Is KitKat the Modern-Day Horst Wessel?
Some people certainly want him to be
In 1930, a German man named Horst Wessel was shot and killed by a communist. Wessel was part of a Nazi paramilitary group, and Joseph Goebbels immediately recognized his death as a propaganda opportunity. Goebbels published an effusive eulogy for Wessel in the Nazi press and personally attended the funeral, which he claimed was attended by 30,000 people (so: probably a few dozen folks including funeral home staff). When the Nazis took power, they made a song about Wessel the co-national anthem along with the song commonly known as “Deutschland Über Alles” (“Germany Over All”). So, if you’ve ever heard Deutschland Über Alles and thought “Kinda weird that they still use that,” remember that the alternative was a propaganda song lauding a slain Nazi that — by the way — was also musically kind of shit.1
Last week, a bodega cat in San Francisco named KitKat was killed by a driverless Waymo vehicle. A member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors named Jackie Fielder immediately recognized KitKat’s death as a propaganda opportunity. Fielder has held rallies in KitKat’s honor and authored legislation that would make it harder for driverless vehicles to operate. Now: Obviously I’m drawing a parallel, and in that parallel Jackie Fielder is analogous to Joseph Goebbels, so let me unequivocally say that Jackie Fielder is not like Joseph Goebbels. But let me also say that when people feel the need to clarify that you’re not like Joseph Goebbels, it might be true that you have not exactly covered yourself in glory.
Fielder seems to believe that KitKat’s death should be a rallying cry for people who oppose driverless cars. She recently made her case on TikTok, and fair warning: What follows is a TikTok video made by a member of the Democratic Socialists of America whom some have called “San Francisco’s AOC”. It contains potentially lethal levels of stupidity. Seriously: Don’t watch this video if you have a heart condition, are pregnant, or need to operate heavy machinery ever again in your life — the idiocy may cause your body to completely shut down.
