Hitler Wasn't Elected, Mr. Turner

RushLimbaugh.com ^ | 1-26-05 | Rush Limbaugh

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Hitler Wasn't Elected, Mr. Turner

January 26, 2005

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

We're going to talk about Ted Turner next. The Fox people put out a great quote, and I'm going to have to paraphrase this -- and I know it's Ailes. It came from "a Fox spokesman." I know Ailes well enough to know that this is Ailes' quote. He said, "Well, it's understandable that Ted would be saying these things. He's lost his network. He's lost his ratings, and now he's lost his mind." (Laughing.) That's a Roger Ailes quote, folks. But he doesn't know his history. This business of Adolph Hitler? I looked this up. I was going to make it the morning update today, but said, nah, I better check my history first just to double-check because my instinct was that Hitler was never elected by the Germany people. The most he got in any German election was 30%.

He never was elected to anything. He took over. He was a dictator. I looked it up. You know, I went through the American public school system prior to the NEA getting hold of it, so I actually learned something. I remember Hitler wasn't elected to beans. I saw Turner said this yesterday. I said, "What is he talking about?" He's comparing Fox News to Hitler. By the way, he already, like five or six years ago, he compared Murdoch to Hitler, when Fox News started, and the Anti-Defamation League demanded that Turner apologize for trivializing Hitler and his role in the world by comparing Rupert Murdoch to Hitler, and Turner apologized for that, but he can't get it out of his system. So we have details all coming up here in just a second, but first a phone call.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: (Reuters) "Can a film that humanizes Adolf Hitler win an Oscar?" Yes, and the director of Downfall, a film about the last days of Hitler's life, Oliver Hirschbiegel, certainly hopes so. His movie was nominated for an Oscar on Tuesday as one of five foreign language films, one of the five best foreign language films, Downfall, humanizing Adolf Hitler and his last days. "Hirschbiegel said he was surprised at the nomination. 'My film is very controversial. Are we as filmmakers allowed to depict Hitler as a man or are we supposed to depict him as a monster,' he said. 'We owe it to the victims to show that this was not a demon from hell but a man born in Austria and raised in Germany. I am very proud of this movie. It is my best work.'" It was a couple years ago they honored Leni Riefenstahl, who is a documentary maker of Hitler. This year they're honoring Oliver Hirschbiegel for a sympathetic humanizing portrayal of Adolf Hitler, and yet The Passion of the Christ gets three lowly, insignificant nominations. I mentioned this as a prelude to more detail on the story that broke yesterday. Ted Turner was speaking, and during the Q&A session at the National Association for Television Programming Executives, he was asked how he feels about Fox News Channel beating CNN, and Turner said that Adolf Hitler "got the most votes when he was elected to run Germany prior to World War II." He said that Fox "is the propaganda tool for the Bush administration. There's nothing wrong with that, certainly illegal, but it does pose problems for our democracy." So yesterday Ted Turner compared Fox's popularity to Hitler. We have a small sound bite. This is what he said.

TURNER: That's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean it's not -- I'm not happy about it, but Adolf Hitler was more popular in Germany in the early thirties than his -- people that were running against him. So just because you're bigger doesn't mean you're right.

RUSH: All right, yesterday, I was going to do a morning update on this. In fact, I did. I recorded it and I didn't air it today because I wanted to double-check my history. My instincts were that Hitler of us never elected to anything in Germany. In fact, when he ran he was defeated. He was never elected to diddly-squat in Germany, Ted. You know, he was not more popular than the other candidates. He got 30% of the vote when he ran. Here is the history, ladies and gentlemen -- and, by the way, I want to read to you from Jacob Hornberger at Freedom Daily because this is the site that I went to to get the history. It says: "Whenever U.S. officials wish to demonize someone, they inevitably compare him to Adolf Hitler. The message immediately resonates with people because everyone knows that Hitler was a brutal dictator. But how many people know how Hitler actually became a dictator? My bet is, very few. I’d also bet that more than a few people would be surprised at how he pulled it off, especially given that after World War I Germany had become a democratic republic. The story of how Hitler became a dictator is set forth in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer, on which this article is based. In the presidential election held on March 13, 1932, there were four candidates: the incumbent, Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler, and two minor candidates, Ernst Thaelmann and Theodore Duesterberg. The results were: Hindenburg 49.6 percent, Hitler 30.1 percent, Thaelmann 13.2 percent Duesterberg 6.8 percent. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, almost 70 percent of the German people voted against Hitler, causing his supporter Joseph Goebbels, who would later become Hitler’s minister of propaganda, to lament in his journal, 'We’re beaten; terrible outlook. Party circles badly depressed and dejected.' Since Hindenberg had not received a majority of the vote, however, a runoff election had to be held among the top three vote-getters. On April 19, 1932, the runoff results were: Hindenburg 53.0 percent, Hitler 36.8 percent, Thaelmann 10.2 percent." So again, 63% of the German voters voted against Adolf Hitler. "Thus, even though Hitler’s vote total had risen, he still had been decisively rejected by the German people."

