Kansas House Leader Points to 'Great Quote From Hitler'

Peggy Mast says she meant to link Hitler and Planned Parenthood
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2016 9:36 AM CDT
Kansas House Leader Points to 'Great Quote From Hitler'
Kansas House Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast.   (AP Photo/Nicholas Clayton)

Praising Hitler is never a good move, even more so when you're a high-ranking state lawmaker. And yet: Kansas' House Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast described a quote from Hitler as "profound" in a since-removed Facebook post on Thursday. "Great quote from Hitler in the video," the Republican wrote, apparently forgetting to include a link. "Please listen to it closely. His words are profound! Let's start using discernment." Later, she said she'd meant to imply Planned Parenthood uses "the same tactics and deception used by Hitler regarding innocent lives" and shared a link to a transcript of testimony given before Congress by an anti-abortion activist, who used a Hitler quote on propaganda while speaking out against Planned Parenthood, per the Wichita Eagle.

That Hitler quote: "The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan." In her testimony, Gianna Jessen made this connection, per the New York Daily News: "Planned Parenthood uses deception, the manipulation of language and slogans, such as ‘a woman’s right to choose,’ to achieve their monetary aims." Mast added she "was not in any way agreeing with Hitler's words," but the damage was done. "How is there a great quote from Hitler?" House Speaker Ray Merrick's chief of staff commented. (More Adolf Hitler stories.)

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