Newt Gingrich awkwardly poses for smiley tourist photo in worst possible place.

[Link]

But I guess a pretentious hack, who compare anyone not looking at the world precisely as them to KKK, do need a dictionary to explain what empathy is.

Errr... I was just getting you up to speed on American history and American culture.  J. J. was giving you foreigners a false impression of the United States.  No one other than KKK types still talks about the Civil War with passion.  The notion that normal people in the North or the South feel as passionately about it as the Holocaust is ridiculous.  Despite J. J.'s cute strawman remarks there is not a heated slavery vs antislavery debate here in America.  Even most openly racist people over here would not condone slavery.

[Link]

Link, for once in your life try not to be a Country Member.

Dunno what you mean.

Anyway, the picture is hilarious (for reasons pointed out by Gustaf very early in the thread, obviously). The thread is... bizarre. Very Atlas.

It's a guy who took a picture at Auschwitz that is a little off.  It wouldn't make me like or dislike him anymore than I already do.  We all make mistakes.  He could have taken a really good picture there.  Maybe a side shot with him peering pensively through the barbed wire fence.  Something that was more serious and solemn.

Visiting is okay.  Taking a picture is okay.  Taking a cheesy picture is odd.  Unfortunately most of us when we go off to some far off destination want to capture the moment and we are not professional photographers.  We are amateurs who are in a far away location for a limited time so we take a few rushed pictures.  This is the result.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

No one in his campaign realized that this was a poor picture for a campaign website?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

No one in his campaign realized that this was a poor picture for a campaign website?

Well, to Gingrich's credit, he actually knows what Auschwitz was. I don't think we can say the same for Rick Perry for example.

[Joe Republic]

No one in his campaign realized that this was a poor picture for a campaign website?

Well, to Gingrich's credit, he actually knows what Auschwitz was. I don't think we can say the same for Rick Perry for example.

"Here we are at a major car manufacturer in Poland.  Years ago people were driving Auschwitz cars everywhere, but thanks to the socialist, Marxist, European pro-tax agenda of the government, this factory was shut down and hundreds of workers lost their jobs.  If Obama has his way, the same thing could happen to Ford, or GM, or... uh..... some other company.  Oops."

[Pingvin]

For some reason photo looks shopped for me.

[J. J.]

I certainly think that the Holocaust gets far too much attention, but there's some things you just don't do, and wearing your finest and cheesing the camera in front of one of world history's most horrific and systematic extermination centers is one of those things.

Just saying.

I would say the same thing about Ground Zero, at least while it was still rubble.  Being rebuilt, less so, because then it's about transcendance.

I agree.  I think in the mad dash to get Jewish votes and Jewish campaign contributions things have gone way over the top.  I mean Gingrich, an American of all things, calling the Palestinians a "made up people" just to pander to the pro Israel lobby is sickening.  But I don't think comparing Jews that were systematically exterminated to some relative J. J. discovered on genealogy.com last week and decided to mourn is appropriate.

Link, your increasingly bizarre statements are now wrong.  About 4 million non-Jewish people also died in Holocaust.

I'm stunned that anyone would complain, this side of Storm Front, that an American politician (granted one I'm not voting for) would be interested in learning more about the subject. 

It isn't a question of "mourning," it is a question of understanding, and hopefully preventing.

Granted, it is a silly photo, but I'll any politician for trying.

[minionofmidas]

I'd see the issue if he were grinning broadly and goofily. His awkward pose is exactly what the situation calls for.

[ingemann]

I feel a lot more strongly about the German occupation of Denmark than the Holocaust

I have no trouble feeling empathy

okay.

So you think removing most of the text somehow give you points? I guess it would if most people here was imbeciles, but as I have a higher opinion of them and see them as being able to read my full statement, as such I think it's rather insulting of you to treat them that way.

Link, for once in your life try not to be a Country Member.

Dunno what you mean.

Really? It should be rather obvious, most people can read context into such a statement, I as example would in this example see the context as pretenceous, superficial and unconnected (to any outside your clique)... and that's the nice context.