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You just don't see conservatives acting this way. Period. |
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Posted on 06/11/2004 7:28:38 AM PDT by quidnunc
Berlin – I can understand, my German friend said, why Germans voted for Hitler in 1933 — though he did not receive a majority of the vote. The Weimar Republic was weak and incompetent. The Great Depression had ruined the nation's war-devastated economy. People were bitter because they thought their leaders had betrayed them in the war. They wanted revenge for the humiliation of Versailles. Hitler promised strong leadership and a new beginning. But why did they continue to support that group of crazy drug addicts, thugs, killers and madmen?
The historical question remains. I leave aside the question of the guilt of the whole German people (a judgment beyond my competence because I am not God) and ask what explanations might account for what happened. Hitler turned the German economy around in short order. He was crazy, of course, a demagogic mystic sensitive to aspirations of the German spirit. He appealed skillfully to the dark side of the German heritage. Anti-Semitism was strong in Germany, as it was in most European countries, but not violent until Hitler manipulated it. He stirred up the memories of historic German military accomplishments and identified himself with Frederick the Great — thus placating the Prussian ethos of the German army. He promised glory to a nation still smarting from the disaster of 1918. Germany was emerging from the ashes, strong and triumphant once again. He also took control of the police apparatus. The military might have been able to dump him till 1937. After that he was firmly in power. The path lay open to holocaust.
Can this model be useful to understand how contemporary America is engaged in a criminally unjust war that has turned much of the world against it, a war in which torture and murder have become routine? Has the combination of the World Trade Center attack and a president who believes his instructions come from God unleashed the dark side of the American heritage?
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
Mr. Greeley
Let's see:
Hitler, a socialist, did the following while he was in power:
Instituted gun control
Nationalized industries
Thought the wealthy were evil and needed to have their wealth redistributed
Banned free speech and freedom of the press
Did not debate his enemies but destroyed them
Believed that all loyalty should go to the state and government
That religion and the church was for fools
That people should be judged on how they look and not on merit or achievement
Fully supported abortion, euthanasia and sterilization
Now which party or presidential candidate does that sound like?????
email:
Greeley: 'agreel@aol.com'
Sun Times: 'shuntley@suntimes.com'
bump
Thanks for the post.
This reminds me of a colleague of mine who waxed hysterical about the Patriot Act, claiming to be afraid the round-ups would be starting any minute. When something is so far outside the realm of common sense, it's hard to argue against, since the attachment to reality we all depend on has been abandoned.
Nah. It's more like 20's Weimar Germany and groups such as ANSWER and moveon.org are the brownshirted fascists trying to take over the streets.
And what priest does not think God leads people to do one thing over another?
Unbelievable BS from someone who, if his idiotic theories are to be believed, should have been carted off in the middle of the night a long time ago...
RIGHT ON!!!
People who even think about comparing President Bush or the Republicans to Hitler and the nazis are idiots who have NO idea and no interest in what the truth was and now is.
Its stunning just how dumb you can be and still get published, isn't it?
The lack of knowledge concerning what happened in the pre WWII era in Germany, compounded by the lefts ongoing misuse of the terms "Nazi" and "Facist" is the most frightening thing I see on a daily basis.
Where's the BARF alert?
Related thread:
Why was Andrew Greeley Op-Ed thread pulled?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1151768/posts?page=23
Clean and practice. Clean and practice.
I love the little disclaimers he throws in there - "This is not to compare Bush to Hitler" - before he proceeds to compare Bush to Hitler in his very next sentence.
Nazi comparisons are the last vestiges of desperation from the left in hopes of galvanizing support against the right. It won't work - it never has, it never will. It blows my mind that I could go out and find 50 articles in major newspapers just like this one, with nary a comparison of Hussein to Hitler.
Unreal. Last time I checked, Islam invaded us first in the way of a WMD filled with cyanide and 1500 pounds of explosives after which it took us another 8 years and 4 jetplanes before we did an "invasion" of our own.
The only way America could ever fit the mold is if the Democrats regain the Presidency and the Congress.
Describes Hollywood to a T.
Not exactly. Hitler was opposed to abortion (of Germans).
You left out wanted to ban smoking and promote vegetarianism.
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You just don't see conservatives acting this way. Period. |
Exactly! The Religious Left believes God will tell someone to avoid buying an SUV but wouldn't try to influence the guy running history's most powerful nation--even though the guy is seeking that very guidance.
What does it say about a "Christian" like Greeley when a man credibly says, "I love Jesus and I want to do his will" and Greeley finds that terrifying?
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