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News & ArtsMonday, August 10, 2009
Arts / City Spotted At McCaw Hall Last Night
Posted by Eli Sanders on Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 10:00 AM
As if old Richard Wagner and his Ring cycle didn't have enough associations with anti-Semitism already.
Click to zoom, and via zachcarstensen's TwitPics.
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Now, if that were a joint in his hands instead of a beer, I'm sure everyone would be much less nervous.
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Maybe they should have had another person dressed as a Klansman and seen if he got the same, uh, "tolerence"
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uh, considering there must be a large number of gays and Jews (and Jewish gays) who attend the opera, I'm surprised no one confronted this douche...then again, there probably aren't many Jewish fans of Wagner, another notorious douche.
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Is there some sort of Seattle Nazi movement going on? Remember the kid a few months ago that was killed by police while wearing a Nazi uniform?
Separately, you have ring tickets? Sweet. I watched the dress rehearsal (all 17 hours of it). It was amazing.
Separately, you have ring tickets? Sweet. I watched the dress rehearsal (all 17 hours of it). It was amazing.
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What??? Really???? Where were the ushers? Why wasn't that guy thrown out? Ya don't literally have the right to walk into anyplace you want costumed as a Nazi. (And what does his armband say?)
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Political correctness in Seattle- Proclaiming your support of genocide is fine, but DO NOT point out that a huge disproportiate of violent crime in Seattle is committed by African Americans. Freedom of speech has it's limits. And the limit is when black people are offended.
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That is Richard Berthold, a former professor of history at the University of New Mexico. Berthold was well-known for baiting people with controversial statements and outfits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ber…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ber…
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Quote I found re Berthold. "Berthold equates today's Israel to Nazi Germany and Palestinians to Jews who endured the Holocaust. In his equation, the IDF is similar to the German Wehrmacht, and the Russian partisans who fought against the Nazis are compared to the Palestinian suicide bombers."
Ok, and I equate Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam, and New Black Panther Party to the KKK... and their supports and apologists, including Rev Wright, are no better then the whites who supported the Klan. I'm sure no one would take offense if I dress up and go to McCaw Hall in blackface along with wearing a Klan outfit to make my point, no?
Ok, and I equate Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam, and New Black Panther Party to the KKK... and their supports and apologists, including Rev Wright, are no better then the whites who supported the Klan. I'm sure no one would take offense if I dress up and go to McCaw Hall in blackface along with wearing a Klan outfit to make my point, no?
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I had often wondered what could be worse than the many Seattlites who show up to the opera in jeans and a t-shirt. This is a whole new level of bad opera attire.
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"We Wagnerians are a rum lot. I myself bugger skinheads!"
--Hugh Lawrie in a brief turn in "MI-5", first season.
--Hugh Lawrie in a brief turn in "MI-5", first season.
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@rlacher and others: Any of you have a picture of Prof. Berthold? I was just Googling around and trying to find an image of his face to see if it's really him, but no luck. Help?
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@5, there are, in fact, plenty of Jews, including survivors of the Holocaust and escapees from Nazi Germany, who know and love Wagner's music, not least among them Arnold Schoenberg and (more recently) Daniel Baranboim.
That Wagner himself was an anti-Semite is indisputable. The degree to which his antisemitism influenced his music is far more debatable.
That Wagner himself was an anti-Semite is indisputable. The degree to which his antisemitism influenced his music is far more debatable.
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michael strangeways @5: You were right the first time about Jews and gays who attend opera. Harvey Milk liked Wagner (though not his fave composer), and several other Jews do too.
You can like some of Wagner's work without having to like the man or the ideas he championed.
Wagner, has been played in Israel - to quite a controversy, so there are some who can appreciate the art while not embracing the man.
Of course his more extreme fans, on the other hand, well that's a different story.
You can like some of Wagner's work without having to like the man or the ideas he championed.
Wagner, has been played in Israel - to quite a controversy, so there are some who can appreciate the art while not embracing the man.
