Hitler Crashes Fourth of July Weekend World Cup Party

Fourth of July weekend is when Americans get all giddy about independence and democracy, right? Well, that's the case most years, at least until the beer-guzzling numbs the patriotism, but this year was different -- this year, American pride shared the weekend spotlight with the World Cup quarter-finals (Germany vs. Argentina), and Germany fan "Hitler" crashed the party at a Hell's Kitchen bar, creating early fireworks.

Hitler was actually "a self-styled moviemaker named Steve Staso, who wore a taped-on moustache, a tan Nazi-like outfit and a swastika armband at Café Andalucia on Ninth Avenue," according to the Post. What was he thinking when he looked in the mirror? It wasn't cute when Prince Harry sported the same costume years ago, and with regard to very offensive clothing choices, this one's beat.

Reasonable soccer fans became reasonably pissed off at his inappropriate get-up. "I said, 'Why are you doing this?' and he said it was funny," Mariela Marcantett told the Post. "I said, 'Is genocide funny? Is history funny?' "

Another customer, Joe McKenna, shrugged off the offensive outfit. "Last week, he was Mexican. This week, he's a Nazi. Who he is next week depends on who is in the final," he says.

Beyond the historical inappropriateness of this costume, we question whether Hitler was in fact even good at soccer! Yet, if kids in the U.K. ages 9 to 15 are to be believed, the fuhrer was the manager of Germany's national soccer team, and Auschwitz was a World War II theme park. Sad but true. So, uh, maybe Staso was just confused.

Later Saturday evening, Staso -- who claims that "You don't tell people in Hell's Kitchen what to do," and "the point is to have fun" returned to the bar in a new, presumably "more fun" costume, a box made into a mask that read "Fuck You." Ah, if only he showed such vigor for the actual Fourth of July! An Uncle Sam costume would have been quite festive, or even a George Bush mask or a flag-print Speedo if he wanted to make waves.

Next up is the Germany vs. Spain semi-final game on July 7 (tomorrow!). Any good costume ideas for that round? Leave them in the comments.

[LM]