Are Parallels To Nazi Germany Crazy? (not in Harley Sorensen's fairyland)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Monday, January 27, 2004 | Harley Sorensen

[presidio9]

"I have many American friends and used to go on business travel to the U.S. a lot (I stopped doing that after even our European governments have given in to Uncle Sam's appetite for information about individuals traveling to God's Own Country), and I am shocked by the deterioration of democracy in a country that I used to love. This administration is a shame and the destabilization they have brought to the world is scaring the s** out of me.

[Always Right]

When do we start rounding up them their liberals and putting them in concentration camps? Actually, a mental ward may be more appropriate.

[JCB]

"Herr Moellers' e-mail is typical of a half dozen or so I've received over the past year from people with intimate knowledge of Nazi Germany."

Wow! Six other leftists e-mail the author over 12 months to say that the US is becoming the next Nazi Germany and so it must be so...

Now there's a water-proof logic!

I'd expect this sort of tripe from 12 year olds who don't know any better, not someone employed by a newspaper!

[gaspar]

I think Herr Moeller must have spent the first six years of his life chewing lead-based paint off his crib.

[Ga Rob]

I love it when the left the "Nazi card"....Even though the populace in our country are educated on a 6th grade level when it comes to history and economics, they know this is a wack job of a writer. They may not have been taught true history in school, but they've all see Schindler's List...they know that isn't happening here.

[OldFriend]

Taking a page from Hitler himself, the writer proceeds to disseminate lie after lie after lie.

Backing it all up with the opinions of former nazi's who 'know' the truth about America under President Bush.

[tiamat]

Add to that the fact that the guy si getting over 400 e-mails per day and his assertations are ridiculous.

Tia

[kb2614]

The left seems to not know or just ignore the fact that the Nazi's were Socialists. Nazi is just an acronym for Nationalist SOCIALIST. They were not much different than your average Bolshevik.

[SpinyNorman]

In the mid- to late 1930s, Germany was able to annex nearby territories without firing a shot. That was because of the threat of the German military, the strongest in the world at the time. That might be compared with the sudden flexibility of Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Libya, all of whom are aware that Bush will do more than just threaten; he'll do it.

Does this mean we get to annex Canada and Mexico? These are the only two "nearby territories" to us.

Why is the "sudden flexibility of Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Libya" a bad thing? Does Sorenson want them to continue to be hotbeds of terrorism and WMD production? Sounds like the President did a good thing. I think Sorenson is just distraught that it is a Republican President getting all these positive (for the world, not just us) results in so small a time frame.

We haven't seen anything like that here, nor does it appear to be one the horizon, yet one must wonder about the hundreds shut away in Guanténamo Bay and in other lockups in the United States and throughout the world.

The comparison fails in that the Jews never attacked Hitler, nor did German Jews join the "enemies" of Germany against it in a war. I think "one" is wondering a bit too much, possibly with the aid of psychoactive pharmaceuticals.

[JustPlainJoe]

What planet are these dishonest people from???

America is sooooo much closer to the Nazi regime when democrats are in power. All you have to do is listen to them speak about anyone who isn't a liberal. THEY are the ones who believe in censorship, racial, religious and political profiling and HATE ('Hate Bush', for example is PERFECTLY o.k. by them; criticize Bill Clinton for ILLEGAL acts and we're labelled as hate-mongers)

Unreal.

[Ga Rob]

You know I'm sure which it is either. Have they listened to their own revisionist history so long that's all they know. I believe with the young one's that is the case. They have no idea the history of the Nazi party....God knows they couldn't even tell you what a Bolshevik is...

[Junior]

Considering he gets about 20,800 emails a year by his own count, the six "Nazi" emails account for 0.03 percent of his correspondence.

[KC_Conspirator]

This whole article is a lie, a big fat Joseph Goebbels sized lie. In fact, Europeans can't distinguish Nazism at all since they have a resurgence of anti-semitism happening there. Furthermore, its quite obvious that that the left in employing a tactic they use often - accuse others of what they are guilty of themselves. You know, nazism is not going to return with brownshirts and an oom-pa-pa band, but with the green movement and armbands.

[Condor51]

Memo to Harley Sorensen;
Your annual dues to the Communist Party are due in seven days.

[cwb]

Herr Moeller better take a closer look at his country...today, before comparing the US to Germany of yesterday. The US does not lock up Holocaust deniers for having a contrarian opinion...no matter how stupid it is. Nor does the US government outlaw political parties that they deem "extreme." The socialists Greens in Germany see anything to the right of sane as a threat to their power...and are therefore, heading down that same road to tyranny. Oh, the hypocrisy!

[atomic conspiracy]

I know quite a few long-time Democrats. The intelligentsia, represented here by Sorenson, are too far gone in their fantasy ideology to realize that this Bush=Hitler obsession is costing them votes.

Among rank and file Dems, the standard reaction is to assume a defensive posture and deny that the Bush=Hitler nonsense is actually prevalent, as when they harp on the alleged insignificance of 2 ads among hundreds at MoveOn.org.

Of course, these denials are obvious nonsense, and it is equally obvious that the Bush=Hitler trope has become a complete obsession among the Lefty elite. As a result, more and more rank and file Dems are realizing what many have known for years: the real leadership, the ideologues and celebrities, live in a fantasy world and are utterly oblivious to that fact.

For instance, I've been talking to one hard-core Dem (a former ACLU officer) about this for some time. He went through several stages; first supporting the Hitler trope when ideological trend-setters initially compared 9-11 to the Reichstag fire, then denying its significance with the MoveOn ads and offering fatuous tu quoque defenses ("the right-wingers 'Hitlery' name-calling is just as bad"). He has finally thrown in the towel and declared, "you're right doc, it's everywhere and it's nuts."

How it might affect his vote is anyone's guess, and a lot depends on the attitude of the Dem nominees toward this Bush=Hitler obsession. Personally, I think the left's ideologues are filtering the response through their own fantasy worldview and will remain entirely ignorant of the damage "Bush=Hitler" does to their own goals.

[highlander_UW]

I'd expect this sort of tripe from 12 year olds who don't know any better, not someone employed by a newspaper!

It's a San Francisco newspaper, they're written by people with the maturity of 12 year olds.

[highlander_UW]

The left seems to not know or just ignore the fact that the Nazi's were Socialists. Nazi is just an acronym for Nationalist SOCIALIST. They were not much different than your average Bolshevik.

Not to mention, it's the dimocrats that are new socialist party of America...just look at the signs at all of their demonstrations and who sponsors them.

[Houmatt]

We are similar to Nazi Germany in one respect. They had their Holocaust, we have ours, better known as abortion on demand.