Of course his more extreme fans, on the other hand, well that's a different story.
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I want to know what is on his armband. From what I can see it looks like it is probably not a swastika. He has the smug look on his face that someone does who knows he's pissing people off and feels good doing it.
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Dear Mr. Berthold: You aren't blowing minds. You aren't subverting the dominant paradigm. You certainly aren't inspiring rational dialogue on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You're just looking like an attention-starved twat who wasn't hugged enough as a child. I'd bet a dollar that you own a Utilikilt.
PS: As an "intellectual" with a ponytail, the odds are pretty good that you'd be on the first train to Dachau.
PS: As an "intellectual" with a ponytail, the odds are pretty good that you'd be on the first train to Dachau.
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Excuse me, "I can't see this flying at an auto show" is what I meant to say. Don't want some grammar nazi coming after me.
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Eli -
http://tinyurl.com/mpu8v9 -
There's a shot of him with a ponytail about two scroll clicks down the page, overlaid with "Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote.". This is the only photograph I can find of him, which unfortunately isn't very clear.
However, I had him as a professor for several years and saw him frequently in the student ghetto of UNM. He was a very public figure at UNM and in Albuquerque. I'm absolutely certain that's him, (although I realize you can't take my word for it).
http://tinyurl.com/mpu8v9 -
There's a shot of him with a ponytail about two scroll clicks down the page, overlaid with "Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote.". This is the only photograph I can find of him, which unfortunately isn't very clear.
However, I had him as a professor for several years and saw him frequently in the student ghetto of UNM. He was a very public figure at UNM and in Albuquerque. I'm absolutely certain that's him, (although I realize you can't take my word for it).
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IF that isn't a swastika, what's the problem? Shit, are we so paranoid that a military costume freaks people out about "them darned Natzis"?
As for the kid killed by the cops a few months ago... I believe you're referring to the college student shot by cops on New Year's. If I'm correct, then you're an idiot. He was not dressed like a Nazi and never (that I know of) did dress like a Nazi. He had a love for World War II era clothing and bought, made, and wore it all the time, but even if he wore uniform items from the German army, that does not = NAZI, effing idiots.
As for the kid killed by the cops a few months ago... I believe you're referring to the college student shot by cops on New Year's. If I'm correct, then you're an idiot. He was not dressed like a Nazi and never (that I know of) did dress like a Nazi. He had a love for World War II era clothing and bought, made, and wore it all the time, but even if he wore uniform items from the German army, that does not = NAZI, effing idiots.
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IF that isn't a swastika, what's the problem? Shit, are we so paranoid that a military costume freaks people out about "them darned Natzis"?
Kinda like if you walk around wearing a white sheet with a pointy white hat people jump to the conclusion you are the Klan even if you aren't carrying a burning cross. Yeah, I hate it when people jump to paranoid conclusions.
Kinda like if you walk around wearing a white sheet with a pointy white hat people jump to the conclusion you are the Klan even if you aren't carrying a burning cross. Yeah, I hate it when people jump to paranoid conclusions.
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@24. In the late 80's-early 90's I knew a lot of skinheads that had to change their look cause dumb fucks who watched too much Geraldo assumed all skinheads were neo-nazis/white supremists. They couldn't go anywhere without some black guys taking offense and threatening them- as though being a skinhead were as much a declaration of hatred of blacks as if you were wearing a white sheet and burning a cross.
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For the record it looks like he is wearing a cold war era East German BGS uniform, but guess that is much less exciting to douchebag libtard sheeple.
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In fact, he did have a holster, on his hip. Not sure about the Luger, though. Apparently last night, senior members of the opera staff (with plainclothes cops standing by) were set to ask him to change clothes or skeedaddle, but he showed up in a black "mourning" suit (for the death of the First Amendment - get it?) and no further front-of-house drama ensued. Who knows what's in store for tomorrow night's Cycle One finale?
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