"On June 1, 1932, Hindenberg appointed Franz von Papen as chancellor of Germany, whom Shirer described as an 'unexpected and ludicrous figure.' Papen immediately dissolved the Reichstag (the national congress) and called for new elections, the third legislative election in five months. Hitler and his fellow members of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party, who were determined to bring down the republic and establish dictatorial rule in Germany, did everything they could to create chaos in the streets, including initiating political violence and murder. The situation got so bad that martial law was proclaimed in Berlin. Even though Hitler had badly lost the presidential election, he was drawing ever-larger crowds during the congressional election. As Shirer points out--" Well, the next line didn't copy on the printer. Let me just cut to the chase here on the dates. You know basically the story now. On February 27th, 1933, the Reichstag building burns after being set on fire. Dutch communist named Marinus van der Lubbe is arrested for the arson. On February 28th, 1933, Adolf Hitler got Hindenburg, President Hindenburg, to pass the Reichstag's which abolishes most political rights in the republic.

On 23 March of 1933, forced to have its session in the nearby Kroll Opera Building, the Reichstag takes away its own powers, transfers them to Hitler, and becomes a show parliament for the Fuehrer and the Third Reich without any political weight. Keep in mind the Nazis never got a majority of the vote. They received around 38% of the vote and formed a coalition government with Hindenburg's party and then basically overthrew Hindenburg. They got Hindenburg to essentially appoint Hitler as chancellor #2 and then they basically just took out Hindenburg. Hindenburg kicked the bucket -- uh, died -- and so the history was thus made. Adolf Hitler was never elected beans. He was never more popular than anybody else in an election. Ted Turner doesn't know what he's talking about, and to compare Fox News to Hitler, and as he did nine years ago to compare Murdoch to Hitler, just serves to trivialize Hitler and to show that Ted Turner is losing his mind.

Matt Drudge on his website today posts this. "New York, October 2nd, 1996: Ted Turner has apologized to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for comments he made recently comparing Rupert Murdoch to Hitler. ADL had written to the CNN Chairman that such inapt analogies 'trivialize a profound historical tragedy,' and should be avoided. 'I hope you and all those offended by this comment will accept my deepest apology,' wrote Mr. Turner in response to the letter from Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. The CNN Chairman said he realized his choice of words was 'unfortunate' and 'offensive,' and he regretted the comment. Explaining his comparison 'referred only to the way Hitler managed the news in Germany.'"

So the way Fox manages the news is the same way Hitler managed the news, propaganda tool, so forth and so on, but even at that Ted Turner has his history entirely wrong.

END TRANSCRIPT

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Am listening to Rush now and LOL. He has a "secret microphone" listening in to the joint victory party by the NOW gang and the NAACP over the confirmation of the first black woman to be Sec. of State, Condi Rice. And of course, there is dead silence and finally the chirping of crickets. What a great way to illustrate the hypocrisy of these liberals!

I heard that too....now if someone can replicate the sound of tumbleweeds blowing across an open prairie...well, that too would be great!

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

It's just a warning to closely scrutinize and distrust any legislation passed quickly in a moment of nationalistic fervor to "protect the homeland (motherland)."

Your point is well-taken, friend.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

OOPS! What I described was the way Turner OBTAINED his media empire...shame on me....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

People should remember that there is a GIGANTIC difference between an instigated event and one which was the action of REAL and deadly enemies. You apparently are not be aware of this difference.

I concur....well said...it's time for a quick side-by-side to make my point...

President Bush does NOT equal....




THIS evil man.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

See post #44

[justshutupandtakeit]

Nor does a half-wit "communist" equal a dedicated hardcore terrorist killer.

