“In the German elections of 1932, the Nazi party received 37 percent of the vote. They became part of a democratically elected coalition government, in which Hitler became chancellor. Only step by step did the Nazis dismantle democratic freedoms and turn the country into a complete dictatorship.
I believe Dr. Sowell -- or his editor -- made a mistake.
It looks like -- and reads as if -- the second paragraph follows from the first. So that he is comparing Cruz and his supporters to Hitler and the Nazis.
But, by the time you reach his final paragraph, you realize that Sowell's Nazi analogy is actually directed at Obama and his supporters.
Sowell abruptly changed subjects between the two paragraphs and it's not immediately apparent.
I think Sowell is quite clear in what he is saying—and he is comparing Cruz’s tactics with the failed opposition to Hitler:
“In the German elections of 1932, the Nazi party received 37 percent of the vote. They became part of a democratically elected coalition government, in which Hitler became chancellor. Only step by step did the Nazis dismantle democratic freedoms and turn the country into a complete dictatorship.
The political majority could have united to stop Hitler from becoming a dictator. But they did not unite. They fought each other over their differences. Some figured that they would take over after the Nazis were discredited and defeated.
Many who plotted this clever strategy died in Nazi concentration camps. Unfortunately, so did millions of others.
What such clever strategies overlook is that there can be a point of no return. We may be close to that point of no return, not only with ObamaCare, but also with the larger erosion of personal freedom, of which ObamaCare is just the most visible part.”