Dear Editor,

It seemed an unlikely place for a town meeting, but the spontaneous outburst at the Westwood Post Office was certainly just that in its purest form.
It seemed that this was a location selected for political solicitors. It was a simple message: "Impeach Obama." Thing is, the President was sporting a Hitler Mustache.

As our disparate group stood in line on what should have been a perfectly normal Thursday, people just spoke out as the man at the counter expressed his offense at this and wondered of the legitimacy of their presence. The woman said, "Hitler didn't tolerate "free speech." " And the Black ladies said, "If that is who Obama was, how did he get elected?" And the man said, "When he starts rounding up people and sending them to gas chambers.." and I chimed in, "Then we can talk."

Outside, I tried to do just that with the "organizers." I tried to say that the idea is to engage people. Don't you want to talk to them? Make your point? Or are you just trying to offend? I was rebuffed, "You don't want to impeach him." Conversation over. Now, how did he know what I wanted? " You don't know what I want," I said, "I just want to talk with you."
I asked one of the fresh faced, "Have you any idea who Hitler was?" She shrugged. Welcome to 2010.

Well, the ACLU defended the Nazi's marching through the mostly Jewish neighborhood of Skokie, Illinois so I'm sure they would be fine with this. But, in our small line there at the Westwood Village Post Office many weren't. Fortunately.

Andy Helman
West Seattle