[RightWingReader]

Hitler was a megalomaniacal out-of-control demogogue, incompetent planner and hoarder of property. If we apply those traits alone, if anything is "Hitler", it's Ted Turner and CNN.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

[antiRepublicrat]

difference between an instigated event and one which was the action of REAL and deadly enemies

Marinus van der Lubbe was a communist nut running around Berlin trying to set fire to government buildings to protest capitalism. He definitely lit the fire, and the Nazi participation in the event is highly disputed. At his trial, even Göring said that Hitler merely took advantage of the situation to arrest the communists that night. Göring was actually not happy about this, because they already had a list of communists to arrest, and an organized series of arrests were planned for a few days from then. Hitler's decision to arrest on the night of the fire messed up Göring's plans and, in his view, allowed many members to escape.

So, if the Nazis had started the fire, don't you think they would have done it when they were ready to arrest the communists, not before?

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Hitler was a megalomaniacal out-of-control demogogue, incompetent planner and hoarder of property. If we apply those traits alone, if anything is "Hitler", it's Ted Turner and CNN.

Okay, then, time for these side-by-side photos....

=

[MarkL]

Rush NAILS Ted Turner on his comparing the Fox News Channel to Hitler....

More to the point, Turner equates FNC watchers to the people who supported Hitler.

If he were to say something like that in my presence, I have no doubt that I would have gotten violent with him.

Mark

[Publius6961]

and does need most of the provisions of the Patriot Act to help it along. Can we at least agree on that point?

I would rather simply address simple historical facts on this thread.

The only point I will concede is that the Patriot Act may need constructive criticism, but never within miles of any thread that implies a connection to Hitler or the Nazis. That is gratuitous ignorant politics and baiting. I refuse to play.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

I thought everyone knew this. And you tell me the libs consider we redneck types ignorant?

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

The only point I will concede is that the Patriot Act may need constructive criticism, but never within miles of any thread that implies a connection to Hitler or the Nazis. That is gratuitous ignorant politics and baiting. I refuse to play.

Okay, okay, okay, let's take a D-E-E-P breath here....(ah, better)....let me understand you here....I posted this thread because I agreed with what Rush mentioned in his (transcribed) radio program from yesterday, namely that Teddie Turner couldn't get away with comparing the Fox News Channel with Hitler's rise to power (supposedly Hitler was "popularly elected" and the like). What this thread may or may not have "degenerated" into is another matter....And for all those kook-conspiracists who think that the Patriot Act is comparable to Hitler's edicts, I believe Publius6961 is alluding to you (you are, aren't you?)

Let's not start tossing around labels here, okay?....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Did I just say "kook-conspiracists"? Oh, erase, erase, erase....

[ops33]

Actually, that's not true. There were many parties during that election and several won seats in the Reichstag, including the Communist Party. Part of the election strategy of the Nazi's was to encourage so many parties that the Nazis would win. Under a Parlimentary system, a party does not have to have a majority of the seats to win the election. The Nazis won the most number of seats in the Reichstag and together with other parties formed a coalition that gave them a majority. And the majority chose the next Chancellor. No offense, but it is the same system in Israel and other countries that use a Parliamentary system. Most Israeli Prime Ministers are from parties that do not have a majority of seats in the Knesset but form coalitions with other parties to gain a majority. My source for the election that gave the Nazis their majority in the Reichstag, and allowed Hitler to become Chancellor, is the history "Hitler" by Joachim Fest.

[FourtySeven]

A good historical (re)education.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Actually, that's not true. There were many parties during that election and several won seats in the Reichstag, including the Communist Party. Part of the election strategy of the Nazi's was to encourage so many parties that the Nazis would win. Under a Parlimentary system, a party does not have to have a majority of the seats to win the election. The Nazis won the most number of seats in the Reichstag and together with other parties formed a coalition that gave them a majority. And the majority chose the next Chancellor. No offense, but it is the same system in Israel and other countries that use a Parliamentary system. Most Israeli Prime Ministers are from parties that do not have a majority of seats in the Knesset but form coalitions with other parties to gain a majority. My source for the election that gave the Nazis their majority in the Reichstag, and allowed Hitler to become Chancellor, is the history "Hitler" by Joachim Fest.

The way you describe it is sort of the way the last federal election went up here in Canada last year: The Liberals got (I think) 135 seats, the Conservatives 99 seats, the Block Quebequois 77(?) seats and the NDP 40(?) seats. Apart there was no "majority party". The only difference is that up here no one has (yet) formed a coalition with the Liberals as (I believe) the the other parties know that the Liberals do not have an effective governing power by themselves -- and that another election is in the offing....(hopefully soon!)

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Limbaugh is playing on his audience's ignorance on the issue of Hitler's valid, democratic election to the Chancellorship. He's either ignorant himself or he is being dishonest.

Okay, I'll take your numbers at face value -- as I don't have any way to refute them. Thanks for discussion input.