you’re doing it in the context of historical perspective. Also, I disagree that Hitler was a great public speaker; it’s seems to me that he just mainly did a lot of shouting, lecturing and pointing. So I don’t know how dynamic he was as a public speaker, but I probably wouldn’t put it down into words in the school yearbook!”
Hammer:
“Yeah, if someone asks you your favorite historical person, probably advisable to go with M.L.K. or Ronald Reagan.”
Hammer and Nigel discussed this story and more in today’s edition of “Is This Anything?”
