Monday Open Thread

I’ll call this a Monday freedom thread since I’ve been freed from my snowbound house. The roads are still treacherous out there so be careful!

This week thieves stole the sign at the Auschwitz Camp, the one that said “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Sets You Free). Luckily Polish police recovered the sign:

Polish police have recovered the infamous Nazi sign stolen from the former Auschwitz death camp cut into three pieces, and said Monday it appeared to have been taken by common criminals seeking profit.

Five men were arrested late Sunday after the damaged “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Sets You Free”) sign was found near one of their homes in a snowy forest outside Czernikowo, a village near the northern Polish city of Torun, on the other side of the country from the memorial site.

The brazen pre-dawn Friday theft of one of the Holocaust’s most chilling symbols sparked outrage from around the world. Polish leaders launched an intensive search for the 5-meter (16-foot) sign that spanned the main gate of the camp in southern Poland where more than 1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War II.

The men’s arrest late Sunday came after more than 100 tips, said Andrzej Rokita, the chief police investigator in the case.

Noted climate scientist Newt Gingrich speaks on the snow storm in DC:

Newt Gingrich became the latest to play the ridiculous “it’s snowing so global warming must be a hoax” card. Gingrich took to Twitter – where he’s been schooled before – on Saturday morning to share a few thoughts about the storm:

newtgingrich As callista and i watched what dc weather says will be 12 to 22 inches of snow i wondered if God was sending a message about copenhagen

Yes, because weather = climate. Summer is so confusing for the poor dears.

God has actually been quite busy with Republican prayers. Erik Erickson of RedState has a different interpretation of the snowstorm.

But maybe the DC “Snowpocalypse” is a sign of something else. TPM’s Brian Beutler wrote Friday night about the complications the storm may have on the health care vote and concluded with this line:

With all these added complications, don’t be surprised to hear a new Republican talking point: Even Mother Nature hates health care reform.

RedState editor Erick Erickson responded:

I hate to correct him, but actually the talking point is that God hates the Democrats’ health care deform. With funding death panels and abortions, of course the Almighty would send a snow storm or, in Brian’s words, a snowpocalypse to shut down Washington.

Oh, and kudos to Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council for organizing the “pray-in.” Looks to be working.

If health care reform passes does that mean God approves?