Let's retire the Hitler comparisons

Boston Globe ^ | 1/12/04 | Cathy Young

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

THE FLAP over two political ads comparing President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler, which were submitted to a "Bush in 30 Seconds" contest sponsored by the liberal MoveOn.org Voter Fund and were briefly hosted on the group's website, has gotten a lot of press (courtesy of outraged Republicans). Unfortunately, this is only one in a rich crop of Hitler and Nazi analogies littering the landscape of so-called public discourse these days. And this particularly vile rhetorical device is, alas, an equal-opportunity offense. There is a lot of back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats on whether MoveOn bears any responsibility for the ads (one of which cuts back and forth between images of Bush and Hitler, using alleged quotes from Bush and a soundtrack from a Hitler speech). Conservatives portray this as a scandal exemplifying the degree to which the Democratic opposition has been hijacked by hate-filled loony radicals. Liberals counter that the real scandal is the right's brazen distortion of the facts.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

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[Prime Choice]

MoveOn staffers did not realize just how offensive these spots were because Bush-Hitler comparisons are not viewed as beyond the pale on the left side of the political spectrum.

I got that impression from their antics, too.

[rhombus]

It seems to me that ex-Madamme Secretary of State also compared Slobo to Hitler to justify a war (that wasn't approved by the UN).

[2banana]

Those crazy Nazis - And remember - Nazi is slang for "National Socialist"

[Mike Fieschko]

The article references Ralph Peters' New York Post column of January 5, 2004, which is online here.

[ClearCase_guy]

How about a belated New Year's resolution for 2004? No more Nazi or Hitler analogies to describe policies or politicians you dislike. Unless, of course, those policies include actual mass murder and torture, or those politicians who engage in such acts.

Deal. No more "Bush is Hitler" crap. I'm very pleased.

By the way, Saddaam Hussein was involved in Hitler-like Mass Murder. Also North Korea has suffered under Nazi-like dictatorships for 50 years. I'd also like to point out that the current US policy on abortion is like something the Nazis would have in place. The fact that the abortion-rate among blacks is especially high really raises a flag for me and indicates that "Racial Purity" lunatics like Hitler (and other Left wing wackos) would really go to the mat to preserve our current legalization of abortion.

Whew! I'm soooo glad that we can get back to using "Nazi" as a label for those who deserve it, and we can rest comfortably knowing that respectable politicians (like Presidents Bush and Reagan) will no longer be unfairly maligned in such a manner.

[ex-snook]

"Let's retire the Hitler comparisons"

Hey if that is done the neocon/coms won't be able to respond to Buchanan's articles.

[The UnVeiled Lady]

What I know about Hitler and/or the Nazi's

Hitler and/or the Nazi's were SOCIALISTS

Hitler and/or the Nazi's TOOK ALL THE GUNS

Hitler and/or the Nazi's BANNED all smoking in public places.

Hitler and/or the Nazi's were radical environmentalists

Hitler and/or the Nazi's STARTED BRAINWASHING THE KIDS YEARS BEFORE STARTING THEIR CONROL

Hitler and/or the Nazi's PASSED LAWS TO ALLOW THEM TO KILL 6 MILLION JEWS

Hitler and/or the Nazi's ADVOCATED THE NATIONALIZATION OF EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, TRANSPORTATION, NATIONAL RESOURCES, MANUFACTURING, DISTRIBUTION AND LAW ENFORCEMENT.

And this is supposed to sound more like the Republicans?????

Sounds more like the democrats and greens to me!!!!

[Fun Bob]

"(Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, controlled companies which had extensive business dealings with Germany in the years before World War II.)"


Controlled? He owned 1 single share in a german company IIRC. He was in finance and owned shares in many companies. But then again, before the war, that was completely LEGAL.

[AndyTheBear]

There are always Hitler like people (OBL, Saddam Hussein etc) with Nazi like parties.

The difference is that the main stream left wants to appease them, and main stream conservatives want to defeat them.

I would not compare Dean to Hitler, but he sure seems to fit Chamberlain to Bush's Churchill.

[Stultis]

using "Nazi" as a label for those who deserve it

This one's excellent:

Edward Feser: The Mustache on the Left [about delusion that right-wingers are closet totalitarians] ^
			Posted by Tolik On News/Activism ^ 01/08/2004 7:19:28 AM CST with 26 comments TechCentralStation ^ | 01/08/2004 | Edward Feser As a Bush re-election later this year looks increasingly likely, some left-wingers worry that Howard Dean is too risky a candidate to put up against a popular President. There is, of course, the obvious comparison to McGovern and the fear that a true believer may inevitably be a sure loser. There is also the worry that Dean may not in fact be so true a believer in the first place: he did support Newt Gingrich's Medicare reforms, after all, and has been a little too cozy with gun rights advocates; might he not betray the Left in order to appeal...

[Indie]

This author is wrong. It is the individual's responsibility to discern the truth. It is not his duty to censor, even when it is stupid RAT propaganda. Neither is it his duty to censor the truth...of who the real Hitleresque personalties are.

I know...and I KNOW FReepers know!!

[Aside: The legal genocide of 45 million American lives will go unmentioned. (Ooops.)]

[Snuffington]

"In the future, everyone will be Hitler for fifteen minutes." - quote by Freeper dead.