title:  Why Was A Nazi Sympathizer Just Buried At Arlington Cemetery?
text: A Nazi sympathizer was recently buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the sacred burial ground for American servicemen and woman and the last resting place for historical figures like John F. Kenney, William Howard Taft, Ted Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy.By contrast, Willis Carto was a notorious Nazi sympathizer who renounced World War II, which he fought in. His service in the Philippines earned him a purple heart and the right to be buried at Arlington, despite the reprehensible views he held until he died.Through a number of initiatives   including the Liberty Lobby, a white supremacist organization Carto founded, and the Institute for Historical Review, a group he started to promote Holocaust denial   Carto enjoyed influence among a marginal but significant population of American bigots especially motivated by anti-Jewish hysteria.At the height of the Liberty Lobby s popularity in the 1980s, there were 400,000 subscribers to its newsletter, according an obituary for Carto in The New York Times.Todd Blodgett, who managed advertising for the Liberty Lobby and spied on Carto for the FBI from 2000 to 2002, said the deceased anti-Semitic leader wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery because of the  irony,  given his pro-Nazi views.Even those who went to Arlington to see Carto buried shared his sick world view. One man told The Huffington Post that Carto  stood up for the best interests of this country and against all the special interests,  and clarified that by these interests he meant Jewish people.Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center described Carto s presence in the cemetery as a  national disgrace  and pointed out that the former soldier  would have been a perfect candidate to be a cabinet member in Hitler s government. Perhaps the absurdity of Carto s burial, next to men and women who fought to defeat the ideals he was a proponent of, will change the military criteria for burial at Arlington. Perhaps, instead of simply taking into account commendations received while in combat, the views and affiliations of prospective Arlington burial subjects throughout their whole lives will have to be considered.The cemetery is a place for war heroes, not Nazi sympathizers.Featured image via YouTube