SLO County official compared Democrats to Nazis. He should apologize and resign
Now we know what San Luis Obispo County Planning Commissioner Jim Harrison thinks of Democrats. He believes they are Nazi scum.
He also believes Muslims are terrorists, and all mosques in the U.S. should be shut down.
Commissioner Harrison posted memes to that effect to his Facebook page — along with religious messages, homespun philosophy and birthday greetings.
Some of the offensive posts were removed after The Tribune published an article about them on Friday afternoon.
Here’s one Nov. 21 post that Harrison neglected to delete:
That meme drew this comment from one of Harrison’s Facebook friends: “Yes; total assimilation or death!”
On an earlier post, Harrison had this to say: “Islam (is) trying to infiltrate our government and destroy it from the inside and the people in this country are too dumb to see it.”
Harrison did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Tribune. Nor did 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton, who appointed Harrison to the Planning Commission.
Nancy Pelosi as Nazi officer
One of Harrison’s now-deleted posts is a doctored image of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, dressed in a Nazi uniform.
Another features a donkey with a swastika superimposed on its body, along with a laundry list of accusations.
The images, first reported by Tom Fulks on SLOSense, are beyond tasteless. They make light of the real suffering of victims of the Holocaust, and the sacrifices of those who fought against Nazis in World War II.
Apologists for such garbage bring up the First Amendment; claim the messages were not meant to be taken seriously; and call out the “other side” for being just as bad.
They also claim truth as a defense. As one Tribune Facebook commenter wrote: “So which part of what he said would be wrong?”
There should be no excuses for a public official to share such hateful rhetoric.
Harrison didn’t just insult Speaker Pelosi and other high-ranking Democrats in Washington D.C. with this ugly Nazi rhetoric. He insulted every Democrat in San Luis Obispo County.
He made a mockery of the “Civility Code” the Board of Supervisors adopted, which includes these guidelines:
- Respect different opinions.
- Be courteous.
- Disagree constructively.
Citizen of the year?
In light of what’s happened, there have been calls to strip Harrison of his Nipomo “Citizen of the Year” title, awarded for 2019.
That’s up to the South County Chambers of Commerce to decide, though we agree Harrison’s behavior doesn’t live up to what most people expect from an exemplary citizen. And sadly, it’s probably time for chambers everywhere to vet the social media accounts of nominees before bestowing any awards.
But we’re far more concerned about Harrison’s ability to serve effectively on the county Planning Commission.
Members of planning commissions and other advisory bodies are not just private citizens. They have been appointed to listen to concerns of local residents, weigh those concerns, and then make informed recommendations.
They are not supposed to be partisan shills blindly carrying out the bidding of a political party.
They have a duty to treat all members of their districts with respect — regardless of party affiliation or religion.
Commissioner Harrison has revealed himself to be intolerant of political and religious differences. Purging his Facebook page of offensive memes doesn’t go nearly far enough.
Harrison failed to recognize that his brand of extreme partisanship and religious bigotry have no place in San Luis Obispo County politics.
Ideally, he would issue an apology, along with a letter of resignation.
If not, Supervisor Compton should request that he step down, effective immediately.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
