Rich Iott, Republican House Candidate, Dressed As A Nazi (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The Atlantic:

An election year already notable for its menagerie of extreme and unusual candidates can add another one: Rich Iott, the Republican nominee for Congress from Ohio's 9th District, and a Tea Party favorite, who for years donned a German Waffen SS uniform and participated in Nazi re-enactments.

Read the whole story: The Atlantic

Comments

[DeadlyGrim]

12:18 PM on 10/14/2010

|_| Millions dead, political oppression, needless war, economic ruin, snappy uniforms
|X| Just the snappy uniforms, please

[MarkDTN8]

02:26 PM on 10/12/2010

Wow nice pic. They all look very chummy... just sharing their admiration for war crime efficiency. The shaved heads must come in handy at other "get togethers" out im the middle of rural Ohio. Maybe they're really just have great attention to detail. On the days they hold these re-enactments do they also start calling their wives Eva and their dogs Blondie just for realistic purposes?

[Abitrusty]

02:08 PM on 10/12/2010

Can someone from the area please explain to me what the Ohio Military reserve is? I have served 10 years in the US Army and a few more int he national guard, this is something I have never come across. Also, have you ever noticed that soldiers who have actually served and sacrificed are not ones to "re-enact" it, they have to live with it!

Where does the Tea Party find these folks?

[WasteNJ]

02:04 PM on 10/12/2010

I hate to say it but I don't know about this one. I saw a few other pics of the guy in different uniforms, allied ones. Re-enators can be a weird bunch but not necessarily racist.

I play paintball each year at a game at Skirmish in PA called "D-Day", it's a huge 24 hour scenario game with 3-4 thousand people. Not a re-enactment or anything, just a big themed game. Everybody gets an ID, and you're either allied, or German. Now they don't use the swastika on the ID's or anything, they use the iron cross. I always find a way to not be a German, but about half the people will end up on that team. (The allied team fills up first) It's not that that raises eyebrows, it's the guys with the tents with Nazi flags flying and wearing SS uniforms during the game that seems off. A lot of the guys in general seem to want to be on the Nazi team, they are wearing German camo, etc.

Does it make them Nazis, or do they simply want the defensive positions instead of having to take the "beach"? Either way, they are more fun to shoot.

Definitely a gray area there.

[Cr8tvLde]

04:13 PM on 10/21/2010

Paintball? Over 16 are you? Guess Cowboys and Indians went out with John Wayne. But then back then, it was tough finding someone to play "Tonto".

Get with the new age, bucko, it's now "Christians and Muslims" ... you know, heavy, gray mail against the evil burkas.

OMG...and on HuffPo, no less.

[hellotiki]

08:37 PM on 10/11/2010

Nihilists! They're harmless Donnie.

[ConcernedSoldier]

03:15 PM on 10/11/2010

Nazi uniform. Bad. Iott's Ohio Military Reserve uniform. Bad. Iott wears unearned military awards on his Ohio Military Reerve (OHMR) uniform. Iott, who never served in the Army, can be seen in photos wearing an unearned Army Marksmanship Badge. He also wears a OHMR shoulder cord that denotes a person has served in another branch besides the OHMR, while completing the Army resident Military Police course. Iott admits only serving in the Ohio Military Reserve. He should not wear items that denote Army service. Stolen Valor. Iott needs to be investigated more. He insults veterans.

[panamarine]

02:41 PM on 10/14/2010

Concerned Soldier: Guess you can call him a WANNABE WARRIOR. These are guys who never served in the military but like playing G.I. Joe for the "safe" feel and fun of it. But to emulate a soldier from the 5th SS Panzer Div. ? Who does he see down the barrel of his fake battle? An American G.I. then goes "POW" your dead? Even that imagery doesn't seem cool to me.

[vulpecula762mm]

09:43 AM on 10/11/2010

I have seen Civil War reenactments
I have seen reenactments of the battle of Sekigahara, (very popular in japan and amazing to watch.)

I have heard of reenactments of the Indian wars

Various medieval battles... even right here in NYC

I have not one heard of or seen a WW2 reenactment outside of Hollywood.

[Progressive in FLA]

06:33 PM on 10/11/2010

I'm sure they keep this particular "hobby" in the basement.

[PitBull6]

09:24 PM on 10/11/2010

Like the McGovern quote: How could he lose? Everyone I know voted for him.

There's a couple of fairly big ones which occur in the midwest which I know of from friends who participate and many more smaller ones.

[vulpecula762mm]

12:09 PM on 10/12/2010

Seems kinda lame without the armor and air. But ok...

[RealG]

08:32 AM on 10/11/2010

here is the other side of the story

http://voteiott.com/2010/10/rich-iott-statement-on-the-latest-kaptur-campaign-lie/

of course this is a half truth, no issues to run on, then deceive...

[NobodySince1980]

11:08 PM on 10/10/2010

I am trying to find the "other" side of this argument which I always attempt to do to get a fuller, richer view of what's being relayed. I cannot fathom the, "other" side and I grew up near the sites of a few well-known battles of the Civil War where there were frequent re-enactments with people (obviously) pretending to be on both sides. This is the first time I have stopped to consider the morality of such activities. Perhaps I am wrong to rationalize people re-enacting the Civil War while not being able to rationalize what Lott did/does but I just can't get there emotionally or logically to explain away what he does.

[RealG]

08:33 AM on 10/11/2010

Here is the answer

he dressed up as all sides... just like anyone would

http://voteiott.com/2010/10/rich-iott-statement-on-the-latest-kaptur-campaign-lie/

[PitBull6]

09:28 PM on 10/11/2010

Yes, I have friends who do this regularly and they do various units in various armies in various theaters and wars. Thanks for posting.

[Shaun Hensley]

10:58 PM on 10/10/2010

He thinks he's Prince Harry.

[marilyn 63]

06:46 PM on 10/10/2010

is this another real extreme crazy racist tea party member that theTEA-REPUBLICANS can explain away??? i think the progressives should be getting mad. and voting against crazy tea-republicans.

[murphthesurf3]

05:08 PM on 10/10/2010

THE KEY CONNECTION HERE:

Nazi WWII Waffen SS Role Playing and the Ohio Military Reserve

There has been a lot of publicity about right wing para-military groups where those with the kind of interests Iott has find kindred spirits interested in doing more than recreating the past. They want to be ready for the future: a future that will need a ready and unconflicted military to fight for true Americans.

These groups are usually labeled as havens for the crazy.....so why not join a legal militia.

You get to dress up, carry real weapons, and exist within the structure of command and control.

It all fits.

[awa]

04:21 PM on 10/10/2010

Ms. Lopez has a well-deserved reputation for efficiency and equity in public service. I agree with your May 4 editorial "Do not privilege of Toledo, who praised him for his efforts to protect homeowners have liens placed on the property for bills owed by previous owners. As you then say: "This is simply untrue." Rich Iott http://usspost.com/rich-iott-19247/

[birddogs]

03:33 PM on 10/10/2010

John Boehner, Jean Schmidt and now this guy.

Keep it classy Ohio.

[birddogs]

03:27 PM on 10/10/2010

Keep it classy Ohio. John Boehner, Jean Schmidt and now this guy?

BWT was r0ve out sick the day this picture was taken?